I won't be of much help if you're looking for fiction suggestions. All but one of my podcasts are non-fiction.
Penumbra (specifically Juno Steele) - a private detective who lives on Mars in the distant future doubts himself and falls in love with a homme fatale thief, fabulous engrossing storytelling, inspires thousands of words of fan fiction from people like my 21 year old
Oh! Looking in my podcast feed I found another fiction one I'd forgotten about because it was a short series and hasn't had a new episode in years:
Passenger List - a woman is determined to find out what happened in the mysterious disappearance of the flight on which her brother was aboard
I subscribe to 48 active podcasts (and bunch more that aren't currently active) so I'll try to pick just a handful of favorites to share. By the way, no, I do not manage to listen to all episodes of all of my subscriptions. I wish I had more time for them and delete a lot. I fit more in by listening at 1.5x or 1.75x speed most of the time.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - the first podcast I ever subscribed to when I first decided to try podcasts in 2017, chosen because it's an NPR game show I enjoyed catching on the car radio some Saturday mornings if I happened to be driving at the right time, it's still one of my top favorites I never miss
Stuff You Should Know - one of the best, most fun casual informational podcasts ever, a top favorite; they also have a wonderful fandom in a Facebook community, where there is lots of respectful discussion about the topics of every episode
Vox Conversations - current events, social issues, politics
This American Life - real stories about people
99% Invisible - design and architecture, I love the voice of the narrator
TED Talks Daily and TED Radio Hour - technology, science, another of my first subscriptions but my interest in the episodes varies widely from week to week
The Sleepy Bookshelf - I just discovered it this summer, the very soft spoken narrator slowly lulls us to sleep reading old books like (currently) Little Women; I'm liking it a lot
Pod Save America - politics
Off Trail Learning - alternative education
Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger - He wrote How Not To Die, which I found very informative in 2021, and his aim is to share science-backed data for free
NPR News Now - updates every five minutes with current news (but reloads in podcast feed so there's only ever one episode there)
Now & Then - connecting current events with history, one of the hosts is historian Heather Cox Richardson who writes a lot online about the same topics, very enlightening, a top favorite
No Stupid Questions - light hearted psychology
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver - she interviews interesting people asking the same seven questions
Mac Power Users - I'm not a power user, but sometimes find useful information, and they talk about all devices, not just the Mac
Friendly Atheist Podcast - two hosts discuss news related to religion
Freakonomics Radio - economy and so much more, a top favorite
The Ezra Klein Show - I first started listening to him on Vox, and then he started his own podcast. He interviews people on all kinds of current events. A top favorite.
Dear Hank & John - Do you know John and Hank Green of vlogbrothers, one of the oldest channels on YouTube? Also both are authors (John wrote The Fault In Our Stars, which was made into a movie). They raise a lot of money for charity (like building a maternity hospital in Sierra Leone) and have a huge internet following called Nerdfighteria. They're also responsible for Crash Course History/Science/Etc and SciShow and lots and lots of other wonderful educational content on YouTube. My kids loved Crash Course History with John Green when they were young. In their podcast, they answer fans' questions, give dubious and hilarious advice, talk about this week's news in AFC Wimbledon and Mars. I never miss an episode.
The Argument - discussion about current events
Fresh Air - NPR interviews with Terry Gross
The following are currently inactive, but I would LOVE them to come back.
The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green (see above) rates all kinds of things in essay form. He has also published a book of the same title. I highly recommend both. Watch him on vlogbrothers a few times first if you're curious but not ready to commit to a book or podcast. He often moves me to tears with the depth/love/curiosity he expresses.
The Day One Podcast - They used to share how to information and updates this way. Day One is my awesome journaling app and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes recording their life or thoughts.
Random Interesting Facts by Thoughty2 - he's primarily a fantastic storyteller on YouTube, publishing there weekly, stories from real life that are often incredible and sometimes creepy. I rarely miss an episode. His podcasts are just as good, but he stopped doing them in 2021.
