The best podcasts of the year for Spanish audio creators

consumption

in Spain has doubled in one year, reaching an average of 9.5 hours of listening per week compared to the 4.7 hours per week registered in the previous year, according to the annual report of the Ivoox Observatory, published in September 2022. It was the year that Prisa Audio organized the first Ondas Globales Podcast Awards.

There were 888 applications and for its second edition, whose presentation of projects closes these days, that figure has already been exceeded.

We consulted with several experts about their five favorite titles of the year, plus an extra recommendation in English.

Martín Cruz Farga, sound director of 'Las Raras Podcast'

'Song Exploder' (Where Media and Radiotopia)

This Spanish adaptation of the renowned

definitely lives up to the hype.

Its realization is impeccable and the selection of its guests is a luxury.

It is also an excellent example of a

that puts sound at the center of the concept and production.

'Blum' (The Extraordinary)

This Spanish fictional

about a journalist looking for a missing art historian in Switzerland has a very different tone from the typical

.

The script is perfect for the audio and together with the sound design they create a very attractive imagery.

This is important because, furthermore, this is a

, the most subtle I've heard so far.

'Cuir: Dissident Stories' (Erick Yáñez and This is not radio)

This Mexican narrative

tells real stories from the LGBTIQ+ community with intimate interviews, first-person narration and its own sound proposal.

This is an interesting example of how important

can be in making underrepresented stories visible and creating safe communities.

'Intoxicated' (Amphibian Podcast for Spotify)

This Argentine documentary

tells the story of the murder committed in 2018 by the famous rocker Pity Álvarez.

With in-depth research and various sound resources, he tells us about rock, the suburbs of Buenos Aires, fame, drugs and mental health.

'Today in El País' (EL PAÍS Audio)

It has been interesting to see (and listen) from afar the birth and consolidation of this project.

The challenge of doing a daily

is enormous.

But his team has been able to make very good use of the capital that working with journalists from

means .

Mar Abad, editorial director and co-founder of the El Extraordinario label

'Mystery in La Moraleja' (True Story for Spotify)

for its premise.

[The journalist Eva Lamarca goes to the richest neighborhood in Spain to try to find out who was the only voter for Podemos in the 2021 regional elections].

'Companions' (Sonora)

A spectacular documentary about the history of Podemos.

'Cabinet of Curiosities' (Podium Podcast)

An institution, with the sweetness of Nuria Pérez.

'Returned' (Sonora)

A spectacular sound fiction by Chilean Julio Rojas [about a scientific expedition on Mars].

'The Signature of God' (Podium Podcast)

A very intelligent script, with a colossal sound design by Teo Rodríguez.

[In 2024, a new virus ravages the world.

His behavior, which seems to respond to a conscious will, does not take long to shatter the paradigm of science].

Camila Scher, Amazon Music podcast director

'Costa Nostra' (La Maldita for Amazon Music)

At the risk of being biased, I can't help but award first place to one of the house's productions.

It's very hard not to when you know the story behind his story.

This

is not only one of Amazon Music's most ambitious projects in 2022, but it was also on a personal level.

A meticulous journalistic investigation that explores, led by Antonio Pampliega, the architecture and

of the criminal organizations that make up the so-called " mafia

" on the Costa del Sol.

'Blum'

(The Extraordinary)

A

between

and experimental essay.

A sound fiction that makes us travel by train, visit museums and cross mountainous landscapes without leaving the place.

But perhaps the most impressive thing is that it exercises the hypothesis that plastic art extends beyond sight, putting all our senses to the test.

An exquisite execution.

'Blum', a 'podcast' from The Extraordinary.

'Ladies with mink' (El Terrat for Amazon Music)

It started as a

with four friends 15 years ago and became the first

original Amazon Music

Behind this project, a series of bets that exceed its own conversational essence come together to turn it into a creative experiment: continue amplifying female voices;

make visible narratives that go beyond the

or

problems that over-index listening platforms today;

and explore a

story where a group

becomes a source of energy that feeds the themes of each episode.

Warning: you don't have to be a lady or have a mink to laugh out loud.

'Intoxicated' (Amphibian Podcast for Spotify)

As an Argentine born in the nineties, it is practically impossible for me not to feel crossed by this story.

To foreign ears it may sound like the novel of a neighborhood kid, an addict, a murderer, a rock star.

But the truth is that this is a universal story of a pagan hero who descended into hell and never came back.

Pity Álvarez drank the water of the Styx River until he was

.

Cover of 'Intoxicated'.

'Tepito.

Barrio Brava' (Sound with Wondery / Amazon)

One of the aspects that —personally— most attract me to

is that it still maintains its countercultural essence.

We chose it as the star format to amplify those voices that do not reach an echo in traditional media.

Like those who live in Tepito, a neighborhood located in Mexico City and one of the most dangerous in Latin America.

There, it is the women who —putting their soul and body— keep the neighborhood on its feet.

Eugenio Viñas, creative editor at Prisa Media

'History is yesterday' (The Extraordinary)

Marcus H. extracts oil from the garbage thanks to the archaeologist Alfredo González Ruibal.

Are objects—a brick, Air Jordans, a VHS—the most stimulating way to tell the contemporary story?

Andreu Quesada's sound design is fascinating in this nonfiction miniseries.

'Lambs' (Podium Podcast)

A suffocating

written for audio with a lot of skill.

Not only is it a great story;

it becomes the best vehicle to soak up the shadows that threaten the students of a religious school where ghosts of this world inhabit.

'Revival Territory' (Rotor Media)

It is very difficult for me to choose between so many conversational, but I think that 2022 has been his year.

YouTube program, which expands on Twitch, which cannot be understood without its direct, without its geek knowledge pills for networks, and which works great on audio platforms.

'Leaks' (Antibia Podcast)

About the most incredible escapes in Latin American prisons.

He has filled movie theaters with his presentations and he writes with the journalistic guarantee of Anfibia Podcast.

2022 is the year of Argentina also for him.

'Costa Nostra' (La Maldita for Amazon Music)

A journalistic blockbuster.

A lot of talent and resources for a dark and very close story, packed with sensitive material and great documentary value.

Cover of 'Costa Nostra'.

Eduardo Alonso, director of Spotify Studios for southern and eastern Europe

'Mystery in La Moraleja' (True Story for Spotify)

For transforming a piece of news into a fantastic starting point for an investigation worthy of Agatha Christie's novels.

With Eva Lamarca as our Hercules Poirot, and with an Ondas award for the best

.

Cover of 'Mystery in La Moraleja'.

'Caso 63' (Podcasting Broadcaster for Spotify)

For transforming a sound fiction into a universal phenomenon.

After three seasons, and being adapted into Portuguese, Hindi and English, it is impressive to see how with just a few characters, and through addictive dialogues, this Chilean

has managed to attract thousands of listeners.

'Chapapote: The Prestige stain' (SER Podcast)

For revisiting this natural tragedy on its 20th anniversary.

A non-fiction narrative that manages to convey the tremendous loss that it entailed for hundreds of Galician families, and recall the controversial political and judicial management of that disaster.

'Black Bracelet' (Radio Primavera Sound)

For mixing sport and

like never before.

Through seven stories, he manages to capture the most hidden side of the world of football.

'La Pija y la Quinqui' (Spotify)

For how Carlos Peguer and Mariang have been able to connect with the youngest audience, and turn a small conversational

recorded in the kitchen of their apartment into a phenomenon.

Since the interview with Rosalía this summer, La Pija y la Quinqui has not stopped being the must-see for artists and

such as Nathy Peluso, Aitana, Samantha Hudson and Brays Efe.

Idoia Cantolla, content director at Podimo

'Science or evidence?'

(we could)

Recently

released video podcast where all your doubts and questions about medicine are answered by the incomparable David Calleja.

Cover of 'Science or evidence?', by Podimo.

'Life and such' (Podimo)

Because it's better to take everything with humor and by the hand of Ana Milán and Sebastián Gallego.

Problems are easier to solve.

'The Signature of God' (Podium Podcast)

Because of the production quality that this fiction has compared to other similar ones.

'The signature of God' (Podium Podcast) is the new fiction of Jose A. Pérez Ledo.

'The good life' (Podimo)

A conscious parenting

that helps you face life with a lot of peace, even if you don't have children.

Cover of 'The good life', by Podimo.

'Buenismo bien' (Chain SER)

I would highlight the combo Manuel Burque, Quique Peinado and Henar Álvarez and his analysis of current events, which I love.

And the best in English

'Have You Heard George's Podcast?'

(BBC Radio 5 Live) / Chosen by Martín Cruz Farga

Although it is not from this year, it was one of my favorite discoveries of 2022. This award-winning English

is a good example of an experimental

that undoubtedly pushes the boundaries of the format.

In each episode, your host, George the Poet, combines story, fiction and music, blurring the lines between storytelling, poetry and rap.

And so he shows us that narrating is much more than reading a text.

'Corinna and the King' (Project Brazen) / Chosen by Mar Abad

Because it shows the most grotesque face of power.

'Who Killed Daphne?'

(Wondery) / Chosen by Camila Scher

This is perhaps the

most disruptive and relevant

Among its episodes is the unpublished confession of George Degiorgio, a suspect in the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The testimony served as evidence for sentencing against him and the other defendants.

Produced by Wondery, an Amazon company, this research opens a deeper debate on the role of new content formats in spheres outside of leisure and entertainment.

'Bad Blood: The Final Chapter' (Three Uncanny Four) / Chosen by Eugenio Viñas

There are few better examples of how digital audio becomes an all-powerful tool for journalists.

This is the case of this chronicle at different times by John Carreyrou about the fraud of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.

'The Mel Robbins Podcast' / Chosen by Idoia Cantolla

The best

motivation and psychology

Quite an inspiration and is full of resources.

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