10 Female-Hosted Podcasts to Listen to

In the spirit of celebrating women today, the Quill team put together a list of some of our favourite female-hosted podcasts to tune in to today (and everyday). This is by no means a complete list of all the incredible podcasts out there that are created and hosted by women, just a small number of a few of our favorites:

Cover art for We Can Do Hard Things: a close portrait of Glennon Doyle smiling, tinted deep magenta, the title in pale blue lettering with her name beneath

1. We Can Do Hard Things

The first podcast on our list is by famous author, Glennon Doyle. In this podcast, Glennon shares stories, wisdom, and experiences around how we all can truly do hard things and accomplish more than we think we can.

Glennon sometimes brings on guests to her show or she just sits down with a microphone and talks to listeners. She also does an incredible job at connecting to listeners and empowering all of us to tackle what life throws at us.

Cover art for Unladylike: the word unladylike stacked in rounded magenta and white letters casting a long black shadow on a turquoise ground

2. Unladylike

Hosted by Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin, Unladlylike is exploring what happens when women break the rules. Each podcast episode is on a hunt to answer a specific question that could be considered “rule breaking” by society.

The podcast is heavily researched, providing listeners with facts and engaging stories. Pretty much any listener can find a question that they relate to, maybe were even too scared to ask. Cristen and Caroline make you feel comfortable and inspired with every conversation.

Cover art for Unlocking Us, a Spotify Original from Parcast: a pale blue key with a heart-shaped bow over a sunburst of muted paper stripes, the title and Brené Brown's name below

3. Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

Hosted by the one and only Brené Brown, Unlocking Us is a refreshing authentic, raw, and vulnerable conversation between Brené and a guest. As Brené says, the conversations are meant to challenge her, teach her, confuse her, or even at points, frustrate her. But the goal of them all is to showcase the messiness that is being human.

Brené also shares some of her latest research with listeners so you can always be up to date with what the famous author is working on.

Cover art for @betches: the three Betches founders in black and white, cut out against a hot pink ground printed with rows of @BETCHES in blue capitals

4. @betches

A roundtable discussion with the Betches founders, Aleen Dreksler, Jordana Abraham, and Sami Sage, @betches is breaking down all things in pop culture.

Every week the group sits down to discuss the latest in celebrity news, the top TV and movies out at the moment, and of course, you’ll be laughing throughout the majority of the episode. If you’re in the mood for some hot takes, tune in to @betches to feel a part of their group chat.

Cover art for Stuff Mom Never Told You: the title in blue and purple neon tube lettering on a dark brick wall, with the iHeartRadio heart mark in one corner

5. Stuff Mom Never Told You

As you can guess by the name, Stuff Mom Never Told You is covering topics and discussions around everything and anything that comes along with being a woman-identifying individual. Each episode is showered with research to better equip you with the knowledge on more difficult or confusing issues.

Hosts Anney and Samantha have done a great job at cultivating a welcoming environment for all listeners who come across their show.

Cover art for The Rachel Maddow Show, from MSNBC: Rachel Maddow in dark-rimmed glasses and a black jacket against torn grey and blue paper, the title in white capitals on a red band

6. The Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow is giving listeners a breakdown of what’s going on around the world in an engaging, illuminating, and dynamic way. The podcast does an amazing job at connecting the dots on complex issues to help the listeners better understand the state of the globe.

A key focus of the podcast is around transparency where Rachel also calls for accountability by our world leaders. The podcast releases episodes every night Monday through Friday to give listeners the latest and most up-to-date news.

Cover art for Invisibilia, from NPR: the title in tall white serif capitals on teal, with two grey flowers and the pale outline of two faces in profile, the NPR logo top left

7. Invisibilia

Launching in 2015, Invisibilia has become a popular podcast within the audio sphere. Hosted by Yowei Shaw and Kia Miakka Natisse (previously hosted by Alix Spiegel, Hanna Rosin and Lulu Miller), Invisibilia is exploring the invisible forces that shape human behaviour.

The podcasts covers ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and emotions to tell stories about humans and uncover fascinating new psychological and brain science. The goal of the podcast is to change the way that listeners think, feel, and live their life, understanding all the possibilities that are out there.

Cover art for My Favorite Murder: Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark side by side in black against a dark ground, the title above them in ransom-note cut-out letters

8. My Favorite Murder

A true crime podcast infused with some incredible comedy, My Favorite Murder is hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. The podcast has continued to break global download records and built a strong, dedicated, and tuned in community of listeners (which they call Murderinos).

Each episode of the podcast features stories of true crime and murder shared by either Karen and Georgia or friends, family, and even fans. This keeps each episode refreshing, entertaining, and always hilarious.

Cover art for Death, Sex & Money, from WNYC Studios: the title in heavy black capitals with a yellow ampersand on cream, Anna Sale's name on a yellow band and the WNYC Studios wordmark below

9. Death, Sex & Money

Hosted by Anna Sale, Death, Sex & Money is diving deep in conversations with celebrities you’ve definitely heard of as well as regular people that you most likely haven’t. Anna and her guests cover topics and discussions around things that need to be talked about more among humans.

Everything from relationships, money, work, and making it all count, Death, Sex & Money covers the big stuff in an authentic, inspiring and connected way.

Cover art for The Michelle Obama Podcast, a Spotify Original from Higher Ground: Michelle Obama smiling in an off-the-shoulder grey sweater against muted green, the title in yellow capitals

10. The Michelle Obama Podcast

And last but definitely not least on our list, The Michelle Obama Podcast. A Spotify Original, The Michelle Obama Podcast launched in 2020 during a time where we all needed to feel connected due to the global pandemic.

Each episode of the podcast features intimate discussions between the former First Lady and family, friends, and colleagues. The discussions all circle around the relationships we have in our lives that make us who we are today.

Also check out our article on the top female owned podcast companies and the influential women in podcasting!