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No Chaos Edition (#134)

Quick note: This Saturday edition was unplanned. Thanks for your patience. Next week’s edition will arrive on Saturday by design. Same podcast love, just a day later.

This week’s counts: 45 notable guests, 12 new podcasts, five deep dives and one president-elect who believes in math.

Pod Take of the Week

“You can’t litigate math. Math doesn’t respond well to your opinions.”

Listen: Sway: Math Lessons from Pennsylvania (11:31)

  • That’s John Fetterman, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania and breakout social media star, on the granite foundational fact of the results of the U.S presidential election in the Keystone State and, of course, everywhere else.
  • Reminder: Despite all the shouting, math says Joe Biden won Pennsylvania and the presidency.
  • Says Fetterman: “This was all designed to look chaotic when, in fact, there was no chaos.”

Go Deep

 

1) Anthems

Listen: Switched on Pop

  • The SOP guys are three episodes through a four-part series breaking down pop music anthems, examining “what makes a song the one that a whole stadium or arena can sing as one, a song that soundtracks our public life.”
  • The first three songs: Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready for This” and Smash Mouth’s “All Star.” Missy Elliot’s “Work It” rounds out the series next week.

2) The State of the Coronavirus and COVID-19

Listen: Public Health on Call, Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction, Checks and Balance

  • A good news/horrible news week on the COVID-19 front:
  • Good news: Pfizer reported “encouraging early results from Phase III” of its vaccine clinical trials. Public Health on Call discusses what might happen next.
  • Also good news: President-elect Biden has plans to address the pandemic in the U.S. Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction and The Economist’s Checks and Balance investigate what difference the Biden administration might make.
  • Horrible news: Case numbers are rising — skyrocketing, in some countries like the U.S. It’s a humanitarian crisis. Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction analyzes what that could mean.

3) The Death of James Le Mesurier

Listen: Intrigue

  • The BBC podcast dropped a 10-part series investigating the “tangle of truths and lies about [Le Mesurier’s] involvement with the White Helmets first responders in Syria.”
  • Le Mesurier helped pull survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria. His detractors believe him to be a British secret agent.
  • Le Mesurier fell to his death in Istanbul in 2019.

4) “A Day in the Life” 

Listen: Strong Songs

  • A 58-minute breakdown of the Beatles’ masterpiece.

5) The Science of “Children of Men”

Listen: Bad Science

  • A 35-minute breakdown of Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian masterpiece through the lens of science.

Guest Appearances By…

 

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

Abrams, Stacey You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton, Pod Save America

  • The politician and voting rights advocate continues her push to change Georgia’s political representation.
  • Correction: Sorry about the missing e in your name last week, Stacey!

Adejuyigbe, Demi Home Cooking

  • The comedian talks quarantine cooking. About his baking he says, “I love to be called ignorant in a nice way for once.”

Armisen, Fred The Last Laugh

Bird, Sue Bananas

Black, Rebecca Terrible, Thanks for Asking

Brockovich, Erin How To! with Charles Duhigg

Bruckheimer, Jerry Literally! With Rob Lowe

Cuban, Mark Decoder

Cuoco, Kaley Armchair Expert

DMX People’s Party with Talib Kweli

Fetterman, John Sway, Lovett or Leave It

Fleck, Béla Eric Krasno Plus One

  • Convo with the with legendary banjo player.

Gladwell, Malcolm Anna Faris is Unqualified

Groban, Josh Off Menu

Halford, Rob Bullseye

Hamm, Jon Black Frasier

Healy, Fran The Adam Buxton Podcast

Heidecker, Tim The Last Laugh

Hinchcliffe, Tony The Joe Rogan Experience

Karr, Mary The Tim Ferriss Show

  • The writer says, the “solution to fear is curiosity and presence. I can’t be terrified and curious at the same time.”

Keys, Alicia Red Table Talk

Killam, Taran Life is Short with Justin Long

Kravitz, Lenny Broken Record

Kreischer, Bert Good One

Langella, Frank WTF with Marc Maron

Melua, Katie Sodajerker on Songwriting

Moby You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

O’Brien, Conan SmartLess

Porter, Katie Hysteria

Reilly, John C. The Last Laugh

Retta The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Rivera, Gabby Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

  • Convo with the first Latina to write for Marvel Comics.

Robinson, Phoebe Pretty Big Deal

Rosenthal, Phil Green Eggs and Dan

Roth, Eric Scriptnotes

Rubin, Gretchen Nobody Told Me!

Sedaris, David Kickass News

Seehorn, Rhea WTF with Marc Maron

Serrano, Shea Throwing Fits

Simpson, Sturgill Broken Record

Steinem, Gloria TED Talks Daily

Thompson, Wright Gangrey: The Podcast

Vaynerchuk, Gary Just B with Bethenny Frankel

Wambach, Abby The goop Podcast

Yang, Bowen Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out

  • The SNLer discusses conversion therapy and Googling yourself.

Notable New Podcasts

 

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.

1) Do No Harm (Nov. 10) 

  • The Wondery and NBC News co-production focuses on “a medical and legal system so focused on protecting children from abuse, it has targeted innocent parents.”
  • Mike Hixenbaugh hosts.
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 2.
  • Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 5.

2) A New Untold Story (Nov. 12)

  • Another rambling pod from Barstool Sports.
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 65.
  • Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 9.

3) The Oyster (Nov. 13)

  • A sci-fi pod about an uninhabitable future earth and an underground shelter.
  • Carla Gugino and Giancarlo Esposito are among the stars.
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 111.

4) I Saw What You Did (Nov. 10)

  • Millie De Chirico and Danielle Henderson “program a double-feature of their favorite movies with a different wild theme every week,” and they “dissect the films and explore the weird ways we respond to and learn to love movies.”
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 157.

5) 90210MG (Nov. 9)

  • “90210” cast members Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth join the TV show recap pod gold rush.
  • Apple Podcasts rank: No. 170.

6) Thin Black Line (Nov. 7)

  • The true crimer from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation investigates the “1993 death of Daniel Yock [that] sparked a wildfire of anger fuelled by decades of bad blood between police and the Aboriginal community.”

7) Good Influence with Gemma Styles (Nov. 8)

  • Each week features “a guest who’ll help us pay attention to something we should know about, but maybe don’t.”
  • Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 4.

8) 13 Hours Inside the Nova Scotia Massacre (Nov. 9)

  • Sarah Ritchie leads a 13-part series that “will try to piece together exactly what happened and what could or should have been done to prevent it.”

9) Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums (Nov. 10)

  • The Amazon-exclusive pod tells the “stories behind some of the most essential albums of all time, told by the artists who made them and Rolling Stone’s writers and editors.”

10) Decoder (Nov. 10)

  • The show from The Verge is “about big ideas — and other problems.”
  • Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel hosts.

11) Under Construction (Nov. 11)

  • Tamar Braxton “gives you a glimpse into her life, by sharing her experiences as she navigates relationships, motherhood and her career.”

12) Constantly Evolving (Nov. 12)

  • Musician Eve hosts the BBC pod about “how to get the most out of life.”

For 13 more new podcasts plus upcoming debuts, visit the This Week in Podcasts website.