Apple Podcast Rankings - USA - Documentary

Discover the Top 100 Podcasts in USA

Explore the latest data-driven rankings of the top 100 podcasts in USA. Our comprehensive analysis covers the best Apple Podcasts across various categories, providing insights into the most popular shows, episode lengths, publication frequencies, and leading hosting services. Whether you're a podcast creator or an avid listener, find the top-ranked podcasts that everyone is tuning into right now.

Podcast charts from 12 Jan 2026

Country

Main category

Sub category

Date

01/12/2026

Average data

Episodes: 220

Frequency: every 242 days

Duration: 00:46:53

Top 5 authors

1. iHeartPodcasts (3 shows)

2. pepe&chema (2 shows)

3. BBC Sounds (2 shows)

4. Sony Music Entertainment (2 shows)

5. Ear Hustle & Radiotopia (2 shows)

Top 5 hosting

1. Megaphone (20 shows)

2. Acast (13 shows)

3. Omny Studio (11 shows)

4. PRX (9 shows)

5. Simplecast (8 shows)

Rank	Name	Artist	Main Category	Eps	Hosting	Score
1	A Whole Other Country	Marfa Public Radio	Society & Culture	9	PRX	69
2	Sword and Scale	Sword and Scale	True Crime	22	Spreaker	84
3	Freakonomics Radio	Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher	Society & Culture	945	Simplecast	38
4	The Telepathy Tapes Details temporarily unavailable	Ky Dickens	Society & Culture	88	Acast	84
5	Criminal	Vox Media Podcast Network	True Crime	414	Megaphone	63
6	Adrift	Apple TV / Blanchard House	Society & Culture	10	ART19	63
7	Something Was Wrong	Broken Cycle Media	True Crime	379	Audioboom	62
8	This Is Actually Happening	Audible Original	Society & Culture	358	ART19	68
9	Black Box: The Chatbots	The Guardian	Society & Culture	51	Acast	68
10	The Brothers Ortiz	Campside Media & iHeart Podcasts	Society & Culture	11	Omny Studio	79
11	The Why Files: Operation Podcast	The Why Files: Operation Podcast	Society & Culture	314	Megaphone	42
12	Curse of: Miss America	iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts	Society & Culture	20	Omny Studio	63
13	Danny Jones Podcast	Danny Jones \| Daylight Media	Society & Culture	444	Megaphone	32
14	Lights Out Library: Sleep Documentaries	Olimpia Pérez	Society & Culture	146	Megaphone	68
15	The Turning - Seasons 1, 2 & 3	iHeartPodcasts and Rococo Punch	Society & Culture	42	Omny Studio	63
16	The Hidden Third	Mariana van Zeller	Society & Culture	55	Megaphone	48
17	Left To Their Own Devices	Toronto Star	Society & Culture	13	Libsyn	68
18	World of Secrets	BBC	Society & Culture	101	BBC	53
19	Sold a Story	APM Reports	Society & Culture	28	American Public Media	62
20	Tough Cookie: The Wally “Famous” Amos Story	Vanity Fair	Society & Culture	8	PRX	53
21	Flightless Bird	David Farrier	Society & Culture	219	Megaphone	38
22	The Documentary Podcast	BBC World Service	Society & Culture	2000	BBC	33
23	Classical Music Happy Hour	WNYC, WQXR	Music	29	Simplecast	63
24	Law Enforcement Talk: True Crime and Trauma Stories	John "Jay" Wiley, Bleav	Society & Culture	600	Simplecast	69
25	What It Was Like	Superreal	Society & Culture	105	Acast	79
26	Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World	Jimmy Akin	Society & Culture	300	Unknown	42
27	Ear Hustle	Ear Hustle & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	192	PRX	79
28	Radio Ambulante	My Cultura, Radio Ambulante and iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	372	Omny Studio	73
29	The Powers of Darkness Podcast	Or Whatever Movies	Society & Culture	12	Libsyn	62
30	Decoder Ring	Slate Podcasts	Society & Culture	167	Acast	69
31	The Palisades Fire: A Sandcastles Special	Wave Maker Media	Society & Culture	9	PRX	69
32	Boomtown	Imperative Entertainment and Texas Monthly	Society & Culture	15	Megaphone	64
33	Hyperfixed	Alex Goldman & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	58	PRX	74
34	The Missing Cryptoqueen	BBC Sounds	Society & Culture	25	BBC	33
35	Uncanny	BBC Radio 4	Society & Culture	130	BBC	38
36	Next Question with Katie Couric	Katie Couric Media	Society & Culture	443	Acast	53
37	The Shrink Next Door	Audible Original \| Bloomberg	Society & Culture	5	ART19	63
38	Sasquatch Odyssey	Sasquatch Odyssey-Bigfoot Encounters	Society & Culture	766	Spreaker	64
39	The Crux True Survival Stories	The Crux True Survival Stories	Society & Culture	271	Spreaker	69
40	Strangers on a Bench	Tom Rosenthal	Society & Culture	100	Acast	59
41	Spiral \| Tortoise Investigates	The Observer	Society & Culture	117	Acast	73
42	Latino USA	My Cultura, Futuro and iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	713	Omny Studio	53
43	Real Life Ghost Stories	Real Life Ghost Stories	Society & Culture	1207	Acast	59
44	Dalton Fischer Podcast	Dalton Fischer	Society & Culture	23	Buzzsprout	42
45	Noble	Wavland	Society & Culture	12	Simplecast	63
46	The Vanishing of Janis Rose	Sony Music Entertainment	Society & Culture	8	Megaphone	58
47	The Harvard Plan	The Boston Globe	Society & Culture	8	Megaphone	63
48	Sweet Bobby	Tortoise Media	Society & Culture	3	Acast	79
49	Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	52	Omny Studio	48
50	Wind of Change	Pineapple Street Studios / Crooked Media / Spotify	Society & Culture	16	Megaphone	53
51	Our American Stories	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	2004	Omny Studio	43
52	The Paranormal Podcast	Jim Harold	Society & Culture	14	Megaphone	52
53	The Commune	Stuff Audio	Society & Culture	13	Megaphone	63
54	I’m Not a Monster Presents… Where is Austin Tice?	BBC Sounds	Society & Culture	38	BBC	58
55	Art Bell Back in Time	Art Bell Back in Time	Society & Culture	3	Spotify for Podcasters	53
56	搞钱女孩	搞钱女孩小辉	Society & Culture	193	Ximalaya	53
57	Heretics \| Andrew Gold	Andrew Gold	Society & Culture	709	Megaphone	53
58	The Underworld Podcast	The Underworld Podcast	Society & Culture	285	Megaphone	43
59	Belief Hole \| Paranormal, Mysteries and Other Tasty Thought Snacks	SpectreVision Radio	Society & Culture	157	Megaphone	63
60	Debt Heads	Jamie Feldman & Rachel Webster	Society & Culture	13	Transistor	73
61	pepe&chema podcast	pepe&chema	Society & Culture	211	Megaphone	32
62	JFK The Enduring Secret	Jeff Crudele	Society & Culture	412	Buzzsprout	83
63	Prometheus Lens	Justin Brown	Society & Culture	582	Spreaker	74
64	Hysterical	Audible Original \| Pineapple Street Studios	Society & Culture	5	ART19	63
65	Surviving El Chapo: The Twins Who Brought Down A Drug Lord	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	26	Omny Studio	63
66	JAXXON PODCAST	Jaxxon Podcast	Society & Culture	358	Spotify for Podcasters	38
67	The Agent	Imperative Entertainment	Society & Culture	16	Megaphone	59
68	Relatos Forenses Podcast	pepe&chema	Society & Culture	278	Megaphone	32
69	Creepy Shit	Creepy Shit	Society & Culture	73	Audioboom	58
70	Scene on Radio	Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University	Society & Culture	141	PRX	59
71	Weight For It	ohitsBigRon Studios	Society & Culture	25	PRX	84
72	Jungle Prince	The New York Times	Society & Culture	3	Simplecast	63
73	The Loop	Ear Hustle & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	7	PRX	64
74	The Brohio Podcast	Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, Paranormal, Famous Murders, Cryptozoology, Strange Occurrences, Monsters, UFOs, True Crime, Demons, Occult, Urban Legends, Comedy	Society & Culture	530	Spreaker	43
75	ChannelB پادکست فارسی	Ali Bandari	Society & Culture	105	Acast	69
76	The Know Rogan Experience	Cross Pond Productions	Society & Culture	94	Libsyn	62
77	Thunder Bay	Canadaland	Society & Culture	14	Acast	59
78	BioHacked: Family Secrets	Sony Music Entertainment	Society & Culture	14	Megaphone	48
79	Alien UFO Podcast Details temporarily unavailable	Simon Bown	Society & Culture	423	Simplecast	63
80	Adrfit	The Adrift Podcast	Society & Culture	9	Spreaker	43
81	Be Amazed	Be Amazed	Society & Culture	504	RedCircle	43
82	Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities	Audacy	Society & Culture	99	WideOrbit	68
83	Lucky Boy	Gary Marshall	Documentary	6	N/A	N/A
84	The Whispering Woods : True Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters	True, Scary, Paranormal, Folklore and Ghost Stories	Society & Culture	675	Acast	69
85	Inconceivable Truth	audiochuck	Society & Culture	12	Simplecast	63
86	Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever	iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope	Society & Culture	23	Omny Studio	68
87	Threshold	Auricle Productions	Society & Culture	147	Captivate	38
88	Everyone Has An Ex	Mamamia Podcasts	Society & Culture	100	Omny Studio	89
89	Leaving Eden Podcast	Leaving Eden LLC	Society & Culture	346	Acast	64
90	When The Wolves Came	Meanings of Democracy Lab	Society & Culture	7	ART19	63
91	Thrilling Threads - Conspiracy Theories, Strange Phenomena, True Crime, Unsolved Mysteries, etc!	Byte & Pieces	Society & Culture	1000	Spreaker	79
92	Into The Fog with Peter Laws	Peter Laws	Society & Culture	91	Spotify for Podcasters	32
93	First America	Pushkin Industries	History	34	Omny Studio	63
94	All My Relations Podcast	Matika Wilbur & Temryss Lane	Society & Culture	78	Buzzsprout	62
95	Johnathan Walton Media	Johnathan Walton	Society & Culture	54	RedCircle	73
96	The Improvement Association	Serial Productions & The New York Times	Society & Culture	7	Simplecast	58
97	Radio Diaries	Radio Diaries & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	274	PRX	43
98	Family Lore	Audacy	History	27	WideOrbit	73
99	Stolen Lives True Crime	Stolen Lives True Crime	Society & Culture	300	Audioboom	58
100	On Assignment	Reuters	Society & Culture	55	Megaphone	53

Understanding Podcast Rankings and Trends in USA

The podcast landscape in USA is constantly evolving, with new shows emerging and established ones climbing the ranks. Our data reveals intriguing trends in podcasting, such as the average number of episodes produced, typical episode lengths, and the most consistent publication schedules. These insights can help listeners find their next favorite podcast and give creators a deeper understanding of what resonates with their audience.

For those interested in podcast creation, knowing the best hosting services and the most successful authors in your category can provide a competitive edge. Whether you're looking to start your own show or just want to see what's popular, this ranking offers a valuable snapshot of the podcasting world in USA.
Explore more data on podcast rankings by diving into other categories and countries, and stay ahead in the ever-changing podcast scene.

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