Big news out of Sydney: Police arrested Chris Dawson and charged him with the murder of his wife, Lynette Dawson, whose disappearance has been the subject of The Teacher’s Pet podcast.
Before I get to more on that, a shout out to Bello Collective’s 100 Outstanding Podcasts of 2018. I shared a few picks, and found a whole lot more to add to my listening queue. Check it out.
5 Pod Takes
1) “She’s always going to be remembered, and she’s going to be vindicated.”
Listen: The Teacher’s Pet: Arrest (41:49)
- That’s Julie Andrew, speaking about her late friend Lynette Dawson, whose 1982 disappearance is the subject of the true crime podcast.
- Andrew spoke an hour after news broke of the arrest of Chris Dawson, Lynette’s husband, on murder charges.
- The podcast sparked intense interest in the cold case. Police wouldn’t reveal the evidence that triggered the arrest, but they did tell host Hedley Thomas the podcast helped bring new evidence to light.
2) “I worry about humans…A human with an agenda, and with anger, is terrifying to me.”
Listen: 10 Things That Scare Me: Blair Braverman (5:40)
- That’s dog musher Braverman, revealing her No. 9 fear on this compelling new pod series from WNYC about people’s fears.
- Context: Braverman frames her fear of humans in relation to nature.
- She says: “A bear wants to eat, and a storm doesn’t give a shit about anything.”
3) “It’s taking great, wonderful, imaginative people…and then crushing their souls by telling them what font size to use.”
Listen: TED Talks Daily: Confessions of a recovering micromanager I Chieh Huang (2:01)
- That’s Huang, nailing what it takes to kill happiness and morale at work.
4) “It’s like ‘Free Bird’ [and] ‘Hey Jude’ had a kid.”
Listen: Celebration Rock: Fantasy A&R: the Ultimate Mid-’90s Oasis Album(53:14)
- That’s Steven Hyden, who also throws the rocking parts of “Stairway to Heaven” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” into the mix when describing the alchemy of Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova.”
- It’s the closer on his excellent fantasy mid-90s Oasis album.
5) “The makers of these films have no idea what snow looks like.”
Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: Hallmark Holiday Movies (5:45)
- Stephen Thompson breaks down one of Hallmark’s most lovable contributions to cinema.
Tweet of the Week

Go Deep
1) China and the West
Listen: The Daily
- A two-parter from Apple’s most downloaded pod of 2018 focuses on bad assumptions made by Western countries regarding China’s economic decisions.
- Binge time: 44 minutes.
2) “The College Dropout”
Listen: Heat Rocks
- A 54-minute deep dive into Kanye’s classic, with G Yamazawa.
3) Ernesto de la Cruz
Listen: Villains
- Shea Serrano goes 48 minutes on the “Coco” baddie.
Guest Appearances By…
Abrams, Stacey TED Talks Daily
- The former candidate for governor of Georgia shares lessons from her campaign.
Abumrad, Jad Pod Save the People
Aiken, Clay The Adam Carolla Show
Albarn, Damon Ways to Change the World
Alexandro, Tex WTF with Marc Maron
Allen, Lily ID10T
Armisen, Fred You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes
Automator, Dan the The Trip
Black, Jack The Treatment, The H3 Podcast
Bloom, Rachel Good One
Briggs, Bishop Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
Brown, Sen. Sherrod Pod Save America
Burr, Bill Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Bush, Sophia Anna Faris is Unqualified
Carden, D’Arcy Off Book, The Good Place: The Podcast
- Janet!
Case, Neko Talkhouse
Cash, Rosanne The Moment with Brian Koppelman
Collazo, Julie Schwietert Without Fail
Cooper, Bradley Fresh Air
Copeland, Misty The Goop Podcast
Danson, Ted Off Camera with Sam Jones
- Michael!
Davis, Viola It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders
Dunham, Kelli My Best Break-Up
Eggers, Dave The New Yorker: Fiction
- He reads Sam Shepard’s story “ Indianapolis (Highway 74)”
Foer, Franklin Recode Decode
Galifianakis, Zach Doug Loves Movies
Gass, Kyle The Treatment, The H3 Podcast
Gebbia, Joe How I Built This with Guy Raz
Goggins, David The Joe Rogan Experience
Haidt, Jonathan Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Hamm, Jon Doug Loves Movies
Harbinger, Jordan Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Howroyd, Janice Bryant How I Built This with Guy Raz
Jeffries, Hakeem Pod Save America
Jenkins, Barry Monocle 24: The Big Interview
Kingsolver, Barbara Bookworm
Knievel, Robbie The Adam Carolla Show
Kurzweil, Ray The TED Interview, TED Talks Daily
Love, Darlene Ask Me Another
Luna, Diego Remote Controlled
Moore, Michael Scott Public Intellectual
Moretz, Chloe Grace Maltin on Movies
Nanjiani, Kumail Stay Tuned with Preet
Nelson, Tim Blake WTF with Marc Maron
Nepo, Mark Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations
- Two-part convo with the author and philosopher.
Noah, Trevor Kickass News
Nosrat, Samin Fresh Air, Eater Upsell
Puddicombe, Andy Hannahlyze This
- Convo with co-founder of Headspace.
Reitman, Jason The Bill Simmons Podcast
Romer, Paul Conversations with Tyler
Savage, Andrea Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Savage, Andrew This Song
Scheer, Paul I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast
Schmidle, Nicholas Longform Podcast
Silverman, Sarah Doug Loves Movies
Stewart, Martha Skimm’d From the Couch
Storr, Will The Ezra Klein Show
Swisher, Kara TBD with Tina Brown
Taylor, James Oprah’s Master Class
Traister, Rebecca On Being
Verducci, Tom Sports Media with Richard Deitsch
Weil, Dr. Andrew The Tim Ferriss Show
Wray, John Otherppl with Brad Listi
Wurtz, Bill The H3 Podcast
Zucker, Jeff The Axe Files
Notable New Podcasts
1) Post Reports
- The Washington Post’s long-awaited daily news podcast debuts. Martine Powers hosts.
2) Broken Harts
- The Glamour/HowStuffWorks co-production centers on the murder-suicide of the Hart Family. Twitter tagline: “Two white moms. Six adopted black kids. One car found upside down at the bottom of a cliff. What went wrong?”
3) Aria Code
- Each episode of this WQXR/Metropolitan Opera co-production “dives into one aria — a feature for a single singer — and explores how and why these brief musical moments have imprinted themselves in our collective consciousness and what it takes to stand on the Met stage and sing them.”
4) The Corp
- ARod and Big Cat of Barstool Sports “interview industry leaders, sports legends, and entrepreneurs on what makes them successful in their specific profession.” All seven episodes dropped Thursday.
- Each season of this “zero b******t” self-help show will feature “a new expert who will help you get unstuck in a single but meaningful way.”
- The WNYC Studios production focuses on one person’s fears. “It could be anyone. It could be you. It’s someone driven by fears that keep them up at night, that define their lives, and inform their choices.”
7) These Miracles Work: A Hold Steady Podcast
- It’s a five-part deep dive into The Hold Steady’s album “Stay Positive.” I’m so in.
- Host Antonio Barbera of U.S. News & World Report offers “weekly tips and expert insight on all things money.”
9) Numbers Geek with Steve Ballmer
- The former Microsoft CEO, current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and Internet-famous dancer uses “numbers and data to make sense of the world.
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