Best-podcasts-of-the-year season continues:

I’ve also posted This Week in Podcasts’ 22 Essential Podcast Episodes of 2020. Have a read and let me know what you think.

Quick note on the TWIP schedule. The last newsletter of 2020 (good riddance!) goes out Dec. 18. Then a holiday break. Then the next newsletter: Jan. 8, 2021.

On to this week’s counts: 62 notable guests, nine new podcasts, six deep dives and one more very popular true crime podcast debuts.

Pod Take of the Week

“The majority is not the goal. I’m not gonna be proud that 94 percent of families know what’s going on right now. I want 100 percent of families.”

Listen: Every Little Thing: Essential Workers (16:39)

That’s Tamasha Emedi, assistant principal at an elementary school outside of Seattle, on the gap in internet connectivity and access to online school among students.
Emedi says 94 percent of students have internet, but anything except 100 percent access means too many kids fall through the cracks.
Emedi’s one of several essential workers ELT spoke with for the second time about their work during the pandemic — the first was in April.
My take: A sobering, honest, on-the-ground look at the still-raging pandemic.

Go Deep

1) “The 12 Most Important Dates in Culture History”

Listen: Las Culturistas

Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang are two episodes into their offbeat “seasonal” countdown.
How offbeat? The day McDonald’s opened its doors makes the cut. So does the emergence of Mary M. Cosby of “Real Housewives.”

2) Secrets of the Founding Fathers

Listen: Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know

A two-part dive into “some of the strangest, most obscure alleged secrets of the founding fathers.”

3) Mariah Carey

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour, The Zane Lowe Interview Series, The Journal.

One of the most enduring pop stars, as Pop Culture Happy Hour describes her, continues her holiday season high-profile.
PCHH looks at her career and staying power.
On Zane Lowe’s show, Carey shares her fave holiday songs.
On The Journal she traces the rise of her Christmas anthem, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

4) Holiday Movies

Listen: The PosCast with Joe Posnanski & Michael Schur

The pod’s annual holiday draft goes after the best holiday movies.
Drafters include Nick Offerman, Linda Holmes and Jason Kander.

5) “Hiroshima”

Listen: Writ Large

A deep-dive into John Hersey’s famed chronicle of Hiroshima, which MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola says every American should read.

6) Roy Cohn

Listen: Behind the Bastards

A two-part look at the notorious political fixer, aka “the man who made Donald Trump.”

Guest Appearances By…

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

Andersen, Kurt This Day in Esoteric Political History

Bell, Lake Life is Short with Justin Long

Bloom, Rachel The Adam Buxton Podcast

Braff, Zach WTF with Marc Maron

Brie, Alison Keep It, Good for You

Buteau, Michelle The Maris Review, Bananas

Byer, Nicole Green Eggs and Dan

Carey, Mariah The Zane Lowe Interview Series

Cleese, John Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Cook, Tim Outside Podcast

Crawford, Cindy Skimm’d From the Couch

Fauci, Anthony Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction

Ferriss, Tim You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Fillion, Nathan Inside of You

Galanis, Steve Sway

Convo with the founder of Cameo.

Garten, Ina Homemade

George, Paul All the Smoke

Gervais, Ricky SmartLess

Gladwell, Malcolm Book of Basketball 2.0

Godin, Seth The Jordan Harbinger Show

Grace, Laura Jane The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Green, Seth Anna Faris is Unqualified

Hall, Carla Your Fave’s Faves

Hamilton, Laird The Rich Roll Podcast

Hamm, Jon The Bill Simmons Podcast

Hardstark, Georgia I Said No Gifts!

Hough, Julianne Danica Patrick Pretty Intense

Jones, Norah Talkhouse

Judd, Wynona Biscuits & Jam

Kid Cudi The Zane Lowe Interview Series

Kilar, Jason Sway

The CEO of WarnerMedia talks about releasing Warner Bros. 2021 films on HBO Max and whether it’s the “final death blow” for theaters.

Kirson, Jessica The Last Laugh

Lyonne, Natasha Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out

McCartney, Paul The Adam Buxton Podcast

McDormand, Frances The Kitchen Sisters Present

McQueen, Steve The New Yorker Radio Hour

Melanie C Homo Sapiens

A two-parter with the former Spice Girl.

Morgan, Leanne Why Mommy Drinks

Mosley, Walter Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Oates, John Eric Krasno Plus One

Obama, Barack Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

O’Hara, Catherine Literally! With Rob Lowe

Portman, Natalie Armchair Expert

Samberg, Andy The Envelope

Sedaris, David Good One

Seinfeld, Jerry The Tim Ferriss Show

Shriver, Maria Just B with Bethenny Frankel

Sia Grounded with Louis Theroux

Slate, Jenny The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Soderbergh, Steven The Big Picture

Sterling, Gabriel The Daily

The Republican official from Georgia who said enough to President Donald Trump tells his story.

Taylor-Joy, Anya The Envelope

Thompson, Wright Longform Podcast

Tweedy, Jeff Talkhouse

Vonn, Lindsey Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Wallace, Bubba Talks at Google

Warwick, Dionne Toure Show

Watts, Shannon What’s Her Story

Williams, Brad WTF with Marc Maron

Williams, Pharrell Broken Record

Wilson, Russell Pardon My Take

Winslet, Kate Fresh Air

Notable New Podcasts

1) Death of a Starlet (Dec. 8)

Another Wondery true crimer. This one focuses on the August 1980 death of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten.
Apple Podcasts rank: No. 4.

2) Catfish: The Podcast (Dec. 9)

Nev Schulman revisits “shocking episodes” of the MTV series.
Apple Podcasts rank: No. 12.

3) MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast (Dec. 10)

The pod recaps the new season of “The Challenge.”

Apple Podcasts rank: No. 23.

4) That’s Messed Up: An SVU Podcast (Dec. 8)

Liza Treyger and Kara Klenk “break down episodes of “Law & Order: SVU,” deep dive into the true crimes they’re based on, and interview on-screen talent.”
Apple Podcasts rank: No. 38.

5) OTHERtone with Pharrell, Scott, and Fam-Lay (Dec. 7)

Pharrell Williams co-hosts “a glimpse into the minds of our culture’s unicorns, and how they think about life, art, and everything in between.”

6) LEGO Bits N’ Bricks (Dec. 9)

The LEGO Games podcast explores “some of the many fascinating stories and lessons learned from a quarter century of game development.”

7) Where the Internet Lives (Dec. 9)

The Google podcast dives into “the unseen world of data centers.”

8) The Envelope (Dec. 9)

The Los Angeles Times unveils its awards-season pod.

9) Cadaver Gals (Dec. 9)

Three friends “discuss all the fun and flirty ways people die to cope with their own mortality.” FWIW, it’s listed as a comedy.

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.