A ton of new podcasts dropped this week (and last week while I was out), and there’s a whole lot more going on in podcastland, too. Let’s get caught up.
The counts: 56 notable guests, 23 new podcasts, seven deep dives and one unapologetic podcast.
Pod Take of the Week
“In the age of pandemic, the adjective ‘optimistic’ has actually become a euphemism for ‘delusional.’”
Listen: The Cut: Optimism (6:13)
- That’s Avery Trufelman, in her much-anticipated debut as host of The Cut.
- She looks back at the beginning of the pandemic when many of us were optimistic we might “learn Spanish or bake bread or read ‘War and Peace’ or get into beekeeping.”
- Now, optimism has started to mean its opposite. On the news, optimistic has emerged as “a polite synonym for unlikely.”
- Trufelman ties what it means to be optimistic in 2020 to the Netflix hit “Cheer.”
- My take: It works. And keep your head up.
Go Deep
1) Alexander Lukashenko
Listen: Behind the Bastards
- The pod about terrible people kicks off a multi-part series on the president of Belarus and his authoritarian hold on the country.
- Context: The BBC has a backgrounder on the current state of Belarus, where, after an election with “numerous apparent irregularities,” opposition rallies flooded the streets.
2) Moral Panics Over Music Lyrics
Listen: Rolling Stone Music Now
- The “conservative freakout” over Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion‘s song “WAP” prompts a discussion about one of the most talked about songs of the summer.
- Context: The “song is just the latest in a long series of lyrical controversies.”
3) “Mean Girls”
Listen: Unspooled
- Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson go 1 hour, 41 minutes on the classic 2004 “teenage clique comedy.”
4) Warren Zevon
Listen: Rockin’ the Suburbs
- The pod concludes Zevon week, a five-part series on the “under-appreciated” musical artist.
5) COVID-19 and the Artists We’ve Lost
Listen: Popcast
- Jon Caramanica kicks off a multi-episode wake for the artists COVID-19 has taken from us.
6) FedEx vs. UPS
Listen: Business Wars
- The six-part series chronicles the battle between the shipping behemoths.
7) Cancel Culture
Listen: The Daily
- Grandfathering in this two-part series from last week on “how the idea of cancel culture has emerged as a political and cultural force.”
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = Spotify exclusive. ($A) = Audible, behind a paywall. Aronofsky, Darren Talkhouse
Bee, Samantha The Big Ticket
Belushi, Jim Kickass News
Blaine, David The Joe Rogan Experience
Brockovich, Erin The Adam Carolla Show
Burr, Bill Daddy Issues with Joe Buck and Oliver Hudson
Carrabba, Chris Pass-Through Frequencies
Carvey, Dana Literally! With Rob Lowe
Culkan, Kieran WTF with Marc Maron
Davis, Clive Strictly Business
Desus & Mero Recode Media
Diaz, Cameron The goop Podcast
Funches, Ron The Last Laugh
Gadsby, Hannah The Ezra Klein Show
Gates, Bill Armchair Expert
Gibbard, Ben Pass-Through Frequencies
Glaser, Nikki The Joe Rogan Experience
Harris, Kamala Smartless
Hiaasen, Carl Fresh Air
Hodgman, John Make My Day with Josh Gondelman
Jay, Sam Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out
Jackman, Hugh Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
Johnson, Jake Thirst Aid Kit
Kanter, Enes ESPN Daily
- The Boston Celtics center talks about being “a fugitive from his homeland,” Turkey.
Kerr, Steve In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt
Knight, Gladys Biscuits & Jam
Levy, Eugene Keep It!
Logic H3 Podcast
Lowe, Rob Life is Short with Justin Long
Martin, Mae Your Own Personal Beatles
McDermott, Dylan The Big Ticket
Minhaj, Hasan Black Frasier
Montana, Joe Pardon My Take
Moore, Demi Anna Faris is Unqualified
Nunez, Oscar Never Not Funny
O’Hara, Catherine Keep It!
Ohno, Apolo The Rich Roll Podcast
Paulson, Sarah The New Yorker Radio Hour
Pelosi, Nancy The Axe Files
Penn, Sean Armchair Expert
Perry, Katy The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Ralat, José Latino USA
- Convo with the Taco Editor of Texas Monthly.
Remini, Leah Red Table Talk
Rodgers, Nile Sodajerker on Songwriting
Ross, Tracee Ellis The Big Ticket
RZA The Big Picture
Rudolph, Maya Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Short, Martin The Last Laugh
Stelling, Beth The Three Questions with Andy Richter, Hollywood Handbook, Good for You
Straub, Emma Forever35
Strong, Cecily Good One
Vega, Suzanne The Moment with Brian Koppelman
Warren, Elizabeth Pod Save America
Washington, Kerry The Big Ticket, WTF with Marc Maron
Wortham, Jenna Going Through It
Youssef, Ramy Bullseye
Notable New Podcasts
During my week off I tweeted about some notable releases, so check out that thread to catch up. A few I didn’t get to from that week are below, as are a bunch from this week.
- The Wondery true crimer chronicles prep school boys in 1980s Los Angeles who “get sucked…into twisted schemes of kidnapping, torture, and revenge.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 2.
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 3.
2) Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best
- Busy says “[m]aybe we’ll all learn something life-changing or maybe we’ll just have a conversation where we break down in tears, then laugh at ourselves for crying.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 13.
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 28
- The companion to the FX docuseries “A Wilderness of Error” comes from Marc Smerling, who created The Jinx and Crimetown.
- The crux: It’s the story of murderer Jeffrey MacDonald, journalist Joe McGinniss and the book McGinniss wrote about MacDonald, “Fatal Vision.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 14.
- Alex Schuman investigates a man who, for 30 years, claimed to be a priest. His followers “who once worshiped him, now accuse him of exploitation, fraud and abuse.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 23.
5) You’re Gonna Love Me with Katie Maloney
- The “Vanderpump Rules” star promises “a podcast that’s going to open the eyes, the ears, and the hearts, of anyone who has judged or been judged (hopefully).”
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 27.
- Hannah Ferrier of “Below Deck Mediterranean” talks you through “her pretty effed-up diary entries.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 45
7) Bent
- Joe Cermele and Miles Nolte host an “unapologetic fishing podcast that moves faster than a tournament bass boat but doesn’t take itself near as seriously.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 74.
- MIT Technology Review looks at “what it means to entrust artificial intelligence with our most sensitive decisions.”
- Phoebe Robinson launches “an interview-advice hybrid show hosted by a black person (ahem, me: Pheebs!) who has never seen an episode of FRASIER despite having a white boyfriend.”
- The politics pod promises “[w]hat you need to know, every weekday, in 10 minutes or less.”
- Another CNN political pod. This one promises to “explain the issues of the day, take a look back at how we got here, and draw a line ahead to what it all means.”
12) TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones
- Trans people “and allies talk back about what matters most and discuss how to create a fairer world for all.”
13) You Down?
- Ashley Holston, Maame-Yaa Aforo, Shakira Ja’nai Paye and Yazmin Monet Watkins “come together each week for laughs and brutal honesty as they offer their unique perspective and comedic take on the culture.”
14) Preloaded
- YouTubers Jackson Van Over and Josh Finderup cut through “the spin of video game marketing to deliver unfiltered, honest coverage of every game you should be looking forward to.”
15) Cyber Space
- Former Justice Department National Security Chief John Carlin “engages thought leaders from the government and the private sector to make sense of the issues at the intersection of cyber, policy, and law.”
- Jordan Bell and Albert Chen trace golfer Tiger Woods’s “journey to find out what the media got right, and what it didn’t.”
17) From First Lady to Jackie O
- The pod tells the story of the “often-overlooked yet deeply formative era” between her two marriages.
- “Freakonomics” co-author Steven Levitt interviews “some of the most interesting, unorthodox people around — from actresses to athletes, authors to inventors.”
- Enkeshi El-Amin and Angela Dennis how “Black people have shaped and have been shaped by Appalachia.”
20) Word Matters
- Merriam-Webster dictionary editors “challenge supposed grammar rules, reveal the surprising origins behind words, tackle common questions, and generally geek out about the beautiful nightmare that is language.”
21) Very Amusing
- It’s about the “stories, secrets and shenanigans of a popcorn-fueled theme park journalist,” Carlye Wisel hosts.
22) My Momma Told Me with Langston Kerman
- The comedian and his guests “take a deep dive into the most exciting, groundbreaking and sometimes problematic Black conspiracy theories.”
23) She Rates Dogs
- SheRatesDogs joins podcastland, “focusing on topics relevant to today’s culture and trending issues online, while bringing you modern relationship and life advice.”
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 20.
And One to Look Forward to: Driving the Green Book (Sept. 15)
- BBC broadcaster Alvin Hall and activist and former attorney Janée Woods Weber host this one.
- They “drive from Detroit to New Orleans, collecting powerful, personal testimony about how Black Americans used the historic travel guide The Negro Motorist’s Green Book during the height of segregation as a vital resource to quell fears, find safe havens, and travel with dignity.”