The 13 Best True Stories Podcasts (2026)

The Moth has been doing one thing since 1997 and doing it better than almost anyone: getting regular people to stand on a stage, under a single spotlight, and tell a true story with no notes. That's it. No fancy production tricks, no scripted dialogue. Just a human being and a microphone.

The podcast draws from both the Peabody Award-winning Moth Radio Hour and original Moth Podcast episodes, pulling from live performances recorded at venues across the country. With over 475 episodes in the archive, there's a staggering range here. You'll hear a firefighter recount the call that changed everything, then a grandmother talk about learning to salsa dance at 70. The stories run about 10-15 minutes each, and several are packed into each episode.

What makes The Moth work is the vulnerability. These aren't polished TED speakers or trained performers. They're people who showed up to a story slam, maybe won, and then got invited to share their five minutes on a bigger stage. Some stories are devastatingly sad. Others are laugh-out-loud funny. Most are both.

The show releases twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, so there's always something fresh. If you want the ad-free experience, The Moth Uninterrupted runs $4.99 a month. But the free version is perfectly listenable. This is the gold standard for live storytelling podcasts, and it has been for nearly three decades. If you've never tried it, start with any episode. They're all standalone.

This American Life basically invented the modern narrative podcast. Ira Glass has been hosting since 1995, first on WBEZ Chicago public radio and then as a podcast that regularly sits at the top of every chart. The show won the first-ever Pulitzer Prize awarded to a radio program, and with over 86,000 ratings on Apple Podcasts alone, it's one of the most listened-to shows in the world.

Each weekly episode picks a theme, then explores it through multiple acts. You might get a journalist's investigation into a broken immigration system in Act One, followed by a David Sedaris essay about his childhood in Act Two, then a short piece from an ordinary person whose life intersected with the theme in unexpected ways. Episodes typically run about an hour, and the format keeps things from ever feeling monotonous.

Glass has a specific talent for finding stories in places nobody else would think to look. A show about a car dealership becomes a meditation on the American dream. A piece about a summer camp turns into something that makes you cry on public transit. The production quality is outstanding without ever feeling overproduced.

The show features contributions from a rotating cast of reporters and writers, including Sarah Vowell and Chana Joffe-Walt. New episodes drop weekly for free, though a Life Partners subscription at $9.99/month gets you bonus content and no ads. After three decades, the show has lost none of its ability to surprise you.

This Is Actually Happening takes the storytelling podcast format and turns the intensity up to eleven. Produced by Wondery and hosted by Whit Missildine, each episode features one person telling their own extraordinary true story in their own words. And these aren't quirky anecdotes about a bad date. These are stories about surviving a plane crash, escaping a cult, waking up in a morgue, or being stranded in a desert.

The episodes run long, usually 45 to 70 minutes, which gives storytellers the space to actually unpack what happened instead of rushing through the highlights. Missildine keeps a light touch as host, letting the narrators carry the full weight of their experiences. The production is clean and atmospheric without drowning the voice in music or sound effects.

With nearly 490 episodes and a 4.6-star rating from almost 10,000 reviewers, this show has built a seriously devoted audience. Content warnings are included at the top of episodes, which is appreciated given how heavy some of these stories get. Topics range from criminal victimization to medical crises to moments of profound personal transformation.

One thing to know: episodes before number 130 are locked behind the Wondery+ paywall at $5.99 a month. Everything after that is free with ads. The show also maintains full transcripts on its website, which is a nice touch for accessibility. If you want true stories that genuinely shock you, this is the podcast that delivers consistently.

Snap Judgment is what happens when you take real-life storytelling and score it like a movie. Host Glynn Washington brings a warmth and energy that's impossible to fake, guiding listeners through multiple true stories per episode, each one backed by original music composed specifically for the narrative. The result feels cinematic in a way few audio shows manage.

The show has been running for over 500 episodes across 16 seasons, pulling a 4.7-star average from more than 11,000 ratings. Washington grew up in a cult, which might explain why he has zero tolerance for surface-level narratives. He gravitates toward stories with real stakes and unexpected turns. Recent themed series include "Fever," exploring unconventional love stories, and "Tooth & Claw," about intense human-animal encounters.

Each episode typically features two or three stories, woven together by Washington's introductions and the show's signature musical scoring. The production team treats every segment like its own short film, which means the audio experience is genuinely immersive. You can tell the difference between this and a show where someone just sits in front of a microphone.

Snap Judgment also spawned Spooked, the supernatural storytelling spinoff that became a hit in its own right. New episodes release weekly, free with ads. The premium tier at $4.99/month strips the ads out. If you care about production quality and diverse perspectives in your storytelling podcasts, this one sets the bar.

RISK! is the storytelling podcast that goes where The Moth won't. Host Kevin Allison, known from the comedy group The State, created the show specifically for stories people never thought they'd share in public. The result is raw, uncensored, and frequently jaw-dropping. With over 1,200 episodes, this is one of the largest archives of personal true stories anywhere.

The format mixes live performances with recorded studio stories, and Allison features multiple storytellers per episode, usually organized loosely around a theme. The content is explicitly rated for a reason. You'll hear confessions about addiction, sexuality, embarrassment, grief, and the kind of personal disasters that would make most people change their name and move to another state.

Allison is a genuinely skilled interviewer and host who knows how to draw out the uncomfortable details that make a story land. He also has a knack for finding storytellers from wildly different backgrounds. One episode might pair a retired nurse with a stand-up comedian and a recovering addict, and somehow it all works together.

Fair warning: some listeners find the intro segments and ad breaks on the longer side. But the stories themselves are worth the patience. The show drops new episodes twice a week, and it carries a 4.6-star rating from over 5,400 reviews. If you appreciate storytelling that's honest to the point of being uncomfortable, RISK! is the place to go. It's not for the easily scandalized, but it's very much for people who believe the best stories are the ones you almost didn't tell.

What Was That Like asks one simple question and then lets the answer unfold for an hour. Hosts Scott Johnson and Meredith Hackwith Edwards sit down with ordinary people who lived through extraordinary events and ask them to walk through every detail. Animal attacks, plane crashes, hostage situations, mass shootings, natural disasters. The guests tell their own stories in their own words, and the result is gripping in a way that scripted drama rarely achieves.

The show has built up 470 episodes over the years, earning a 4.7-star rating from nearly 1,700 reviewers. Johnson has a calm, sincere interview style that puts guests at ease, which matters enormously when someone is recounting the worst day of their life. He asks the specific questions you'd want to ask: What did it smell like? What were you thinking in that exact moment? How did your body react?

New episodes drop biweekly, with bonus "Tuesday Question" segments and "Short True Stories" filling the gaps between main episodes. The main stories are the real draw, though. Each one reads like a survival memoir compressed into podcast form.

There's a premium tier called What Was That Like PLUS for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content. The free version works fine, and the show has an explicit content rating given the nature of the stories. If you want first-person accounts of the kind of situations you hope never happen to you, this podcast delivers them with remarkable consistency.

Criminal is not your typical true crime podcast. Host Phoebe Judge has one of the most distinctive voices in audio, and she uses it to tell stories about people who have done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Named a Best Podcast by the New York Times in 2023, the show has 439 episodes and a 4.7-star rating from over 36,000 reviewers.

What sets Criminal apart is its scope. An episode might cover the Lincoln assassination conspiracy one week, then pivot to a story about a man who accidentally became an art forger the next. Judge treats every subject with the same careful, almost gentle curiosity. She never sensationalizes, never rushes, and never treats her subjects as spectacles. The pacing is deliberate, and episodes run about 30-45 minutes.

Judge's reporting is thorough without being exhausting. She has a gift for finding the small, specific details that make a story stick with you. A single line from a court transcript, a description of what someone was wearing, the sound of a door closing. The production is spare and elegant, letting the narrative do the heavy lifting.

The show is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network and releases weekly. A Criminal+ membership at $5.99/month offers bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Judge also hosts the companion show This Is Love, which applies the same storytelling approach to stories of devotion and connection. If you appreciate smart, humane storytelling that happens to involve crime, this is the one.

StoryCorps is a national treasure, and I don't say that lightly. Produced by NPR and hosted by Michael Garofalo and Jasmyne Morris, the podcast captures unscripted conversations between two people about the things that matter most: love, loss, family, and friendship. No rehearsal, no polish, no agenda. Just two humans sitting across from each other being honest.

The format is beautifully simple. A parent and child. Two old friends. A veteran and his therapist. They talk, and the recording preserves something that would otherwise be lost. Episodes run short, between 6 and 24 minutes, which makes them perfect for a commute or a quick listen during lunch. But don't let the brevity fool you. These conversations pack an emotional punch that longer shows struggle to match.

StoryCorps has been archiving these conversations since 2003, and the podcast draws from that massive library plus new recordings. The show also runs The Great Thanksgiving Listen, an initiative encouraging young people to interview older family members over the holiday. It's one of the largest oral history projects in the world, with recordings archived at the Library of Congress.

The show carries a 4.5-star rating from nearly 3,900 reviews, and new episodes arrive weekly. It's completely free with no premium tier. If you want a podcast that reminds you why ordinary people's stories are the most important ones, StoryCorps does it in under 20 minutes.

Spooked is a spinoff of Snap Judgment, and it has carved out its own massive following by focusing exclusively on true supernatural stories told by the people who experienced them. Hosted by Glynn Washington and produced by KQED and Snap Studios, the show has 221 episodes and an impressive 4.6-star rating from over 16,000 reviewers.

Every episode features real people describing encounters they can barely explain. A woman hears her dead grandmother's voice on the phone. A night security guard watches a figure walk through a locked door. A family moves into a house where the previous residents left without their belongings. The storytellers are not professional performers. They're regular people recounting experiences that clearly still shake them.

The production values are superb. Like its parent show, Spooked uses original music and sound design to build atmosphere without overwhelming the narration. Washington's introductions set the tone perfectly, though some listeners note he can be a bit theatrical. Episodes run 25 to 40 minutes and drop every Friday.

What makes Spooked work is the sincerity of the storytellers. These aren't ghost hunters or paranormal investigators with an agenda. They're teachers, nurses, truck drivers, and retired military personnel who experienced something they cannot explain and finally decided to talk about it. The show treats their accounts with respect rather than skepticism, which makes for genuinely unsettling listening. It's the kind of podcast you probably shouldn't listen to alone at night, but you will anyway.

Modern Love started as a New York Times column over twenty years ago, and the podcast version has become its own phenomenon. Now hosted by Anna Martin, the show brings personal essays about love in all its forms to audio, blending readings with conversations that add depth and context to each story.

The column has always attracted remarkable writing from ordinary people, and the podcast preserves that quality. You'll hear essays about falling in love at 75, navigating divorce with grace, coming out to unsupportive parents, and the quiet grief of losing a partner. The writing is consistently sharp, often funny, and almost always surprising in where it ends up.

With 477 episodes in the archive, there's a lot to explore. New episodes land every Wednesday, with bonus subscriber-exclusive content on Fridays for New York Times subscribers. The show carries a 4.3-star average from over 8,400 ratings. Episodes vary in length but tend to run 20-40 minutes.

The podcast also inspired an Amazon TV series and multiple book collections, which speaks to how resonant these stories are. Martin brings a conversational warmth to her hosting, drawing out the essayists in follow-up interviews that often reveal details the original essay left out. If you care about love stories that are messy, complicated, and deeply human rather than fairy-tale perfect, Modern Love delivers that week after week. It's the kind of show that makes you feel less alone in your own relationship struggles.

The Mortified Podcast has one of the best concepts in all of podcasting: adults get on stage and read, out loud, the embarrassing things they wrote as kids. Diaries, love letters, song lyrics, school assignments. The cringe is real, and it's magnificent. Hosted by Neil Katcher and David Nadelberg, the show is part of Radiotopia from PRX and has 274 episodes in its catalog.

What sounds like a simple comedy bit turns out to be something much more affecting. A woman reads the diary entry she wrote the day her parents divorced. A man shares the love poem he wrote to his seventh-grade crush who didn't know he existed. The audience laughs, sure, but there's usually a moment in each reading where the room gets very quiet, because the embarrassment connects to something real and painful that everyone in the audience has also felt.

The show carries a 4.7-star rating from about 2,200 reviewers, and it releases new episodes biweekly. Recent seasons have included tournament-style competitions between different Mortified community chapters and celebrity guest appearances from people like Jodie Sweetin and Joey McIntyre.

Mortified has also expanded into a concert film called Mortified Nation, a Tubi series called The Mortified Guide, a kids spinoff podcast, and a card game. But the original podcast remains the heart of it all. Ad-free listening is available through Endless Radiotopia at $4.99 a month. If you need a show that's equal parts hilarious and unexpectedly touching, this is it.

The Secret Room asks guests one pointed question: what's the secret you've never told anyone? Then it gives them a full hour to answer. Host Ben Hamm has built this show around the idea that everyone is carrying a story they've kept hidden, and the podcast is the safe space to finally let it out. With 464 episodes since 2016, the show has amassed a 4.5-star rating from about 2,500 reviewers.

The secrets range from relatively mild to genuinely shocking. A woman reveals she's been living a double life for years. A man confesses to something he did as a teenager that he's never been able to forgive himself for. Someone shares the real reason they left their marriage. Hamm conducts these conversations with a steady, non-judgmental presence that encourages people to go deeper than they planned.

Episodes typically run 45 minutes to over an hour, and the interview format means you're getting a real conversation rather than a rehearsed monologue. There's also a premium tier called Secret Room Unlocked, hosted by Susie Lark, with bonus episodes available at $3.99 a month.

The show releases biweekly and carries an explicit content rating, which makes sense given the nature of confessional storytelling. If you find yourself fascinated by the private lives of strangers, The Secret Room scratches that itch better than most. It's the podcast equivalent of finding someone's diary and not being able to put it down, except the diary's owner is right there telling you everything willingly.

Lives Less Ordinary comes from the BBC World Service, and that global reach is exactly what makes it special. While most storytelling podcasts draw primarily from American experiences, this show features people from every corner of the planet. A Syrian activist. A Colombian drug trafficking survivor. A Kenyan football club owner. The geographic diversity alone sets it apart from everything else in this category.

The show is hosted by a rotating team including Emily Webb, Harry Graham, Jo Fidgen, and Saskia Edwards, and it has 211 episodes with a 4.7-star rating from about 470 reviewers. Each episode focuses on a single person telling a dramatic personal story, usually running 36 to 44 minutes. The BBC production quality is exactly what you'd expect: clean, professional, and respectful of the subject.

The storytelling here tends toward the inspirational without being saccharine. These are people who faced genuinely harrowing circumstances and found a way through. The hosts do solid work asking follow-up questions, though a few listeners have noted they occasionally steer the conversation rather than letting it flow naturally.

New episodes arrive weekly, and the show is completely free with no premium tier. The clean content rating means it's also appropriate for younger listeners, which isn't true of many storytelling podcasts. If you want to hear true stories from people whose lives look nothing like yours, from cultures and countries you might never visit, Lives Less Ordinary consistently delivers perspectives you won't find anywhere else in the podcasting world.