It’s a Saturday edition, but with all the usual goodness, including a deeper-than-usual bench of podcast debuts. Let’s get to it.
The counts: 51 notable guests, 20 new podcasts, four deep dives and one pod tracing the connection between “Office Space” and “Scarface.”
Pod Take of the Week
“We do it not simply because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s love in action.”
Listen: On Being: John Lewis: Love in Action (:58)
- That’s Lewis, talking about why he and other civil right leaders sat in and marched.
- Lewis, who died July 17, was honored by host Krista Tippett with an updated replay of a 2013 conversation.
- Says Tippett: “It was a journey into history I thought I knew, but didn’t really — into the civil rights leaders’ spiritual confrontation within themselves — and into their intricate art and work of successful nonviolence.”
Go Deep
1) Sports in the Time of Coronavirus
Listen: Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, Bloomberg Business of Sports, The Daily, The Bill Simmons Podcast
- Baseball started up back in the U.S. Thursday, the WNBA tips off today, and the NBA and NHL return soon, and podcasters are ready for it. Among the highlights:
- Sports Media with Richard Deitsch talks to three reporters inside the bubbles for the modified WNBA, MLS and the NBA seasons.
- Bloomberg covers the betting angle.
- The Daily dives deep into how the MLB (finally) came around to rescuing its season.
- Bill Simmons handicaps the NBA season.
2) Dating Apps
Listen: Business Wars
- The Wondery pod kicks off a multi-part exploration of the rise and impact of dating apps.
3) Bruce Springsteen’s Career
Listen: Political Beats
- The first part of the deep dive goes 3 hours, 21 minute and covers just the years 1972-1980.
4) Standup Comedy Specials
Listen: Good One
- A 1-hour, 39-minute dive into the best standup specials of 2020, for some distraction from COVID-19.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = On Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = Spotify exclusive. Berk, Bobby Death, Sex & Money
Bowen, Julie Life is Short with Justin Long
Bratton, Creed Pardon My Take
Brennan, Neal The Jordan Harbinger Show
Buffett, Jimmy Rolling Stone Music Now
Chance the Rapper The New Yorker: Politics and More
Coben, Harlan The Bob Lefsetz Podcast
Collins, Joan The Originals
Common People’s Party with Talib Kweli
Corddry, Rob Armchair Expert
Davidson, Tommy Hustling with Vivica A. Fox
Eichner, Billy You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes
Fairbanks, Chris WTF with Marc Maron
Fauci, Anthony Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction, What Next, The Axe Files
Ferrell, Will Don’t Ask Tig
Gaffigan, Jim Comedy Bang! Bang!
Gerwig, Greta Off Camera with Sam Jones
Halsey The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Hawke, Ethan TED Talks Daily
Huang, Eddie The Dave Chang Show
Hussain, Nadiya Home Cooking
Jennings, Ken MIT Sloan Sports Athletics Conference
Kelly, Brian The Skift Podcast
Malala TED Talks Daily
McDonald, Audra Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
Miller, Larry The Adam Carolla Show
Minhaj, Hasan Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out
Moore, Demi The Big Ticket
Morgan, Alex Just Women’s Sports
Nwodim, Ego Comedy Bang! Bang!
O’Brien, Ed The Adam Buxton Podcast
Okatsuka, Atsuko The Three Questions with Andy Richter
Orange, Tommy Storybound
Paltrow, Gwyneth Literally! With Rob Lowe
Pastrana, Travis Armchair Expert
Patchett, Ann Happier with Gretchen Rubin
Pharoah, Jay Talks at Google
Ramos, Anthony Latino USA
Roker, Al Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air
Rossdale, Gavin ID10T
Rundgren, Todd Questlove Supreme
Samburg, Andy The Bill Simmons Podcast
Scharpling, Tom WTF with Marc Maron
Scheer, Paul Anna Faris is Unqualified
Scovell, Nell Everything is Fine
Shepard, Dax Smartless
Simien, Justin Black Men Can’t Jump [in Hollywood]
Smith, Patti Homo Sapiens
Stone, Oliver The Joe Rogan Experience, Kickass News
Trump, Mary The New Abnormal, Fresh Air
Vedder, Eddie Daddy Issues with Joe Buck and Oliver Hudson
Notable New Podcasts
1) Smartless
- One of the celeb hosts — Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes or Will Arnett — “reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge.”
- It’s No. 6 on Apple Podcasts.
- Leah Remini and Mike Rinder “will take you behind the facade and expose the terrible truth about scientology’s Fair Game doctrine.”
- It’s No. 12 on Apple Podcasts.
- A 10-episode true crimer about Martin McNally, who “dreamed of the ultimate mile-high score: hijacking a plane and getting away with $500,000 in cash; but Mac’s hijacking is just the beginning of a truly epic and incredibly wild true-crime saga.”
- It’s No. 34 on Apple Podcasts.
- Tig Notaro and “a rotating cast of guests field audience questions on love, loss, and life’s other indignities.” First guest: Will Ferrell.
- It’s No. 43 on Apple Podcasts.
- Soccer star Kelley O’Hara “sits down with some of the biggest names in sports to talk about the untold stories behind their success.” First guest: Alex Morgan.
- It’s No. 68 on Apple Podcasts.
6) Mama Knows Best (S)
- TikTok star Addison Rae “goes to her mama for advice on all things growing up, getting real about her relationships, friends, and family life.”
- It’s Spotify’s No. 1 trending pod.
7) Red Web
- Trevor Collins and Alfredo Diaz investigate “the Internet’s most intriguing mysteries, conspiracies, and supernatural events.”
- It’s Spotify’s No. 5 trending pod.
8) The Connect
- The Ringer’s Jason Concepcion and Shea Serrano “discuss movies and what connects them.”
- The first episode traces the connections between “Office Space” and “Scarface.”
- It’s Spotify’s No. 10 trending pod.
- Barstool Sports’ Brianna Chickenfry “gives the rundown of what it’s actually like navigating your life in your early 20’s.”
10) Empty Inside
- Actress Jennette McCurdy and a guest dive deep into a specific topic.
11) Polonium & the Piano Player
- In this true crime, piano player Derek Conlon unwittingly gets “sucked into one of the world’s most notorious assassinations when ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is attacked with the nuclear poison — Polonium 210, in London’s 5-Star Millennium Hotel.”
12) The Roast of Your Teenage Self
- Alise Morales “and her guest break out some teenage talisman — whether an old photo, a high school heirloom, or other knick knack associated with adolescent anguish — and use that as a way in to roast the unique, but somehow universal, tribulations of being a teen.”
- Marketplace and Brains On! Collaborate on a “podcast about money for kids and their families.” Jed Kim hosts.
- Jack Pelling and Robin Allender chat with guests “about their personal relationship with the greatest band ever.”
15) Get WIRED
- The tech mag’s pod “investigates the ways technology is changing our lives—from culture to business, science to design.”
- Doug Benson and Doug Mellard “meet new Dougs in an effort to find the best and most exciting Dougs in the world.”
- It’s “a free-wheeling, conversation podcast co-hosted by Lenya Wilson, a Black woman and Alexandra D’Italia, a white woman.”
18) Dishy
- Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden “cooks up a conversation with some well-known Australians. Each episode is one guest, three dishes and the stories that go with them.”
19) Hello Gen Z
- Abby Hamblin and Kristy Totten examine Gen Z’s “hopes and their fears, who they are — and who they aren’t.” It’s from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
20) True Romance with Carolina Barlow and Devin Leary
- The hosts of this comedy pod “guide you through the trials and tribulations of public and personal love stories.”
And One to Look Forward to: Nice White Parents (July 30)
- Chana Joffe-Walt “examines the role white families play in shaping public education.”
- It’s from the folks who made Serial, who are now part of the New York Times.
- Looks like another hit: It’s already No. 1 on Apple Podcasts.