The Diary of a CEO is the UK's biggest podcast and one of the top five interview shows globally. Steven Bartlett has interviewed everyone from Elon Musk's ex-wife to Olympic gold medallists, neuroscientists, billionaires, and convicted fraudsters. As of early 2026, there are over 500 episodes — and the show is still growing.
But is it actually good? Or is it just well-marketed?
I've been listening since episode 30 in 2020. I've heard the highs and the lows, watched the show evolve from a small UK business podcast into a global media brand, and I have some opinions. This is an honest review — what DOAC does brilliantly, where it falls short, and whether it deserves a spot in your podcast rotation in 2026.
For the uninitiated: Diary of a CEO (DOAC) is a long-form interview podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett, a British-Nigerian entrepreneur who built Social Chain into a publicly traded social media company before turning 30. The podcast launched in 2017 and has since become the UK's most popular podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Episodes typically run 1.5 hours and feature a single guest in a studio conversation. The format is simple: two chairs, good lighting, deep conversation. No audience, no gimmicks, no rapid-fire segments.
The guest range is broad: entrepreneurs (Alex Hormozi, Gary Vee), scientists (Andrew Huberman, Matthew Walker), psychologists (Gabor Maté, Jordan Peterson), celebrities (Will Smith, Bear Grylls), and health experts (Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, Chris van Tulleken).
This is DOAC's killer feature. In a world of 15-minute podcast episodes and 60-second TikToks, Bartlett gives guests 90+ minutes to actually develop their ideas. The best DOAC episodes don't just scratch the surface of a topic — they dig into the mechanisms, the nuance, the contradictions.
The Gabor Maté episode on trauma is a perfect example. In a short interview, Maté would give his standard "trauma isn't what happens to you, it's what happens inside you" soundbite. In 90 minutes with Bartlett, he traces that idea through childhood development, addiction neuroscience, and the specific ways unresolved trauma shows up in adult relationships and career patterns. You leave with a genuinely different understanding of human psychology.
Bartlett is an unusually good interviewer for someone who isn't a trained journalist. His secret: he's genuinely curious, he does thorough preparation, and — crucially — he's willing to be vulnerable first.
In the Dr. Paul Conti episode, Bartlett shares his own childhood experiences before asking Conti to analyse them. This isn't performative — it sets a tone of honesty that makes guests open up in ways they don't on other shows. Multiple guests have said their DOAC episode is the most honest interview they've ever done.
He also knows when to shut up. Bartlett isn't a Joe Rogan-style host who constantly interjects with his own stories. When a guest is on a roll, he lets them talk.
The visual production is cinema-quality. The studio is beautiful, the lighting is perfect, the audio is pristine. This matters more than people think — it signals to guests (and viewers) that this is a serious conversation, not a casual chat. The YouTube versions of DOAC episodes average 3-5 million views, partly because they're genuinely pleasant to watch.
DOAC covers business, psychology, health, relationships, science, and culture. This is both a strength and a weakness (more on that below), but it means you can use the podcast as a one-stop learning platform across multiple areas of life. One week you're learning about gut health and nutrition, the next you're getting career change advice.
With 500+ episodes, not every guest is going to be a home run. Some episodes feel like filler — guests promoting books with recycled ideas, or influencers who are famous but don't have much substance beyond their personal brand. For every life-changing Hormozi or Gabor Maté episode, there's one that feels like a polished infomercial.
My honest take: About 60-70% of episodes are good to excellent. 20% are fine but forgettable. And 10% probably shouldn't have been made. That's actually a strong ratio for a podcast producing 100+ episodes per year — but it means you need to be selective about what you listen to. (That's why curated guides like our best episodes for entrepreneurs exist.)
As DOAC has grown, some episodes have drifted toward the self-help guru end of the spectrum. Guests occasionally make dramatic, unfalsifiable claims — "if you just change your mindset, anything is possible" — without being sufficiently challenged. Bartlett is improving at pushback (his early episodes had almost none), but there are still moments where extraordinary claims go unquestioned.
To his credit, Bartlett has also hosted legitimate scientists and medical professionals who do bring evidence-based perspectives. The Andrew Huberman episodes are among the most educational content available in any podcast, period.
Not every conversation needs 90 minutes. Some episodes would be sharper at 60 minutes — there's occasional repetition, and some guests run out of new things to say around the 75-minute mark. The podcast could benefit from tighter editing, but the long format is clearly part of the brand identity, so it's unlikely to change.
Workaround: Listen at 1.5x speed, or use episode summaries (like the ones on diaryofceo.online) to identify which episodes deserve your full attention.
DOAC has gone increasingly global, but there's still a bias toward UK-based guests. If you're not British, some cultural references and guest names might not resonate. That said, the biggest episodes feature globally recognised figures, and the advice itself is universally applicable.
| Feature | Diary of a CEO | Joe Rogan Experience | Lex Fridman |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average length | 1.5 hours | 3 hours | 2-4 hours |
| Focus | Business, health, psychology | Everything (comedy, MMA, politics) | Science, tech, philosophy |
| Interview style | Prepared, empathetic, structured | Casual, conversational, tangential | Deep, technical, philosophical |
| Best for | Entrepreneurs, self-improvers | General interest, entertainment | Intellectuals, tech people |
| Production quality | Excellent | Good | Minimal but effective |
| Actionable advice | High | Variable | Moderate |
For a deeper look at how DOAC stacks up against specific shows, see our DOAC vs. Joe Rogan comparison and DOAC vs. Lex Fridman comparison.
If you're new to DOAC, don't start at episode 1 — the early episodes are noticeably rougher. Here are five that represent the podcast at its best:
For a more comprehensive list organised by category, check our best episodes for entrepreneurs or the best episodes for mindset.
2017-2019 (Early Days): Small-scale business podcast. Mostly UK entrepreneurs and marketers. Raw production. Bartlett was finding his voice as an interviewer. These episodes have a charm but lack the polish and depth of later seasons.
2020-2021 (Breakout): The pandemic lockdowns supercharged podcast listening, and DOAC exploded. Guest quality jumped dramatically. The mental health and psychology episodes became the show's identity. This is when DOAC stopped being "a business podcast" and became "a podcast about being human."
2022-2023 (Global Scale): Hollywood-level guests (Will Smith, Matthew McConaughey, Bear Grylls). The US audience grew massively. Production reached its current cinema quality. Bartlett became a genuinely skilled interviewer. The best episodes from this era are some of the finest long-form interviews available anywhere.
2024-2026 (Maturity): The challenge now is maintaining quality at scale. With 100+ episodes per year, not every one can be a classic. But Bartlett seems aware of this — recent episodes show a return to more challenging, substantive guests and less celebrity filler. The 2026 episodes have been particularly strong.
Diary of a CEO is one of the best interview podcasts available in 2026. The best episodes are genuinely life-changing. But with 500+ episodes, you can't (and shouldn't) listen to all of them. Be selective. Use curated guides to identify the episodes that match your current priorities. Listen to 2-3 per month deeply rather than trying to keep up with every release.
If you're an entrepreneur, it's close to essential listening. If you're interested in psychology, health, or self-improvement, it's among the best options available. If you're neither of those things, there might be better podcasts for you — but DOAC is still worth checking out for any of the episodes listed above.
Yes. All episodes are available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms. There is no paid tier or premium content — everything is free.
Most episodes run between 1 and 2 hours, with the average around 1.5 hours. Some particularly deep conversations run longer, but Bartlett typically keeps things under the 2-hour mark.
Steven Bartlett is a British-Nigerian entrepreneur, author, and podcast host. He founded Social Chain at 21, took it public at a £300M+ valuation, became the youngest Dragon on BBC's Dragons' Den at 28, and hosts The Diary of a CEO. For more on his business journey and advice, see our Steven Bartlett business advice guide.
It depends on your interests. For business: Alex Hormozi. For psychology: Gabor Maté. For habits: James Clear. For health: Chris van Tulleken. For a comprehensive ranked list, see our best episodes guide.
Right here on diaryofceo.online. We publish detailed summaries with key quotes, frameworks, and actionable takeaways for every major episode.
Find the perfect DOAC episode for you. Browse by topic: business — mental health — money — mindset — productivity