With millions of podcasts in dozens of genres and subgenres, the world of podcasts can be intimidating for beginners who don’t know where to start. Here are four podcasts, from daily news to crime, that might help ease your transition into an avid podcast listener. 

“No Such Thing As a Fish”

The British weekly podcast series “No Such Thing As a Fish” is organized and hosted by researchers behind the BBC Two panel game, QI: James Hardin, Andrew Murray, Anna Ptaszynski and Dan Schreiber. In each episode, they introduce and elaborate on the most fascinating fact they found that week. The facts presented are honestly trivial, like how a man in 1567 with the world’s longest beard tripped on it and died, but the randomness and comical delivery of each fact is what makes the podcast impressively entertaining and upbeat. It is one of the few podcasts that is always bound to put you in a cheerful mood and have you constantly reminiscing on the curious facts you heard that week.

“Duolingo Spanish Podcast”

If you take Spanish or want to start learning Spanish, then you can improve daily just by listening to “Duolingo Spanish Podcast.” Told in Spanish, but narrated in English, the podcast is composed of extraordinary, true stories of people from Central and South America. The podcast helps Spanish learners learn new vocabulary and phrases through context clues, while also improving listening comprehension skills through the exposure to various Spanish accents. Unlike many other Spanish language learning podcasts that can often bore and tire listeners, Duolingo makes the language learning experience exciting, interesting and something to look forward to. 

“The Daily”

Produced by The New York Times, “The Daily” is a daily news podcast hosted by political journalist Michael Barbaro. The episodes consist of interviews with other Times journalists, as well as audio recordings related to the people involved in the story. The podcast’s succinct yet informative and engaging format will easily convince you to engrain an episode of “The Daily” into your daily routine. The best part is most of the episodes are around half an hour, allowing even those with busy schedules to catch up on the most far-reaching news of the day. 

“RedHanded”

Hosted by British chums Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala, “RedHanded” is a weekly true crime podcast that investigates real-life scares, from murders to mysteries, with in-depth narration. Every episode explains a crime or mystery with incredible research and knowledge that will hook you from the first episode. The way the hosts examine crime through thoughtful storytelling and casual humor makes you feel as if you are relaxing around a campfire, telling scary stories with your friends.