Twenty years ago, Apple added support for podcasts to its iTunes app. The Cupertino firm is celebrating that 20th anniversary by posting a new web page highlighting 20 podcasts that the company loves.
At Apple Podcasts, we love podcasts.
Since the medium came to iTunes in 2005, our team has dedicated countless hours to helping people discover new shows. To celebrate 20 years, here are 20 favorites that best exemplify how far podcasting has come—and where it can go in the next two decades.
This list is a love letter to the podcasts that left a lasting impact on us and the ones we continue to recommend again and again. They are shows with hosts that feel like friends, and shows that make us press play immediately on the latest episode to hear what happens next. These shows have measurably improved our lives and helped define this medium we know and love.
Explore the list and join the celebration.
Apple has organized the podcasts by five year periods: 2005-2010, 2011-2015, 2016-2020, and 2021-2025.
Featured podcasts include This American Life, Acquired, The Daily, and others.
The official date for Apple adding podcast support to iTunes in version 4.9 is June 28,2005.
“Apple is taking Podcasting mainstream by building it right into iTunes,” said Steve Jobs, in a press release. “Podcasting is the next generation of radio, and users can now subscribe to over 3,000 free Podcasts and have each new episode automatically delivered over the Internet to their computer and iPod.”
“Podcast” is a combination of “iPod” and “broadcast.” The earliest use of “podcasting” was credited to The Guardian columnist and BBC journalist Ben Hammersley, who coined it in early February 2004 in a Guardian newspaper article.
