From political change to spooky traditions, check out these new podcasts

Halloween and election night are right around the corner. Whether you’re casting ballots or spells, add these public media podcast recommendations from the NPR One team to your playlist.

The podcast episode descriptions below are from podcast webpages and have been edited for brevity and clarity.

(SPF 1000) Vampire Sunscreen – KUT

In (SPF 1000) Vampire Sunscreen host Laurie Gallardo simply asks one question of her guests: What is the darkness to you? Or, what is dark to you? The conversations that arise from this range from heartbreaking to inspiring, and get to the heart of the guests’ personal philosophies, internal struggles, and creative journeys. In having these conversations, Laurie hopes to inspire listeners to reflect on their own experiences with darkness, and perhaps connect to others on their own journey.

Start listening to, “Urban Heat: Dark Like Me.”

StoryCorps – NPR

Elections can bring out the worst in people. The very nature of the thing is that we take sides – but when the stakes are high, sometimes we go too far, demonizing those we disagree with. Or maybe it all feels too overwhelming and we retreat so as to avoid engaging altogether.

But is that inevitable? Is there another way? In this season of the StoryCorps Podcast, we’re telling stories about people who decided to venture out of their corners and engage with others, even if it was a struggle. Those who chose to step up and embrace the difficulties of the world— because there was no other way to make it better.

Start listening to, “Stepping Up.”

Scandalized – Boise State Public Radio

In each episode of Scandalized, political scientists Charlie Hunt and Jaci Kettler unpack a political scandal from American history: the story, its scandalous details, the political meaning and motivations behind the act. What can political science teach us about what happened? How has the scandal and its aftermath changed American politics? And what on earth were these politicians thinking?

Start listening to, “The Golden Opportunity.”

What The Vote? – Michigan Radio Presents

Young voters aren’t always politicians’ first priority. But in a presidential race this tight–maybe they should be. On this episode of What the Vote?, reporter Adan Quan looks at what it means for Gen Z to have a seat at the political table. And we’ll explore how young people are using their voices, and their votes, to create political change. What the Vote? is a six-episode series all about what matters to Gen Z this election. New episodes drop on Tuesday and Thursday.

Start listening to, “Gen Z’s political power.”

Snap Judgment Presents: Spooked – KQED & PRX

As an engineer, Forrest is used to being able to solve problems and find solutions. But while working in the remote North Slope of Alaska, he learns that there are things in this world that just can’t be explained.

Friday the 13th of September Spooked kicked off a ritual as old as our treachery: Season of the Wolf. Brand new episodes will drop each and every week until All Hallows’ Eve.

Start listening to, “Northern Frights.”

Fact Check Arizona – AZPM

This season on Fact Check Arizona, we look at what people around the 2024 election are saying and whether they have the facts on their side. We’ll look not just at facts but also context, and we’ll bring the receipts so you can follow along.

Start listening to, “Is The Epoch Times really ‘#1 trusted news’?”

Close All Tabs – KQED

Welcome to Close All Tabs, a special KQED podcast series exploring the intersection of internet culture and politics. In this first episode, host Morgan Sung takes us through the evolution of online campaigning—from the early days of dial-up modems to today’s Twitch streams. We’ll revisit iconic moments like “the Dean scream” and “Pokemon Go to the polls,” examine how memes became a legitimate political force, and discuss why Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are turning to podcasters and streamers to reach voters.

Listen to, “From the Dean Scream to Brat Memes.”

NPR’s Jessica Green and Jack Mitchell curated and produced this piece.