“Copcasts” are a thing, and The New York Times is on it. There’s more new true crime this week, too, to nobody’s surprise.
This week’s overall counts: 50 notable guests, 16 new podcasts, five deep dives and one Michael Stipe appearance.
Pod Take of the Week
“I like to tell people that music is a technology for societies that don’t have semiconductors or space ships.”
Listen: Conversations With Tyler: Ted Gioia on Music as Cultural Cloud Storage (:54)
- That’s Gioia, on the role power of music in a fast-moving technological age.
- He adds: “For most of history, music was kind of cloud storage for societies.”
- Gioia, the author of “Music: A Subversive History,” is a compelling voice on music’s historic and current role in influencing society.
Go Deep
1) “Monster”
Listen: R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?
- Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman revive their R.E.M. obsession for the 25th anniversary of R.E.M.’s polarizing album.
- Band members Mike Mills and Michael Stipe sit for an interview.
- My take: No way the remixed “Let Me In” is better than the original, which is the only great song on the album.
2) Gender Reveal Parties
Listen: Decoder Ring
- The 40-minute deep dive features Jenna Karvunidis, the inventor of the “global phenomenon that’s gotten way out of control.”
- She says: “I completely cringe at the entire trend.”
3) Las Vegas Architecture
Listen: Curiosityness
- It’s a 1-hour, 2-minute dive into Sin City’s buildings.
- Of course, 99% Invisible covered that ground a while ago, too.
4) Tunneling Under the Berlin Wall
Listen: Intrigue: Tunnel 29
- On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, BBC Radio 4’s Intrigue unveils “the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape.”
- It’s a 10-part series, and all are available.
- Binge time: 2 hours, 34 minutes.
5) “Song of the South”
Listen: You Must Remember This
- Karina Longworth is a few episodes through a season-long deep dive into the one Disney film that won’t be available on the Disney+ streaming platform, which launches next week.
- The 1946 film set on a post-Civil War plantation is problematic on several levels. Longworth explores them in depth.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = On Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = A Spotify exclusive.
Adams, Scott The Jordan Harbinger Show
Avett, Scott This Must Be the Gig
Baker, Rick The Joe Rogan Experience
Bale, Christian The Adam Carolla Show
Banderas, Antonio The Big Picture, Bullseye
Barry, Lynda Bookworm
Carlile, Brandi Broken Record
Chesky, Brian Recode Decode
- Convo with the CEO of Airbnb.
Curtis, Jamie Lee As Me with Sinéad
Damon, Matt The Adam Carolla Show
Dawkins, Richard Armchair Expert, Making Sense with Sam Harris
Dunham, Lena Filling the Void
Egerton, Taron The Awardist, The Big Ticket
Farrow, Ronan Keep It, Lovett or Leave It
Gaga, Lady Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
Goodman, John WTF with Marc Maron
Hart, Mamrie Worst Firsts with Brittany Furlan
Helbig, Grace Worst Firsts with Brittany Furlan
Hilton, Spud Explore the World Travel Podcast
- Travel writer and editor talks inappropriate travel.
Hudson, Kate and Oliver Armchair Expert
Jennings, Ken The Three Questions with Andy Richter
Kantor, Jodi The goop Podcast
Kiwanuka, Michael The Adam Buxton Podcast
- Bonus for Kiwanuka fans: Sound Opinions reviews his new work.
Lange, Artie The Joe Rogan Experience
Longworth, Karina Who? Weekly
Madsen, Virginia Life is Short with Justin Long
Mansbach, Adam Otherppl with Brad Listi
McQuarrie, Chris The Moment with Brian Koppelman
Meyer, Danny Beyond the Plate
Morris, Errol Longform Podcast, Stay Tuned with Preet, Inside the Hive
Mutombo, Dikembe The Axe Files
Nash, Kate WTF with Marc Maron
Norton, Edward The Treatment, Kickass News, StarTalk Radio
- He’s back! Norton’s epic pod rounds continue.
Notaro, Tig Anna Faris is Unqualified
Olsen, Angel All Songs Considered
O’Neal, Ryan You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes
Pelas, Lindsey Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig
- Convo with the Instagram model.
Posnanski, Joe Kickass News
- The writer talks about his new book on Houdini.
Rocca, Mo Creative Conversation
Seales, Amanda It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders
Sedaris, Amy Every Little Thing
Smith, Kevin Life is Short with Justin Long
Tarantino, Quentin The Margaret Cho
Theroux, Paul Deviate with Rolf Potts
Tucker, Tanya Broken Record
Twohey, Megan The goop Podcast
Ware, Chris Bookworm
Wells, Pete The Moment with Brian Koppelman
Young, Neil Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Notable New Podcasts
- An 18-year-old Belgian backpacker vanished in Byron Bay, Australia, in May 2019. This pod from The Australian “joins the unofficial search party to investigate the mysterious disappearance.”
- Bill Simmons turned the sequel to his best-selling “Book of Basketball” into a podcast. Bold!
- It’s No. 1 on iTunes.
3) Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson
- The siblings take a “dive deep into the things that interest them and talk to other siblings in a free-formed, wide open, relaxed conversation.”
- It’s No. 2 on iTunes.
4) How’s Work? (S)
- In the Spotify pod “couples therapist Esther Perel brings new perspective to the invisible forces that shape workplace connections, conflict and dynamics through one-time therapy sessions with coworkers, cofounders and colleagues.”
- It’s news “from the world of online video,” sometimes including “whatever nonsense Logan Paul has been up to this week.”
6) Scattered
- The hook for the WNYC pod: “Comedian Chris Garcia sets out to uncover the truth about his dad, a man who survived Castro’s labor camps only to lose his way in search of the American dream.”
- The Warner Chappell Music audio documentary series “about music’s most notable releases” kicks off with a four-parter on Harry Nilsson’s “Losst And Founnd,”
- Fox News enters the true crime fray with “a shocking tale of the sexual abuse of teenagers, police negligence and federal investigations.”
9) Urgent Care
- A comedy podcast with Joel Kim Booster and Mitra Jouhari offering “completely unqualified advice to people who apparently have nowhere else to turn.”
10) Hunting Warhead
- The CBC podcast “follows the journalists and police on a global mission to expose the darkest corners of the internet,” which means “a massive child-abuse site on the dark web.”
- If you need historical scandals to balance out today’s scandals, this one’s for you. The Parcast podcast chronicles “the rise and fall of our most infamous elected officials, measuring the impact it had on the country and history.“
12) So Help Me
- The latest Gimlet podcast features host Anna Ladd, who “tries different self help methods to fix everything from her attitude to her apartment.”
13) Good For You
- Whitney Cummings interviews “friends, comics, celebs, experts, weirdos.”
14) Urge to Kill
- The true-crime podcast investigates the disappearance and death of Kaylee Sawyer, who “disappeared in the middle of the night. The horrific details of her brutal rape and eventual death shook the residents of a quiet town in the Pacific Northwest.”
15) Broken Justice
- A true-crime podcast with some journalistic pedigree: The PBS NewsHour looks “inside Missouri’s public defender system at a crisis point and what it means for serving justice in America.”
- The co-production of WNYC and Night Vale Presents is from the Orbiting Human Circus and focuses on a “lonely young janitor who lives at the Eiffel Tower… and has no idea how he got there.” John Cameron Mitchell stars.
And One to Look Forward To: Making Beyoncé (Nov. 15)
- WBEZ produces this three-part series that “takes an inside, detailed look at Beyoncé’s emergent career to tell the story of how a little girl from Houston, Texas, became the biggest name in modern music.”