Strangers

5,939

The new season + the full back catalogue of Strangers (100+ episodes) can be found at https://strangers.supercast.com. If you like the episodes here, come join me there! Strangers is storytelling for the 21st century from Peabody award winning director and producer, Lea Thau.

Recent Episodes
  • The Schmidts, Part 2
    Oct 30, 2020 – 45:59
  • The Schmidts, Part 1
    Oct 23, 2020 – 39:01
  • Wilmot of Helena
    Jul 24, 2020 – 26:40
  • Do You Like My Little Lie?
    Oct 12, 2017 – 33:15
  • The Truth
    Oct 28, 2016 – 49:04
  • The Son, The Goddess, and Leopoldo
    May 30, 2016 – 46:38
  • Falling Slowly
    Oct 24, 2014 – 24:13
  • Big Jim & Smokey Joe
    Oct 14, 2014 – 12:43
  • Two Men and a Baby
    Jun 15, 2014 – 24:36
  • The Long Shadow
    May 17, 2014 – 39:07
  • Jenni Rowell: Life, Interrupted
    Mar 14, 2014 – 30:12
  • Franky Carrillo: Life
    Apr 11, 2013 – 38:11
Recent Reviews
  • Uberchicpolish
    New episodes on supercast only
    For everyone saying please come back the show is still going. It’s just behind a paywall on supercast. Same name just search strangers.
  • cassondrap
    Need more!
    Why only 11 episodes? Great story telling! Please add more lol :)
  • MelissaNMontez
    Best podcast!
    We are with you Lea ❤️ just working on myself and getting through some personal struggles, as I patiently wait your return, in your time.
  • HouKSi
    We all miss you!!!
    Please come back to us!!!
  • D£poQueen
    Lea for the love of god come back
    We need you back in action, queen.
  • benlashford
    Life changing!
    I absolutely adore every single episode. I never ever re-listen to podcasts, however that changed when I discovered you! I can listen over and over because your voice and the voices you bring to your show are so beautiful and special and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your talents and especially your personal stories and experiences that are deeply inspiring and so very real.
  • berliner1000
    incredible story-teller
    Most recent episodes about your early life have been enthralling. Well worth the price of subscription.
  • bull&$it
    MORE PLEASE
    Just to start, your voice is mesmerizing. One of my top 5! Listening to these stories has me realize a lot about my own life. I’m counting my blessings. Thank you for this amazing podcast.
  • reah1967
    Unfinished business (?)
    Love, love this podcast too bad it’s gone. Are you angry at some people from The Moth? You could recreate or continue this podcast and do better then any other one around, you are so talented please comeback.🙏
  • Raycrizzle
    More Stories please
    She’s an incredible interviewer and storyteller. I miss the stories so much! Please share more stories. I have been patiently waiting.
  • Cw_ak
    Need episodes please!!!
    Luv the podcast but feel like I’ve been waiting forever for new episodes please make more!!
  • squirrelagirla
    Very Interesting podcast
    The stories in this podcast are so captivating and well told. I hope there will be more episodes sometime!
  • EricaBushwell
    Awesome podcast!
    Lea, host of the Strangers podcast, highlights all aspects of life, growth and more in this can’t miss podcast! The host and expert guests offer insightful advice and information that is helpful to anyone that listens!
  • malfoxley
    Great show!
    Lea, host of the Strangers podcast, highlights all aspects of people’s lives, stories and more in this can’t miss podcast! The host and expert guests offer insightful advice and information that is helpful to anyone that listens!
  • LCanoyW
    You are missed
    Please come back
  • HolafromHawaii
    Such a “get to the point” Podcast!!!
    Let’s go Leah! Miss you! Time to get back into it!
  • nnnnnnnnbp
    Binged
    I discovered this podcast last week and I am sad to have already finished all of the episodes!! I can’t wait for new episodes! Great work
  • sadclown12
    Enjoying the transparency of your personal updates and your show
    Lea your transparency is fascinating and much appreciated. I find it refreshing when you talk about your struggles in the moment without knowing where it will go. This pod is fantastic. Best of luck on your journey. I will be listening.
  • keydre112319
    Thank you for your work
    I was reading some of the bad reviews in this and just wow people are such buttholes. I really love this show. Lea is so passionate and real. And yes she does whine sometimes but I love that too because it’s real. There are struggles when your doing work that is an art and work that you enjoy. Usually work that you enjoy doesn’t pay a lot but takes so much passion, effort, time, and energy. Her Patreon episodes are great and I happily support her as a patron. She doesn’t flood you with adds even in the nonpatreon page. I just started a podcast myself and it takes so much time and writing and rewriting editing recording and re-recording. I appreciate Lea’s hard work in putting something together that I can enjoy and listen to and learn from. All her stories are so powerful and eye opening and told in a much different style that I’m used to. This podcast feels real. Lea feels like a friend I know. I feel like I’ve learned so much more about the world.
  • Rachaelraydm
    All The Feels
    This podcast is hands down one of my favorites. Heart felt, full of souls, wonderful storytelling and always interesting. Listen! Please! You won’t regret it! So happy she is back, no one else could do it better. Get pushing through, we need this podcast in this crazy world.
  • cal pic
    Missed you!!
    And she’s back! I appreciate your vulnerability about the last few years. I’m here for the growth (yours and mine) ❤️🙏🏽
  • bell banker
    Strangers
    I missed you!
  • SJ827
    Love this podcast
    Lea, I love the stories you share and truly appreciate the work that goes into making them. Just subscribed through Patreon because I don’t want to miss a thing!
  • cclehr
    The Best
    Enjoyable and intelligent listening ... great audio accompaniment to life. Lea Thau is a pioneer in the art of story telling ... her series on kidney donation was awesomeness and impactful ... holds up as the best podcast I have heard. Psyched Lea Thau is creating new content!
  • DJ Dumdub
    A step above most other storytelling podcasts
    The people and stories that Strangers choose to highlight always seem to move me deeply. The episodes remind me of New Yorker articles, where I start out thinking, “uhh, do I really want to commit 40 minutes to someone who jumps off bridges?” But by the end, I’m blown away and recommending it to everyone I come across and researching the new things I’ve learned.
  • Ms DPG
    Now I know why I stopped listening...
    I saw that Strangers was recommended to me and thought that I would give it another try. Ugh - I forgot how pathetic, desperate and self indulgent Lea is. If you want a real storytelling podcast try Heavyweight or Invisibilia. And the Patreon “I want to be an artist and need to protect my children so I need a paywall, but don’t worry it’s only $1” conceit is painful in its hypocrisy.
  • maiway
    Undiagnosed bipolar? Borderline?
    It’s sad and difficult to listen to this host describe her deceptive behavior and thirst for drama with so little self-awareness.
  • Phantasmalmirth
    Happy to be a Patreon member
    I’ve followed Strangers since it joined Radiotopia, and greatly resonated with the Love Hurts episodes. I was so struck by her vulnerability and bravery to ask her past lovers what went wrong. She’s a fantastic, introspective and compassionate storyteller who takes you through the emotional process of creating. Since I’m a writer myself, I find her neuroses and occasional self doubt relatable. However, I can understand how her handwringing could come off as obnoxious to people who prefer podcasts where the host is not part of (and sometimes the entire) story. If you like authentic, introspective storytelling then this could be your jam too. I’m so glad that she’s back and I’m happy to support her talent through Patreon. I was balling at the episode about her friend, Anja. I’m rooting for Lea, and I’m grateful she shares her journey and the interesting stories she comes across with us.
  • SailorFamiLee
    Right On Time
    I have followed Lea for years and recently became a Patreon. All I can say is Just Listen.
  • LeahZ85
    Where are the episodes?!
    I’m so sad! I was looking for the Jack episodes. Ugh. I want you to come back!! This is my favorite podcast and would love it if you continued!! Came to write a new review to say “YAY! You’re back!! Please PLEASE keep doing these.”
  • Mother0fdragons
    Time to move on
    The narrator took a good podcast concept and totally ruined it with her narcissism and whining. I’ve also had a hard couple of years- but don’t think my personal problems make a good podcast or that anyone should care. Lea’s problems are easily the least interesting of anyone one the planet. If she still wants to make a podcast she needs to start new - this one is over.
  • User dude775
    No thank you
    I’ve listened to a lot of the episodes and, while they often address interesting topics, the way that the narrative is so centered around the host is difficult to put up with. The general format is good and the host seems both kind and competent. However, too often there is always a moment when the host reframes the story around herself and her own impressions. In the early episodes, when the concept of the show uses her life changes a a springboard for social exploration, that’s totally ok. But as the podcast takes on broader topics, it begins to feel more and more like her own diary where she records her own surprises and insecurities rather than a medium for showcasing a diversity of opinion and worldview. While sharing her own views, she says a lot of things that highlight her seemingly total unawareness of what it is like to live outside of a life of material and political privilege, saying things that I find tone deaf and often inadvertently offensive. To make matters worse, anytime listeners point this out, she uses too much air time of the next episode apologizing and talking about what a bad person she is. I finally unsubscribed about a year ago when an entire episode was just her musing about why she is sad when her life is otherwise perfect, crying and getting her partner to reassure her that she isn’t a bad person. Hard pass! It’s a shame that this show has some real gems but they get lost in the swamp of the host’s own ego. The podcast could really benefit from having a harsh outside editor that edits for content rather than just cutting tape together.
  • Lauramacky
    The podcast that never happens
    Why keep saying something is coming if nothing comes. A few years ago you said you weren’t going to do so much about your drama yet the one episode you put out recently went on about you. It’s humorous at this point.
  • EricaH3
    Great podcast
    I can’t wait for more episodes .
  • OG in NC
    Lea Thau is still great
    I got ready to write a review and see I had written one back in 2018 where I said "Lea Thau is a gem." I still love her show, even though she dropped off the grid for about 2 years. I now pay Patreon $2.50/month (the lowest subscription rate for her show is only $1/month) because itis so good. She is a million times better than similar "concepts," such as "Death, Sex, and Money," the WNYC show with Anna Sale. The latter show gets lamer every day, whereas Thau is someone who continues to have uncompromising principles, integrity, is amazingly talented and genuinely interested in people and the world. Anna Sale, on the other hand, ever since she moved to California and had a baby (or two) turns out a weak, lazy show that is just boring and I wish WNYC would kill it.
  • Metsfan0606
    Sorry to be harsh, but
    Strangers used to be my favorite podcast - the first one I discovered on my own. I was so sad when it disappeared and often checked back for an update. Well it’s back but in Lea’s own words it’s being prepared for Patreon. I listen to a lot of podcasts and never have I heard a host whine so much about needing money, even to complain about the twenty cents on the dollar and waste show minutes breaking down all the different levels of support. Tacky - and gross that we are being asked to pay for older back catalogue. On top of that seems like the freebie episodes are mostly the Lea show, ugh, no thanks. I have to agree with the reviewer who calls it an incoherent, narcissistic mess. Sad to say, but I’m done with Strangers.
  • Amiree25
    Welcome Back!!!!!!
    Thank you Lea for coming back to the world. It's so great to hear your voice in this challenging time in the world! Looking forward to what the future holds for us ”listeners” and the adventures and journeys we will all take along side you. We have been waiting patiently, and always remember, to take a step back to ”love yourself” to keep sending messages over the airwaves..... Con Mucho Amor ~MDS💋🤟🏽💪🏽🥰😍🙌🏼❤️😘☺️🙏
  • Rootsie6412
    Thank God you are back
    Just listened to Wilmot of Helena and it was one of the most heartbreaking and hopeful stories I have heard in sometime. Magnificent. I am definitely subscribing to Patreon. Please take care of yourself Lea, we need you and your voice now more than ever. Take your time, we are grateful for whatever you give us
  • Carruecarrue
    Thank you
    Incredible storyteller and interviewer. Your storytelling resonates with me and I’m so grateful you are back.
  • KM98654
    One of my favorites!
    This podcast is incredible. Love Lea’s brilliant storytelling. Signing up for the low-cost Patreon will get you a lot more episodes. Highly recommend.
  • please talk better
    Stick to strangers
    Love the recent work that is back to the original format. Probably best to keep the retelling of your own difficulties to your self. Otherwise you risk sabotaging your show. While important to you, the personal episodes involve content that most people are needing a break from. Its just draining to hear.
  • Do not scroll past this one!
    To the narrator
    Goddamn I love my hot tub too. For all the same reasons you love yours. Bless thing for beautiful breaks during these times. I wish everyone had one.
  • devotedlistner
    Strangers.
    What a beautiful experience each and every story. Thank goodness you left The Moth. So you could create this Podcast. Best I’ve heard. The teller. . The stories. The calm honest look at each of us. Because each of us, have a story like the one shared. Within us. An admirer.
  • Tf do I even put here
    THE QUEEN IS BACK
    I found strangers right before the show stopped producing episodes and I LOVED THIS SHOW INSTANTLY. the stories are captivating and heartwarming and gut punching all at the same time. pls keep doing what you do, we love it!
  • Melanie
    The world needed this
    The world needed Strangers back! Thank you for your work, and please don’t stop doing what you do!
  • IzsoFlye
    You were missed
    This podcast was and is one of my favorites. It’s one of the first podcasts I binged. I can’t express how much I miss your stories and your voice. Life gets so busy and hectic and I don’t want you to feel pressured. Just loved and admired. Take your time. Find your balance. (All the above was written but never posted about a year ago)! I wanted to say that I appreciate your ability to be raw and open with your listeners. I am so glad you are back. Some of these one star reviews are cringe-worthy. I eagerly await more content and will have to try out Patreon. Thank you Lea. You’re a gem.
  • Kmk610
    Stop whining!
    I hope it changes course but this podcast used to be incredible. After Leah’s breakdown and even before it became heavily centered around her. A lot Of whining.
  • Mommie_Doodle11
    Where are the links to subscribe on Patreon???
    The podcast description says to sign up on Patreon to donate and get the new content but there’s no link to take me there :( I’ll find it because I have LOVED this podcast from the beginning and missed it terribly when it stopped, but others might not be willing to make the extra effort to find it on Patreon. Add the link!
  • Kinda disappointed 2011
    Love Lea’s Voice
    This podcast is so intimate and heartfelt. It’s the only podcast I stayed subscribed to that had such a long break, and I LOVE the new content. There is no other podcast that makes me feel the way this one does. We all have struggles, and we are all beautiful. Thank you, Lea.
  • 184AB
    Strangers
    A person rated this one star. I read the comment and have to agree. It brought back to me the last days of Leas former podcast in which there was a lot of soul searching and difficult revelations that I hadn’t really needed to hear, because I appreciated the people whose stories were told and THAT’s why I kept tuning in. So now that she’s back, I’m hearing more of the same, plus the added requests for money she needs. But I loved the story about the Mayor of Helena. So I’ll listen to THOSE stories.
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