Alex Cooper (left) and Dax Shepard Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment In a survey accompanying our overview of the most powerful people in podcasting, THR asked top talent, execs and agents to weigh in on their favorite episodes, the biggest challenges facing the industry, the role to be played by AI and more. What is the episode you're most proud of? Alex Cooper, Call Her Daddy"Love Island week was both amazing and exhausting. Lately, I've been focused on building out our YouTube channel since a multiplatform approach is essential to our podcast strategy. It was rewarding to see there were over 10 million views on Call Her Daddy's YouTube channel that week." Related Stories Business Who the F*** Is Marc Maron Without Podcasting? He's About to Find Out Business Taylor Swift Confirmed to Make Guest Appearance on Travis Kelce's 'New Heights' Podcast Megyn Kelly, The Megyn Kelly Show"Rob O'Neil. It's gripping. If you don't enjoy this episode, I can't please you." Josh Clark, Stuff You Should Know"We have 1,700-plus episodes so it's hard to remember them all, but the ones that tend to make me feel proudest are the ones where we open listeners' eyes to something they might have heard of or lived with but didn't really understand. Like we did episodes on ADHD and we heard from people who have ADHD (I do, too) who said that some of what we talked about fits pieces together in a long-standing puzzle they didn't understand about themselves. And some said it helped them learn to be better versions of themselves. That's extremely gratifying." Dax Shepard, Armchair Expert"Definitely my mom. She is someone that I admire deeply. We've always had a very honest and open relationship, but as the interview unfolded, I found myself asking questions out of muscle memory that I would ask any other guest. And in those moments, I got answers to things I would've never thought to ask otherwise. She displayed a humanness that is sometimes obscured when you are the child. It was a very special two hours for me." Ash Kelley, Morbid"The one that comes to mind most recently would be our coverage on the Alison Botha case. Alison's story of pure resilience and self preservation is one we should never stop telling. We were also blown away by our community of weirdos donating to a fund set up to help the Botha family in a time of crisis." Alaina Urquhart-White, Morbid "Honestly mine is a toss-up between my Jack the Ripper Series and having Tobias Forge on the show. The Ripper series was something I really poured myself all into and I felt like I was able to get our listeners into it with me. We took the wild journey together with that one! And I am a massive Ghost fan, so having Tobias on was just such a true treat, and he was also an incredible interviewee." Shawn Ryan, The Shawn Ryan Show"That's a tough one, because every guest brings something unique, and I'm proud of the platform we provide for all of them. But if I had to pick one that stands out, it would be a very early one: SRS #045 with Bob 'Ninja' Poras, the CIA/Delta Force operator. The 'why' is simple: Ninja's story is one of the most incredible, detailed, and frankly, unbelievable accounts of a life lived in the shadows that I've ever heard. His experiences spanned decades, from Panama to Bosnia, working with some of the most elite units in the world. He was a ghost, a true professional, and his willingness to share those unfiltered stories, even the uncomfortable parts, was remarkable. It wasn't just about the operations; it was about the human cost, the psychological toll, the dedication to a life of service that most people can't even fathom. That episode, and the subsequent parts we did with him, really set the standard for what I wanted The Shawn Ryan Show to be: a place where real warriors, whether known or unknown, could come and tell their true stories, without censorship or agenda. It's about preserving history through the voices of the people who lived it, and Ninja's story exemplifies that mission perfectly. It's a testament to the fact that truth is always stranger, and more compelling, than fiction." Tom Holland, The Rest Is History"We did a series on the Titanic, a subject that I knew only vaguely, and feared that we might not be able to make our own - but I truly think we did. Partly this was because for both of us it was a process of discovery, and one that we found ourselves equally enthralled by; partly it was because the subject matter had everything that we most love about history - a great story, geopolitics, social complexity, tragedy, comedy, myths that could be simultaneously busted and treasured, icebergs and clouds of war." Michael Barbaro, The Daily"Conversations with ordinary people caught in the middle of extraordinary circumstances, like Thomas Sipp, a young l