I’m sleeping under California stars for a couple days, and I’ve happily indulged in extra listening during my travels (including finishing The Big One).
This week’s counts: 37 notable guests, 11 new podcasts, seven deep dives, and one group of misfits. I’m also including some relevant-to-listeners podcast news. Details on an aspiring “Netflix for podcasts” at the end of the scroll.
Pod Take of the Week
“Innovation is the pirate ship that sails into the yacht club.”
Listen: WorkLife with Adam Grant: The Creative Power of Misfits (11:55)
- That’s Lisa Bodell, who adds, “Nobody likes it, but then they appreciate it later.”
- Bodell and Grant kick off WorkLife’s second season by exploring how Brad Bird corralled Pixar’s black sheep to create “The Incredibles.”
Go Deep
1) International Women’s Day
Listen: CBS This Morning Podcast, She Kills, Dare I Say, The Last Bohemians, Words to That Effect
- CBS featured interviews with chef Samin Nosrat, Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Carter, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and other women all week.
- And quick shout outs to three women-driven podcast debuts: Dare I Say, She Kills and The Last Bohemians. More on those in New and Notable Podcasts below.
- And a belated shout out to Words to That Effect’s February episode about the lost female voices of science fiction.
2) The National’s “Boxer”
Listen: Coffee & Flowers
- A 14-episode deep dive — one ep for every song on the album, plus a scene setter — dropped this week.
- Binge time: 7 hours, 41 minutes.
3) Conspiracy Theories
Listen: Throughline
- A 41-minute look at how conspiracy theories have shaped the U.S.
- My take: Very relevant!
4) “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”
Listen: Punch Up the Jam
- A 1-hour, 16-minute exploration of The Smiths’ classic.
- Fact check: The song is a masterpiece. No punch up necessary.
5) Michael Jackson
Listen: Popcast, Still Processing, The Gist, Culture Gabfest, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, The Daily
- In the wake of the damning HBO documentary “Finding Neverland,” many podcasts wrestle with their own examinations of the pop icon’s alleged crimes and his place in music.
6) ASMR
Listen: Stuff You Should Know
- A 49-minute dive into the soothing and, to some, maddening phenomenon.
7) The Coming California Earthquake
Listen: The Big One
- The nine-part podcast concluded on this note: The earthquake is inevitable, the disaster is not.
- Binge time: 5 hours, 21 minutes.
Notable New Podcasts
1) Skimm This
- TheSkimm unleashes a daily news pod. Naturally, it breaks down the news of the day, fast. Episodes will be 10 minutes.
- The 14-part binge dissecting The National’s album “The Boxer” dropped this week. Christopher Hooton and David Rapson host.
3) She Kills
- Adrienne Barbeau hosts a pod that “explores horror through a female lens with conversations from women in front of and behind the camera.”
4) Crime Beat
- True crime alert! Host Nancy Hixt goes “deep inside some of Canada’s most high-profile criminal cases.”
5) Maddie
- True crime alert, continued: It’s an investigation of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
- Even more true crime: This one goes “beyond the headlines of Upstate New York’s unsolved crimes.”
7) Dare I Say
- Olivia Wilde hosts a new pod from Harper’s BAZAAR focused on conversations with influential women.
- The podcast launches with seven episodes focused on “female firebrands and maverick outsiders who have lived life on the edge and who still refuse to play by the rules.”
- The pod attempts to look forward 50 years “to explore the industries and domains that will shape our world.”
10) Hello Monday
- LinkedIn gets in the podcast game. Host Jessi Hempel “investigates how we’re changing the nature of work, and how that work is changing us.”
11) Spacebridge
- A New Yorker-recommended series showcasing the “improbable but true story of Soviet and American intrigue involving E.S.P. enthusiasts, satellite communications, cosmonauts, astronauts, citizen diplomats, and the development of ‘spacebridges,’ early Internet innovations that enabled people from the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to connect to each other during a time of nuclear anxiety and cross-cultural hope.”
Guest Appearances By…
Adlon, Pamela The Cut on Tuesdays
Albom, Mitch 10 Things That Scare Me
- The “Tuesdays with Morrie” writer’s scared of getting hit in the face, losing his value system.
Alva, Tony Sneak Up
- The skateboarding legend talks shoes, California wisdom on the first ep of the new interview pod.
Andrés, José Death, Sex & Money
Angelou, Dr. Maya Oprah’s Master Class
Brockovich, Erin The Goop Podcast
Brown, Gordon David Tennant Does a Podcast With…
Buttigieg, Pete Stay Tuned with Preet
Dorsey, Jack The Joe Rogan Experience
Ferguson, Craig You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes
Fernandez, Daniela Big Questions
- Convo with leader of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance.
Fichtner, William The Adam Carolla Show
Grace, Laura Jane 10 Things That Scare Me
Holmes, Pete Armchair Expert
Houston, Pam Otherppl
Howk, Eric Wheels Off
- Convo with guitarist for Portugal. The Man.
Jobs, Laurene Powell Recode Decode
Koch, Christina Houston We Have a Podcast
- The astronaut talks about her life and preparation for her first space mission. Safe travels, Christina!
Kudrow, Lisa Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Legend, John Pod Save America
Lipsyte, Sam Otherppl
Lyonne, Natasha Ask Me Another
Mayer, Jane Fresh Air, The New Yorker Radio Hour
- The New Yorker writer elaborates on her incredible piece, “The Making of the Fox News White House.”
McGowan, Rose Ways to Change the World
Meyers, Seth Hello Monday
Molina, Alfred WTF with Marc Maron
Morey, Daryl The Lowe Post
Oswalt, Patton Off Camera with Sam Jones, Comedy Bang! Bang!
Perlman, Itzhak Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin
Prass, Natalie This Must Be the Gig
Robinson, Phoebe It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders
Root, Stephen Bullseye
Saujani, Reshma Armchair Expert
- Convo with founder of Girls Who Code.
Schefter, Adam Pardon My Take
Wallace-Wells, David The Joe Rogan Experience, The Ezra Klein Show
- Author talks about his book on climate change.
Whitford, Bradley The West Wing Weekly
- The WW actor discusses the first WW episode he wrote.
Yearwood, Trisha Bobbycast
Podcast News
Luminary announced a subscription service of exclusive podcasts, including shows from Lena Dunham, The Ringer and the creators of Slow Burn.
- The monthly cost: $8
- The number of ads in the podcasts: 0
- The debut: June
- More background: The New York Times’s Brooks Barnes writes Luminary “has emerged from stealth mode to unveil nearly $100 million in funding and a subscription-based business model that it hopes will push the medium into a new phase of growth.”
- The industry deep dive: Hot Pod’s Nick Quah says, “Luminary has the feel of a wild, wild gamble.”
- The Twitter trainwreck: Luminary’s tweet that podcasts don’t need ads led to a cavalcade of sign bunnies. Like this one:
