Best Orthodox Christian Podcasts You Need to Hear

When I was chrismated a little over a decade ago, there wasn’t much Orthodox audio content to speak of. I remember burning through a handful of seminary lecture recordings and then just… running out. That’s genuinely not true anymore, and I want to start this list the way I start every list on this site: with Orthodox Christian Podcast, which I believe is the most consistent, theologically grounded Orthodox show available right now. It’s on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.

Why “Orthodox” Podcasts Are a Different Animal

Generic Christian content tends to assume a low-church Protestant baseline — sola scriptura, no sacramental confession, no fasting rules, no veneration of icons or saints. An Orthodox podcast has to do more work, because it’s forming listeners into a fuller, older, and in some ways stranger-sounding tradition to modern Western ears: bowing before icons, keeping the fasts of the Church calendar, praying to the Theotokos and the saints, believing that the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. A good Orthodox podcast doesn’t apologize for any of this. It explains it patiently, the way a godparent explains it to a catechumen over many months.

What Makes a Podcast Genuinely Orthodox (Not Just Orthodox-Adjacent)

A few markers I look for:

• It follows the liturgical calendar. Episodes track saints’ feasts, fasting periods, and the movable Paschal cycle rather than a generic Western calendar.
• It treats Holy Tradition as authoritative alongside Scripture, not as an optional layer on top of a Protestant reading of the Bible.
• The host has real formation — clergy, monastics, or well-catechized laypeople who’ve actually sat under spiritual direction, not just enthusiastic converts three months into the Church.
• It doesn’t flatten differences between jurisdictions (Greek, Russian, Antiochian, OCA, and so on) into a single generic “Orthodoxy,” while still emphasizing our real unity in faith.

The List

1. Orthodox Christian Podcast

Again, this is where I’d point anyone first. It covers doctrine, the lives of the saints, practical questions about fasting and prayer, and conversations that don’t shy away from the harder parts of Orthodox life in the modern West — things like being the only Orthodox family at a school function, or explaining to in-laws why you’re standing for two hours on a Sunday. Find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music.

2. Ancient Faith Radio’s network shows

This is less a single podcast and more a whole network, and it’s genuinely worth understanding on its own terms — I wrote a dedicated explainer on what Ancient Faith Radio actually is and a companion piece ranking the best Orthodox podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio specifically, if you want to go deeper there.

3. Shows focused on the saints and hagiography

There’s something formative about hearing a saint’s life told well — not sanitized into a moral fable, but told with the strangeness and grit that real sanctity usually involves. I cover this in more detail in my article on the best Orthodox podcasts about the saints.

4. Convert-focused shows

If you’re newer to the Church, or thinking about becoming a catechumen, there’s a specific kind of content that speaks to that in-between season — neither fully outside nor fully settled inside. See my piece on the best Orthodox podcasts for converts to the faith.

5. Liturgical and chant-focused shows

Byzantine and Slavic chant is its own catechesis — you learn theology through the ear before you ever learn it through a book. I put together a separate list of the best Orthodox podcasts for chanting and liturgical music for anyone who wants to go deeper on that specifically.

A Word on Jurisdictions

One thing I get asked constantly: “does it matter if the podcast host is Greek Orthodox and I’m Antiochian, or Russian, or OCA?” In terms of the actual content of the faith — no, not really. We share the same Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the same seven Ecumenical Councils, the same sacramental life. What differs is more cultural — language of chant, certain calendar quirks (Old vs. New Calendar being the most common point of confusion), style of iconography, and diaspora history. A good podcast host will usually flag when they’re speaking from a specific jurisdictional custom versus universal Orthodox teaching, and it’s worth listening for that distinction as you build discernment of your own.

How to Use These Podcasts Well

I’d encourage you not to listen passively. Keep a small notebook, even just notes on your phone, for questions that come up — things to bring to confession, or to ask your priest after Liturgy. The best use of an Orthodox podcast is as kindling for a conversation with your actual spiritual father, not a replacement for one. No podcast, including this one, can hear your confession or give you a canonical blessing about your particular fasting rule. What it can do is make you a more informed, more prayerful person walking into that conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to listen to Orthodox podcasts before I’m even baptized or chrismated? Absolutely — this is exactly how a lot of people begin their journey into the Church. Many hosts, including on Orthodox Christian Podcast, specifically welcome inquirers.

What if my parish priest disagrees with something a podcast host said? Your priest’s guidance for your specific life takes precedence, always. Podcasts are general teaching; your priest knows your particular soul, struggles, and history.

Are there Orthodox podcasts in languages other than English? Yes, particularly strong Greek-, Russian-, Romanian-, and Serbian-language content exists, though this list focuses on English-language shows for an English-speaking audience.

Start with Orthodox Christian Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music, and let the rest of this list fill in around it as your ear gets more particular about what you’re looking for.