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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Peak ‘Baby Shark’ Edition (#83)

If listening to “Baby Shark” on a loop is what helps the Nationals win their first World Series, I can take it. I think.

This week’s counts: 47 notable guests, 14 new podcasts, four deep dives, two Series wins (go Nats!) and more than one true crime debut.

Pod Take of the Week

“If Beck’s ‘Odelay’ could walk and talk, that’s what that guy’s dressed like.”

Listen: Still Processing: Psychobros (12:09)

  • That’s Wesley Morris, with an on-the-money take on Brad Pitt’s character Tyler Durden’s wardrobe in “Fight Club.”
  • On the 20th anniversary of the movie, Morris and co-host Jenna Wortham break down Durden as “psychobro,” a trope that’s having a moment in “Joker” and “Succession.”
  • Spoiler: There’s no talk about Meat Loaf’s character. 

Go Deep


1) The “Star Wars” Franchise

Listen: Binge Mode

  • The Ringer’s deep, deep dive show hosted by Jason Concepcion and Mallory Rubin examines the entire “Star Wars” franchise. 
  • They’re starting with “The Phantom Menace.” 
  • Spoiler: They’ve got thoughts about Jar Jar. 

2) World War II in the Asia-Pacific Theater

Listen: Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History 

  • Here’s how hardcore: Part three of Carlin’s multi-part series on the subject runs 4 hours, 33 minutes.  
  • Catch up on parts one and two. Binge time: 8 hours, 33 minutes. 

3) Prince’s Musical Influence

Listen: Switched on Pop

  • The excellent music pod breaks down “the many ways that Prince predicted the sound and science of modern pop.”

4) Time

Listen: About Time

  • The pod completes “a five-episode probe of our complex relationship with time.”
  • Binge time: 2 hours, 7 minutes. 

Guest Appearances By…

($L) = On Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = A Spotify exclusive.

Baker, Rick WTF with Marc Maron

Banks, Elizabeth Armchair Expert

Birtwhistle, Nancy Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Bloom, Harold Bookworm

Bridges, Jeff Off Camera

Chang, David Kickass News, The Bill Simmons Podcast

Chu, Jon M. TED Talks Daily

  • The director of “Crazy Rich Asians” talks about “the power of connection and on-screen representation.”

Cleese, John The Adam Carolla Show

Cohn, Gary Recode Decode

Cook, Dane Inside of You

Cornell, Brian Wisdom From the Top ($L)

  • CEO of Target talks about data breaches.

Cummings, Whitney The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

Dafoe, Willem ID10T

Dawkins, Richard The Joe Rogan Experience

Des Barres, Pamela WTF with Marc Maron

Farrow, Ronan The New Yorker: Politics and More, Recode Decode

Ferrera, America On Being

Forte, Will You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Frommer, Pauline Deviate with Rolf Potts

Gallagher, Liam This Must Be the Gig

Gardner, Heidi Las Culturistas

Glazer, Ilana Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Grazer, Brian The Joe Rogan Experience, The Jordan Harbinger Show

Hines, Cheryl The Adam Carolla Show

Horowitz, Ben The Tim Ferriss Show

  • Convo with the co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Howes, Lewis Danica Patrick Pretty Intense

Idol, Billy Rolling Stone Music Now

Jean, Wyclef Broken Record with Malcolm Gladwell

King, Regina It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Krulwich, Robert The Kitchen Sisters Present

Longworth, Karina Night Call

McDougall, Chris Another Mother Runner

Nader, Ralph Fiasco ($L)

  • The consumer advocate and third-party candidate in the 2000 U.S. presidential election talks about his role in the Florida state voting fiasco. 

Norton, Edward The Bill Simmons Podcast

  • He’s down for a “Rounders” sequel.

Oliver, John Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Philipps, Busy Anna Faris Is Unqualified

Serrano, Shea Keep It

Sharapova, Maria Eater’s Digest

Shelton, Blake Vocal Point with Martina McBride ($L)

Shepard, Dax Filling the Void

Sherald, Amy Studio 360

Silverstone, Alicia Celeste & Her Best ($L)

Sixx, Nikki Worst Firsts

Snowden, Edward The Joe Rogan Experience

Steinem, Gloria The Ron Burgundy Podcast

Washington, Kerry The goop Podcast

Zimmern, Andrew Armchair Expert

Notable New Podcasts

1) Bad Batch 

  • A six-part investigative series about patients who are “offered a miracle cure, but instead they end up rushed to the hospital in critical condition.” 
  • It’s No. 1 on iTunes. 

2) Murder in Oregon

  • The iHeartRadio true-crime pod investigates “Oregon’s drug and crime-infested underworld to answer one question: Who really killed Michael Francke?” 
  • Francke, the head of Oregon’s Department of Corrections, was killed in 1979. 
  • It’s No. 16 on iTunes. 

3) Finding Fred

  • A ten-part series from Fatherly about the “life, thinking and work of Fred Rogers,” aka Mister Rogers. 

4) ESPN Daily

  • The worldwide leader gets into the daily podcast game. The pod takes a “deep dive into the biggest sports story of the day.” 
  • Mina Kimes hosts. 

5) Full Body Chills

  • A small-batch pod with spooky stories of the kind told around campfires. It runs every day until Halloween. 
  • It’s No. 5 on iTunes. 

 6) History Vs. 

  • Mental Floss and iHeartRadio team to highlight “how larger-than-life historical figures faced off against their greatest foes.”

7) Gangster House

  • Another true crime pod. This one tells “the story of Mike Thevis, family man, and one of the most notorious criminals you’ve never heard of.”

8) Have You Seen This Man?

  • And even more true crime: ABC News begins a “real-time nationwide manhunt for escaped Ohio death row inmate Lester Eubanks.”

9) Scattered

  • The premise of the WNYC pod: “Chris Garcia’s dad had one dying wish: That his family scatter his ashes off the coast of Cuba. Chris’s mom? She doesn’t give a crap about dying wishes. She’s vowed to never go back to Cuba again. As Chris tries to do right by his dad, he sets out to uncover the truth about a man he barely knew.”

10) Uncuffed 

  • The Ear Hustle-like podcast is made by people behind bars in California prisons. The inmates “share intimate stories of our struggles and triumphs, and of the heartache and forgiveness taking place within these walls.” 

11) War Room: Impeachment

  • Former White House staffer and political strategist Steve Bannon co-hosts this daily look at the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump. 

12) Villains

  • Not the pod of the same name from The Ringer. This one’s from Parcast and it dissects “the greatest foils from history and fiction—uncovering origins, analyzing impacts, and exploring the complexity of character and motive.” 

13) The Fina Mendoza Mysteries 

  • It’s an eight-part episodic podcast for kids and political junkies billed as “The West Wing” meets “Nancy Drew.”

14) All the Smoke

  • Retired NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson “dish on the latest news and drama from on and off the court without boundaries.”

And One to Look Forward To: What a Day (Oct. 28)

  • Crooked Media spins off a daily podcast, with 15-minute episodes that “will cut through all the chaos and crimes to help you understand what matters and how you can fix it.”