The 17 Best Women Podcasts (2026)

Call Her Daddy is the podcast your group chat has been quoting for years. Alex Cooper started this show back in 2018 and has turned it into one of the most-listened-to podcasts by women, period. The format is simple but effective: Alex sits down with a guest, and they actually talk. Not the polished, publicist-approved version of a conversation, but the kind where people say things that make you pause your walk and stare at your phone. She's had Michelle Obama on the show. She's had Zayn Malik open up in ways tabloids could never get him to. Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks, Dove Cameron -- the guest list reads like a who's who of people you'd want at your dinner party.

New episodes drop every Wednesday, with throwback episodes on Fridays for when you want to revisit a classic. The show runs about an hour on average, and Alex has a way of steering conversations toward the stuff that actually matters -- power dynamics, self-worth, the messy parts of relationships that nobody wants to admit out loud. She cuts through the performative nonsense with a mix of humor and directness that feels earned, not rehearsed. With over 550 episodes, a 4.4-star rating from more than 163,000 reviews, and an extremely loyal community called the Daddy Gang, this podcast has moved well beyond its early reputation. It's become a genuine cultural force for women who want honest conversations about sex, money, ambition, and everything in between.

Mel Robbins has a gift for taking research-backed psychology and making it feel like advice from your most direct, no-nonsense friend. The show drops new episodes every Monday and Thursday, each one built around a specific challenge -- breaking anxiety loops, rebuilding confidence after a setback, figuring out why you keep procrastinating on that one thing. Robbins pulls from her own experience as a bestselling author and former CNN legal analyst, but she also brings on Stanford professors, medical doctors, and therapists who add real scientific weight to the conversation. Episodes typically run between 60 and 90 minutes, which gives her room to go beyond surface-level tips. She is not afraid to share personal stories that are genuinely uncomfortable, and that vulnerability is part of what makes the advice land. The show has racked up over 370 episodes and sits at 4.7 stars with more than 13,000 ratings. Fair warning: Robbins is very energetic. If you prefer a subdued, meditative vibe, this might feel like a lot. But if you want someone who will look you in the eye (metaphorically) and tell you exactly what to do differently, she delivers. The topics range widely -- menopause, cybersecurity for families, financial planning, grief -- but the thread connecting them is always practical action you can take today.

Glennon Doyle, her wife Abby Wambach (yes, the soccer legend), and her sister Amanda host what feels like the most honest group text you have ever been invited into. The show has accumulated over half a billion plays and raised $56 million in global aid, which tells you something about the community that has formed around it. Episodes run 40 minutes to just over an hour, dropping twice weekly on Tuesdays. The format shifts between the three hosts riffing on a theme -- grief, addiction, love, body image, parenting -- and bringing in guest experts for deeper explorations. Doyle is raw about her own recovery from addiction and eating disorders, Wambach brings a competitive athlete's perspective on pushing through discomfort, and Amanda adds investigative deep-dives that feel like mini-documentaries within the podcast. What sets this show apart from typical wellness content is the refusal to wrap things up neatly. They sit in the messy middle of hard conversations rather than rushing to five-step solutions. The show carries a 4.8 rating from over 40,000 reviews, making it one of the highest-rated podcasts in its space. It leans more toward emotional wellness and relationships than nutrition or fitness, so if you are looking for supplement protocols, look elsewhere. But if you want to feel less alone in the hard parts of being human, this one delivers.

Crime Junkie is the true crime podcast that became a phenomenon, and its audience skews heavily female for good reason. Host Ashley Flowers does the deep research -- combing through court records, interviewing families, tracking down leads -- and then presents each case to co-host Brit Prawat in a conversational storytelling format. It feels like your friend telling you about a case she's been obsessing over, except your friend is a meticulous investigator.

New episodes drop every Monday, running anywhere from 28 minutes to over 90 minutes depending on the case. The show covers cold cases, missing persons, and underreported crimes that often don't get mainstream media attention. Some of their most compelling episodes have actually helped generate new leads in real investigations, and Ashley has become a genuine advocate for victims' families. With nearly 500 episodes, a 4.7-star rating from an astonishing 361,000+ reviews, Crime Junkie sits at the top of true crime podcasting for a reason. The pacing is tight, the research is thorough, and Ashley knows exactly when to let a detail land without over-explaining it. Recent standout episodes include deep investigations like the Rachel Hansen case and a lengthy interview with Elizabeth Smart. If you've ever stayed up past midnight reading about an unsolved case, this podcast was made for you.

Lisa Bilyeu doesn't do polite. After spending nearly a decade as a stay-at-home wife, she co-founded Quest Nutrition, sold it for a billion dollars, then turned around and built Impact Theory with her husband Tom. Women of Impact is where she sits across from guests who've clawed their way out of something hard and asks them exactly how they did it. The conversations get specific. When a guest mentions setting boundaries, Lisa pushes until you actually know what to say on a Tuesday afternoon when your mother-in-law calls. When someone talks about rebuilding confidence, she wants the first small action, not the abstract principle. Guests range from neuroscientists explaining why your brain sabotages you to domestic abuse survivors breaking down the exact moment they decided to leave. There are episodes with celebrities and episodes with therapists you've never heard of, and the therapist ones are often better. Lisa interrupts a lot, which some people find grating and others find refreshing, because she's asking the follow-up question you were already thinking. If you're tired of empowerment content that feels like a pep rally and want something closer to a blunt friend with receipts, this is the show. Episodes run long, usually an hour plus, and they reward listening at a walking pace.

Hosted by criminologist Dr. Amy Shlosberg and forensic psychologist Dr. Meghan Sacks, Women and Crime looks at criminal cases through a lens most true crime shows ignore — the research. Both hosts teach at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and they bring that classroom energy to every episode without making it feel like homework. Cases feature women as victims, offenders, investigators, or all three at once. They cover famous names like Aileen Wuornos and less-covered stories about women serving decades for crimes committed by abusive partners. What sets the show apart is how often the hosts stop mid-story to explain the criminology behind what's happening. Why do juries treat female defendants differently? What does the data actually say about battered woman syndrome as a legal defense? When does coercive control cross into criminal conspiracy? You get context alongside narrative, and neither one crowds out the other. The tone is conversational, sometimes wry, occasionally angry in the way two academics get angry when the system fails for predictable reasons. Episodes drop weekly and run around 45 minutes. Good for anyone who likes their true crime with footnotes and less interested in reenactments than in why things went the way they did.

HBR's Women at Work is the workplace podcast that treats office problems like actual problems — ones with research behind them and solutions you can try on Monday. Hosts Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, and a rotating cast of HBR editors unpack the stuff nobody wants to bring up in a 1:1. Salary negotiation when your boss is dodging you. Dealing with a coworker who takes credit for your work. Managing a team when you're the youngest person in the room. Navigating a return from maternity leave at a company that's technically supportive but operationally clueless. Each episode pairs a guest — often an academic or a woman with direct experience — with concrete frameworks, and the hosts push back when advice sounds too neat. One running strength is how willing they are to disagree with each other on air. Amy Gallo will cite a study; Amy Bernstein will counter with something she saw work in practice; a guest will reframe the whole question. Episodes run 30 to 45 minutes and end with specific takeaways. It's less motivational than tactical, which is the point. If you're stuck on something at work and want something smarter than a LinkedIn post, start here.

Made By Women, from iHeartPodcasts, tells the stories behind things women built, broke, ran, and invented, often without getting the credit at the time. Each episode zooms in on one person or one movement and follows the thread out into the wider world. You might hear about the woman who quietly engineered a piece of technology now in millions of homes, the founder who scaled a beauty brand from her kitchen, or the organizer who changed a labor law and never made the evening news. The host keeps the pacing brisk and the research solid, which is rare for this kind of show. It is part history, part business, part cultural commentary, and the mix works. Interviews with family members, biographers, and the women themselves when possible give the episodes a personal texture instead of a Wikipedia-style recap. Listeners who like shows such as Womanica or Stuff Mom Never Told You will feel right at home, but Made By Women tends to go a little longer on each subject. It is a good listen for anyone who wants more context on how we actually got here.

Mary Jelkovsky started this show after her own long tug-of-war with body image and the kind of perfectionism that keeps women small. Each week she sits down with authors, therapists, coaches, and friends to talk about self-love in a way that never feels like a Pinterest quote. Topics range from healing your relationship with food, to setting boundaries with family, to the messy middle of career changes and breakups. Mary is warm and funny, and she has a habit of asking the uncomfortable follow-up question most interviewers skip. Solo episodes tend to be shorter pep-talks, while guest conversations run longer and go deep on things like nervous system regulation, inner child work, and dating after disordered eating. Listeners often say it feels like calling a best friend who happens to know a lot about psychology. The show has built a loyal community of women in their twenties and thirties who are tired of toxic positivity but still want a little hope in their morning commute. If you have been looking for a self-help podcast that acknowledges the hard parts without drowning in them, this one is worth a try.

Deborah Frances-Whites The Guilty Feminist has a built-in formula that still works after hundreds of episodes: each show opens with a round of confessions that all start with Im a feminist but. The confessions are funny and petty and honest, and they set up the real conversation, which is usually a serious topic handled with a comedians touch. Deborah hosts alongside rotating comedian co-hosts and books guests across comedy, activism, politics, and the arts. Topics range from reproductive rights to body hair to imposter syndrome to how to leave a bad relationship. Its recorded live in front of an audience in London, so theres a theatrical energy to it, with laughs and applause baked in. The show manages to take feminism seriously without taking itself too seriously, which is a harder balance than it sounds. Its also one of the longer-running podcasts in the women-focused space, and Deborah has gotten sharper as a host over time, not softer.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus had one of the greatest sitcom careers in television history, and she's using that platform to do something genuinely lovely: sit down with older women and just listen. Wiser Than Me pairs Julia with iconic women who have the kind of unapologetic wisdom that only comes from decades of living -- and each episode also includes a segment with her 91-year-old mother, Judith, which is consistently the most charming part of the show.

Now in its fourth season on Lemonada Media, the podcast features hour-long conversations with guests like Diana Nyad, Glenn Close, Sister Helen Prejean, and Catherine O'Hara. The common thread is women who have stopped caring about what people think and have something real to say about it. Julia is a surprisingly skilled interviewer -- she's funny, obviously, but she also knows when to get out of the way and let her guests talk. The show has 107 episodes, a 4.7-star rating from over 10,000 reviews, and it fills a space that most media ignores entirely: the wisdom of older women. In a culture that tends to push women past a certain age out of the spotlight, this podcast pulls them back in and hands them the microphone. It's warm without being sentimental, funny without being frivolous, and genuinely moving in ways you don't expect from a comedy podcast.

Amy Poehler launched Good Hang in March 2025 and it shot straight into the podcast charts, which honestly tracks for someone who spent years on SNL and created Leslie Knope. The premise is simple: Amy invites famous people into her studio and they just talk. No self-help agenda, no productivity hacks -- the show explicitly says it is not trying to make you better. Instead, you get Amy trading stories with guests like Viola Davis, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, and Jennifer Lawrence about their careers, mutual friends, and whatever is making them laugh lately. It already has over 10,000 ratings with a 4.7-star average after just one year, which tells you people are responding to the vibe. Amy is the kind of interviewer who makes A-list guests sound like regular people. She can find the weird, specific detail in a guest life story and pull on it until you get something you have never heard before. The show mixes studio recordings with live-taped episodes, so the energy shifts between intimate and electric. Produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite Productions, it has a polished sound without feeling overproduced. New episodes drop weekly and run about an hour each. If you miss the warmth of a great late-night interview but wish it had more inside jokes and fewer commercial breaks, this is exactly that.

Susan Vollenweider and Beckett Graham have been telling the stories of remarkable women for over a decade now, and they have gotten really good at it. The History Chicks is an award-winning history podcast with 353 episodes spanning from ancient queens to modern trailblazers, and the research that goes into each episode is genuinely impressive. Boudica, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dovey Johnson Roundtree -- the range covers figures you studied in school and plenty you probably never heard of.

The format typically gives each historical woman a deep profile, often spanning multiple episodes for the bigger stories. Susan and Beckett weave in pop culture references and personal commentary that keeps things from feeling like a textbook reading. They go down rabbit holes, and they are honest about it. Sometimes those tangents are the best parts. The production has improved steadily over the years, which you would expect from a show running since 2011.

Now distributed through QCODE, the show maintains a 4.7-star rating from nearly 8,000 reviews, which is the kind of consistency that only comes from genuinely caring about your subject matter. Episodes release twice a month, giving the hosts time to do proper research rather than churning out content. If you have ever felt like history class skipped over the women, this is the corrective. The back catalog alone could keep you busy for months. The hosts have a warmth between them that makes even the heaviest historical topics feel approachable.

Sahara Rose has been the number one spirituality podcaster for eight years running, and Highest Self Podcast shows why she's held that spot. The show takes spiritual concepts -- dharma, tantra, feminine energy, manifestation -- and presents them in a way that feels accessible rather than preachy. Sahara positions herself as a spiritual best friend, and the tone genuinely matches that description. She's warm, relatable, and doesn't take herself so seriously that the show becomes inaccessible.

New episodes drop twice a week, and with over 630 episodes in the archive, there's an enormous library to explore. Recent topics have ranged from dating psychology to processing trauma, from navigating major life transitions to practical tantra teachings. The show mixes solo episodes where Sahara shares her own frameworks with guest interviews that bring in different perspectives on personal transformation. It holds a 4.8-star rating from over 5,700 reviews, and listeners consistently mention how emotionally resonant the episodes are. Sahara also runs courses and a community alongside the podcast, so there's a larger ecosystem if you want to go deeper. The sweet spot of this show is how it bridges ancient spiritual traditions with modern women's lived experiences. It never feels like she's lecturing from a mountaintop -- it feels like she figured something out and genuinely wants to share it with you.

Suze Orman has been the most recognized personal finance expert in America for over four decades, and her podcast, subtitled "and Everyone Smart Enough to Listen," brings that expertise directly to women's financial lives. The full title is cheeky and so is Suze -- she doesn't sugarcoat financial advice, and she'll tell you straight up if you're making a mistake with your money. The show runs twice a week, Thursdays and Sundays, with episodes around 30 minutes each.

The format alternates between two episode types that complement each other well. "Suze School" episodes are educational deep-dives into topics like Roth conversions, real estate strategy, retirement planning, and wealth-building fundamentals. "Ask KT & Suze Anything" episodes feature her co-host KT fielding listener questions, and the banter between them adds personality to what could otherwise be dry financial content. With over 760 episodes, a 4.8-star rating from more than 4,100 reviews, and a free community app for archives and listener Q&A, the show has built a substantial infrastructure around women's financial education. Suze's core message -- that you cannot fix a financial problem with money alone, that the emotional relationship matters -- resonates because she backs it up with specific, actionable guidance. This is the podcast that will actually change how you think about your 401(k).

Women Who Travel comes from Conde Nast Traveler, one of the most established names in travel media, and brings that editorial muscle to a podcast format focused on female-identifying travelers sharing their experiences. Host Lale Arikoglu, a Conde Nast Traveler editor, interviews adventurers, authors, and travel industry figures about solo trips, off-grid escapes, and the particular challenges and rewards women face when traveling.

With 347 episodes and a 4.3 rating from 606 reviews, the show has built a loyal following over several years of weekly episodes. Each episode runs 25 to 35 minutes, making it easy to fit a couple into a long drive. The interviews go beyond destination recommendations and into the personal stories behind the trips -- why someone decided to travel alone through Patagonia, what it's like to move abroad on a whim, or how a road trip changed someone's perspective on their own life.

The Conde Nast pedigree shows in the quality of guests and the thoughtfulness of the conversations. Lale asks questions that go past the surface level, and the show regularly features listener contributions that add real voices to the mix. Some episodes focus on practical topics like packing strategies or budget travel, while others are pure storytelling. The variety keeps the show fresh across its substantial back catalog. It's a strong pick for road trip listening because the stories are absorbing enough to hold your attention but conversational enough that you won't miss crucial details while merging onto the interstate.

Lindsey Schwartz built Powerhouse Women out of a real frustration — that so many ambitious women feel isolated in their goals, surrounded by people who don't quite get the drive. The show runs twice a week and alternates between solo episodes where Lindsey breaks down a specific mindset shift or business tactic, and longer interviews with female founders who share the messy middle of their journeys. Not just the highlight reel.

What makes this one stick is how practical it gets. Lindsey doesn't just talk about overcoming imposter syndrome in the abstract. She'll walk you through the exact framework she used to price her first offer or the conversation that changed how she thought about money. Recent episodes have tackled rebuilding trust with yourself after a setback, making the next level of success feel safe (a concept that resonated hard with listeners), and creating rapid change without burning everything down.

With over 750 episodes and a 4.9 rating from nearly 900 reviews, the audience is clearly loyal. Lindsey has a warm, direct style — she sounds like a friend who also happens to run a seven-figure business. She's not preachy about it. The entrepreneurship content leans toward online business, course creation, and community building, but the personal growth episodes translate to anyone trying to take themselves more seriously. If you're a woman building something and want a podcast that respects your intelligence while also making you feel less alone in the process, this is a strong pick.