Best Podcasts For High School Students (Updated 2025)
High school is a launchpad. Good podcasts can widen what students know, sharpen how they think, and offer real-world perspective. Below are classroom-appropriate options organized by purpose: Academic & Intellectual, Career & Entrepreneurship, and Personal Growth. Assign an episode, build a listening journal, or let students explore independently.
Note: Some podcasts cover mature themes. Preview before assigning.
Academic & Intellectual
- Ologies with Alie Ward — science fields, real researchers, accessible explanations (use “Smologies” for school-friendly cuts)
- 99% Invisible — design and architecture shaping everyday life
- Radiolab — science, philosophy, and deep-question storytelling
- Stuff You Should Know — explainer show covering science, culture, and history
- Philosophize This! — approachable philosophy and ideas
- The Allusionist — language, words, and meaning
- Throughline — historical context behind modern issues
- Freakonomics Radio — economics + human behavior + data storytelling
Career & Entrepreneurship
- How I Built This — founder stories, innovation, setbacks, resilience
- The Indicator (Planet Money) — short explainers on work, money, and decisions
- Deep Questions with Cal Newport — focus, productivity, tech boundaries, meaningful work
- Financial Feminist — personal finance for young adults (preview for tone/language)
- American Innovations — technology breakthroughs and the people behind them
Personal Growth & Inspiration
- TED Talks Daily — bite-sized big ideas across fields
- The Happiness Lab — science-based well-being strategies
- Life Kit — practical guidance for studying, money, health, habits
- On Being — conversations about meaning, identity, and humanity
- Hidden Brain — psychology, behavior, and thoughtful human stories
General & Special Interest
- The Daily — concise deep dive on one major news story
- Serial — narrative journalism (use original season selectively)
- This American Life — narrative non-fiction and human storytelling
- This Teenage Life — student voices and real high school experiences
- The Mortified Podcast — adults reading old teen diaries (preview before class)
- Welcome to Night Vale — surreal fiction in radio-broadcast style
- Crimetown — crime & politics (use selectively in upper HS only)
Quick Classroom Ideas
- One-Episode Reflection: Identify one claim the episode makes and evidence supporting it.
- Compare Formats: Listen + read an article on same topic, compare how ideas are developed.
- Podcast Journal: Students track episodes, insights, questions, and real-world connections.