The best video podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts right now

Apple just launched native video podcast support. For the first time, you can play full-screen HLS video podcasts directly inside the Apple Podcasts app. No more switching over to YouTube.

I've been waiting for this since 2007 (when I was watching Diggnation on a 5th-gen iPod). It's a real moment.

I put together a list of some of my favorite video episodes on Apple Podcasts right now. Check these out if you're looking for something great to watch, or if you're a podcast creator looking for inspiration on how to think about video.

You'll Hear It: Ray Charles

🎧 Watch on Apple Podcasts · 🌐 youllhearit.com

Adam Maness and Peter Martin are jazz pianists. Every episode, they break down one of the greatest albums of all time. They play along on the piano, pull out specific moments, and explain what makes the music genius. This Ray Charles episode (on the 1961 record Genius + Soul = Jazz) is the best example I've seen of how good this medium can be.

Click play and try this: close your eyes. It works great as an audio-only podcast. Adam, Peter and their guest sound amazing: The audio is crisp and warm, the jazz piano interludes are gorgeous, the editing is tight.

Now turn the video back on. For me, it feels richer and more immersive as video. The intro grabs you: graphics, sound design, pacing. The studio looks beautiful. Multiple camera angles.

If you've ever wondered "why would I bother with the video version of a podcast?", start here.

TBPN: interview with Eddy Cue

🎧 Watch on Apple Podcasts · 🌐 tbpn.com

TBPN is a daily live tech show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays. It streams on X and YouTube every weekday from 11 AM to 2 PM PT, with full episodes published to podcast platforms right after. The New York Times called it "Silicon Valley's newest obsession." Previous guests include Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Mark Cuban, and Satya Nadella.

This is the kind of show video-first podcasting was built for.

In the roughly 22-minute interview, Eddy Cue reflected on his 38 years at Apple. He shared stories about launching the original Apple online store and the iTunes Store, including the reasoning behind the $0.99-per-song pricing model, and the early negotiations with the music labels. (One of my favorite moments: Cue says the labels told him a successful music store launch would mean selling a million songs in six months. iTunes sold a million in six days.) He talked about the early days of working with Steve Jobs. And he touched on other entertainment topics, like the development of the Formula 1 movie featuring Brad Pitt.

If you care about how Apple builds products, this is a good 22 minutes.

Top Five Tech: Stephen Robles

🎧 Watch on Apple Podcasts · 🌐 topfive.tech

Stephen Robles has been making video podcasts for years. He also co-hosts Primary Technology with Jason Aten. Top Five Tech is his new short-form show. Every Friday, he shares five quick picks: something to watch, listen, read, download, and one "deep thought" about tech.

What I like about this show is that it works perfectly fine as an audio podcast. But the things Stephen shows on screen are genuinely additive: product shots, screenshots, b-roll of the apps he's recommending. They're not redundant. They make the show better.

It's also short: about five minutes per episode.

That's the other thing I think video lends itself to particularly well: shorter-form episodes. A five-minute recommendation reel feels right as video. The snackable size fits the screen.

If you're a creator wondering how to think about video for your show, study this one.

The Not So Little Rascals (trailer)

🎧 Watch on Apple Podcasts · 🌐 notsolittlerascals.com

Jordan Warkol and Blake Collins played Froggy and Woim in the 1994 Little Rascals movie. Their new podcast is them sitting down with other former child actors to talk about what life was really like, and what happened after.

The episode I'm recommending isn't a full episode. It's the trailer.

Apple Podcasts has a whole section of the app dedicated to "new trailers," and I think making a video trailer for your podcast is one of the smartest moves a creator can make right now, even if you don't plan on publishing video episodes regularly. Like a movie trailer, a video podcast trailer pulls people in. It gives them a face. A vibe. A reason to subscribe before episode one even drops.

If you're launching a new show, this is worth studying.

A lot of video podcasts right now still look like "audio podcasts with cameras pointed at them." The episodes above are different. Each one figured out what video actually adds, whether that's the visual energy of a jazz piano breakdown, a polished tech-news explainer, or a trailer that earns the subscribe.

If you're looking to start a video podcast, use Transistor. You upload your episode once, and we distribute it everywhere: Apple Podcasts (with full-screen HLS video), YouTube, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and the rest of the open podcasting ecosystem. One upload, distribute to every platform. Start a free 14-day trial.