Hi podcasters,
Happy International Podcast Day!
Today Eurowaves brings you not one, but TWO gifts:
The Eurowaves subscriber survey is live and by entering, you can win prizes from sponsors Captivate, Beamly and Convia. 👉 Take the survey
This is a list of the Best European Podcasts of 2026 (so far), a list from 25+ contributors from across the podcasting industry in Europe and beyond. Read on to find your next favorite European podcast.
📣 Win Prizes with The Eurowaves Subscriber Survey
This International Podcast Day, Eurowaves wants to hear from you.
The subscriber survey will help us understand who you are, what you create and listen to, and what you want from Eurowaves going forward. It takes just a few minutes, and every participant is entered into a giveaway with THREE prizes.
The survey runs until October 15.
Winners will be announced in the October 15 issue.
Thanks to our sponsors, you could win:
A 1-year of Captivate Personal + five hours of Captivate Assistant. Part of Global, the Media & Entertainment Group, Captivate is a podcast hosting platform built for independent, growth-focused creators. It brings hosting, distribution, IAB-certified analytics, marketing and workflow tools together with flexible monetization options, including Captivate Marketplace, Programmatic Ads and Campaign Management.
A 1-year Beamly subscription. The all-in-one platform for your podcast and everything around it: host or sync your show, launch a branded website, distribute to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more, and monetize with memberships, private feeds and digital products, all with 0% platform fees.
A 90-days of Convia Studio Professional. Convia Studio is the story layer between your recordings and your platforms. One conversation becomes a coordinated campaign across LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and more, in your voice, without the copy-paste marathon.
Every survey participant gets 30 days free on any Convia plan, double the standard trial!
A big thank you to the sponsors - Captivate, Beamly and Convia - for supporting the European podcasting industry!
Now, let’s get into it…
🎧European Podcast Picks of 2026
The podcasts on this list cross borders, languages and formats. It’s the first Eurowaves “Best of European podcasts” list and because we have a global perspective, the shows range all the way from:
Podcasts launched this year,
Podcasts with a new series launched in 2026,
Curators from Europe and beyond,
Podcasts from Spain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Germany, Serbia, Italy, The UK and Denmark. Know a podcast that deserves to be included but wasn’t featured? Drop a comment below and keep the contributions going.
Thanks to the 25+ contributors, you’ll get a snapshot of Europe’s best of the best in podcasting. Grab your headphones and happy listening!
Spanish Sundown
“A unique blend of horror, imaginative storytelling and Spanish history.”
Recommended by Frank Racioppi, Owner/Manager, Ear Worthy
The Europeans
“It helps me understand Europe from a regional perspective. The hosts are smart and funny, I love it when the producers weigh in, the regular segments are memorable, and the length is just right.”
Recommended by Laurie Stern, Independent Journalist
De Kunst van het Verdwijnen
“The one podcast I recommend to everyone, especially people who tell me they don’t listen to podcasts. One street corner in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter, three true stories from 1942, 1980 and 2019. It gives me goosebumps every time I talk about it.”
Recommended by Ann Alice De Schoenmaeker, Podcast Marketing Expert
In Tune with Tradition: Perspectives on Session Etiquette in Irish Traditional Music
“My own podcast, which explores a part of Irish traditional culture rarely spoken about plainly: the unwritten social rules that decide whether a music session flows or falls apart. Released just before Belfast hosted Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for the first time, this episode brings in Belfast-based musician and festival director Dónal O’Connor to talk about welcoming learners, protecting musical standards and letting a living tradition breathe.”
Recommended by Tara Connaghan, Irish Music Sessions
No sé cómo era antes
“Through Ángela’s testimony, we learn what it’s like to live in a relationship marked by physical, mental and sexual abuse and abuse of power, and the consequences that follow. An invaluable testimony, told with remarkable sensitivity and effectiveness by Sara Selva.”
Content note: discusses abuse.
Recommended by Ana Ribera/ Molinos , Podcast Critic
HEIST
“Covers topics from Berlin that matter to all of Europe and the world, from the team at the new worker-owned outlet HEIST.”
Recommended by Ben Schuman-Stoler, Founder, Kollo Media
Naša posla
“A school of narrative audio writing for young journalists in Serbia. In a country where media is under heavy repression, podcasting is becoming one of the places journalists can work independently and build a community, and this show is also introducing Serbian-speaking audiences to narrative podcasting.”
Recommended by Vladimir Radinovic, Co-Founder, Podcast.rs
11KM Stories – Schattendeals: Putins Geiseln
“In August 2024, 16 people were released to the West in the largest East–West prisoner exchange since the Cold War, while Germany sent the so-called «Tiergarten killer,» Vadim Krasikov, back to Russia. Journalists from Bayerischer Rundfunk spent months investigating how the deal with Putin came together, speaking with people involved in the secret negotiations.”
Recommended by Markus Malich
Reclaim: Tic Tac Toe
“A re-examination of the German band Tic Tac Toe at the intersection of ‘90s pop, German rap, racism, media sexism, female rage, empowerment and mental health. Lee, Jazzy and Ricky were young, Black and loud in an era that wasn’t ready for them.”
Recommended by Markus Malich
Wild Wild Web – Inside Palantir
“Over five episodes, the hosts tell the story of Palantir, perhaps the most mysterious software company in the world, and its role in conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East and in ICE’s mass arrests in the US, alongside the life story of its unusual CEO, Alex Karp.”
Recommended by Markus Malich
Happier at Work
“An award-winning Irish podcast about how leaders can build workplaces where people and performance thrive. Since 2019, across more than 300 episodes, host Aoife O’Brien has brought together researchers, authors and workplace experts from Europe and beyond, offering a distinctly European voice in the global conversation about leadership and the future of work.”
Recommended by Aoife O’Brien, Bestselling Author, Speaker and Award-Winning Podcaster
RedHanded
“From a side project recorded in a cupboard under the stairs to an international phenomenon, RedHanded has hit #1 in true crime in both the UK and US and won Listeners’ Choice at the British Podcast Awards three years running.”
Recommended by Dianni Hall, Marketing Manager, The Podglomerate
The Growth Workshop Podcast
“Hands-down the best business podcast to come out of Europe in years. London growth consultancy SBR Consulting shares its industry knowledge while elevating important conversations, like its International Women’s Day special on the future of female leadership in wealth management. Valuable insight in every release.”
Recommended by Zachery Troutman, Head of Podcasting, Southwestern Family of Companies
Exhibitionistas – Notes on Art
“Self-nomination! This spring I leaned into the show’s experimental soul with four special episodes on literary giants who wrote about art and creativity (Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, Chris Kraus and Adolfo Bioy Casares), reading long excerpts aloud. Along the way came a nod from the Signal Awards for format experimentation, and our first award, from the Women Who Podcast Awards.”
Recommended by Joana P. R. Neves, Creator and Host
Simmetrie
“An Italian podcast that approaches current affairs through narrative: each episode pairs a contemporary event with a real story or mechanism from another field and lets the parallel drive the reflection. Short, independently produced, and somewhere between storytelling and analysis.”
Recommended by Tommaso Poggi, Creator and Host of Simmetrie
Money Trauma
“There’s never been anything like it. This documentary mini-series challenges the idea that money behaviour is purely rational, examining financial stress, gambling, wealth accumulation and impulsive spending through a trauma-informed, social lens.”
Recommended by Miho Soon, Researcher, Facilitator and Coach
Birth of a Parent
“For curious minds who love beautifully crafted stories. Across 12 episodes, it shows how parenthood doesn’t just shape us, it redefines what we’re capable of. For parents and anyone who knows parents, it offers a way to see them in a whole new light.”
Recommended by Hannah Rothschild, Head of Communications, Van Leer Foundation
This Week in Autistic Culture
“Most coverage of autism is about us; this show is by us and for us. Dr Angela Kingdon and Simon Scott bring a magazine format to autistic news, media and culture, from ADHD myths on Channel 4 to Robbie Williams’s diagnosis, always asking who gets to tell the story. I know of no other podcast in Europe doing this.”
Recommended by Angela Kingdon, Co-Host
Creativity Found: Finding Creativity Later in Life
“Stories of people from around the world who have found or re-found their creativity in adulthood, often after long breaks. Guests share the barriers they faced and how returning to creative practice has helped their wellbeing, giving listeners permission to get creative themselves, and not worry about making a mess.”
Recommended by Claire Waite Brown, Independent Podcaster
The Media Mentor
“I chose my own podcast because I’m proud of what it does: informing and educating media professionals about their careers and the sector. There’s nothing else like it out there, and it’s simple but effective.”
Recommended by David Spencer, Podcast Executive and Host
Sprechstunde Liebe
“I produce this podcast, and I’ve learned so much with every episode.”
Recommended by Nadine Mehlis, Podcast Producer
Abseits der Karte
“Nico and Gio venture off the beaten path to places hardly anyone knows about, telling their stories in an adventurous way that makes you want to dream of faraway places yourself.”
Recommended by Giovanni Pellegrino, Podcaster
Ägyptischblau – die Farbe der Götter
“A topic that was completely new to me, and truly unique. Relaxing sound design and a great host.”
Recommended by Fritz Anton Odlitz
The List of Lovers
“Choosing anonymity is rare these days. The show feels relevant to anyone’s lived experience, especially as talk of a loneliness epidemic grows, and offers a peek into corners of social and romantic life you’d never otherwise see.”
Recommended by Clare Slaughter, Senior Producer
What Are You Doing in Denmark?
“Fun, informative, and full of the feeling, nuance and occasional culture shock of living abroad. Derek, Brooke and Conrad make the little (and large) challenges of life in a new country approachable and inclusive.”
Recommended by Norma Jean Belenky, Co-Host, PodBiz
Made For Us
“Stories at the intersection of innovation and inclusion, with conversations featuring leaders who question the status quo and redefine their industries, from tech founders and investors to ballet dancers and concert pianists.”
Recommended by Tosin Sulaiman, Creator and Host
ITALIAN, FOR SURE
“Milan was the first Italian city I visited, and Catrin’s episode on it gave me fun, fresh perspectives I didn’t pick up being there myself. I always appreciate Catrin’s dedication to making a great podcast.”
Recommended by Jullian Androkae, Podcast Strategist and Co-Founder, PodVision
Before you go…
Did you find a new interesting show for your queue?
Let us know in the comments!
Fill out the Eurowaves subscriber survey by October 15 and you could win a year of Captivate Personal, a year of Beamly, or 90 days of Convia Studio Professional. All participants gets 30 days free on any Convia plan.
Thank you to every contributor and to everyone who keeps European podcasting growing.
-Andreea Coscai, Eurowaves
To be in a list of 25 best European Podcasts feels very very good for this independent podcaster single-handedly manning the Exhibitionistas Podcast shop.
So chuffed to find Exhibitionistas in there! How lovely–even if I recommended myself. Not unlike Lesley Knope, from Parks and Rec, I don't shy away from opportunities to be inspired by myself, what can I say.
Thanks! Very much looking forward to discovering a few podcasts in there I didn't know.
These are great - I'm going to dive into a couple for sure. Thanks for sharing