Best Podcasts and Audiobooks for Road Trips
Best Podcasts and Audiobooks for Road Trips
Despite what you see in films, road trips aren’t always exciting. Let’s face it, traffic jams and route diversions are no fun. With the right entertainment, you can turn these situations to your advantage. While music is a classic way to soundtrack your journey, sometimes, you might get bored of playlists, or encounter clash tastes with others in the car. Enter the podcast. There’s thousands of great podcasts and audiobooks around, and plenty of options to entertain you throughout the journey, but with so much variety on offer, it’s hard to know where to start - or what to choose.
We’ve created a list of some of the most interesting podcasts and top podcasts for travelling to, plus tailored audiobook recommendations to make your journey more enjoyable.
Fancy some Fiction?
If fiction’s what you’re after, there’s a whole range of fantastic podcasts and audiobooks in this genre. Our top fiction podcasts and audiobooks for road trips include:
Funny Fiction
For those with a love for comedy fiction, internet conspiracy culture, and secret societies, the podcast Two Flat Earthers Kidnap a Freemason has got it all. If you weren’t already sold from the title alone, the story follows flat-earthers Randy Dunning and Gayle Kruger in their desperate quest for internet fame. Hilariously dark and captivating, this is one of our favourite fiction car podcasts on the list.
Podcast: Two Flat Earthers Kidnap a Freemason
Made by: Good Pointe
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
Thriller & Suspense
There’s a wide selection of top thriller and suspense fiction to listen to, including Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family. This wickedly warped story follows antiheroine and protagonist Grace Bernard as she makes it her mission to do away with the family of her deadbeat millionaire dad. Perfect for those with a love for dark humour, revenge plots and villainesses you feel strange rooting for.
Audiobook: How to Kill Your Family
Made by: Bella Mackie
Where can I find it? Apple Books & Audible
Sci-Fi
A top audiobook perfect for Sci-Fi and dystopia lovers is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. The book follows Klara, a wholesome service ‘Artificial Friend’ robot who watches the world go by from a store, where she waits to be bought. The novel takes a surprising twist, as Klara continues to observe, exploring what love truly is and the complications it brings.
Audiobook: Klara and the Sun
Made by: Kazuo Ishiguro
Where can I find it? Apple Books & Audible
Free Fiction
If you’re looking for free audiobooks, there’s a number of different places you can find them. You can find free audiobooks on providers like Spotify and Apple Books. Additionally, Audible offers a 30-day free trial, which includes a complimentary credit you can use to purchase and keep any title. The best free audiobooks on Apple Books include well-known classics like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The top free audiobooks available to you will depend on the provider you’re listening to them with.
Interesting Interviews
If you’re more into interviews, there’s a number of interesting podcasts that’ll be right up your street - opening up opinions and ideas from fascinating people. Provoke your thoughts with topical interviews from the following podcasts.
Impressive People
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver is one of the most addictive podcasts on our list. Join Oscar nominated actress Minnie Driver as she sits down with impressive people from all walks of life, including the CEO of 23andMe, a Holocaust survivor, musicians, journalists and more. While Minnie’s interviews feature guests with entirely different stories and backgrounds, all of her interviews consist of the same seven ‘mini questions’. The approach helps reveal her interviewees’ perceptions on love, belonging, happiness and more.
Podcast: Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
Made by: iHeartPodcasts
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
Inspiring ideas
Hosted by Head of TED Chris Anderson, The TED Interview is another top series in our list of interesting podcasts. Six seasons in, the podcast is still just as intriguing - questioning some of the most powerful and controversial ideas of today. From looking to the future with Bill Gates to exploring our brain's ‘hacked’ version of reality with Donald Hoffman, if you’re searching for thought provoking ideas of modern times, The TED Interview could be for you.
Podcast: The TED Interview
Made by: TED
Where can I find it? TED, Spotify, Amazon Music & Apple Podcasts
Success and Failure
Unlike many podcasts which celebrate the interviewees’ success, the interview podcast Without Fail also celebrates failure. Host Alex Blumberg sits with entrepreneurs, athletes, artists and more, discussing not only their successes but also their failures and the lessons learnt from both. The show offers up a fascinating list of guests, including Megan Phelps-Roper, who left the infamous Westboro Baptists Church she was raised in, and cyclist whistleblower Jonathan Vaughters.
Podcast: Without Fail
Made by: Gimlet
Where can I find it? Spotify
Comedy Podcasts
The Comedy Podcast genre offers a huge variety of laugh-out-loud listens. Here’s a couple of our top podcasts to have a chuckle to.
Queer Awakenings
If you’re in the mood for something upbeat with a hilarious niche theme, check out Queers Gone By. Through the podcast, hosts Caitlin Powell and Kate Butch delve into top childhood films, TV shows and snacks in an attempt to find what made them queer. Follow Powell and Butch as they look at Bob the Builder, Shrek and more, through the ‘gayest lens imaginable’ in search of their queer roots.
Podcast: Queers Gone By
Made by: Caitlin Powell and Kate Butch
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
Broadcaster Banter
Another in our list of top podcasts in comedy is Fortunately… with Fi and Jane. Through the show, renowned hosts Fi Glover and Jane Garvey give listeners a comical look into their personal lives. Sharing stories based on their own experiences, the two iconic broadcasters bring themselves down to earth in a hilarious, and often relatable, way. The show regularly hosts exciting and interesting guests, including Nick Grimshaw, Jacqueline Wilson and Fearn Cotton. For those wanting a whitty peek behind the scenes of top broadcasters, this is the show for you.
Podcast: Fortunately… with Fi and Jane
Made by: BBC Radio 4
Where can I find it? BBC Radio 4, Spotify & Apple Podcasts
Top True Crime Podcasts
If you want to pass time on your road trip with bone-chilling cases, here’s some top true crime and mystery podcasts to check out.
For True Crime Addicts
Undoubtedly one of the best spotify podcasts in the true crime genre, Crime Junkie is a weekly podcast dedicated to giving listeners their hit of grisly cases. Hosted by self-proclaimed crime junkie Ashley Flowers, this podcast explores the detailed ins and outs of truly chilling cases. Not only does the podcast give its listeners their crime junkie fix, it also raises awareness of unsolved cases, and encourages people who have any information about them to speak up.
Podcast: Crime Junkie
Made by: audiochuck
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
For All Things Spooky
Hosted by autopsy technician Alaina Urquhart-White and hairstylist Ashleigh Kelly, the Morbid podcast looks into creepy histories, true crime and other spooky happenings. From unsolved cases to astounding survival stories, this podcast has it all. Stories are heavily researched and presented with a pinch of comedy to keep things both entertaining and gripping. One of the top seriously addictive podcasts well worth a listen.
Podcast: Morbid
Made by: Morbid Network | Wondery
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
Travelling with the Family
There are tons of podcasts and audiobooks great for family travels and road trips. Whether you’re looking for travel inspo or something to listen to along the way, there’s a podcast for every member of the family.
For Family Travel Inspo
The Family Travel Podcast is on a mission to help listeners plan adventures of all sizes. This top travel podcast is packed with tips, guides, and real life stories on families taking their dream trips. Topics vary from why you shouldn’t ruin your holiday with a diet, to travelling with young children while your partner stays at home. If you have kids, this is arguably one of the best podcasts for travel, showing that once-in-a-lifetime holidays aren’t exclusive to the super-rich.
Podcast: The Family Travel Podcast
Made by: A Big Peachy Adventure
Where can I find it? Spotify & Apple Podcasts
For Family Road Trips
If you’re looking for kid-friendly podcasts, Storynory offers a range of beautifully read stories for all the family to enjoy. The podcast collects classic stories from across the globe to share with listeners in addition to songs, educational interviews, and more. Episodes are short with many lasting under 20 minutes - some under 10 - great for engaging little ones or those with short attention spans.
Podcast: Storynory - Audio Stories for Kids
Made by: Storynory
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
For Fun Learning
Podcasts don’t just have to be entertaining, and some of the best ones can help you learn something along the way. If you’re travelling with children, there’s a load of fun, educational podcasts suitable for such a trip. For example, those after the best history podcast for kids might want to look at The Past and The Curious. A great, family-friendly car podcast, The Past and The Curious takes lesser-known aspects of world history and spins them into fun, informative stories. As the podcast focuses on world history’s hidden gems, even the adults can learn something too.
Podcast: The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families
Made by: Mick Sullivan
Where can I find it? Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts & Audible
