We’ve entered the Best-Actor-winner-stars-in-a-podcast phase of podcasting. Welcome Rami Malek.

This week’s counts: 36 notable guests, eight new podcasts, four deep dives and one Mark Hamill joke.

Before you dive in, a PSA: Fellow podcast newsletter makers at EarBuds Podcast Collective and Podcast Gumbo are encouraging podcast lovers to turn their friends on to a podcast this weekend. Here’s how you can take part in #ShareYourBudsSunday.

Pod Take of the Week

“Don’t seek revenge. Don’t harbor resentment. Just do the work.”

Listen: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Michelle Obama (21:31)

That’s Obama, talking about what it means to “go high” in a rare podcast appearance.
O’Brien notes about Obama’s popularity: “When you walk into a room with Michelle Obama, you’re anonymous.”

Go Deep

1) Hasbro vs Mattel

Listen: Business Wars

The pod kicks off a six-part series on the battles between the toy titans.

2) Trump Tower Moscow

Listen: Trump, Inc.

Before you obsess about the Mueller Report, take a 40-minute deep dive into President Trump’s “Moscow tower problem.”

3) “Us”

Listen: The Big Picture

The Ringer pod takes a 58-minute dive into Jordan Peele’s follow up to “Get Out.”

4) “The Good Place” writers

Listen: Good One

A 1-hour, 2-minute panel discussion with the writers of “The Good Place.”

Notable New Podcasts

1) Blackout

Best Actor winner Rami Malek (!) plays “a small-town radio DJ fighting to protect his family and community after the power grid goes down nationwide, upending modern civilization.” Podcast Twitter says it’s “foreboding and cinematic af.” Also, Podcast Twitter complains about frequent ads.
It’s No. 2 on the iTunes chart.

2) Only Here

KPBS launches a pod “about the place where San Diego and Tijuana meet,” with “stories that could only come from a border town.” Instant subscribe. I just finished Francisco Cantú’s excellent “The Line Becomes a River,” and am looking to continue my deep dive into border issues and stories.

3) Professional AF

Features interviews with “authors and thought leaders who have something to teach women about how to be more awesome at work.” Host Diana Kander guinea pigs the advice each episode.

4) The Opposite Sex Show

The pod asks “What happens when two people from opposite worlds meet on a dating app and form a friendship at first sight?” The two people in question: Charisma Carpenter and Christian Majewski.

5) Infinite Potential