Eleven days until the U.S. Presidential election. Three days before a scheduled vote on a new Supreme Court Justice. Keep hanging in there! And props to the podcasters keeping us informed and offering much-needed context. So many good political and news pods this week.
Avoiding politics? How does some McConaughey sound? He clocks at least 8 hours, 21 minutes of guest time.
The rest of the counts: 49 notable guests, 11 new podcasts, five deep dives and one scary debut.
Pod Take of the Week
“If a team of experts were assessing it anew, they didn’t know how we did things, they’d probably find it inadequate. And not just inadequate, but like the Hindenburg, afloat on combustible gas.”
Listen: The Gist: Calling It: Steve Kornacki and Brian Stelter (2:13)
- That’s Gist host Mike Pesca, on the state of the electoral system in the United States.
- He adds: “We know the election system in America is antiquated. And inconsistent. We know it’s rickety and vulnerable.”
- All week The Gist focused on one critical link in the chain: Election night and “how different news organizations handle making the winning calls,” and the unique challenges of this election cycle.
- During the week-long series Pesca consults: Steve Kornacki (NBC News), Brian Stelter (CNN), Julie Pace (AP), Brian Rosenwald (University of Pennsylvania) and Dan Rather (longtime news anchor.)
- My take: Vote!
Go Deep
1) The U.S. Supreme Court’s Rightward Turn
Listen: Deep Background with Noah Feldman
- The five-part series from the Pushkin pod tracks “the historic rise of the Federalist Society, how a small group of students 40 years ago started a club that changed the face of the federal judiciary.”
2) Abuse in Sports
Listen: The Running Man
- ESPN Investigates culminates a 14-month investigation with a four-part series into “an obscure former Olympian and alleged serial sexual predator.”
- The crux: “It’s the tale of more than 50 men who say that, over the course of the past 40-plus years, they were physically abused and mentally manipulated by their ‘coach.’ And it’s the story of how they banded together, decades later, to find justice.”
- Listen time: 2 hours.
3) “Tusk”
Listen: Rockin’ the Suburbs
- A deep dive into the album by the Internet’s current favorite band, Fleetwood Mac.
- The album’s producer Ken Caillat and engineer Hernan Rojas join the show.
- Listen time: 51 minutes.
4) Indonesia’s Refugee Community
Listen: Full Story
- The Guardian Australia’s two-part series investigates “the forever in-between” for “almost 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in Indonesia.”
5) SAT vs. ACT
Listen: Business Wars
- Wondery’s five-part exploration into the rise and impact of the college entrance exams lies behind a paywall on Wondery+.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = Spotify exclusive. ($A) = Audible, behind a paywall.
Abrams, Stacey SmartLess
Alam, Rumaan The Maris Review
Arkin, Alan ID10T
Biden, Joe Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
Bird, Sue All the Smoke
Bridgers, Phoebe Bananas, Rolling Stone Music Now
Brown, Austin Channing The goop Podcast
- The author of “I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness” says, “Hope is what we owe to one another as human beings.”
Butler, Win Broken Record
- The Arcade Fire leader discusses the band’s album “The Suburbs” with Rick Rubin. It’s been 10 years since the album won the Best Album Grammy.
Cenac, Wyatt Off Menu
Chang, David Anna Faris is Unqualified
Cleese, John Kickass News
Cohen, Sacha Baron The New Abnormal
Copeland, Miles The Bob Lefsetz Podcast
Doudna, Jennifer Sway
- Convo with the co-developer of the gene-editing technology CRISPR.
Fauci, Anthony Public Health on Call
- Keep it up, doc!
Frampton, Peter I’m So Obsessed, Kickass News
Fulton, Sybrina You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton
- Trayvon Martin’s mother talks about “finding purpose after a terrible loss.”
Glazer, Ilana The New Yorker: Politics and More
Goldman, Alex Hollywood Handbook
Goldsmith, Taylor Sodajerker on Songwriting
- The Dawes leader talks collaborating with other artists, studio strategy.
- I’m with Goldsmith: May all your favorite bands stay together.
Handler, Chelsea Armchair Expert
Hill, Katie How To! With Charles Duhigg
- The former U.S. rep talks about surviving a public shaming.
Horan, Niall Men in Blazers
Jones, Rashida Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
July, Miranda Design Matters
Klepper, Jordan The Last Laugh
Kroll, Nick Life is Short with Justin Long
Kwan, Michelle At Home with Linda & Drew Scott
Lacamoire, Alex Working
- Convo with the music director and conductor of “Hamilton.”
Lakshmi, Padma Bullseye
Lenker, Adrianne The Pitchfork Review
- Convo with the singer and Big Thief leader.
Lynch, Jane Literally! With Rob Lowe
Madden, Steve The Originals
McBride, Danny Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best
McConaughey, Matthew WTF with Marc Maron, Pardon My Take, The School of Greatness, The Tim Ferriss Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Rachel Hollis Podcast, The GaryVee Audio Experience
- The podcaster and Oscar-winning actor makes the pod rounds pitching his memoir.
Nanjiani, Kumail You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes
Nasser, Latif Longform Podcast
Netta This Must Be the Gig
- The Eurovision winner talks music, working with Will Ferrell.
Oates, John Past, Present, Future, Live!
- Half of Hall and Oates discusses his career, life in Colorado.
Oswalt, Patton You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton
Philipps, Busy I Weigh
Reid, Robert This Week in Travel
Rubin, Rick The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Run the Jewels Song Exploder
- Killer Mike and El-P break down their song “JU$T.”
Smith, Kevin Inside of You
Smith, Patti WTF with Marc Maron
Springsteen, Bruce The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Stoker, Dacre Leif Pettersen Makes a Podcast Podcast
- A two-part convo with the great grand-nephew of “Dracula” writer Bram Stoker.
Torres, Shane Good One
- The comic dissects his “legendary defense of Guy Fieri.” Host Jesse David Fox credits the joke for turning around public perception of the chef. At least the public perception of a certain too-cool group.
Union, Gabrielle Keep It
Warren, Elizabeth Hysteria
Notable New Podcasts
Reminder: I’ve contracted and expanded coverage of new podcasts. The newsletter includes a curated list of the most notable and best new podcasts of the previous seven days.
Broader coverage now resides at weekinpodcasts.com, where I’ll show my work with an evolving list of new and upcoming podcasts. Know of any podcasts that should be included? Reply and let me know.
1) Aaron Mahnke’s 13 Days of Halloween (Oct. 19)
- The pod from the creator of Lore promises an “auditory adventure that tows the line between ethereal horror and thrilling campfire tales.”
- The caretaker, played by Keegan-Michael Key, guides the proceedings.
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 26.
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 24.
2) Dare to Lead with Brené Brown (Oct. 19)
- The Spotify exclusive based on Brown’s book “Dare to Lead” “will be a mix of solo episodes and conversations with change-catalysts, culture-shifters, and as many troublemakers as possible.”
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 2.
3) Dumpster Fyre (Oct. 20)
- Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland apparently has recorded a podcast from prison with Jordan Harbinger.
4) The Stuff Dreams are Made Of (Oct. 22)
- “Veep” showrunner David Mandel and screenwriter/producer Ryan Condal “share their love of Hollywood memorabilia, revealing unbelievable stories around some of the most famous and culturally important props, costumes, art, and ephemera in silver screen history.”
5) Untold Killing (Oct. 22)
- To mark the 25th anniversary of Srebrenica, the podcast “tells the little-known story of genocide and ethnic cleansing right in the heart of Europe through the voices of those who survived it.”
6) The Get Up (Oct. 22)
- Spotify’s new morning show mixes music and news.
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 20.
7) The Miami Chronicles (Oct. 21)
- The first season of the true crime pod investigates “the murder of a 14-year old boy in the suburbs of North Miami Beach, Florida, during the summer of 1979.”
8) What Does it Profit? (Oct. 21)
- Dawn Carpenter, an investment banker who became a business ethicist, asks, “Can we align growing returns with the greater good?”
9) Holding Court with Eboni K. Williams (Oct. 21)
- The attorney “cross-examines news-making cases and famous faces to peer into the court of law.”
10) Halloweeen in Hell (Oct. 18)
- The four-part pod features “stars from the world of music [who] have mysteriously ended up on Satan’s newest game show stage.”
- Tommy Lee stars as the Devil.
11) Ruthless (Oct. 22)
- Comfortably Smug and Josh Holmes promise to “bring next generation conservative talk to the next level.”
For nine more podcasts that launched this week, plus upcoming debuts, visit the This Week in Podcasts website.