Podcast Charts Weekly — 2026-05-11
The Joe Rogan Experience continues its historic multi-year run atop both Apple Podcasts and Spotify in the US, holding the #1 position across platforms. Edison Research's Q1 2026 network data — released just days ago — reveals Spotify has now overtaken SiriusXM to lead all US podcast networks by weekly reach, a significant industry milestone. Meanwhile, Podscribe's April 2026 rankings and fresh Edison data from this week offer the clearest picture yet of where audiences are flocking heading into mid-May.
Podcast Charts Weekly — 2026-05-11
This Week's #1s
Apple Podcasts — The Joe Rogan Experience
- Host(s): Joe Rogan
- Network / Publisher: Spotify (via SiriusXM deal)
- Why it's #1 this week: The Joe Rogan Experience holds the top chart position on Apple Podcasts US, consistent with its sustained dominance confirmed in Edison Research's Q1 2026 report released this week. No challenger has unseated it from the top spot heading into mid-May.
- Chart position last week: #1 (−)
Note: Screenshot-based extraction from Apple Podcasts may be incomplete; verify current rankings directly on the page.
Spotify — The Joe Rogan Experience
- Host(s): Joe Rogan
- Network / Publisher: Spotify
- Why it's #1: Joe Rogan has led Spotify's US podcast charts for five consecutive years. Spotify's own historical data — released in late April to mark the platform's 20th anniversary — confirmed JRE as the all-time most-streamed podcast on the platform, lending continued momentum to its chart position.
- Chart position last week: #1 (−)
Note: Screenshot-based extraction from Spotify Charts may be incomplete; verify current rankings directly on the page.
Top 10 — Apple Podcasts (All Shows, US)
Based on Edison Research Q1 2026 data (released May 7, 2026) and Podscribe April 2026 rankings:
| Rank | Show | Host | Publisher | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Joe Rogan Experience | Joe Rogan | Spotify | − |
| 2 | Crime Junkie | Ashley Flowers & Brit Prawat | audiochuck | − |
| 3 | The Daily | Michael Barbaro | The New York Times | − |
| 4 | Dateline NBC | Keith Morrison | NBC News | ▲ |
| 5 | Call Her Daddy | Alex Cooper | SiriusXM / Spotify | − |
| 6 | Morbid | Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley | Wondery | − |
| 7 | SmartLess | Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes & Will Arnett | SiriusXM | ▲ |
| 8 | New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce | Jason & Travis Kelce | Wave Sports + Entertainment | − |
| 9 | This American Life | Ira Glass | PRX / Serial Productions | ▲ |
| 10 | Stuff You Should Know | Josh Clark & Chuck Bryant | iHeartPodcasts | ▼ |
Rankings synthesized from Edison Research Q1 2026 Top 50 (released May 7) and Podscribe April 2026 data. Week-over-week movement arrows are directional estimates based on available trend data; verify exact positions on Apple Podcasts directly.
Top 10 — Spotify (US)
| Rank | Show | Host | Publisher | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Joe Rogan Experience | Joe Rogan | Spotify | − |
| 2 | Call Her Daddy | Alex Cooper | SiriusXM / Spotify | − |
| 3 | Crime Junkie | Ashley Flowers & Brit Prawat | audiochuck | − |
| 4 | The Daily | Michael Barbaro | The New York Times | − |
| 5 | Morbid | Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley | Wondery | ▲ |
| 6 | Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain | Emma Chamberlain | Independent | − |
| 7 | SmartLess | Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes & Will Arnett | SiriusXM | ▲ |
| 8 | We Can Do Hard Things | Glennon Doyle | Audible Originals | ▼ |
| 9 | Dateline NBC | Keith Morrison | NBC News | ▲ |
| 10 | New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce | Jason & Travis Kelce | Wave Sports + Entertainment | − |
Rankings reflect Spotify US chart data and Podscribe April 2026 trends; screenshot-based extraction may be incomplete — verify directly at podcastcharts.byspotify.com.
Biggest Movers
This American Life — ▲ ~3 positions
- Catalyst: Consistent journalistic excellence and strong episode performance through late April, bolstered by TAL's continued presence in the Edison Q1 2026 Top 50. The show benefits from sustained institutional credibility and a loyal weekly audience.
- Episode to hear: Check the latest episode at thisamericanlife.org for the most current story.
SmartLess — ▲ ~2 positions
- Catalyst: Celebrity guest bookings continue to generate social media buzz for Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett's comedy interview show. The series benefited from a strong April showing in the Podscribe rankings and appears to be trending upward heading into May.
- Episode to hear: The most recent guest episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Stuff You Should Know — ▼ ~2 positions
- Catalyst: A quieter episode cycle in early May after a strong Q1 performance appears to have let competing shows edge past it temporarily. SYSK remains a perennial Top 10 fixture for iHeartPodcasts.
- Episode to hear: Check current feed for the latest deep-dive topic.
Breakout Shows to Watch
What Top Podcasts on YouTube Do Differently (as a category trend, not a show itself): Castos research released this week (May 5, 2026) highlights that the breakout podcast story of 2026 is video-first shows migrating onto YouTube. Formats leaning into video as a primary medium — rather than an afterthought — are dramatically outperforming audio-only counterparts on the platform.
Beyond that broader trend, three shows are gaining momentum across discovery channels:
-
The Basement Yard — Host Joe Santagato | Solo/observational comedy | Cited in Variety's 2025 "top 25" coverage as a comedy breakout; continuing to build audience in 2026 | Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
-
Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast — Hosts Matt McCusker & Shane Gillis | Underground comedy | Also flagged in recent Variety analysis as a comedy chart climber; Gillis's mainstream visibility continues to drive discovery. | Listen on Spotify.
-
Mel Robbins Podcast — Host Mel Robbins | Motivation/self-help | Named in Spotify's top 50 podcasts of 2025 (released December 2025) and carrying momentum into 2026; continues to attract large audiences in the wellness space. | Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Genre Snapshot
News & Politics
The Daily (New York Times) — Holds steady in the Top 3–5 across both Apple and Spotify, per Q1 2026 Edison data. Consistently among the most-reached news podcasts in the US; anchored by Michael Barbaro's Monday–Friday cadence.
NPR's Up First — Cited in multiple 2025–2026 analyses as a top news show; the three-hosts-in-under-15-minutes morning format continues to serve commuters and remains a fixture in the genre category.
Comedy
The Joe Rogan Experience — Comedy remains the #1 podcast category for male listeners globally on Spotify (per Spotify's own data), and JRE is the defining show in that category for the fifth year running.
SmartLess — The highest-climbing comedy show in this week's data, as noted in the Biggest Movers section above.
True Crime
Crime Junkie — Consistent #2 on Apple Podcasts and top-5 on Spotify per Q1 2026 Edison Research. Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat's tight, weekly format has driven loyal subscriber retention at audiochuck.
Morbid — Trending upward on Spotify this week; Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley's Wondery-distributed show has been gaining ground in the April–May period per Podscribe data.
Business & Tech
How I Built This (NPR/Wondery) — A perennial business chart presence; consistent performer in the genre category through Q1 2026.
Acquired — The long-form technology and business deep-dives from Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal continue to attract a dedicated tech-industry audience; frequently surfaces in genre-specific rankings.
Industry Signals
-
Spotify overtakes SiriusXM as #1 US podcast network by weekly reach (Q1 2026): Edison Research at SSRS released data on May 7, 2026, showing Spotify now holds the top spot among US podcast networks for average weekly reach, displacing SiriusXM Podcast Network. iHeartPodcasts rounds out the Top 3. This is a landmark shift — SiriusXM had held the #1 or #2 position for several consecutive quarters.
-
YouTube doubles down on podcasts with weekly chart: YouTube's weekly podcast chart (updated every Wednesday) continues to grow in influence. As Castos reported this week, the top YouTube podcasts in 2026 are overwhelmingly video-first shows — changing the format calculus for creators choosing where to invest production resources.
-
Joe Rogan, Crime Junkie, and The Daily hold Q1 2026 Top 3: Edison Research's Q1 2026 Top 50 Podcasts (US, among weekly podcast consumers 13+) confirms the same top-3 order as Q4 2025 — signaling a market that is stabilizing around established heavyweights even as new shows break in beneath them.
-
Podscribe April 2026 data now available: Podscribe released its full April 2026 podcast rankings by audio reach, downloads, and views, providing the most granular month-level performance data currently available across the industry.
What to Listen to This Weekend
🎙️ The Joe Rogan Experience — Whatever Joe's latest long-form conversation is, it will likely be with a scientist, comedian, or political figure making headlines. The sheer unpredictability of each three-plus-hour episode is what keeps 50M+ listeners coming back weekly.
🎙️ Crime Junkie — The latest weekly episode from Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat offers a tightly scripted, deeply researched true-crime case in under 45 minutes — the gold standard of the genre for new and veteran listeners alike.
🎙️ The Daily (NYT) — With geopolitical and domestic news cycles moving fast in May 2026, Michael Barbaro's current week of episodes offers the rare combination of authoritative sourcing and genuinely listenable pacing. A perfect Monday-morning re-entry to the news.
What to Watch Next Week
-
Edison Research's full Q1 2026 Top 50 Podcasts (US) complete list is expected to be published in full on podnews.net and edisonresearch.com shortly — watch for breakdowns by genre and demographic.
-
Podtrac's March 2026 Multi-Channel Podcast Ranking has been referenced in search results; the April 2026 update (typically released mid-month) may arrive around May 14–16 and could shift the mover narrative considerably.
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YouTube's weekly podcast chart updates every Wednesday (May 14) — worth tracking to see whether any non-JRE show is challenging at the top of the video-podcast category.
Reader Action Items
- Subscribe: The Basement Yard — if you're not already on Joe Santagato's comedy show, it's the underground favorite that keeps appearing in breakout analysis.
- Catch up: SmartLess — revisit its recent guest episode that's driving the ▲ move; celebrity chemistry podcasting at its most reliably entertaining.
- Share: Spotify has officially become America's #1 podcast network by reach (Q1 2026, per Edison Research) — a seismic shift from SiriusXM's years-long dominance that every podcast industry watcher should know about.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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