We may not have reached peak podcast yet, but we can’t be too far off. With so many new downloads to wade through, putting together a definitive list of this year’s best seemed an impossible task. And do you really need us to tell you that the new season of “Serial” returns the show to its excellent, addictive heights? (For the record, it does.) Instead, we asked our critics to crack open their phones and share the shows that truly clicked with them this year.
THE SONIC DEEP DIVE
‘Dissect’
Most great art refuses to let your appreciation hit bottom. The bottomlessness is part of what lures you back. That painting, movie, play, book, star never stops giving. But Cole Cuchna’s album podcast, “Dissect,” actually attempts to bottom out, close-reading great records with college-lecture authority and autograph-hound zeal. Season one unpacked Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly.” Season two dismantled Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” It’s…
