The best thing about podcasts is that you can listen to them while you’re doing other things: Washing dishes, going for a run, coloring, and especially, driving. But there are so many podcasts these days that it’s simply impossible to keep up. There are new ones debuting all the time, and it’s hard to know whether they deserve a spot in your feed.
Every week, we highlight new and returning podcasts we couldn’t put down. Whether you’re looking for the latest and greatest or you’re just dipping your toe into the vast ocean of podcasts, we’ll find you something worth listening to. This week, we’ve got podcasts about a hitman manual, a deep dive into Chicago’s South Side, and a 12-year-old science fan.
A Catholic school made news recently for banning the Harry Potter series. Students were at risk of “conjuring evil spells,” said the school’s pastor. But Harry Potter is a work of fiction, not a how-to manual.
Can a book be deadly? Should one, even a manual for murder, be banned? These questions drive Hit Man as host Jasmyn Morris recounts what happened when a man seemed to follow a mysterious book’s instructions to the letter. He ended up killing three people, including a four-year-old. Morris is also trying to discover the identity of the author, perhaps to figure out if he or she feels culpable in any way. In tandem, Morris speaks with members of the Horn family, whose lives were destroyed by murders.
When I was 12 and had a science question, I had to look up the answers in an encyclopedia or, perhaps, Encarta it.
Tai Poole is 12 and is curious about how the world works. Not satisfied by a mere Google search, he finds experts willing to answer his many queries. Whether he’s trying to figure out if his brother can train ducks or what happens after you die, his questions are thoughtful and reactions are often entertaining. Even adults are likely to learn something, like what it means when a shrimp is bioluminescencing at you.
Lots of people have opinions about Chicago’s South Side, including those who have never set foot there. But the area isn’t one adjective, one set of statistics, or even one neighborhood.
Hosts Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin are the duo behind Comedy Central’s South Side. Instead of creating a podcast about the show, they wanted to introduce listeners to the area’s residents. In episode one, you meet Rosemary, who just might convince you to buy a bedroom set without even visiting her store. Comedian Kellye Howard rides along with a police officer in episode two, and he shows his courage with an anecdote about a bad joke.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.