Author: Michael Yessis

Listeners remain deeply interested in podcasts about race and what comes next in America. Yes, Joe Rogan’s back at the top of the Apple charts, but 1619 (No. 2) and Code Switch (No. 8) are still in the top 10. The Daily, Post Reports and many other news podcasts also offered explainers on Juneteenth, the […]

Podcasts about race still dominate the Apple Podcasts chart, with Code Switch (No. 4) and 1619 (No. 1) leading the way. And, as with 1619, another podcast from last year has re-entered the charts. Details in the deep dives.  This week’s counts: 44 notable guests, 14 new podcasts, four deep dives and one strange spinning […]

The police killing of George Floyd and the global reaction to his death dominated the news, and that’s reflected in this week’s podcasts. Of the top 50 episodes on Apple Podcasts this afternoon, 32 addressed the situation. Some covered the ongoing events. Others dove deeper into longer-term issues of institutional racism and police violence. A […]

A bump for John Green and the latest The Anthropocene Reviewed. If you’re looking for a sober yet hopeful perspective on getting through All This, it’s a good one. This week’s counts: 53 notable guests, 10 new podcasts, five deep dives and one five-star review of a goalkeeper. Pod Take of the Week “You can’t […]

The top two podcasts on the Apple charts right now are in flux. Joe Rogan (No. 1) announced he’s moving his marathon conversations to Spotify, and Barstool’s Call Her Daddy (No. 2) is swimming in drama. If you don’t want to listen to pods about the situation, Taylor Lorenz is on it. This week’s counts: […]

I’d been looking forward to Wind of Change. Many of you were, too. It’s the highest-ranking debut on both Apple Podcasts (No. 3) and Spotify (No. 13). My take: It’s very good. Binged it already. Even streamed the Scorpions song a few times. This week’s counts: 57 notable guests, nine new podcasts, four deep dives […]

Daniel Radcliffe, David Beckham, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, Eddie Redmayne and others are reading the first Harry Potter book to give quarantine entertainment a bump. It’s on Spotify. Is it a podcast? Sure! More good stuff for pre- and early-teens debuts this week at TRAX, billed as “a network of curated and original high-quality podcasts […]

Tina Fey, thanks for the laughs. Much appreciated! Another thing that sparked joy: The “Parks and Recreation” reunion special and the companion behind-the-scenes pod — and the waffles and calzones spread we pulled together to go with it all. Gonna try to extend the good vibes by keeping things (mostly) light this week. This week’s […]

I Zoomed tonight with some of my former Travel Channel colleagues. It made me even more nostalgic for the days we all went places, so roll with me on a deep dive into the current state of travel. Or just come along for the usual look at everything else happening in podcastland. This week’s counts: […]

Thanks to everyone who reached out this week with recommendations, or just to say hello. I welcome it, and I’d love to hear from more of you as I contemplate the next phase of This Week in Podcasts. If there’s anything you’d like to see added or subtracted or tweaked, hit reply and let me […]

The surge of new podcasts continues. Many about the novel coronavirus, of course. And it’s good to see baseball represent while the season’s delayed. This week’s counts: 53 notable guests, 15 new podcasts, four deep dives and one 1988 World Series MVP turned podcaster. Keep hanging strong, everyone. Can’t wait until the ballparks open up. […]

Huge week for new podcasts, with nine of ‘em slipping into the iTunes top 70. Among the podcast makers: John Mulaney, Nick Kroll, Cheryl Strayed, Joe Biden, Jameela Jamil, Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Alex Wagner and Andy Slavitt. Some of the pods are coronavirus inspired, and some have been in the works for a while. […]

The coronavirus dominated my media diet this week. But I also leaned on food and pop culture podcasts. Here’s to the podcasters doing fine work to lend comfort to listeners. This week’s counts: 53 notable guests, 15 new podcasts, six deep dives and one lovely lemon cake. Pod Take of the Week “I’m Will Smith […]

Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani popped up a podcast to see people through quarantine. Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirwayannounced one where they’ll answer your quarantine cooking questions. Pineapple Media’s asking kids missing school to help crowdsource a podcast. I like this trend. Hope to see more of it as we continue our social distancing.  […]

Pacific Content’s Dan Misener counted 22,000 podcast episodes with “coronavirus” in their title or description, as of yesterday. I’m including several of those episodes and some dedicated coronavirus podcasts today. Otherwise, in the future, I hope to include fewer coronavirus podcasts — and many other podcasts to enliven your time social distancing. Podcasts can’t replace […]

Quite the bounty of music podcasts this week, including an all-timer from Reply All. The counts: 60 notable guests, 13 new podcasts, six deep dives and one unlikely earworm. Pod Take of the Week “It felt almost like he’d found a hole in the world, like a glitch.” Listen: Reply All: #158 The Case of the […]

After 1008 episodes Studio 360 has called it quits. I’ll miss it. It left a hell of an archive, and its excellent finale touched on the art of the finale, naturally. This week’s counts: 42 notable guests, 16 new podcasts, four deep dives and one soap opera for children. Pod Take of the Week “You can be […]

True crime represents again this week with a few debuts, the return of a favorite, songs about crime and reports that the My Favorite Murder expanded universe earned $15 million last year. And five years after its debut, Serial’s still representing. It’s No. 23 on iTunes right now.  Onward with less criminal matters. This week’s counts: 49 […]