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To the Moon Edition (#143)

Huge week for new podcasts, short squeezes, and rocket emoji. Podcasters were all over the GameStop stock market saga.

Other things of interest to podcasters this week: Murder, God, Tom Cruise, grandmothers, and “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

The counts: 41 notable guests, 19 new podcasts, four deep dives and one spinoff newsletter. Subscribe to my music-related podcasts spin-off that launches tomorrow.

Pod Take of the Week

“They hang out in chat rooms and they call themselves things like sveltepants and protomoleucular. We don’t know who they are. They could be chipmunks, for all we know.”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: GameStop and the Short Squeeze (6:13)

  • That’s Paddy Hirsch, who, like a lot of people this week, is just trying to figure out what the hell’s going on with the rocketing GameStop stock and the Reddit forum partly responsible for shaking things up.
  • Hirsh and The Indicator offer a short but solid overview. Also worth your listening time:
  • Bloomburg’s Odd Lots has a much longer deep dive.
  • Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly runs three good pods on different aspects of the situation.
  • Endless Thread talks to a Redditor about his GameStop experience.
  • “Billions” co-creator Brian Koppelman offers a pop culture perspective on Pardon My Take.

Sign up for my spin-off newsletter, This Week in Music Podcasts.

Go Deep

 

1) “We Didn’t Start the Fire”

Listen: We Didn’t Start the Fire

  • Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce launch a pod that breaks down Billy Joel’s song line by line.
  • Every episode examines a different topic from the song, starting with Harry Truman.

2) Bonnie and Clyde

Listen: Infamous America

  • The pod’s two episodes through a multi-episode dive into the lives and crimes of the criminals and folk heroes.

3) “Infinity War”

Listen: Binge Mode

  • Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion’s deep, deep dive into the Marvel Cinematic Universe reaches “Infinity War,” which they tackle in a two-parter.
  • Binge time: 4 hours, 59 minutes

4) The Great Chicago Fire

Listen: American History Tellers

  • A multi-part dive into the 1871 blaze that destroyed the city begins.

Guest Appearances By…

 

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem Kickass News

Berkley Lauren, Elizabeth Anna Faris is Unqualified

Birbiglia, Mike Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Bird, Sue Road Trippin’

Bovingdon, Jethro Armchair Expert

Brosnahan, Rachel The Envelope

Chopra Jonas, Priyanka The Rachel Hollis Podcast, Your Fave’s Faves

Cooper, Sarah You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

Corddry, Rob Armchair Expert

Dennings, Kat Keep It!

Ellin, Doug Berning in Hell

Fogel, Bryan The Gist

Gibb, Barry The Zane Lowe Interview Series

Givhan, Robin It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Glassman, Rick WTF with Marc Maron

Grody, Kathryn Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Haim, Alana Talkhouse

HAIM Song Exploder

Harris, Sam SmartLess

Huebel, Rob Too Long; Didn’t Watch

Jobrani, Maz The Adam Carolla Show

Kidman, Nicole The Big Ticket

Lebowitz, Fran Bullseye, The Treatment, Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Lurie, John The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Macchio, Ralph Life is Short with Justin Long

McConaughey, Matthew Red Table Talk, The Table with Anthony ONeal

Morril, Sam The Last Laugh

Mortensen, Viggo Creative Conversation

Nanjiani, Kumail Lovett or Leave It

Nealon, Kevin Literally! With Rob Lowe

Oz, Frank Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out

Patinkin, Mandy Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Rowe, Mike Pardon My Take

Sackhoff, Katee Inside of You

Seyfried, Amanda The Big Picture

Steinem, Gloria What’s Her Story

Timberlake, Justin Armchair Expert

Trufelman, Avery Follow Friday

Wallace, George WTF with Marc Maron

White, Verdine Broken Record

Wilson, John Bullseye

Notable New Podcasts

 

1) The Ezra Klein Show (Jan. 26)

  • The former VOXer moves to The New York Times and “invites you into a conversation on something that matters.”
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 11.

2) Unraveled: Long Island Serial Killer (Jan. 27)

  • The Investigation Discovery pod “is a search for answers in one of the biggest murder mysteries in American history.”
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 14.

3) Anything Better? (Jan. 23)

  • The new comedy pod’s from Bill Burr and Paul Virzi.

4) We Didn’t Start the Fire (Jan. 24)

  • Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce break down Billy Joel’s song line by line. Every episode examines a different topic from the song.

5) The Daily Crime (Jan 25)

  • Will Johnson and Reed Redmond host Vault Studios’ five-day-a-week look at various crimes.

6) Evil By Design (Jan. 25)

  • The CBC Podcasts’ true crimer investigates “Canada’s Jeffrey Epstein,” fast-fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

7) Objections: With Adam Klasfeld (Jan. 25)

  • The senior investigative reporter and editor for Law & Crime “navigates listeners through the top legal stories of the week with experts in a straightforward, analytical and factual manner.”

8) Joyride with Jools Holland and Jim Moir (Jan. 26)

  • Every week the hosts “take a trip with a special showbiz guest: sharing stories, revelations and memories on this tribute to transport.”

9) Longshot: Return Man (Jan. 26)

  • It’s “an investigation into the life and mysterious death of the only Super Bowl champion from Lancaster, S.C.,” Jim Duncan of the Baltimore Colts.

10) Meeting Tom Cruise (Jan. 26)

  • Jeff Meachum and Joel Johnstone interview celebrities about their encounters with the actor.

11) Doing Justice (Jan. 27)

  • Former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara “explores the key elements of a case from the unique perspective of the prosecutor.”

12) Godcast (Jan. 27)

  • The pod’s based on the “universe’s most popular unverified Twitter account, @TheTweetOfGod.”

13) Inside Jokes with Kevin Hart (Jan. 27) 

  • The comedian “will pair with comedic tastemakers for “ear-opening” dialogue that takes listeners on a wild and crazy ride through some of the world’s top comedic minds.”

14) Out for Blood: The Story of Carrie the Musical (Jan. 27)

  • Chris Adams and Holly Morgan tell “the surprising story behind the show’s creation and its infamously disastrous run.”

15) Call Your Grandmother (Jan. 28)

  • The pod features “less-than traditional Jewish grandmothers and the unbreakable bond they have with their favorite grandchildren.”

16) Sports Card Nonsense (Jan. 28)

  • The Ringer pod looks at the hot sports card market “and how to make money with this hobby.”

17) The History of Sketch Comedy (Jan. 28)

  • The Audible original comes from Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key.

18) New Jersey Is The World (Jan. 28)

  • It’s “a loose, hilarious, loving exploration of America’s greatest and strangest state.” Ha. It’s “spearheaded” by comedian Chris Gethard.

19) Follow Friday (Jan. 29)

  • It’s a “podcast about the best people on the internet.”

For eight more podcasts that launched this week, plus upcoming debuts, visit the This Week in Podcasts website.