The Best Media 🏆

📌 Written by Dan
📅 Last updated: August 26th, 2025

📜 Table of Contents

• Books
• Films
• Television
• Podcasts
• Albums
• Video Games
• Why It Matters

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Introduction

In a landscape saturated with content, the real difficulty is often knowing where to begin. But what if, instead of relying on a single perspective, you could build a list shaped by many voices?

This serves as a guide to landmark creative achievements, assembled by combining thousands of curated rankings to form a broad critical consensus.

From the novel that transformed literature to the album that altered the course of music, these works represent the most influential in their fields, enduring over time and leaving a lasting mark on culture.

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📖 Books, from 664 unique lists

How it's rankedRatings from Goodreads (0/5) and Library Thing (0/5)

No.	Title	Author	Year	Goodreads ★	LibraryThing ★
1	Ulysses	James Joyce	1922	3.75	3.9
2	The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald	1925	3.93	4.1
3	In Search of Lost Time	Marcel Proust	1913–1927	4.33	4.2
4	The Catcher in the Rye	J. D. Salinger	1951	3.81	3.9
5	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel García Márquez	1967	4.11	4.3
6	Nineteen Eighty-Four	George Orwell	1949	4.19	4.2
7	Moby-Dick	Herman Melville	1851	3.52	3.8
8	The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner	1929	3.84	4.0
9	Don Quixote	Miguel de Cervantes	1605 & 1615	3.87	4.0
10	Anna Karenina	Leo Tolstoy	1878	4.05	4.2
11	Crime and Punishment	Fyodor Dostoevsky	1866	4.26	4.3
12	Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen	1813	4.28	4.4
13	Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov	1955	3.89	4.1
14	War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy	1869	4.12	4.3
15	Wuthering Heights	Emily Brontë	1847	3.85	4.0
16	The Lord of the Rings	J. R. R. Tolkien	1954–1955	4.52	4.6
17	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	1960	4.28	4.4
18	The Bible	Various	Various	4.36	4.5
19	The Brothers Karamazov	Fyodor Dostoevsky	1880	4.33	4.4
20	The Trial	Franz Kafka	1925	3.98	4.1

21st Century List

No.	Title	Author	Year	Goodreads ★	LibraryThing ★
1	The Corrections	Jonathan Franzen	2001	3.73	3.8
2	White Teeth	Zadie Smith	2000	3.76	3.9
3	2666	Roberto Bolaño	2004	4.27	4.3
4	Atonement	Ian McEwan	2001	3.91	4.0
5	Austerlitz	W. G. Sebald	2001	4.07	4.2
6	Never Let Me Go	Kazuo Ishiguro	2005	3.83	4.0
7	The Road	Cormac McCarthy	2006	3.97	4.1
8	Kavalier & Clay	Michael Chabon	2000	4.11	4.2
9	The Year of Magical Thinking	Joan Didion	2005	4.06	4.2
10	Oscar Wao	Junot Díaz	2007	3.91	4.0
11	The Human Stain	Philip Roth	2000	3.84	4.0
12	Goon Squad	Jennifer Egan	2010	3.78	3.9
13	Middlesex	Jeffrey Eugenides	2002	4.00	4.1
14	Wolf Hall	Hilary Mantel	2009	3.89	4.1
15	My Brilliant Friend	Elena Ferrante	2012	4.06	4.2
16	Cloud Atlas	David Mitchell	2004	3.94	4.1
17	Americanah	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	2013	4.26	4.3
18	Gilead	Marilynne Robinson	2004	4.12	4.3
19	The Years	Annie Ernaux	2008	4.05	4.2
20	House of Leaves	Mark Z. Danielewski	2000	4.10	4.2

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🎬 Films from 16,874 unique lists

Ratings are from Rotten Tomatoes (0/100%) and IMDb (0/10)

No.	Title & Director	Year	Rotten Tomatoes (%)	IMDb (★/10)
1	Citizen Kane, Orson Welles	1941	99%	8.3
2	Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock	1958	94%	8.3
3	2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick	1968	92%	8.3
4	Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu	1953	100%	8.2
5	The Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir	1939	97%	7.9
6	The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola	1972	97%	9.2
7	8½, Federico Fellini	1963	98%	8.0
8	Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, F.W. Murnau	1927	98%	8.1
9	The Searchers, John Ford	1956	94%	7.9
10	Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa	1954	100%	8.6
11	Singin' in the Rain, Donen & Kelly	1952	100%	8.3
12	Jeanne Dielman, Chantal Akerman	1975	95%	7.5
13	Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola	1979	90%	8.4
14	Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica	1948	99%	8.3
15	Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese	1976	89%	8.2
16	Persona, Ingmar Bergman	1966	91%	8.1
17	In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai	2000	92%	8.1
18	Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard	1960	96%	7.7
19	The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Dreyer	1928	98%	8.1
20	L'Atalante, Jean Vigo	1934	100%	7.7

21st Century List

No.	Title & Director	Year	Rotten Tomatoes (%)	IMDb (★/10)
1	In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai	2000	92%	8.1
2	Mulholland Dr., David Lynch	2001	83%	7.9
3	Yi Yi, Edward Yang	2000	96%	7.9
4	Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki	2001	96%	8.6
5	There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson	2007	91%	8.2
6	Tropical Malady, Apichatpong Weerasethakul	2004	89%	7.4
7	Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma	2019	97%	8.1
8	The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick	2011	85%	6.8
9	The Gleaners & I, Agnès Varda	2000	96%	7.6
10	Moonlight, Barry Jenkins	2016	98%	7.4
11	Parasite, Bong Joon-ho	2019	99%	8.5
12	Caché, Michael Haneke	2005	89%	7.3
13	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michel Gondry	2004	92%	8.3
14	Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul	2010	90%	6.7
15	La Ciénaga, Lucrecia Martel	2001	87%	7.0
16	Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang	2003	81%	7.1
17	A Separation, Asghar Farhadi	2011	99%	8.3
18	Melancholia, Lars von Trier	2011	79%	7.1
19	Werckmeister Harmonies, Béla Tarr	2000	98%	8.0
20	City of God, Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund	2002	91%	8.6

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📺 Television from 2,826 lists

How it's rankedRatings are from Rotten Tomatoes (0/100%) and IMDb (0/10)

No.	Title	Years	Rotten Tomatoes (%)	IMDb (★/10)
1	Breaking Bad	2008–2013	96%	9.5
2	The Simpsons	1989–present	85%	8.7
3	The Wire	2002–2008	94%	9.3
4	The Sopranos	1999–2007	92%	9.2
5	Game of Thrones	2011–2019	89%	9.2
6	Mad Men	2007–2015	94%	8.7
7	Twin Peaks	1990–1991, 2017	82%	8.8
8	Seinfeld	1989–1998	89%	8.9
9	Friends	1994–2004	79%	8.9
10	The Twilight Zone	1959–1964	100%	9.0
11	Doctor Who	1963–present	90%	8.6
12	BoJack Horseman	2014–2020	93%	8.8
13	Better Call Saul	2015–2022	98%	9.0
14	Lost	2004–2010	86%	8.3
15	Arrested Development	2003–2019	75%	8.6
16	South Park	1997–present	80%	8.7
17	Stranger Things	2016–present	92%	8.6
18	The Office (US)	2005–2013	81%	9.0
19	The X-Files	1993–2018	74%	8.6
20	Parks and Recreation	2009–2015	93%	8.6

🎤 Podcasts from 30 lists (WIP)

Aggregated by the author
No available ratings (trust me bro)

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Rank	Podcast	Year of Release	Genre / Format
1.	This American Life	1995	Thematic Storytelling, Anthology
2.	Serial	2014	Investigative Journalism, True Crime
3.	Radiolab	2002	Science, Philosophy, Human Experience
4.	S-Town	2017	Investigative Journalism, Character Study
5.	99% Invisible	2010	Design, Architecture, Urbanism
6.	In the Dark	2016	Investigative Journalism
7.	Slow Burn	2017	Political History
8.	Reply All	2014	Internet Culture, Human Interest
9.	Dan Carlin's Hardcore History	2006	History, Storytelling
10.	WTF with Marc Maron	2009	In-depth interviews, Comedy
11.	My Favorite Murder	2016	True Crime, Comedy
12.	Heavyweight	2016	Human Interest, Narrative Nonfiction
13.	The Daily	2017	Daily News
14.	The Joe Rogan Experience	2009	Long-form interviews
15.	Stuff You Should Know	2008	Explanatory, Educational
16.	1619	2019	History, Race, Systemic Critique
17.	Ear Hustle	2017	Society & Culture, Prison Life
18.	You're Wrong About	2018	History, Cultural Re-evaluation
19.	Planet Money	2008	Economics, Storytelling
20.	Homecoming	2016	Fiction, Psychological Thriller

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🎧 Albums from hundreds of lists

How it's ranked
Ratings are from RateYourMusic (0–5) and Album of the Year (0–100)

No.	Album	Artist	Year	RYM Rating	AOTY Critic	AOTY User
1	Pet Sounds	The Beach Boys	1966	4.19 ★	100	91
2	Nevermind	Nirvana	1991	4.04 ★	95	88
3	The Velvet Underground & Nico	The Velvet Underground	1967	4.20 ★	98	91
4	Revolver	The Beatles	1966	4.23 ★	97	90
5	OK Computer	Radiohead	1997	4.30 ★	97	91
6	London Calling	The Clash	1979	4.12 ★	96	89
7	What's Going On	Marvin Gaye	1971	4.18 ★	98	91
8	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles	1967	4.15 ★	96	89
9	Highway 61 Revisited	Bob Dylan	1965	4.15 ★	96	89
10	Blonde on Blonde	Bob Dylan	1966	4.12 ★	95	88
11	Exile on Main St.	The Rolling Stones	1972	4.10 ★	96	89
12	Ziggy Stardust	David Bowie	1972	4.21 ★	100	91
13	It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back	Public Enemy	1988	4.17 ★	99	87
14	The White Album	The Beatles	1968	4.10 ★	96	88
15	To Pimp a Butterfly	Kendrick Lamar	2015	4.39 ★	95	95
16	Thriller	Michael Jackson	1982	4.06 ★	97	90
17	Abbey Road	The Beatles	1969	4.29 ★	100	92
18	Kind of Blue	Miles Davis	1959	4.24 ★	100	91
19	The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	1973	4.26 ★	97	91
20	Never Mind the Bollocks	Sex Pistols	1977	3.91 ★	97	89

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🎮 Video Games from hundreds of lists

*Ranked by Video Game Canon
Ratings from Metacritic. If it's N/A, the game predates Metacritic or lacks a scored entry. See the Why It Matters section for clarification.I would have used OpenCritic, but they don't have as many entries.

#	Title	Year	Platform(s)	Metascore	User Score
1	Tetris (Game Boy)	1988	Multiple	N/A	N/A
2	Resident Evil 4	2005	Multiple	96	9.1
3	The Last of Us (Remastered)	2014	PS4	95	9.2
4	Half-Life 2	2004	PC	96	9.1
5	Zelda: Breath of the Wild	2017	Switch	97	8.9
6	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2015	PS4/XB1/PC	92	9.1
7	Hades	2020	Switch/PC/PS/Xbox	93	8.6
8	Zelda: Ocarina of Time	1998	N64	99	9.1
9	Super Mario 64	1996	N64	93	8.4
10	Mass Effect 2 (Legendary Edition)	2021	PS4/XB1/PC	96	8.9
11	Zelda: A Link to the Past	2002	GBA (Four Swords)	95	8.9
12	BioShock	2007	Xbox 360	96	8.8
13	Grand Theft Auto V	2013	PS3/X360/PC/PS4/XB1	91	8.5
14	Super Metroid	1994	SNES	N/A	N/A
15	Shadow of the Colossus	2018	PS4	91	7.9
16	God of War (2018)	2018	PS4	94	9.1
17	Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	1991	Arcade	N/A	N/A
18	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	2007	Xbox 360/PS3	94	8.5
19	Final Fantasy VII	1997	PlayStation	92	9.1
20	World of Warcraft	2004	PC	93	8.0

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Why It Matters

(if you don't understand why it's there. AI used for descriptions.)

📖 Books

Title	Why It Matters
Ulysses	Changed how novels were written by following characters' inner thoughts.
The Great Gatsby	A classic story about the dark side of the American Dream.
In Search of Lost Time	A huge, deep dive into memory and how time feels.
The Catcher in the Rye	The definitive book about feeling like an outcast teenager.
One Hundred Years of Solitude	Mixed fantasy with reality to tell an epic family story.
Nineteen Eighty-Four	A famous warning about government control and surveillance.
Moby-Dick	An epic story about obsession, nature, and humanity.
The Sound and the Fury	Told a story from confusing, broken perspectives to show a family's decay.
Don Quixote	The first modern novel; a funny and sad story about delusion.
Anna Karenina	A masterpiece about love, society, and personal ruin.
Crime and Punishment	A deep dive into the mind of a man consumed by guilt.
Pride and Prejudice	A witty romance that was also a smart take on class and money.
Lolita	A controversial but brilliantly written story told by a villain.
War and Peace	A massive epic about war, love, and history in Russia.
Wuthering Heights	A dark, passionate story of revenge that broke all the rules.
The Lord of the Rings	The book that created the blueprint for modern fantasy.
To Kill a Mockingbird	A powerful story about justice, racism, and growing up.
The Bible	The foundation for many religions, laws, and stories in the world.
The Brothers Karamazov	A classic novel that asks big questions about faith and morality.
The Trial	A nightmare story about being trapped in a system that makes no sense.

21st Century List

Title	Why It Matters
The Corrections	A big, funny, and sad novel about a modern American family falling apart.
White Teeth	An energetic story about immigration and culture in London.
2666	A giant, mysterious novel about violence, art, and a dark secret.
Atonement	A powerful story about a lie that ruins lives, set during World War II.
Austerlitz	A haunting book about a man searching for his past after the Holocaust.
Never Let Me Go	A sad sci-fi story about what it means to be human.
The Road	A simple but powerful story of a father and son surviving the end of the world.
Kavalier & Clay	An epic story about two friends who create a superhero during WWII.
The Year of Magical Thinking	A raw and honest book about dealing with grief and loss.
Oscar Wao	Mixed comic book fun with immigrant family history in a powerful new way.
The Human Stain	A bold novel about secrets, identity, and scandal in America.
A Visit From The Goon Squad	Tells a story about time and the music industry in a unique, chapter-hopping way.
Middlesex	A sweeping family story that explores gender and identity.
Wolf Hall	Made history feel immediate and personal by showing it through a politician's eyes.
My Brilliant Friend	An intense and honest story about a lifelong friendship between two women.
Cloud Atlas	Connects six different stories across time to explore how our lives are linked.
Americanah	A smart and funny novel about race, love, and what it means to belong.
Gilead	A quiet, beautiful book about a father's thoughts on life, faith, and family.
The Years	A unique biography told from a collective "we," capturing the feeling of an era.
House of Leaves	A horror novel that plays with how words are laid out on the page, messing with your head.

🎬 Film

Title & Director	Why It Matters
Citizen Kane, Orson Welles	Changed how movies looked and felt with its unique camera angles and fractured story.
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock	A suspenseful masterpiece about obsession, with a dizzying, dream-like feel.
2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick	Turned science fiction into art with stunning visuals and big ideas about humanity.
Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu	A simple, quiet, and heartbreaking film about family and growing old.
The Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir	A clever and tragic look at high society right before a world war.
The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola	The ultimate gangster film, blending family drama with epic crime.
8½, Federico Fellini	A famous film about a director who doesn't know what film to make, blurring reality and dreams.
Sunrise, F.W. Murnau	A silent film masterpiece that used visuals to tell a powerful, poetic story of love.
The Searchers, John Ford	A classic Western that explored darker themes of racism and obsession.
Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa	The original "getting the team together" movie; a huge influence on action films.
Singin' in the Rain, Donen & Kelly	A joyful musical about Hollywood's change from silent films to "talkies."
Jeanne Dielman, Chantal Akerman	A groundbreaking feminist film that shows the hidden reality of a woman's daily life.
Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola	A wild, fever-dream movie about the madness of the Vietnam War.
Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica	A simple, powerful story about a poor man's desperate search for his stolen bike.
Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese	A dark and gritty look at a lonely man's breakdown in a corrupt city.
Persona, Ingmar Bergman	A mind-bending film that explores what makes us who we are.
In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai	A beautiful, sad film about two people who fall in love but can't be together.
Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard	A cool, stylish film that broke all the rules and started the French New Wave.
The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Dreyer	A silent film that creates incredible emotion just by focusing on actors' faces.
L'Atalante, Jean Vigo	A dreamy and realistic love story about a couple living on a river barge.

21st Century List

Title & Director	Why It Matters
In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai	A beautiful, sad film about two people who fall in love but can't be together.
Mulholland Dr., David Lynch	A weird, dream-like mystery that twists Hollywood into a nightmare.
Yi Yi, Edward Yang	A deeply human look at a family in Taiwan, showing life from different points of view.
Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki	A beautiful animated fantasy that's a modern classic for all ages.
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson	An intense epic about a greedy oil man's rise and fall.
Tropical Malady, Apichatpong Weerasethakul	A strange, hypnotic film from Thailand that's part love story, part jungle myth.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma	A beautiful, slow-burn romance about a forbidden love between two women.
The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick	A poetic film that mixes one family's story with the creation of the universe.
The Gleaners & I, Agnès Varda	A charming documentary about people who find value in what others throw away.
Moonlight, Barry Jenkins	A powerful and tender story about a young Black man growing up and finding himself.
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho	A thrilling and funny movie about class warfare that made history at the Oscars.
Caché, Michael Haneke	A tense thriller about a family being watched, exposing hidden secrets and guilt.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michel Gondry	A creative and heartbreaking romance about trying to erase memories of a lost love.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul	A strange, beautiful film about a man spending his last days with ghosts and spirits.
La Ciénaga, Lucrecia Martel	A film that perfectly captures the feeling of being stuck, focusing on a rich family's lazy decline.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang	A slow, sad, and beautiful tribute to the magic of watching movies in an old theater.
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi	A stressful and brilliant drama about a family in Iran facing impossible choices.
Melancholia, Lars von Trier	A beautiful and sad film that uses the end of the world as a metaphor for depression.
Werckmeister Harmonies, Béla Tarr	A slow, haunting, black-and-white film about social collapse.
City of God, Meirelles & Lund	An energetic and violent look at life for kids growing up in the slums of Rio.

🎧 Albums

No.	Album	Artist	Year	Why It Matters
1	Pet Sounds	The Beach Boys	1966	Made pop music into art with its beautiful and complex sound.
2	Nevermind	Nirvana	1991	Brought grunge rock to the mainstream and defined the '90s.
3	The Velvet Underground & Nico	The Velvet Underground	1967	A dark, weird, and hugely influential album that inspired punk and indie rock.
4	Revolver	The Beatles	1966	Pushed rock music forward with new studio tricks and psychedelic sounds.
5	OK Computer	Radiohead	1997	A classic album about feeling anxious in the modern world.
6	London Calling	The Clash	1979	A punk masterpiece that mixed in rock, reggae, and pop.
7	What's Going On	Marvin Gaye	1971	A beautiful soul album that was one of the first to tackle social issues.
8	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles	1967	The famous concept album that turned the album itself into a work of art.
9	Highway 61 Revisited	Bob Dylan	1965	Changed music forever when Dylan mixed folk lyrics with a rock & roll band.
10	Blonde on Blonde	Bob Dylan	1966	A sprawling double album that captured Dylan's songwriting at its peak.
11	Exile on Main St.	The Rolling Stones	1972	The ultimate messy, gritty, and brilliant rock and roll record.
12	Ziggy Stardust	David Bowie	1972	A classic concept album about a rockstar alien that defined glam rock.
13	It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.	Public Enemy	1988	Revolutionized hip-hop with its loud, political, and groundbreaking sound.
14	The White Album	The Beatles	1968	A huge, sprawling album that showed off the band's incredible range.
15	To Pimp a Butterfly	Kendrick Lamar	2015	A modern masterpiece that blended hip-hop with jazz to explore Black identity.
16	Thriller	Michael Jackson	1982	A pop mega-hit with iconic music videos that broke racial barriers on MTV.
17	Abbey Road	The Beatles	1969	A perfect final statement from the world's biggest band.
18	Kind of Blue	Miles Davis	1959	The best-selling and most famous jazz album of all time.
19	The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	1973	A legendary concept album about life and death that's a sonic masterpiece.
20	Never Mind the Bollocks	Sex Pistols	1977	The loud, angry, and essential album that kicked off the punk rock movement.

📺 Television

Title	Why It Matters
Breaking Bad	The story of a good man's transformation into a villain, told with incredible suspense.
The Simpsons	A cartoon that has brilliantly made fun of American life for decades.
The Wire	Showed how drugs, police, and politics are all connected in a struggling city.
The Sopranos	The show that proved TV could be art, with its story of a mob boss in therapy.
Game of Thrones	A huge fantasy epic that became a worldwide phenomenon.
Mad Men	A stylish and smart show about advertising, identity, and the 1960s.
Twin Peaks	A weird, surreal, and influential mystery show that broke the rules of TV.
Seinfeld	The classic "show about nothing" that changed sitcoms forever.
Friends	The ultimate comfort show about a group of friends that defined a generation.
The Twilight Zone	Told creepy, clever sci-fi stories that were really about our own world.
Doctor Who	A classic British sci-fi show that is always reinventing itself.
BoJack Horseman	A cartoon about a talking horse that's one of the best shows about depression.
Better Call Saul	A prequel that became just as good as Breaking Bad, showing a man's slow moral decay.
Lost	A huge hit that got everyone talking with its plane crash mystery and sci-fi puzzles.
Arrested Development	A super-clever sitcom packed with running jokes and hidden gags.
South Park	A cartoon that makes fun of current events faster and more brutally than anyone else.
Stranger Things	A fun and scary show full of 80s nostalgia about kids fighting monsters.
The Office (US)	A hilarious and heartwarming comedy about quirky coworkers.
The X-Files	The classic show about two FBI agents investigating aliens and conspiracies.
Parks and Recreation	A funny and optimistic comedy about local government and friendship.

🎤 Podcasts

Title & Creator/Host	Why It Matters
This American Life, Ira Glass	The foundational pillar of audio storytelling; it established the template for narrative journalism.
Serial, Sarah Koenig	The show that made podcasting a mainstream obsession with its gripping, episodic true-crime story.
Radiolab, Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich	Redefined audio with its cinematic sound design, making complex ideas feel visceral and thrilling.
S-Town, Brian Reed	Elevated the podcast to literary nonfiction, turning a mystery into a novelistic story of one man's life.
99% Invisible, Roman Mars	Made the hidden world of design fascinating, proving any niche subject could have mass appeal.
In the Dark, Madeleine Baran	Set the gold standard for investigative journalism as a tool for justice, freeing a wrongfully convicted man.
Slow Burn, Leon Neyfakh / Slate	Transformed recent political history into a gripping thriller that revealed its relevance to the present day.
Reply All, PJ Vogt & Alex Goldman	Used the weird corners of the internet to tell deeply compelling and surprisingly human stories.
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, Dan Carlin	Proved audiences crave epic, multi-hour deep dives into history delivered with dramatic flair.
WTF with Marc Maron, Marc Maron	Stripped away the artifice of celebrity interviews, pioneering a new standard of raw, honest conversation.
My Favorite Murder, K. Kilgariff & G. Hardstark	Merged true crime with comedy to build a massive community and destigmatize morbid curiosity.
Heavyweight, Jonathan Goldstein	Invented a unique genre of therapeutic documentary, helping people find closure by confronting their past.
The Daily, Michael Barbaro / NYT	Made daily news an essential audio ritual by providing deep, narrative context to a single big story.
The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan	Became the world's biggest podcast by championing unfiltered, long-form conversations on any topic.
Stuff You Should Know, J. Clark & C. Bryant	A pioneer of the "explainer" podcast, proving the simple power of two curious friends talking.
1619, Nikole Hannah-Jones / NYT	A Pulitzer Prize-winning show that reframed the national conversation on the legacy of slavery in America.
Ear Hustle, Earlonne Woods & Nigel Poor	A groundbreaking look at life inside prison, told with unprecedented humanity by those living it.
You're Wrong About, Sarah Marshall	Tapped into the cultural desire to re-examine the past, debunking myths about misunderstood events and people.
Planet Money, NPR	Made complex economics accessible and wildly entertaining through creative, narrative storytelling.
Homecoming, Eli Horowitz & Micah Bloomberg	Proved the cinematic potential of fiction podcasts with its star-studded, immersive psychological thriller.

🎮 Video Games

Title	Why It Matters
Tetris	The perfect, timeless puzzle game that's simple to learn but impossible to master.
Resident Evil 4	Set the standard for modern action-horror games with its non-stop thrills.
The Last of Us	A powerful, movie-like story about survival and love at the end of the world.
Half-Life 2	A landmark game that used physics and world design to tell its story.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Changed open-world games by giving players total freedom to explore.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	An epic fantasy RPG with great writing and meaningful choices.
Hades	A super-addictive game where dying is part of the story.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time	The legendary 3D adventure that inspired countless other games.
Super Mario 64	The game that showed everyone how to make fun 3D platformers.
Mass Effect 2	An epic sci-fi adventure where your choices shape the galaxy.
Zelda: A Link to the Past	The perfect 2D adventure game, with amazing puzzles and world design.
BioShock	A smart shooter with a killer story and an unforgettable underwater city.
Grand Theft Auto V	A massive and chaotic open-world game that satirizes modern America.
Super Metroid	Created a whole genre of games about exploring a big, lonely, interconnected map.
Shadow of the Colossus	An artistic game where you only fight giant, majestic creatures.
God of War (2018)	A spectacular reboot that gave a famous character a new, more emotional story.
Street Fighter II	The game that started the competitive fighting game boom.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	Changed online multiplayer and made shooters feel like action movies.
Final Fantasy VII	The game that made JRPGs a global phenomenon with its epic story.
World of Warcraft	The MMO that became a cultural phenomenon, creating a massive online world.