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Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

The year in podcasts

By Elissa Orlando,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published December 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM EST
Four people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a woman front left has long brown hair and is wearing a black shirt, grey pants and black shoes; a man front right has short dark hair and is wearing a grey vest over a blue hooded sweatshirt and jeans; a man back left has short brown hair, a brown beard and is wearing glasses, a grey blazer and a plaid button-down shirt.
Mari Tuschiya
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Veronica Volk, (background) Carl Nellis and Jazzy T with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Monday, December 8, 2025
WXXI News

More than a decade after “Serial” pulled mainstream Americans into the world of podcasts, what are the genuinely new and interesting podcasts on the scene?

Our panelists share their picks, and we take audience submissions for the top podcasts of 2025.

Our guests:

Connections
Elissa Orlando
Elissa Orlando is a producer for “Connections with Evan Dawson.” She returns part-time to WXXI News after stepping back from a long career in public media and in translational science.
See stories by Elissa Orlando
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams