For a lot of us, podcasts have become our key source of commentary during daily tasks, filling commutes, workouts, walks and quiet evenings with expert insights, conversation and lessons learned.

There’s a plethora of (and, I’ll say it: overwhelming amount of) podcasts about business, news and leadership… but the MDM Podcast is one of the few curated specifically for wholesale distribution executives.

The MDM Podcast gives those who work in distribution access to in-depth conversations with some of the most successful distribution executives, industry consultants and other prominent voices in the B2B distribution channel. Through these episodes, we start conversations on company strategies, spark ideas, analyze industry trends, share market outlooks and often address the ‘what’s keeping you up at night?’ element across distribution.

After another great year of these conversations in 2025, we are lining up guests for 2026. If you’d like to be a guest or know someone who would be a good one, please let us know at [email protected].

• MDM’s Top Podcasts of 2024
• MDM’s Top Podcasts of 2023

This past year included the launch of our MDM Amplify podcast channel, which is dedicated to elevating voices from the industry’s service providers that are catering to and talking with distributors every day.

I should also mention that NAW just launched its new “Distributors Deliver” podcast series, which is hosted by NAW CEO Eric Hoplin and features in-depth conversations with executives across the distribution landscape. Catch the first episode here that published on Dec. 19.

Below, find our 10 most popular podcasts published this year, based on a combination of listens and views of the blog we write to accompany each episode. Each episode below is linked to a write-up with key takeaways and highlights. The podcasts published earlier in the year had more time to garner listens and views than those published near the end of the year, but this is a snapshot of the most popular episodes of the year.

Breaking Down QXO’s Beacon Acquisition and its Impact

• Published May 14

This was our most listened to/downloaded episode of the year, which wasn’t a surprise given that our 2024 “A Home Depot-SRS Megadeal Breakdown” episode was the most popular episode that year — and both featured guest Craig Webb of Webb Analytics. QXO and Beacon frequented MDM’s headlines during the first five months of 2025, culminating with QXO’s $11 billion purchase of the distributor. Once the deal completed, Webb and Mike Hockett analyzed how it happened and what it means for the building materials sector as just the first big move in QXO’s ambitious, acquisitive growth strategy.

Parts Town’s $2.8B Growth Story

• Published Aug. 27

Steve Snower joined Parts Town as its sixth employee in 2004. Today, the company is a leading distributor of OEM replacement parts, now on pace for nearly $2.8 billion in annual revenue. He joins to reflect on how Parts Town got here, what it’s been up to lately — which includes an employee ownership program, service expansion and digital innovation — and where it’s going.

Rexel’s Strategy for M&A, Talent and Tech

• Published July 22

We chat with Rexel’s North American CEO on what the company has been up to lately and what’s on the horizon. This includes recent acquisitions; Rexel’s U.S.-Canada financial outperformance vs. the group’s Europe counterpart; investments in talent development and digital transformation; thoughts on tariff impacts; and more.

How Distribution Solutions Group Arrived, and Where it’s Going

• Published Nov. 20, 2024

While this episode published in 2024, the vast majority of its listens/downloads happened in 2025 and were enough to be one of our top episodes this year, so I’m including it here since its late 2024 timing hurt its chances of making last year’s list. With the dust settled on the merger of Lawson Products, TestEquity and GexPro Services to form Distribution Solutions Group, we explore the rationale for the transaction and path forward with a DSG board member who helped spearhead the combination.

Inside LGG Industrial’s Rebrand, Upgrades & Tariff Strategy

• Published June 4

A little over 2 years since his previous appearance on the podcast, LGG Industrial CEO Jeff Crane joins to discuss his company’s 2024 rebrand from ERIKS North America; how the company is navigating the tariffs situation; its recent branch network and technology upgrades; and how LGG is approaching AI.

Voices of NAW’s 2025 Executive Summit

• Published Feb. 5

Since 2023, we’ve done this episode that features a compilation of short interviews at NAW’s Executive Summit, and we’ll do so again at the association’s 2026 event on Jan. 26-28 in Washington DC. This episode includes interviews with 10 different executive attendees about their company’s top initiatives, industry challenges and the value of the summit.

Unlocking the Secrets of Sales Compensation

• Published April 16

SHIFT 2025 speaker Donya Rose joins to discuss the intricacies of sales compensation plans, particularly in the B2B sector. We tackle the evolution of sales compensation, recent trends, common challenges and the questions that companies are pursuing solutions for.

Why Tech Fails Salespeople & How to Leverage it

• Published April 1

Former Wesco leader Ben Albu shares why so many sales tools end up in the “technology graveyard” in this preview to his SHIFT Conference session on leveraging sales technology for success.

PT/MC Market Evolution and Product Information Sharing

• Published Jan. 29

Two longtime power transmission/motion control industry veterans, Brian Short and Bill Shepard, join to discuss career retrospection, what’s changed in the market, thoughts on AI and the role of product information sharing, including how two leading associations are driving it forward.

Debriefing Our Ferguson & Watsco Case Studies

• Published Jan. 14

Our MDM Case Study series rolled out reports on Ferguson and Watsco down the stretch of 2024 and throughout 2025, with more to come in 2026. Here, John Gunderson — the author our case studies on Ferguson and Watsco — joins to share his key takeaways from researching those two companies and a preview of his subsequent deep dive on MSC Industrial Supply. Premium subscribers can access those case studies here for free, and they’re also available in the MDM Store.