Apple has shared the 2023 charts for nearly 100 countries, listing the most popular podcast shows, books and audiobooks across its platforms.
The 2023 charts differ from one market to another | Image: Jukka Aalho/Unsoplash
“Crime Junkie” topped the 2023 chart of the most popular podcasts in the United States, proving that people can’t get enough of true-crime podcasts.
As for books, Apple provide separate charts for fiction and nonfiction books and audiobooks, with “Spare” by Prince Harry emerging as 2023’a most popular nonfiction title and Britney Spears’ “The Woman in Me” as the top audiobook.
Importantly, these charts are based on official download numbers from the Apple Podcasts and Apple Books platforms. The rankings don’t include digital books, audiobooks and podcasts found on other platforms like Spotify and Google Play.
The most popular Apple podcasts of 2023
As per the Apple Newsroom announcement, podcast charts include the top podcasts overall, the top new shows of 2023, the most followed shows, the most shared shows and episodes, and the top free and subscriber channels.
The Apple Podcasts charts of 2023 | Image: Christian Zibreg/iDB
The Podcast Show of the Year will be revealed on Tuesday, December 5. You can explore the charts via the Browse tab in the Apple Podcasts app on your iPhone, iPad and Mac through the end of the year.
The top podcasts of 2023 in the US
The top 10 shows:
- Crime Junkie
- The Daily
- Dateline NBC
- SmartLess
- This American Life
- Morbid
- Up First
- Huberman Lab
- Hidden Brain
- Stuff You Should Know
The top 10 new shows:
- Scamanda
- The Retrievals
- The Deck Investigates
- Murder & Magnolias
- Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- The Girl in the Blue Mustang
- The Coldest Case in Laramie
- Murder in Apartment 12
- The Girlfriends
- Undetermined
The top 10 most followed shows:
- Huberman Lab
- SmartLess
- New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce
- Scamanda
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
- Crime Junkie
- The Retrievals
- The Deck Investigates
- Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- On Purpose with Jay Shetty
The top 10 most shared shows:
- Scamanda
- Sold a Story
- The Retrievals
- Huberman Lab
- SmartLess
- The Witch Trials of J.K Rowling
- Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
- Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis Dreyfus
- The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
- True Sunlight
The top 10 most shared episodes:
- Huberman Lab: “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health”
- Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus: “Julia Gets Wise with Jane Fonda”
- The Daily: “The Fight Over Phonics”
- Hidden Brain: “The Paradox of Pleasure”
- Sold a Story: “The Problem”
- The Mel Robbins Podcast: “The ‘Let Them Theory’: A Life Changing Mindset Hack That 15 Million People Can’t Stop Talking About”
- The Retrievals: “The Patients”
- We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle: “Why We Love the Way We Love: Attachment Styles with Dr. Becky Kennedy”
- Just B with Bethenny Frankel: “Reality Reckoning: Rachel Leviss (Part One)”
- Serial: “The Alibi”
The top 10 free channels:
- iHeartPodcasts
- audiochuck
- The New York Times
- Dear Media
- Serial Productions
- Barstool Sports
- ABC News
- The Daily Wire
- Scicomm Media
- Cumulus Podcast Network
The top 10 subscriber channels:
- Wondery
- Dateline NBC
- Pushkin
- iHeart True Crime
- Lemonada
- Tenderfoot TV
- TED Audio Collective
- Freakonomics Radio
- Radiolab
- BBC Podcasts
The Browse tab also includes Shows We Love, described as “a curated collection of standout narrative and episodic series that resonated with listeners this year.” The Shows We Love section is available in over fifteen markets.
The most popular books of 2023
The Apple Books charts of 2023 | Image: Christian Zibreg/iDB
Apple says that celebrity memoirs from Prince Harry and Britney Spears have topped the charts in many countries, with “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros earning an honorable mention as a popular romance and fantasy read.
The top books and audiobooks of 2023 in the US
The top 5 nonfiction books of 2023:
- Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
- The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
- Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford
- Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
The top 5 fiction books of 2023:
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
- Happy Place by Emily Henry
- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The top 5 nonfiction audiobooks of 2023:
- The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
- Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
- Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
- Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
The top 5 fiction audiobooks of 2023:
- Only the Dead by Jack Carr
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
- Happy Place by Emily Henry
- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
You can access and browse the above charts on Apple Books, as well as the top charts for all titles, by clicking the buttons below:
View the most popular audiobooks of 2023 on Apple Books
View the most popular books of 2023 on Apple Books
View the top charts for all titles on Apple Books
Introducing Year in Review on Apple Books
The Apple Music Review feature has now made its way onto Apple Books, and it’s called Year in Review. It creates shareable stats featuring personalized insights about the books you’ve read this year.