Call Her Daddy / Unwell Network (Alex Cooper)
What started as a candid dating & advice podcast has evolved into a full media brand — and 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for its expansion and reinvention.
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Beyond audio: In January 2025, Unwell launched a YouTube channel featuring Read It and Weep, a BookTok-style discussion show hosted by Kierra Lewis. The idea: mix short-form video, literary conversation, and Gen Z sensibility. Business Insider
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Network & distribution deals: The Unwell Network (parent of Call Her Daddy) inked a multiyear deal with SiriusXM, bringing more exclusive content, ad inventory, and distribution muscle.
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Live & music crossovers: To push the boundaries of the brand, Unwell launched two new live channels on SiriusXM — Unwell Music and Unwell On Air — curating daily playlists, branded shows, and live interactions with Unwell talent.
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Talent moves & shifts: Under its umbrella, Unwell continues to acquire or incubate influencer-podcasts. One recent addition: Phoebe Gates (Bill Gates’s daughter) launching a new podcast under the Unwell banner.
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Challenges & rights issues: A notable shakeup — Alix Earle’s Hot Mess was put on indefinite hiatus; Alex Cooper publicly clarified that Unwell had “returned all rights” and was not behind the pause.
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Brand diversification & personal narrative: Cooper is not just podcasting. The brand is launching consumer goods (e.g. an electrolyte beverage line under Unwell), and viewers will soon get a deeper look into her life via Call Her Alex, a Hulu docuseries debuting June 2025.
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Audience & metrics: Call Her Daddy remains a heavyweight, especially among younger listeners. The show continues to attract millions of weekly downloads; its audience is central to the “Daddy Gang” community.
All told, Call Her Daddy and Unwell are textbook examples of a podcast scaling into a multimedia ecosystem — audio, video, live, retail, and influencer synergy.
In the Dark (New Yorker Podcast)
When most podcasts chase fast virality, In the Dark doubles down on deep reporting, slow narrative, and accountability journalism. Its third season, released in 2024–2025, has cemented the show’s place as one of the most important investigative podcasts in the world.
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Season 3 — Haditha, Iraq & war crimes: This season reexamines the 2005 killing of 24 civilians in Haditha by U.S. Marines, and explores why no one was held accountable. It scrutinizes institutional failures within the military justice system and explores narratives suppressed by power structures.
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Awards & recognition: In 2025, In the Dark‘s third season won a Peabody Award for its investigative storytelling. Around the same time, TIME named In the Dark the best podcast to emerge from the 2010s true crime boom.
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Legacy & context: The podcast originally launched in 2016, with earlier seasons delving into the Jacob Wetterling disappearance (S1) and the Curtis Flowers case (S2). Under The New Yorker’s stewardship (from 2023 on), it has maintained — and expanded — its journalistic rigor.
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Multimedia & interactivity: Season 3 included a companion interactive piece — Cleared by Fire — blending audio, visuals, and archival documents to deepen the listener’s engagement.
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Why it matters in 2025: In an era of short attention spans and algorithmic content, In the Dark demonstrates that audiences still value substance, accountability, and depth. Its success is a bulwark for long-form journalism in podcast form.
MK True Crime
If any genre refuses to fade out, it’s true crime. MK True Crime is one of 2025’s breakout success stories, proving that even new entrants can capture listener attention.
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It topped Apple Podcasts’ “Top New Shows” list for 2025. That kind of early traction is rare — especially given how crowded the true crime podcast landscape is. (Note: direct citation is thin in sources I found, but this was part of the original list you provided — if you want, I can verify exact rankings and stats.)
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Its content style is typical of modern true crime: immersive narrative, attention to victim voices, careful pacing, and a focus on unsolved or underreported cases.
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What may distinguish it going forward is how it builds audience trust early — by choosing fresh cases, investing in research, and launching companion content (maps, bonus episodes, transcripts).
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Its rise signals that even in 2025, new true crime shows can break into top charts — so long as they bring quality, narrative voice, and authenticity.
Giggly Squad
Gossip, lifestyle, and friendship-driven podcasts are evolving, and Giggly Squad is one of the ones to watch.
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Hosted by Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner, Giggly Squad leans into the “podcast girlie” space — mixing celebrity news, life confessions, relationship banter, and listener Q&A. The relational tone is intimate and casual, not overly produced.
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What’s new in 2025: the show is increasingly leveraging cross-platform engagement — behind-the-scenes content on TikTok, Instagram “stories” segments, live listener calls, and supplemental micro-podcasts (5 to 10 minute “bonus chat” episodes).
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The hosts are cultivating a parasocial connection: listeners often feel like friends, and the show leans into that by occasionally reading listener voice notes, answering DMs, or doing “listener stories” episodes.
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As gossip / life content continues to attract generous ad dollars (especially in female-targeted verticals), Giggly Squad is positioned to monetize audience loyalty through merch, live events, and brand partnerships.
Social Media / Advertising Podcasts
Even in 2025, for marketers trying to stay ahead of trends, certain shows remain essential:
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Social Media Marketing Podcast (by Social Media Examiner) keeps pacing with changes in algorithms, ad policies, creators, and tools.
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Marketing Over Coffee persists as a weekly low-noise podcast that combines digital marketing trends with timeless principles.
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The CMO Podcast is still a go-to for marketing leaders — interviewing CMOs, discussing strategy, new martech, and brand challenges.
These shows thrive by staying nimble, covering emergent tools (e.g. AI content tools, short-form video trends, creator monetization) while retaining core marketing wisdom.
Media & Journalism Podcasts
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Channels with Peter Kafka (Vox Media Podcast Network): Kafka’s interviews dive deep into media, tech, power, operations, disruption. Leaders in journalism, streaming, platform evolution, and media business show up as guests.
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Mediawatch (BBC Radio 4): Though legacy radio, its podcast version examines media trends, fake news, business models, regulatory pressures, and public trust in journalism.
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Citations Needed (Nima Shirazi & Adam Johnson): A rising voice in media criticism, PR scrutiny, and power dynamics. Less formal, more ideological, but gaining influence in media circles.
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The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices: focused on publishing, media strategy, business models, mergers, monetization approaches, and how publishers should adapt to the digital landscape.
These shows matter in 2025 not just for commentary — but as sounding boards and intelligence centers for media professionals, creators, and publishers.
Branded Podcasts & Corporate Audio Strategy
2025 has also seen brands (non-media entities) double down on podcasting as a content strategy:
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Lists like “The 50 Best Branded Podcasts of 2025” highlight how consumer brands, SaaS firms, niche B2B players, and nonprofits are launching podcast series to build thought leadership and deepen community.
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For example, meal-kit or health brands may run wellness podcasts, fintech firms host founder interview shows, or software companies produce technical/developer podcasts.
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The successful branded podcasts tend to (a) have a clear content mission aligned with brand purpose, (b) hire external podcasting talent or producers, (c) reinvest in editing / audio quality / promotion, and (d) cross-promote heavily across their customer base.
In many ways, the distinction between “real podcasts” and brand-backed ones is narrowing — listeners often care less about who produces it and more about whether it’s useful, interesting, or emotionally resonant.
