What about the eavesdroppers
These podcasts took off in 2021
A microphone and the internet are enough to start a podcast.
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The podcast trend will continue in 2021 – these formats are the most successful in Germany.
Not least because of the Corona crisis, podcast formats of all kinds are still on the rise. Which of them are the most successful also depends on the platform on which users are streaming them. These were the most popular podcasts on Spotify and Apple in 2021.
Markus Lanz, as a newcomer, still brings the quota, “mixed hack” unchallenged
ZDF presenter Markus Lanz (52) made it into the top ten of the podcast charts in 2021 alongside the philosopher Richard David Precht (57). The podcast “LANZ & PRECHT” ranks at Apple’s number one of the best new shows, but the two do not make it into Spotify’s top list. The German-speaking podcast king “Mixed Hack” is still enthroned there, and in 2021, as in 2020, was the only German-speaking podcast in the international Spotify top ten podcasts.
Second place on Apple’s list of the best new shows goes to “Cui Bono: WTF happened to Ken Jebsen?” – the six-parter gets to the bottom of the rise and fall of the former radio presenter Ken Jebsen (55). Spotify silver goes to presenter Jan Böhmermann (40) and artist Olli Schulz (48): With Spotify-exclusive “Fest & Fluschig”, the duo has been an integral part of the podcast landscape since 2016.
The “Zeit” podcast “Verbrechen” wins bronze on Spotify: Sabine Rückert from the “Zeit” editor-in-chief has been talking to Andreas Sentker, the head of the “Zeit” knowledge department, every two weeks since 2018 about remarkable criminal cases. At Apple, on the other hand, “Steel but warm – the psychotherapy podcast with Stefanie Stahl” has started. The format, the title of which is the program, has been published every second Wednesday since the end of 2020.
Public law assert themselves
The podcast of the “Welt” business editorial team “Alles auf Aktien” ranks fourth in the list of the strongest newcomers on iTunes. The quintet around the business and financial journalists Holger Zschäpitz, Philipp Vetter, Anja Ettel, Daniel Eckert and Nando Sommerfeld discuss the latest news for up to 15 minutes a day. On Saturdays, the group is devoted to the topics of the week, on Sundays there is a break in broadcast. The fifth strongest iTunes newcomer of the year is the ZDF production “Terra X – The Podcast”: It has been published every two weeks since April and is dedicated to science and the environment.
The top five on Spotify, on the other hand, complete the daily “Tagesschau in 100 Seconds” from ARD and the true crime format “Mordlust – Crimes and their backgrounds” financed by ARD and ZDF. The journalists Paulina Krasa and Laura Wohlers get to the bottom of real-life criminal cases here every two weeks.
Award-winning podcasts 2021
You may not make it into the top five, but in 2021 you were still one of the strongest podcast newbies in Germany and won the German Podcast Prize 2021 in the summer: In “11 Lives – The World of Uli Hoeneß” the soccer podcaster Max-Jacob Ost dealt with the life of the legendary soccer manager of Bayern Munich. For this he received the German Podcast Award in the category “Best Script / Best Author”.
The jury of the German Podcast Prize awarded climate activist Luisa Neubauer (25) as “Best Newcomer” with “1.5 degrees – The climate podcast with Luisa Neubauer”. According to the jury, the best “talk team” is Giulia Becker and Chris Sommer: They make “Drinnies – The Podcast Out of the Comfort Zone”; “Trauma Love Parade – 10 Years After the Disaster” was awarded as “Best Production”.