May’s Pod Stars: NPR Again Has Two Of The Top Three, ‘Rotten Mango’ Enters Top 20.

There remains plenty of stability at the top of Podtrac’s monthly ranking of the most listened-to shows among the publishers it measures. News Now, the on-demand hourly newscast from the public radio network, remained in first place in May. That kept it in front of The New York Times morning news podcast The Daily, which ranked second, edging out NPR’s morning news podcast Up First, which again held onto third place last month. Rounding out the top five was Dateline NBC in fourth, marking a return to the top 10 for the NBC News show; and Fox Audio Network’s Fox News Hourly Update, keeping the top five shows the same for the past three months.

The monthly ranker brought iHeartPodcasts’ On Purpose with Jay Shetty into the top ten, as it rose two. Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take and This American Life swapped spots compared to the prior month.

The biggest surprise in the update is that neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, whose Huberman Lab podcast finished at No. 10 in April, didn’t make the top 20 ranker this month. But the hit true crime series Rotten Mango jumped ten places and into the Podtrac ranking for the first time at No. 17 as it brought listeners updates on the trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The ranking is based on Podtrac measurement data for U.S. unique monthly audience for any show that was measured for the entire month. While measurement is free for any podcast, the ranking only includes those shows that have opted in. It means that some of the biggest podcasts, like The Joe Rogan Experience, and shows from companies like SiriusXM, Spotify and Wondery, are not included in the measurement.