Heading into the last weekend before the U.S. presidential election Podland is obsessed with…Dr. Death. The second season of the hit pod ranks No. 1 on Apple Podcasts and No. 5 on Spotify’s Trending Podcasts list.
The rest of the counts: 42 notable guests, 13 new podcasts, six deep dives and one total eclipse.
Pod Take of the Week
“I’m just kind of constantly under a cognitive DDoS attack. The browser tabs are open but nothing’s coming up.”
Listen: Still Processing: ‘Waiter, There’s a Fly in Our Bubble’ (16:53)
- That’s Jenna Wortham, aptly describing the 2020 vibe.
- Wortham feels like the world is overloading her brain. Sound familiar?
- The episode’s not all doom and gloom. Wortham and co-host Wesley Morris look for and find “moments that point us beyond the present, to be our best and greatest selves.”
- My take: Keep hanging in there.
Go Deep
1) The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Listen: Binge Mode
- Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion return with a deep, deep, deep dive into the 23 movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- They’re also adding context with character studies and analysis of wider Marvel lore.
- Two episodes of The Ringer series are live: “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.”
2) The Feds vs. the Activists
Listen: American Scandal
- The Wondery pod dives deep into clashes between private citizens and the federal government.
- First two episodes in the series: Billie Holiday and Martin Luther King, Jr.
3) Black Holes
Listen: Science Weekly
- It’s a two-part dive into one of the “most enigmatic phenomena in the universe.”
4) The History of Jane Fonda’s Workout
Listen: Decoder Ring
- Willa Paskin delivers another two-parter. This one analyzes the bestselling VHS tape of all time, and the “decadeslong relationship of Jane Fonda and Leni Cazden, a fraught friendship that birthed the…workout that changed the world.”
5) Trump, Explained
Listen: Today, Explained
- The Vox pod approaches the end of a five-part series that looks back “at what Donald Trump did during his four years as president of the United States and what it means for the future of the American political experiment.”
- You may not want to think back on the last four years. Or maybe you just don’t remember all that’s happened since early 2017. It’s a lot.
- It explores “President Trump’s legacy, from health care to the coronavirus pandemic, from the economy and immigration to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and impeachment. Remember impeachment?”
6) The Jim Steinman Audio Universe
Listen: Hit Parade
- The man behind ‘70s and ‘80s epic pop-music dramas like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” gets a two-part deep dive.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = Spotify exclusive. ($A) = Audible, behind a paywall.
Biden, Joe Pod Save America
Campbell, Mike The Moment
Clinton, Hillary Just B with Bethenny Frankel, Sway
Common All the Smoke
Cooper, Sarah It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders
Coyne, Wayne All Songs Considered
Cross, David Fake the Nation
Cuban, Mark The Strategerist
Demie, Alexa The A24 Podcast
Dillon, Tim The Joe Rogan Experience
Faulkner, Grant The Upgrade
- It’s almost NaNoWriMo time, y’all. Good luck to everyone writing. If you are, listen for some tips from the Executive Director.
Fielder, Nathan The A24 Podcast
Graham, Ashley Skimm’d From the Couch
Handler, Chelsea Pretty Big Deal, The Last Laugh
Harry, Debbie Homo Sapiens
- The music legend talks Blondie, entitlement.
Hill, Melinda WTF with Marc Maron
Hodgman, John Life is Short with Justin Long
John, Daymond The Strategerist
Jones, Alex The Joe Rogan Experience
- Another appearance by the conspiracy theorist. People are not happy. Spotify has apparently defended the decision to provide him a platform.
- As usual, I don’t link to Alex Jones.
Kasparov, Garry Stay Tuned with Preet
Kondabolu, Hari WTF with Marc Maron
Kravitz, Lenny Kickass News
Markoe, Merrill Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best
McConaughey, Matthew The Rich Roll Podcast, Armchair Expert
- He’s still out there making the pod rounds.
McFarland, Billy The Jordan Harbinger Show
Miele, Liz Self-Helpless
Miguel On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Miranda, Lin-Manuel Questlove Supreme
MrBeast The CouRage and Nadeshot Show
- The YouTuber talks about his YouTube success.
Patinkin, Mandy The Axe Files
- The actor talks about his rising social media popularity.
Rather, Dan Kickass News
Reinhorn, Holiday At Home with Linda & Drew Scott
Russell, Karen Bookable
Sanders, Deion The David Banner Podcast, Pardon My Take
Smith, Sam The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Shriver, Maria Literally! With Rob Lowe
Springsteen, Bruce Broken Record, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Trump, Mary L. Work in Progress
Van Zandt, Stevie People Have the Power
West, Kanye The Joe Rogan Experience
Wilson, Rainn At Home with Linda & Drew Scott
Witherspoon, Reese SmartLess
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) Crimes of the Centuries (Oct. 26)
- Amber Hunt “will examine a case that’s lesser known today but was huge when it happened. The cases explored span the centuries, and each left a mark: Some made history by changing laws. Others were so shocking they changed society.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 39.
2) Giggly Squad (Oct. 30)
- Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo “make fun of everything, but most importantly themselves.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 62.
3) Sway Way (Oct. 25)
- Sway House’s Griffin Johnson “takes you on a journey through the life of the sway house.”
4) Document (Oct. 26)
- The first season of the new New Hampshire Public Radio podcast investigates “secret lists kept by government lawyers.”
- The pod “looks at one state’s decades of secrecy around police misconduct and asks: why do these lists exist?”
5) Chronicled: Who Is Kamala Harris? (Oct. 26)
- The San Francisco Chronicle pod traces “the life, career and controversies of the first Black woman and first South Asian person on a major-party presidential ticket.”
6) Ghost Tape (Oct. 26)
- The drama pod follows “Tessa Dixon at a remote army base in Texas as she deals with the psychological and physical trauma of basic training. When she finds a tape of her grandfather’s labeled ‘Ghost Tape’ and plays the haunting audio, she unknowingly unleashes a deadly manifestation of her own family’s horrible misdeeds.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 82.
7) Gun Play (Oct. 26)
- The pod from KERA in Dallas chronicles a tiny theater company of teen actors who “set out to create an original stage play about our deep divisions over Second Amendment rights, mass shootings, background checks and automatic weapons.”
8) Death in Denmark (Oct. 27)
- The Bauer Media pod “revisits some of the most spectacular Danish homicide cases of our time.”
9) Better Etc. (Oct. 27)
- Trista Sutter “chats with experts and everyday people about how we can all be better versions of ourselves.”
10) Positively Gam (Oct. 28)
- Adrienne Banfield Norris of Red Table Talk has “conversations with close friends and experts. Topics range from aging, relationships, wellness, sex, and what’s happening in the Black community.”
11) The Marianne Williamson Podcast: Conversations That Matter (Oct. 28)
- The politician and activist “discusses love in politics, chats with her peers, and answers questions from her audience.”
12) Transmissions: The Definitive Story (Oct. 29)
- It promises the definitive story of the bands Joy Division and New Order.
13) Finding Desperado (Oct. 30)
- “Pop culture detectives” Alexei Toliopoulos and Cameron James “have uncovered a bizarre Guinness World Record from 2005. A record held by an elusive European aristocrat. A record that they believe to be fake.”
For nine more podcasts that launched this week, plus upcoming debuts, visit the This Week in Podcasts website.