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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Murder, Robots, and Shady Deals (#34)

The deluge of new podcasts continues. I’ve noted 16 this week. If you’ve got a new pod coming up that you’d like me to consider covering, please send it along.

 

7 Pod Takes

 

1) “Spoiler alert: Everything’s about to get worse.”

Listen: Trump, Inc.: Pump and Trump (23:23)

  • That’s Trump, Inc.’s Andrea Bernstein, in the middle of dissecting shady real estate deals involving President Trump and the Trump family business.
  • Spoiler: She’s not just talking about shady real estate deals.

 

2) “Just because an audience laughs doesn’t mean it’s funny.”

Listen: Inside the Hive w/Nick Bilton: Monica Lewinsky and Hannah Gadsby Talk Trauma (14:11)

  • So says Gadsby in a riveting conversation with Lewinsky, recorded at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit.
  • Lewinsky, who says she bawled her eyes out seeing Gadsby’s show “Nanette,” talks to Gadsby about trauma and why laughter may not equal funny.
  • When comedians punch down and get laughs, Gadsby says “what you’re hearing is not that your joke is funny. But that those people who agree with you feel their inhumanity is justified.”
  • My take: Compelling pod with two people who’ve been through a lot and have distinct perspectives on the world.

 

3) “People should be weirder in their conversations.”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: Overrated/Underrated: Nobel Prizes, Conversations, And Our Descendants (4:49)

  • So says Tyler Cowen, arguing that being obsessive and weird in conversation is an underrated trait.
  • More underrated things, says Cowen: Blogs, future ancestors, compound returns, and policies that pursue economic growth.
  • Overrated: Nobel prizes, the damage from President Trump’s tariffs, the yield curve, and economic anxiety as a driver of populist sentiment.
  • Overrated and underrated: Academia as a career.
  • My take: One of my fave recurring podcast features.

 

4) “There are few positive images a bone saw conjures.”

Listen: The Gist with Mike Pesca: Myth Management (1:16)

  • That’s Pesca, introducing a segment on the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi allegedly carried out by agents of Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.


5) “There’s never been as strong a coupling between economic growth and democratic freedoms as we’d all like.”

Listen: The Ezra Klein Show: Why Bill Gates is Worried (45:11)

  • That’s Gates on the tension between authoritarian and democratic governance during a compelling, wide-ranging conversation.
  • Klein talks to Gates about politics, AI, poverty, the difficulty in feeding the world and, no biggie, the future of humanity.

 

6) “Luxury tends to infantilize us a little bit.”

Listen: The Happier Hour: The Road Less Travelled With Santayana and David Farley (21:51)

  • That’s travel writer Farley, noting there’s nothing wrong with luxury, but there’s something that happens to a person when they only stay in five-star hotels.
  • Farley talks to host Monica McCarthy about how and why we travel.
  • Farley adds: “By putting ourselves out there and talking to people and going to places where other people don’t go…you’re opening yourself up.”

 

7) “We’re going to look back at people who had to stand in front of a charbroiler and inhale smoke and grease-laden vapors for their entire life the way we look back at people who worked in mines.”

Listen: WSJ’s The Future of Everything: Robot Restaurants: Good or Gimmicky? (10:41)

  • That’s Alex Vardakostas, creator of a burger-making robot, talking about the potential of robot takeovers of restaurants.
  • My take: Robot burgers? I’ll try ‘em.

Go Deep

 

1) Murder and Football

Listen: Gladiator, Carruth, Steve McNair: Fall of a Titan

  • Three pods dive deep into the tragedies involving former NFL players, and as of this afternoon they’re all ranking well on the iTunes chart.
  • In Gladiator (iTunes #1), the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team investigates the life of former New England Patriot and murderer Aaron Hernandez.
  • Sports Illustrated produces Steve McNair: Fall of a Titan (iTunes #57), about the murder of the former NFL quarterback.
  • The Charlotte Observer dropped all seven of its Carruth (iTunes #79) episodes about former pro Rae Carruth and his efforts to murder his pregnant girlfriend.
  • Carruth binge time: 4 hours, 46 minutes.

 

2) “So Afraid”

Listen: Song Exploder

  • Janelle Monáe breaks down her song in 19 minutes.

 

3) Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker

Listen: Political Beats

  • Musician and artists rights activist David Lowery goes deep on his music catalog and artists rights.
  • Binge time: 3 hours, 28 minutes.

 

4) Missouri Politics

Listen: The Daily

  • The New York Times pod devotes a two-parter about the politics surrounding abortion in Missouri.
  • Binge time: 40 minutes.

 

Guest Appearances By…

Addario, Lynsey I Have to Ask

Avenatti, Michael Inside the Hive w/Nick Bilton

Baez, Joan The New Yorker Radio Hour

Barinholtz, Ike The Dave Chang Show

Bon Jovi, Jon Oprah’s Master Class

Brennan-Jobs, Lisa Longform Podcast

Burch, Tory Skimm’d From the Couch

Burr, Bill Pardon My Take

Carden, D’Arcy The Good Place: The Podcast

  • Janet!

Carlson, Tucker The Jamie Weinstein Show

Carmichael, Jerrod You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Carville, James The Adam Carolla Show

Chazelle, Damien The Bill Simmons Podcast

Costello, Elvis This Song

Coulter, Kristi Otherppl with Brad Listi

Couric, Katie Skimm’d From the Couch

Dreeke, Robin Nobody Told Me!

  • Former head of the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Program talks making connections, communication styles.

Dworman, Noam The Daily, The Gist

  • The owner of the Comedy Cellar talks to Barbaro and Pesca about letting Louis C.K. perform on his stage again.

Ferrera, America Katie Couric

Fillion, Nathan Remote Controlled

Garcetti, Eric Recode Decode

Gilbert, Elizabeth The TED Interview

Goodwin, Doris Kearns Kickass News

Grant, Richard E. WTF with Marc Maron

Gugino, Carla The Watch

Hamilton, Laird Curious with Josh Peck

Hill, Jonah The Big Picture, Playback, The Bill Simmons Podcast

  • The actor makes the pod rounds in support of hit new movie, “Mid90s”

Hyman, Jennifer How I Built This with Guy Raz

  • Convo with the founder of Rent the Runway.

Jackson, Larry The Thrive Global Podcast with Arianna Huffington

  • Convo with Apple Music’s head of content.

Kerry, John HBR Ideacast

Khan, Khizr The Axe Files

Kimes, Mina Sports? with Katie Nolan

Kokonas, Nick The Tim Ferriss Show

Kramer, Larry But That’s Another Story

Kreischer, Bert Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Landauer, Julia Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

McCartney, Paul Inside the Studio

McCartney, Stella The Goop Podcast

Michael, Drew You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Orange, Tommy Bookworm

Orlean, Susan Bullseye

Philipps, Busy WTF with Marc Maron

Redd, Chris Origins SNL

Robinson, Phoebe Fresh Air, Keep It, Good One

Rooney, Wayne Men in Blazers

Rosen, Jay The Ezra Klein Show

Scalise, Steve Off Message

Schumer, Amy Armchair Expert

Sheraton, Mimi The Sporkful

Smith, Yeardley I Think You’re Interesting

Taibbi, Matt Waking Up with Sam Harris

Tagouri, Noor Pretty Big Deal

Thompson, Scott The Hilarious World of Depression

Turner, Tina Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

  • Music legend goes two parts with Oprah.

Warner, Mark If Then

West, Nadja Women in Charge

  • Army Surgeon General speaks about being born into a military family, choosing a career in medicine.

Notable New Podcasts

1) The TED Interview

  • TED head Chris Anderson “speaks with some of the world’s most interesting people to dig into the provocative and powerful ideas of our time.”

2) Gladiator

  • The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team ”takes a hard look at the crisis facing football through the lens of Aaron Hernandez’s life and terrible crimes.”

3) The Cut on Tuesdays

  • New York Magazine and Gimlet Media team for a pod highlighting “women’s voices on culture, style, sex, politics, and people.” Molly Fischer hosts.

4) 30 for 30 Podcast

  • Season four of the 30 for 30 pod kicks off with a chronicle of Jose Canseco’s memoir that called out his fellow players for steroid use, triggering a congressional hearing. The season promises stories on the 2003 World Series of Poker and the New York City marathon.

5) Carruth

  • The Charlotte Observer and McClatchy drop a seven-part podcast about former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth. He masterminded the attempted murder of his pregnant girlfriend, and will soon be released from prison.

6) The Brights

  • It’s a reality show pod starring Lydia Bright and her sisters, brother, and parents.

7) The Horror of Dolores Roach

  • Gimlet’s scripted horror pod features Daphne Rubin-Vega and Bobby Cannavale in a “macabre urban legend of love, betrayal, weed, gentrification, cannibalism, and survival of the fittest.”

8) Steve McNair: Fall of a Titan

  • Sports Illustrated’s first narrative true-crime podcast looks at the murder-suicide of former NFL QB McNair. The pod asks: Or was it murder-suicide?

9) Hell and Gone

  • The true-crime pod focuses on the murder of Rebekah Gould in a small town in Arkansas, and the efforts of Catherine Townsend “to bring her killer to justice.”

10) Maculate Conception

  • The pod documents a couple’s struggles with infertility and in vitro fertilization treatment.

11) 2038

  • New York Magazine’s new pod asks, What will life look like in 20 years? Max Read and David Wallace-Wells host.

12) Future Perfect

  • Dylan Matthews hosts Vox’s new pod that “tackles big questions about the most effective ways to save lives, fight global warming, and end world poverty.”

13) Long Distance

  • Paola Mardo hosts a new pod focused on “life in the Filipino diaspora.”

14) Unspookable

  • The pod’s “a family friendly look at the histories and mysteries behind your favorite scary stories, myths and urban legends.”

15) Hostage

  • The new pod from Parcast “tells electrifying crime stories culminating in intense, life-or-death negotiations.”

16) What Next

  • Slate debuts a daily news round-up show.