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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Burrowing in the Arts Edition (#52)

On Nick Hornby’s implied advice, here’s an (almost) Michael Cohen- and Donald Trump-free edition.

This week’s counts: 31 notable guests, nine new podcasts, eight deep dives and one conspiracy theorist at the top of the charts.

Pod Take of the Week

“It’s very hard to feel like any push toward activism is going to do anything in this current climate, so I want to just burrow away in the arts.”

Listen: Employee of the Month: Nick Hornby on His New TV Project and Knowing Whether His Writing is Any Good (49:09)

  • That’s writer Hornby, on how he’s getting through these outrageous times.
  • Context: “You could become addicted to the news and listen to it for two hours a day and no one knows anything, so you’ve wasted those two hours because you come back at exactly the same point that you were when you started listening.”
  • He adds: “So I’m now beginning to think, fuck it, I need to read a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with it. I need to listen to music. I need to watch movies. These are the things that keep my sane and provide my joy.”

Go Deep


1) Audrey Hepburn

Listen: The History Chicks

  • A multi-part series on the Hollywood icon and humanitarian kicks off with a 1-hour, 26-minute episode.

2) Death Row vs. Bad Boy

Listen: Business Wars

  • The pod kicks off a six-part deep dive on the rap label rivalry.

3) Luck

Listen: TED Radio Hour

  • Poker pro Liv Boeree and several other speakers ruminate for 52 minutes on what does or doesn’t make one lucky.

4) “Reality Bites”

Listen: The Rewatchables

  • Chuck Klosterman joins the core Rewatchables crew to break down the ‘90s film to honor its 25th anniversary.
  • Ethan Hawke also makes an appearance.
  • Binge time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

5) “The Breakfast Club”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

  • A 1-hour, 3-minute dissection of the most enduring of the John Hughes high school movies.

6) “Queer Money Matters”

Listen: Nancy

  • The pod kicks off a series on “the financial hurdles queer people face.”

7) “Baby Shark”

Listen: Decoder Ring

  • A 38-minute dive into the “unstoppable earworm.”

8) The Lobby of the Trump Hotel D.C.

Listen: Trump, Inc.

  • A 31-minute look at what goes on in the lobby of the Trump hotel.

Notable New Podcasts

1) Technopolis

  • CityLab’s pod looks at “how technology is disrupting, remaking, and sometimes overrunning our cities.” Molly Turner and Jim Kapsis host.

2) Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast

  • A behind-the-scenes pod with Conan writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell.

3) Parentland

  • A BBC World Service podcast for “every parent in the world.”

4) Stay Free: The Story of the Clash

  • Chuck D hosts the BBC-produced Spotify exclusive about the only band that matters.

5) Killer Instinct

  • True crime alert! It’s rather generically described as covering “stories of serial killers, missing persons, and other horrible crimes.” Currently No. 174 on the iTunes chart.

6) To Live and Die in L.A.

  • The creators of “Up and Vanished” and “Atlanta Monster” chronicle the story of Adea Shabani, “an aspiring actress and model who vanished without a trace” in Hollywood.

7) Obsession

  • A branded podcast from Focus Features and Los Angeles Times studios delves “deep into the history, culture, science and often deadly consequences of unrequited love.”

8) RuPaul’s Drag Race: The Official Podcast

  • A companion pod to the TV show.

9) On The Rebound w/ Dennis Rodman

  • Even the Worm — billed as “fashion icon, world peace maker and relationship expert” — now has a pod.

Guest Appearances By…

Adlon, Pamela Fresh Air

Altman, Sam Conversations With Tyler

  • The president of Y Combinator talks nuclear energy and the problem with coworking spaces.

Bunton, Emma The Dan Wootton Interview

Buttigieg, Pete Pod Save America

Clark Jr., Gary WTF with Marc Maron

Clinton, Hillary TBD with Tina Brown

Cole, Teju On Being

Fisher, Eileen How I Built This with Guy Raz

Gaffigan, Jim Ask Me Another

Garlin, Jeff Curious with Josh Peck

Goldblum, Jeff Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Gordy Jr, Berry Oprah’s Master Class

Houston, Pam The Moment

Johnson, Jake Armchair Expert

Jones, Alex The Joe Rogan Experience

  • Conspiracy theorist gets a platform. It’s the No. 1 ranked episode of the week on iTunes. I’m not linking.

Kurtis, Bill The Axe Files

McCaskill, Claire The Axe Files

McKenna, Lori Bobbycast

McPhee, Katharine Anna Faris Is Unqualified

O’Rourke, Beto Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

  • He’s running?

Osment, Haley Joel The Adam Carolla Show

Phil, Dr. The Joe Rogan Experience

Povitsky, Esther The Great Debates

Rodman, Dennis Pardon My Take

Rometty, Ginni The Future of Everything

  • IBM CEO talks AI.

Roth, David Lee The Joe Rogan Experience

  • 3 hours, 4 minutes with the spandex-y rock legend.

RuPaul The Ron Burgundy Podcast

  • Ru counts down the top 10 women of all time with Ron. Spoiler: Diana Ross and Susie Q make the cut.

Savage, Andrea WTF with Marc Maron

Solskjaer, Ole Gunnar Men in Blazers

Thiessen, Tiffani Beyond the Plate

Tucker, Corin Bullseye

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