Congrats to Bill Gates and Rashida Jones on their new pod, which hit No. 1 on Apple Podcasts.

Bigger props to Dolly Parton. The legend made a large donation to help fund coronavirus vaccine research. Learn more about her awesomeness in Dolly Parton’s America, which, though it released last year, rose to No. 62 on the chart yesterday. She also guested on at least three pods this week.

The rest of the counts: 61 notable guests, 17 new podcasts, seven deep dives and one spectacular ad for a Welsh trailer company.

Pod Take of the Week

“A lot of people will tell me, ‘That’s not a taco. My grandmother, my abuela, made real tacos. She made real Mexican food and everything else is not Mexican food.’ Well, what if your grandmother’s a bad cook?”

Listen: The Sporkful: Hitting the Texas Taco with José Ralat (11:07)

• That’s Ralat, Texas Monthly’s taco editor, on his Abuelita Principle.
• Ralat talks about the world of Texas tacos and his ongoing debate with purists about what makes for an authentic taco.
• Mexican food, he says, is always evolving and efforts to “control this living cuisine” undermine our understanding and enjoyment of it.
  

  Go Deep

   

  1) The Stakes of the Upcoming Joe Biden Presidency

  Listen: The Weeds

  • The Vox podcast’s two episodes into an eight-episode dive into “the likely consequences of the election and the challenges facing the incoming Biden administration.”

  2) Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney Take Over Welsh Football Club Wrexham AFC

  Listen: Final Whistle

  • A two-hour deep dive into how two actors came to acquire the third-oldest professional football club in the world — and won Twitter with their pitch for Ifor Williams trailers.

  3) “Did the CIA Plant a Virus in Cuba?”

  Listen: Science Vs. 

  • The Gimlet pod’s multi-parter investigates “a conspiracy theory that involves the CIA, Cuba and a whole bunch of dead pigs.”

  4) Pink Lemonade 

  Listen: Ridiculous History

  • A two-parter on the “surprisingly ancient origins” of the drink, as well as the “dubious series of events that may have led to what we call pink lemonade today.”
  • Binge time: 1 hour, 4 minutes.

  5) The Rise of Giannis Antetokounmpo

  Listen: The Woj Pod

  • ESPN’s NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski delivers a three-part series on how the Greek Freak came to be scouted by the league and drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks.
  • Binge time: 1 hour, 56 minutes.

  6) “Home Alone” 

  Listen: The Rewatchables

  • The Ringer’s Chris Ryan and Sean Fennessey, and ESPN’s Mina Kimes, go 1 hour, 37 minutes on the holiday classic.

  7) The Britney Spears Saga

  Listen: Popcast, Rivals

  • The New York Times Popcast dives deep into the musician’s struggle with the courts and her father to end the conservatorship that oversees her affairs, while Rivals goes 59 minutes on her long-ago musical beef with Christina Aguilera.

  Guest Appearances By…

   

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

  Andre, Eric Literally! With Rob Lowe

  Bakkedahl, Dan Bald Talk

  Behrs, Beth Anna Faris is Unqualified

  Belfort, Jordan Nobody Told Me!

  Bell, Kristen Your Fave’s Faves

  Berninger, Matt You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

  Bieber, Hailey Pretty Big Deal

  Birbiglia, Mike Self-Helpless

  Bloom, Rachel Keep It, Ask Me Another

  • The actress and writer says she does not discuss “The Crown.”

  Bon Jovi, Jon Talks at Google

  Boyega, John The Big Ticket

  Campbell, Mike Broken Record

  Chang, David SmartLess

  Chappelle, Dave The Joe Rogan Experience

  Chuck D Angry Americans

  Close, Glenn WTF with Marc Maron

  Cross, David The Last Laugh

  Eilish, Billie Song Exploder

  • The artist breaks down her song “everything i wanted.”

  Fallon, Brian Walking the Floor

  • Convo with former leader of Gaslight Anthem, whose second album made Rockin’ the Suburbs’ great sophomore albums pod.

  Feig, Paul I’m So Obsessed

  Folds, Ben Conversations

  Fox, Michael J. The Originals, WTF with Marc Maron

  Green, Tom The Joe Rogan Experience

  Halsey Armchair Expert

  Harper, Ben People Have the Power

  Howard, Brittany Points South

  Inspectah Deck People’s Party with Talib Kweli

  Jacobson, Abbi Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out

  Khan, Sal Decoder

  Kine, Starlee Blank Check

  Koenig, Ezra U Talkin’ Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head

  Lakshmi, Padma Green Eggs and Dan

  Law, Jude Talkhouse

  Leguizamo, John Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

  Letterman, David Bullseye

  • A critic’s take: “This interview with Letterman is so very good,” NPR’s Linda Holmes tweets. “It really … rests with the discomfort of Letterman acknowledging that he did a lot of shitty things, and he doesn’t really … expect to be absolved? It’s really interesting.”

  Martling, Jackie The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

  McConaughey, Matthew Your Fave’s Faves

  McQueen, Steve Kickass News

  Mendes, Shawn The Zane Lowe Interview Series

  Notaro, Tig Dads: The Podcast

  Nwodim, Ego The Step

  Obama, Barack Fresh Air

  • The former president says, “I try to remind myself that history does not just go forward. It goes sideways. It goes backwards sometimes. The path of progress is bumpy and there are going to be setbacks.”

  Odom Jr., Leslie The Rachel Hollis Podcast

  Parton, Dolly Biscuits & Jam, Unlocking Us with Brené Brown, For the Record

  Peretti, Chelsea Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

  Quinn, Colin Good One

  Ralat, José The Sporkful

  Rapinoe, Megan Pod Save the People

  Rawlings, Donnell The Joe Rogan Experience

  Shepard, Dax The Tim Ferriss Show

  Silverman, Sarah The Gist

  Smith, Maggie Wheels Off

  Taylor-Joy, Anya The Watch

  • Convo with the star of the Netflix show of the moment, “The Queen’s Gambit.”

  Tedder, Ryan The GaryVee Audio Experience

  Tegan and Sara Black Frasier

  Trainor, Meghan Good For You

  Undertaker, The Sports Illustrated Media Podcast

  Vaughn, Vince Life is Short with Justin Long

  Waters, Roger Useful Idiots

  • The Pink Floyd musician talks U.S. foreign policy.

  Whitmer, Gretchen You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton

  Zimmern, Andrew The Upgrade

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) Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions (Nov. 16)

• The business mogul/philanthropist and the actress/writer “tackle some of the biggest questions facing us today: Is it too late to solve climate change? Does everybody lie? Is inequality inevitable?”
• Apple Podcasts rank: No. 1.
• Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 9.

2) Sweet Boys (Nov. 18)

• YouTubers Garrett Watts and Andrew Siwicki conduct “a blissfully chaotic and curious conversation about what it means to live in this beautiful, crazy, and confusing modern world.”
• Apple Podcasts rank: No. 35.
• Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 2.

3) Gamblers (Nov. 18)

• David Hill hosts the Ringer pod about the lives of six professional gamblers.
• Apple Podcasts rank: No. 87.
• Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 15.

4) Recipe Club (Nov. 17) 

• David Chang and Chris Ying “are joined by a rotating cast of culinary experts to prepare, eat, and judge three different recipes of the same dish.”
• Apple Podcasts rank: No. 99.

5) Jacked: The Rise of New Jack Swing (Nov. 17)

• Taraji P. Henson hosts the Wondery podcast about the sound that “dominated the pop music charts” in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

6) American Prodigy (Nov. 17)

• Former Sports Illustrated soccer reporter Grant Wahl tells the story of former American soccer prodigy Freddy Adu.

7) Stuff the British Stole (Nov. 20)

• The British Empire “stole a lot of stuff. Today those objects are housed in genteel institutions across the UK and the world. They usually come with polite plaques. This is a series about the not-so-polite history behind those objects.”
• Marc Fennell hosts.

8) Add to Cart (Nov. 17)

• Kulap Vilaysack and SuChin Pak take “funny-but-meaningful looks at modern consumerism and anything we ‘buy into,’ such as products, philosophies, lifestyles, and entertainment choices.”

9) POOG with Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak (Nov. 17)

• The hosts go on an “obsessive quest through the highs and the lows of the healing world” for Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network of comedy podcasts.

10) The Agitators: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass (Nov. 18)

• The pod tells the story of “the enduring but tempestuous friendship of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.”

11) Jill Scott Presents: J.ill the Podcast (Nov. 18)

• The singer says her pod “is like chilling with that friend who says what everyone wants to say but is too afraid to – times three.”

12) Your Fave’s Faves (Nov. 18)

• Rachel Hollis “sits down with celeb guests to get real about their ultimate ‘Top Five,’ in any category they want.”

13) Greetings from Somewhere (Nov. 18)

• Zach Mack hosts a “documentary-style travel podcast that explores and celebrates unique places.”

14) Hunting Ghislaine (Nov. 19)

• John Sweeney investigates Jeffrey Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, telling “a fairy story which happens the wrong way round, of how a princess ends up accused of being the monster and no-one at all ends up happily ever after.”

15) Kesha and the Creepies (Nov. 20)

• The pop star “explores supernatural subjects and alternative lifestyles with today’s most exciting pop culture guests & supernatural experts.”

16) [X] on [Y] (Nov. 20)

• Artists invite listeners “on a deep dive into a musician and catalogue that has influenced their artistry.”

17) Curveball (Nov. 17)

• Kellie Riordan “tracks down our boldest and brightest leaders and asks them to reveal the tips, tricks and hacks that help them tackle life’s toughest moments.”

For 10 more new podcasts plus upcoming debuts, visit the This Week in Podcasts website.