Midterms Haven't Started Yet, But These Podcasts Are Already Winning

Here's something I didn't expect: a podcast about election numbers is outranking most of the true crime shows flooding the market right now. Almost.

Nate Silver's new show "Still Counting" just landed at number three on Podchaser's September ranking of the hottest new podcasts in the country. Third place, with a Power Score of 68. Not bad for a show built around spreadsheets and polling data.

Why does this matter to you? Because it tells you something about where people are putting their attention as the midterms close in. And because it's one more proof point that podcasting keeps rewriting the rules of who gets heard and how.

The Numbers Guy Finds His Audience

Silver teams up with political journalist Clare Malone and Galen Druke, who used to host the FiveThirtyEight podcast, for "Still Counting." It's a Crooked Media production, and the format is simple: three smart people talking weekly about politics, betting markets, AI, and what the numbers actually mean once you strip away the spin.

That's the appeal, isn't it? We're drowning in hot takes. A show that says "here's what the data shows, here's what might happen next" cuts through the noise. With the November midterms bearing down on us, that kind of analysis is exactly what a lot of people are hungry for.

"Still Counting" landed just behind two true crime shows. "The Poisoned Wife," an Australian investigation into a 1986 unsolved murder, took the top spot with a 69. iHeartPodcasts' "The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart" grabbed second with a 68. True crime isn't going anywhere, but politics is crowding into its space this month.

Another political entry worth noting: "Natural Causes," hosted by Dr. James Stout, came in sixth with a 66. It looks at environmental issues through a political lens, tying together conservation, agriculture, food sovereignty, and Indigenous land rights. Not your typical politics podcast, and that's probably why it's climbing.

Radio Voices Keep Showing Up in New Places

This is the part that really gets me. Over and over, I see radio personalities who built their careers on-air making a smooth jump into podcasting, and doing well there.

Jon Justice, a familiar name from Minneapolis talk radio, is back on the list at number 12 with a 62. His show, presented by the Center of the American Experiment, runs the same weekday morning format he perfected over years behind the mic, now streaming live from 6 to 9am across digital platforms.

Then there's "Fantasy Football World," sitting at number five with a 66. Paul Charchian, Scott Fish, Brian Johnson, and Mat Harrison spent three decades together on Minneapolis sports radio station KFXN, and that chemistry didn't disappear when the format changed. It just moved to a new platform.

Detroit's got a strong showing too. "Spike and Hank," pairing former "Mojo in the Morning" co-host Spike with TV journalist Hank Winchester, ranks eighth with a 64. Spike launched this show the moment his noncompete with WKQI expired. Back in July, Podchaser named it the month's biggest new podcast launch, pulling in close to 980,000 listeners right out of the gate.

And ESPN's Mike Golic Sr. and Jr. reunited for "The Golics," landing at 21 with a 59.

Why This Should Make You Curious

I love watching this shift happen. These aren't has-beens trying to stay relevant. They're people who built real skills, real relationships, real trust with an audience, and found a new way to keep doing what they do best. No studio, no corporate format restrictions, no one telling them what they can and can't say. Just a microphone and an audience that follows them wherever they go.

That's freedom, if you ask me. The kind of freedom to reinvent how you work, on your own terms, at any stage of your career.

Podchaser's ranking only counts shows less than 90 days old, so this list refreshes constantly. New voices, new formats, new experiments happening every single month.

So here's my question for you: what's stopping you from trying something new, whatever your "new" looks like? These radio veterans didn't wait for permission. Neither should you.

Source: Insideradio.com

Catch up on our earlier post: From Zero to iHeart: What Emma Paige Klipstein's Podcast Deal Teaches Us About Starting Over