From downloading your favorite episodes, to listening to a new download of your podcast, 2017 was a banner year for the podcast industry. Podcasts have never been more popular or more influential, and the statistics to back up this claim are freely available to anyone who cares to learn more.

If you listened to a podcast this year, give yourself a round of applause — you are part of a vital new entertainment and information revolution, one that shows no sign of slowing down. Podcasts are now as powerful as movies and video games (to say the least). So pump up the volume, order a product using a special promotional code, and get ready to hear people talking … because that’s “the podcast way.” And the podcast way is here to stay. And podcasts have only 2017 to thank, for 2017 was truly the Year of the Podcast. And that’s all there is to it.

Here are the TOP TEN PODCASTS OF 2017:

10. “Did you hear the latest podcast?”

9. Political podcasts

8. New podcasts

7. (TIE) Innovations in podcasting technology / True-crime podcasts

6. Podcast networks

5. Comedy podcasts

4. Podcasts that make the days go by

3. Some of the best podcasts

2. Controversial podcasts

1. Your friend’s podcast