A lot of beginnings this week — welcome new pods about villains, Y2K, Stan Lee, hysteria and, yeah, true crime. And a couple notable endings — farewell Serial season three and 2 Dope Queens.
Note: Next week’s newsletter will be an abbreviated edition. Taking some Thanksgiving time with family and a Baltimore Bomb pie.
5 Pod Takes
1) “You’ve got to have hair and clothes that can transition from doing push-ups on the floor with Bishop Tutu…to meeting some First Lady.”
Listen: 2 Dope Queens: Karaoke with Michelle Obama
- That’s former First Lady Obama, with some insight into a little-considered side of being a First Lady.
- Spoiler: It’s a bittersweet 2 Dope Queens appearance: It’s the farewell pod for co-hosts Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams.
2) “Greatness…is something gone wrong.”
Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: Conan O’Brien Plus KD Drama and Brees for MVP (27:13)
- So says O’Brien, about what leads to immortal greatness on late night television.
- Breaking: O’Brien’s launching his own podcast next week.
3) “There’s no such thing as garbage. Everything is a precious resource.”
Listen: SciShow Tangents: Science Hoaxes (33:59)
- That’s Hank Green, co-host of the new “lightly competitive knowledge showcase,” aka a podcast/game show of sorts about science.
4) “Let’s all accept that something’s gone wrong.”
Listen: Serial: Some Time When Everything Has Changed (46:09)
- That’s Sarah Koenig, concluding the season finale of season three — a season spent examining goings on at one courthouse in Cleveland — with the one suggestion she’d make to start fixing the court system.
- She spends 1 minute, 23 seconds rapid firing other suggestions for fixing the system, too, including: not overcharging to force a guilty plea, admitting that police officers lie under oath, paying assigned attorneys double, slowing down and not taping anyone’s mouth shut in court.
- My take: Another outstanding, enlightening, heartbreaking season.
5) “This is their Upton Sinclair moment.”
Listen: The Daily: What Facebook Knew and Tried to Hide (25:31)
- That’s Nicholas Confessore, following up on the blockbuster NYT storyabout Facebook’s actions regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election on its platform.
- Context from Confessore: “In every era there is some new big industry that grows faster than it should. It was true with the food industry and the meatpacking plants, it was true with Standard Oil and the oil industry. And what happens is, there is always a moment when journalists and the public begin to understand what is behind the product they are consuming.”
- My take: If thought you couldn’t feel worse about Facebook, this will make you re-evaluate those feelings.
Guest Appearances By…
Addario, Lynsey How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black
Addison, Bill Eater Upsell
- Food critic talks about his list of the 38 best restaurants in the U.S.
Albini, Steve Talkhouse
- In conversation with Devo’s Jerry Casale.
Aravena, Alejandro Monocle on Design
- Convo with the Pritzker prize-winning architect.
Arquette, Patricia Remote Controlled
Becker, Alison Off Book
Birbiglia, Mike The Moment with Brian Koppelman
Bloom, Molly The Jordan Harbinger Show
Brown, Samantha Travel Genius
Cameron, Suzy Amis The Tim Ferriss Show
Cameron, James The Tim Ferriss Show
Casale, Jerry Talkhouse
- In conversation with Steve Albini.
Cheese, Kenyatta Function with Anil Dash
Conway, George T. III Skullduggery
- Says the Trump administration is a “shit show in a dumpster fire.”
Corcoran, Barbara Skimm’d From the Couch
Dafoe, Willem Kickass News
Damon, Matt Off Camera with Sam Jones
Del Toro, Benicio Remote Controlled
Douglas, Michael WTF with Marc Maron
Duvall, Robert Oprah’s Master Class
Edgley, Ross The Joe Rogan Experience
Gillum, Andrew Pod Save America
Gladwell, Malcolm The Bill Simmons Podcast
Glass, Ira Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Graham, Ashley The Goop Podcast
Hari, Johann Waking Up with Sam Harris
Horan, Kelly Studio 360
- Convo with co-host of Last Seen podcast.
Howroyd, Janice Bryant Without Fail
Hughley, D.L. WTF with Marc Maron
- Fact: I worked with Hughley…as an extra on “The Hughleys.”
Jackson, Chris Employee of the Month
- “It must be nice, it must be niiice, to have Washington on your pod.”
Jacobs, A.J. Ted Talks Daily
Kemper, Ellie Big Questions
Khosrowshahi, Dara WSJ’s The Future of Everything
Kiesling, Lydia Otherppl with Brad Listi
Klores, Dan The Gist
Kristol, Bill The Jamie Weinstein Show
Kugel, Seth This Week in Travel
- Convo with the former New York Times Frugal Travel columnist about his new book.
Lansbury, Angela Maltin on Movies
Longworth, Karina Fresh Air, The Bechdel Cast, I Think You’re Interesting
- You Must Remember This host makes the pod rounds in support of her new book.
Mayfield, Baker Pardon My Take
Obama, Michelle Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
Paulson, Hank The New Yorker Radio Hour
Pegg, Simon The Adam Buxton Podcast
Perry, Steve Katie Couric
Phillips, Brian Bookworm
Phillips, Whitney The Ezra Klein Show
Pinker, Steven The Ted Interview
Polgreen, Lydia Queery
- Convo with the HuffPost EIC.
Popper, John The Adam Carolla Show
Ratajkowski, Emily Anna Faris is Unqualified
Reece, Gabrielle The Goop Podcast
Rosenthal, Phil Curious with Josh Peck
Shaffir, Ari Deviate with Rolf Potts
Spanberger, Abigail The Daily
- Convo with the new congresswoman from Virginia.
Stein, Jen Hope The Moment with Brian Koppelman
Stiller, Ben Where Ya From?, Remote Controlled
Systrom, Kevin WSJ’s The Future of Everything
- Convo with the co-founder of Instagram.
Thiessen, Tiffani Forked Up
Thompson, Emma My Dad Wrote a Porno
Thompson, Kenan Good One
Tierney, Maura Bullseye
Wacek, Dawn Ted Talks Daily
- Librarian stands up against book fines.
Whitmer, Gretchen Run Like a Girl
- Convo with the governor-elect of Michigan.
Xu, Tony How I Built This with Guy Raz
Yates, Sally Recode Decode
Yeun, Steven It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Fresh Air
Go Deep
1) A Year Inside a U.S. Courthouse
Listen: Serial
- Season three is in the books. You’re now free to binge all nine episodes without delay.
- Binge time: 8 hours, 55 minutes.
2) “The White Album”
Listen: All Songs Considered, Celebration Rock
- The NPR pod dives deep into the 50th anniversary edition of the Beatles’ masterpiece, with the producer of the new project, Giles Martin.
- Celebration Rock asks: Could “The White Album” be improved by reducing it to 12 songs?
- My take: Best song: “Dear Prudence.”
- Binge time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.
3) Mimi Sheraton
Listen: The Sporkful
- The pod’s four-part series with the noted food critic concludes with Sheraton weighing in on ballpark eating, ice cream and free food samples.
- Binge time: 2 hours, 41 minutes.
4) The Last Episode of “The Office”
Listen: Finale
- The pod analyzes the final episode of the original UK version of “The Office.”
Notable New Podcasts
1) Villains
- Shea Serrano’s eight-part series explores “the most interesting, most intimidating, most undeniable movie villains in history.”
- Malcolm Gladwell’s new pod features “digressions, arguments, backstories, and random things to disagree with about music.”
- Six-part series from the creator of “Missing Richard Simmons.” Dan Taberski “takes you back to the turn of the millennium to meet the people for whom it was anything but a joke … as they each face their own version of the apocalypse.”
4) Cold
- The current iTunes No. 2 pod is a true-crime pod that dives deep into the 2009 disappearance of Susan Powell in Utah. Dave Cawley hosts.
- The “lightly competitive knowledge showcase,” aka a science game show of sorts, features Hank Green, Ceri Riley, Stefan Chin and Sam Schulz.
- Sara Benincasa “talks to fascinating people about their origin stories – literal, metaphorical, and beyond.”
- Brian Kelly, aka The Points Guy, talks “with CEOs, CMOs and executives in the points-and-miles world who are changing the way we travel.”
- Season five of the pod focuses on the early days of the “groundbreaking” HBO series.
- New pod from The Wing is “about women who were too bad for your textbooks.” Alexis Coe hosts.
10) People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia
- A look at the making of the movie “Philadelphia,” with all proceeds going to charity.
11) Drilled
- It’s billed as “the first true-crime style pod that investigates the crime of the century: the creation of climate denial.”
12) Travel Genius
- Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood “quiz the world’s most experienced globetrotters for their tried-and-true travel hacks.”
13) Scandal
- Alan Duke’s podcast focuses on “Hollywood power struggles of money, betrayal and influence peddling.” It kicks off with a focus on the late Stan Lee.
- Jeremy and Audrey Roloff have left “Little People, Big World.” On their pod, they “discuss family, business, faith, and life.”
- Chelsey Weber-Smith explores “moral panics, urban legends, and conspiracy theories, how they shape our psychology and culture.”
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