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 18 Jan 2026

Country

Main category

Sub category

Date

01/18/2026

Average data

Episodes: 224

Frequency: every 246 days

Duration: 00:47:11

Top 5 authors

1. iHeartPodcasts (7 shows)

2. Ky Dickens (2 shows)

3. BBC Sounds (2 shows)

4. Ear Hustle & Radiotopia (2 shows)

5. Sony Music Entertainment (2 shows)

Top 5 hosting

1. Megaphone (19 shows)

2. Omny Studio (17 shows)

3. Acast (11 shows)

4. PRX (9 shows)

5. Spreaker (6 shows)

Rank	Name	Artist	Main Category	Eps	Hosting	Score
1	Criminal	Vox Media Podcast Network	True Crime	489	Megaphone	63
2	Freakonomics Radio	Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher	Society & Culture	1005	Simplecast	38
3	Sword and Scale	Sword and Scale	True Crime	115	Spreaker	84
4	The Telepathy Tapes Details temporarily unavailable	Ky Dickens	Society & Culture	88	Acast	84
5	Something Was Wrong	Broken Cycle Media	True Crime	377	Audioboom	62
6	Black Box: The Chatbots	The Guardian	Society & Culture	51	Acast	68
7	The Why Files: Operation Podcast	The Why Files: Operation Podcast	Society & Culture	302	Megaphone	42
8	This Is Actually Happening	Audible	Society & Culture	526	ART19	68
9	Adrift	Apple TV / Blanchard House	Society & Culture	9	ART19	69
10	Classical Music Happy Hour	WNYC, WQXR	Music	27	Simplecast	63
11	A Whole Other Country	Marfa Public Radio	Society & Culture	7	PRX	59
12	Danny Jones Podcast	Danny Jones \| Daylight Media	Society & Culture	431	Megaphone	32
13	The Hidden Third	Mariana van Zeller	Society & Culture	47	Megaphone	48
14	The Brothers Ortiz	Campside Media & iHeart Podcasts	Society & Culture	11	Omny Studio	79
15	Curse of: America’s Next Top Model	iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts	Society & Culture	18	Omny Studio	58
16	Lights Out Library: Sleep Documentaries	Olimpia Pérez	Society & Culture	140	Megaphone	68
17	The Turning - Seasons 1, 2 & 3	iHeartPodcasts and Rococo Punch	Society & Culture	42	Omny Studio	63
18	World of Secrets	BBC	Society & Culture	98	BBC	53
19	Ear Hustle	Ear Hustle & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	187	PRX	79
20	What It Was Like	Superreal	Society & Culture	93	Acast	79
21	Left To Their Own Devices	Toronto Star	Society & Culture	13	Libsyn	68
22	Lucky Boy \| Tortoise Investigates	The Observer	Society & Culture	120	Acast	73
23	Law Enforcement Talk: True Crime and Trauma Stories	John "Jay" Wiley	Society & Culture	605	Omny Studio	59
24	Noble	Wavland	Society & Culture	12	Simplecast	63
25	Sold a Story	APM Reports	Society & Culture	23	American Public Media	62
26	Hyperfixed	Alex Goldman & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	54	PRX	64
27	Flightless Bird	David Farrier	Society & Culture	210	Megaphone	38
28	The Documentary Podcast	BBC World Service	Society & Culture	2000	BBC	33
29	Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World	Jimmy Akin	Society & Culture	300	Unknown	42
30	Decoder Ring	Slate Podcasts	Society & Culture	162	Acast	69
31	Radio Ambulante	My Cultura, Radio Ambulante and iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	369	Omny Studio	73
32	Tough Cookie: The Wally “Famous” Amos Story	Vanity Fair	Society & Culture	8	PRX	53
33	Sasquatch Odyssey	Sasquatch Odyssey-Bigfoot Encounters	Society & Culture	766	Spreaker	64
34	The Palisades Fire: A Sandcastles Special	Wave Maker Media	Society & Culture	9	PRX	69
35	The Powers of Darkness Podcast	Or Whatever Movies	Society & Culture	7	Libsyn	58
36	The Missing Cryptoqueen	BBC Sounds	Society & Culture	25	BBC	33
37	Real Life Ghost Stories	Real Life Ghost Stories	Society & Culture	1187	Acast	59
38	The Crux True Survival Stories	The Crux True Survival Stories	Society & Culture	263	Spreaker	69
39	Boomtown	Imperative Entertainment and Texas Monthly	Society & Culture	15	Megaphone	64
40	Surviving El Chapo: The Twins Who Brought Down A Drug Lord	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	26	Omny Studio	63
41	The Paranormal Podcast	Jim Harold	Society & Culture	14	Megaphone	52
42	Uncanny	BBC Radio 4	Society & Culture	170	BBC	38
43	Next Question with Katie Couric	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	432	Omny Studio	63
44	Our American Stories	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	2004	Omny Studio	43
45	Strangers on a Bench	Tom Rosenthal	Society & Culture	100	Acast	59
46	Sweet Bobby	Tortoise Media	Society & Culture	9	Acast	79
47	The Vanishing of Janis Rose	Sony Music Entertainment	Society & Culture	8	Megaphone	58
48	Dalton Fischer Podcast	Dalton Fischer	Society & Culture	22	Buzzsprout	42
49	Creepy Shit	Creepy Shit	Society & Culture	72	Audioboom	58
50	pepe&chema podcast	pepe&chema	Society & Culture	204	Megaphone	32
51	Belief Hole \| Paranormal, Mysteries and Other Tasty Thought Snacks	SpectreVision Radio	Society & Culture	154	Megaphone	63
52	The Underworld Podcast	The Underworld Podcast	Society & Culture	278	Megaphone	43
53	Wind of Change	Pineapple Street Studios / Crooked Media / Spotify	Society & Culture	16	Megaphone	53
54	The Brohio Podcast	Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, Paranormal, Famous Murders, Cryptozoology, Strange Occurrences, Monsters, UFOs, True Crime, Demons, Occult, Urban Legends, Comedy	Society & Culture	521	Spreaker	43
55	The Commune	Stuff Audio	Society & Culture	13	Megaphone	63
56	Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	45	Omny Studio	48
57	5CAST w/ Andrew Callaghan	Andrew Callaghan	Society & Culture	31	Buzzsprout	38
58	The Shrink Next Door	Audible \| Bloomberg	Society & Culture	3	ART19	63
59	Latino USA	My Cultura, Futuro and iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	699	Omny Studio	53
60	JAXXON PODCAST	Jaxxon Podcast	Society & Culture	352	Spotify for Podcasters	38
61	JFK The Enduring Secret	Jeff Crudele	Society & Culture	395	Buzzsprout	83
62	Alien UFO Podcast Details temporarily unavailable	Simon Bown	Society & Culture	423	Simplecast	63
63	Relatos Forenses Podcast	pepe&chema	Society & Culture	265	Megaphone	32
64	Weight For It	ohitsBigRon Studios	Society & Culture	25	PRX	84
65	Heretics \| Andrew Gold	Andrew Gold	Society & Culture	705	Megaphone	53
66	The Loop	Ear Hustle & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	7	PRX	64
67	The Agent	Imperative Entertainment	Society & Culture	16	Megaphone	59
68	The Know Rogan Experience	Cross Pond Productions	Society & Culture	86	Libsyn	62
69	搞钱女孩	搞钱女孩小辉	Society & Culture	187	Ximalaya	53
70	The Harvard Plan	The Boston Globe	Society & Culture	8	Megaphone	63
71	The Telepathy Tapes	Ky Dickens	Society & Culture	94	ART19	83
72	Scene on Radio	Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University	Society & Culture	140	PRX	59
73	Radio Diaries	Radio Diaries & Radiotopia	Society & Culture	271	PRX	43
74	Art Bell Back in Time	Art Bell Back in Time	Society & Culture	3	Spotify for Podcasters	53
75	Be Amazed	Be Amazed	Society & Culture	490	RedCircle	43
76	Prometheus Lens	Justin Brown	Society & Culture	553	Spreaker	74
77	Hysterical	Audible \| Pineapple Street Studios	Society & Culture	4	ART19	63
78	An Arm and a Leg	An Arm and a Leg	Society & Culture	170	Omny Studio	89
79	Into The Fog with Peter Laws	Peter Laws	Society & Culture	82	Spotify for Podcasters	32
80	Stolen Lives True Crime	Stolen Lives True Crime	Society & Culture	292	Audioboom	58
81	Johnathan Walton Media	Johnathan Walton	Society & Culture	47	RedCircle	73
82	All My Relations Podcast	Matika Wilbur & Temryss Lane	Society & Culture	76	Buzzsprout	62
83	Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities	Audacy	Society & Culture	92	WideOrbit	68
84	I’m Not a Monster Presents… Where is Austin Tice?	BBC Sounds	Society & Culture	31	BBC	58
85	Mind Games	Kaleidoscope	Society & Culture	11	Omny Studio	53
86	Lucky Boy	Gary Marshall	Documentary	6	N/A	N/A
87	Thunder Bay	Canadaland	Society & Culture	12	Acast	63
88	Atonement: The John Paulk Story	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	7	Omny Studio	58
89	The Whispering Woods : Real Life Ghost & Paranormal Stories	True, Scary, Paranormal, Folklore and Ghost Stories	Society & Culture	635	Acast	69
90	BioHacked: Family Secrets	Sony Music Entertainment	Society & Culture	14	Megaphone	48
91	Jungle Prince	The New York Times	Society & Culture	3	Simplecast	63
92	The Secret World of Roald Dahl	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	14	Omny Studio	78
93	ChannelB پادکست فارسی	Ali Bandari	Society & Culture	105	Acast	69
94	Her Audacity Podcast	Ceci Hendrickson & Nikki Knudson	Society & Culture	21	Podbean	52
95	Diggin' Oak Island	Dave McBride	Society & Culture	100	Podbean	48
96	Army of Normal Folks	iHeartPodcasts	Society & Culture	479	Omny Studio	68
97	Thrilling Threads - Conspiracy Theories, Strange Phenomena, True Crime, Unsolved Mysteries, etc!	Byte & Pieces	Society & Culture	1000	Spreaker	79
98	Song of Philadelphia	Julien Suaudeau	Society & Culture	14	Libsyn	63
99	Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever	iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope	Society & Culture	22	Omny Studio	68
100	Everyone Has An Ex	Mamamia Podcasts	Society & Culture	96	Omny Studio	89

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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