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.

5) Better at Everything

• 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.”

6) 10 Things That Scare Me

• 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.

8) Wealth of Knowledge

• 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.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Also, find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

Note: Next week’s newsletter will be an abbreviated edition. Taking some Thanksgiving time with family and a Baltimore Bomb pie.

5 Pod Takes

1) “You’ve got to have hair and clothes that can transition from doing push-ups on the floor with Bishop Tutu…to meeting some First Lady.”

Listen: 2 Dope Queens: Karaoke with Michelle Obama

• That’s former First Lady Obama, with some insight into a little-considered side of being a First Lady.
• Spoiler: It’s a bittersweet 2 Dope Queens appearance: It’s the farewell pod for co-hosts Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams.  

2) “Greatness…is something gone wrong.”

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: Conan O’Brien Plus KD Drama and Brees for MVP (27:13)

• So says O’Brien, about what leads to immortal greatness on late night television.
• Breaking: O’Brien’s launching his own podcast next week.

3) “There’s no such thing as garbage. Everything is a precious resource.”

Listen: SciShow Tangents: Science Hoaxes (33:59)

• That’s Hank Green, co-host of the new “lightly competitive knowledge showcase,” aka a podcast/game show of sorts about science.

4) “Let’s all accept that something’s gone wrong.”

Listen: Serial: Some Time When Everything Has Changed (46:09)

• That’s Sarah Koenig, concluding the season finale of season three — a season spent examining goings on at one courthouse in Cleveland — with the one suggestion she’d make to start fixing the court system.
• She spends 1 minute, 23 seconds rapid firing other suggestions for fixing the system, too, including: not overcharging to force a guilty plea, admitting that police officers lie under oath, paying assigned attorneys double, slowing down and not taping anyone’s mouth shut in court.
• My take: Another outstanding, enlightening, heartbreaking season.

5) “This is their Upton Sinclair moment.”

Listen: The Daily: What Facebook Knew and Tried to Hide (25:31)

• That’s Nicholas Confessore, following up on the blockbuster NYT storyabout Facebook’s actions regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election on its platform.
• Context from Confessore: “In every era there is some new big industry that grows faster than it should. It was true with the food industry and the meatpacking plants, it was true with Standard Oil and the oil industry. And what happens is, there is always a moment when journalists and the public begin to understand what is behind the product they are consuming.”
• My take: If thought you couldn’t feel worse about Facebook, this will make you re-evaluate those feelings.

Guest Appearances By…

Addario, Lynsey How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Addison, Bill Eater Upsell

• Food critic talks about his list of the 38 best restaurants in the U.S.

Albini, Steve Talkhouse

• In conversation with Devo’s Jerry Casale.

Aravena, Alejandro Monocle on Design

• Convo with the Pritzker prize-winning architect.

Arquette, Patricia Remote Controlled

Becker, Alison Off Book

Birbiglia, Mike The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Bloom, Molly The Jordan Harbinger Show

Brown, Samantha Travel Genius

Cameron, Suzy Amis The Tim Ferriss Show

Cameron, James The Tim Ferriss Show

Casale, Jerry Talkhouse

• In conversation with Steve Albini.

Cheese, Kenyatta Function with Anil Dash

Conway, George T. III Skullduggery

• Says the Trump administration is a “shit show in a dumpster fire.”

Corcoran, Barbara Skimm’d From the Couch

Dafoe, Willem Kickass News

Damon, Matt Off Camera with Sam Jones

Del Toro, Benicio Remote Controlled

Douglas, Michael WTF with Marc Maron

Duvall, Robert Oprah’s Master Class

Edgley, Ross The Joe Rogan Experience

Gillum, Andrew Pod Save America

Gladwell, Malcolm The Bill Simmons Podcast

Glass, Ira Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Graham, Ashley The Goop Podcast

Hari, Johann Waking Up with Sam Harris

Horan, Kelly Studio 360

• Convo with co-host of Last Seen podcast.

Howroyd, Janice Bryant Without Fail

Hughley, D.L. WTF with Marc Maron

• Fact: I worked with Hughley…as an extra on “The Hughleys.”

Jackson, Chris Employee of the Month

• “It must be nice, it must be niiice, to have Washington on your pod.”

Jacobs, A.J. Ted Talks Daily

Kemper, Ellie Big Questions

Khosrowshahi, Dara WSJ’s The Future of Everything

Kiesling, Lydia Otherppl with Brad Listi

Klores, Dan The Gist

Kristol, Bill The Jamie Weinstein Show

Kugel, Seth This Week in Travel

• Convo with the former New York Times Frugal Travel columnist about his new book.

Lansbury, Angela Maltin on Movies

Longworth, Karina Fresh Air, The Bechdel Cast, I Think You’re Interesting

• You Must Remember This host makes the pod rounds in support of her new book.

Mayfield, Baker Pardon My Take

Obama, Michelle Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Paulson, Hank The New Yorker Radio Hour

Pegg, Simon The Adam Buxton Podcast

Perry, Steve Katie Couric

Phillips, Brian Bookworm

Phillips, Whitney The Ezra Klein Show

Pinker, Steven The Ted Interview

Polgreen, Lydia Queery

• Convo with the HuffPost EIC.

Popper, John The Adam Carolla Show

Ratajkowski, Emily Anna Faris is Unqualified

Reece, Gabrielle The Goop Podcast

Rosenthal, Phil Curious with Josh Peck

Shaffir, Ari Deviate with Rolf Potts

Spanberger, Abigail The Daily

• Convo with the new congresswoman from Virginia.

Stein, Jen Hope The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Stiller, Ben Where Ya From?, Remote Controlled

Systrom, Kevin WSJ’s The Future of Everything

• Convo with the co-founder of Instagram.

Thiessen, Tiffani Forked Up

Thompson, Emma My Dad Wrote a Porno

Thompson, Kenan Good One

Tierney, Maura Bullseye

Wacek, Dawn Ted Talks Daily

• Librarian stands up against book fines.

Whitmer, Gretchen Run Like a Girl

• Convo with the governor-elect of Michigan.

Xu, Tony How I Built This with Guy Raz

Yates, Sally Recode Decode

Yeun, Steven It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Fresh Air

Go Deep

1) A Year Inside a U.S. Courthouse

Listen: Serial

• Season three is in the books. You’re now free to binge all nine episodes without delay.
• Binge time: 8 hours, 55 minutes.  

2) “The White Album”

Listen: All Songs Considered, Celebration Rock

• The NPR pod dives deep into the 50th anniversary edition of the Beatles’ masterpiece, with the producer of the new project, Giles Martin.
• Celebration Rock asks: Could “The White Album” be improved by reducing it to 12 songs?
• My take: Best song: “Dear Prudence.”
• Binge time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

3) Mimi Sheraton

Listen: The Sporkful

• The pod’s four-part series with the noted food critic concludes with Sheraton weighing in on ballpark eating, ice cream and free food samples.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 41 minutes.

4) The Last Episode of “The Office”

Listen: Finale

• The pod analyzes the final episode of the original UK version of “The Office.”

Notable New Podcasts

1) Villains

• Shea Serrano’s eight-part series explores “the most interesting, most intimidating, most undeniable movie villains in history.”

2) Broken Record

• Malcolm Gladwell’s new pod features “digressions, arguments, backstories, and random things to disagree with about music.”

3) Headlong: Surviving Y2K

• Six-part series from the creator of “Missing Richard Simmons.” Dan Taberski “takes you back to the turn of the millennium to meet the people for whom it was anything but a joke … as they each face their own version of the apocalypse.”

4) Cold

• The current iTunes No. 2 pod is a true-crime pod that dives deep into the 2009 disappearance of Susan Powell in Utah. Dave Cawley hosts.

5) SciShow Tangents

• The “lightly competitive knowledge showcase,” aka a science game show of sorts, features Hank Green, Ceri Riley, Stefan Chin and Sam Schulz.

6) Where Ya From?

• Sara Benincasa “talks to fascinating people about their origin stories – literal, metaphorical, and beyond.”

7) Talking Points

• Brian Kelly, aka The Points Guy, talks “with CEOs, CMOs and executives in the points-and-miles world who are changing the way we travel.”

8) Origins: Sex and the City

• Season five of the pod focuses on the early days of the “groundbreaking” HBO series.

9) No Man’s Land

• New pod from The Wing is “about women who were too bad for your textbooks.” Alexis Coe hosts.

10) People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia

• A look at the making of the movie “Philadelphia,” with all proceeds going to charity.

11) Drilled

• It’s billed as “the first true-crime style pod that investigates the crime of the century: the creation of climate denial.”

12) Travel Genius

• Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood “quiz the world’s most experienced globetrotters for their tried-and-true travel hacks.”

13) Scandal

• Alan Duke’s podcast focuses on “Hollywood power struggles of money, betrayal and influence peddling.” It kicks off with a focus on the late Stan Lee.

14) Behind the Scenes

• Jeremy and Audrey Roloff have left “Little People, Big World.” On their pod, they “discuss family, business, faith, and life.”

15) American Hysteria

• Chelsey Weber-Smith explores “moral panics, urban legends, and conspiracy theories, how they shape our psychology and culture.”

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Also, find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

Glad you made it out, Michael.

Schedule note: I’m taking a vacation soon, so I won’t be sending newsletters Aug. 17 and Aug. 24. I will have something else to share, though. Details to come.

7 Pod Takes

1) “It’s always better to have company when you’re a captive.”

Listen: The Joe Rogan Experience: Michael Scott Moore (25:59)

• So says Moore, sharing some bittersweet wisdom learned during the more than two-and-a-half years Somali pirates held him hostage.
• Moore’s making the pod rounds, talking about his horrific experience and his book about it, “The Desert and the Sea.”
• The pod’s currently the No. 1 on iTunes. Fresh Air’s interview with Moore ranks in the top 50.

2) “If you find yourself inexplicably weeping over a plate of huevos rancheros, you’re in the midst of a reckoning.”

Listen: Dear Sugars: Dear Sugars Live: The Great Reckoning (5:47)

• That’s Steve Almond, recounting a time he faced a reckoning in a pod devoted to examining “that long difficult stare back at your mistakes, your transgressions, your delusions.”
• In the reckoning-themed pod, co-host Cheryl Strayed shares her own reckoning, which you may already be familiar with. Heard of “Wild”?
• My take: Great pod about a difficult subject, approached with humility and humor.

3) “Who knew a debate about soil could get so heated?”

Listen: The Thin Layer: Regrowth (1:21)

• That’s Dan Crane, host of a compelling pod about…dirt.
• Crane outlines a struggle around people’s deep connections to land: Why should people who have been managing their land for generations listen to outsiders?
• And from another perspective: “When does convincing someone about science become forcing them against their will?”
• Crane sets the scene by recounting the words of Thomas Sankara, former president of Burkina Faso: “The struggle to defend the trees and forests is above all a struggle against imperialism. Because imperialism is the arsonist setting fire to our forests and savannas.”

4) “Is this a fight for the soul of the Republican Party?”

“No, because the Republican Party has no soul.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “Kochs, votes, and ostrich coats.” (20:49)

• That’s Jon Lovett (question) and Dan Pfeiffer (response), analyzing President Trump’s tweet spat with the Koch Brothers.
• Wired’s Nick Thompson and Jason Kander guest on a typically hilarious and sobering PSA.

5) “You have committed a sin against culture.”

Listen: The Watch: 100 Best TV Episodes of the Century and Mailbag Questions (43:01)

• Sean Fennessey reveals the criticism he and The Ringer received for ranking the pilot episode of “The O.C.” No. 9, one slot above the “Ozymandias” episode of “Breaking Bad.”
• Spoiler: The “Lost” episode “The Constant” ranked No. 1. “The Suitcase” episode of “Mad Men” ranked No. 2.

6) “It’s tattoos or get out.”

Listen: The Sporkful: Confessions of a Ballpark Food Vendor (27:39)

• That’s Ted Berg, the former ballpark food vendor in question, on his Cracker Jack prize preference.
• Berg and host Dan Pashman take a deep dive into the classic ballpark food, aka the food with the greatest product placement in American history via “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
• My take: Cracker Jack is awful.

7) “It’s somehow the right combination of pretty colors and Minecraft and shooting strangers.”

Listen: Culture Gabfest: Fortnite Kegel Storm Edition (26:40)

• So says Dawnthea Price, summarizing the appeal of the game-of-the-summer, Fortnite.

• My take: She’s on the money. Except she forgot the emotes.

Go Deep

1) The American Revolution

Listen: American History Tellers

• Best-selling author Russell Shorto wrote this six-part series on the American Revolution, as told through the eyes of six individuals.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 59 minutes

2) Financial Corruption in the Trump Administration

Listen: The Ezra Klein Show, Trump, Inc.

• Take two excellent deep dives into the financial shenanigans of President Trump and Paul Manafort.
• Klein goes 1 hour, 2 minutes with The New Yorker’s Adam Davidson about the latter’s investigative work surrounding the Trump Organization.
• Trump, Inc. dissects the Manafort trial.

3) “Die Hard”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• The Ringer goes deep into the Nakatomi Tower with John McClane and Hans Gruber.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

4) “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”

Listen: Binge Mode

• Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion continue their summer of Harry Potter immersion with a five-part deep dive into the fourth book in J.K. Rowling’s series.
• Binge time: 6 hours, 59 minutes

Guest Appearances By…

Barnett, Courtney Celebration Rock, All Songs Considered

• Witty musician talks about life on the road, her new album.

Branum, Guy The Gist with Mike Pesca

Bridgers, Phoebe Sound Opinions

Butterfield, Stewart How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with the founder of Slack and Flickr.

Case, Neko Song Exploder

• Singer/songwriter breaks down her tune “Last Lion of Albion.”

Clarkson, Patricia I Think You’re Interesting

de Botton, Alain On Being

Favreau, Jon Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Francesa, Mike The Bill Simmons Podcast

Friedlander, Judah Fake the Nation

Gilligan, Vince Remote Controlled

• Convo with the executive producer of “Better Call Saul.”

Green, Seth Inside of You

Harbour, David Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Hill, Jemele The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Hirway, Hrishikesh Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

• Convo with Song Exploder host about songcraft, Solange.

Holmes, Dave R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: Me?

Hughley, D.L. It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Kilgariff, Karen The Soft Spot

• Co-host of My Favorite Murder talks Champagne, old timey music.

Kunis, Mila WTF with Marc Maron

Lee, Spike Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Lords, Traci The Adam Carolla Show

Marr, Johnny This Must Be the Gig

• Convo with the guitar legend about superstitions, his new album.

Milonakis, Andy Curious with Josh Peck

Nance, Terence Fast Company’s Creative Conversation

Newman, Randy Bullseye

Odenkirk, Bob Remote Controlled

Riggle, Rob The Adam Carolla Show

Sepinwall, Alan The PosCast

• TV critic guests to talk about “the best minor television characters of all time.”

Shlesinger, Iliza WTF with Marc Maron

Timberlake, Justin Oprah’s Master Class

Ventimiglia, Milo Remote Controlled

Waka Flocka Men in Blazers

Whelan, Melanie Skimm’d From the Couch

• SoulCycle’s CEO talks community, branding.

Wilson, Casey Comedy Bang! Bang!

Youssef, Bassem Pod Save the World

Notable New Podcasts

1) I, Survivor

• Jenna Brister and Wagatwe Wanjuk tell the stories of “men and women who fought back, who won, and who live rising above the trauma of their experiences.”

2) The Alice Fraser Trilogy

• The Australian comic delivers a comedy pod “about things that are actually sad.” She says, “They’re expecting a comedy show, and what I have to offer is maybe not that.”

3) The Girls: Find Sadie

• The fictional true crime podcast about a missing girl in the style of Serial that doubles as promotion for the YA novel “Sadie.”

4) Offended: The Musical

• Barstool Sports adds a new pod, with Rone and Francis improvising “songs, stories, and scenes delivered straight from their imagination.”

5) The Substack Podcast

• New pod from the writer-friendly newsletter publishing service features “conversations with writers who have earned their independence.”

6) Election 2000: Over/Time

• The pod takes a neat angle on the over-dissected 2000 presidential chaos. “Photographers Callie Shell and David Hume Kennerly reveal exclusive behind the scenes moments and the stories behind their photographs” during the 37-day recount.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Also, find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

So far so good with my recovery from my Achilles rupture. My podcast listening has suffered though. I usually listen while hiking, exercising or driving, and I’ll be doing none of those things for a while.

Your recommendations for hot pod takes, binges and new pod recommendations are welcome more than ever. Send ’em along. Meanwhile, I’ll squeeze in my listening at 1.5x speed.

7 Pod Takes

1) “[The World Cup] felt like ‘The Truman Show’ in many ways.”

Listen: Pod Save the World: The Politics of the World Cup with Roger Bennett (38:30)

• That’s Bennett, on Russia’s slick efforts to normalize itself during the World Cup. He adds: It’s been as much of a propaganda affair as the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
• Bennett’s been making the pod rounds behind his American Fiasco pod, and this particular intertwining of soccer and politics is worth your time, even if you’re not a soccer fan.
• Hopeful news from the pod: He’s bullish on soccer in the U.S., citing its popularity with under 30s. In that demo, the sport has surpassed baseball in popularity.
• My take: Smart kids. With expanded television coverage and the FIFA video game as gateways to the sport, the U.S. has become a true soccer power, despite the men’s team’s failure to make the tourney.
• Prediction for Sunday’s final: France 2, Croatia 0.

2) “The pretense of not having a point of view is inhuman.”

Listen: The Organist: Voice of God (13:40)

• That’s Peter Coyote, who, along with Penelope Spheeris and Ellie Kemper, talks about voices from heaven and hell in the KCRW/McSweeney’s co-production. It’s the pod’s fifth-season opener.
• Coyote, who narrates Ken Burns’ films, shares how he and the director work to create the famed just-the-facts “voice of God.”

3) “I think we could all use some Adderall to concentrate, and a medic to make us purge and then a stiff drink to make us all forget this sad failure to connect accusation with actual evidence.”

Listen: The Gist: A Cancer on the Court (6:33)

• So says Mike Pesca, concluding his righteous opening remarks on the sad circus that was Peter Strzok’s 10-hour hearing with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees.
• Context: At one point during the contentious hearing, a Democratic representative urged a GOPer to take his meds.
• My take: If you don’t think the disconnect between reality and the GOPs grandstanding is obvious (it is), Pesca’s astute analysis of the hearing and the accusations of bias makes it clear.

4) “Before NWA used rap to editorialize about police, I guess ‘Convoy’ editorialized about a different level of police enforcement, the speed limit enforcement.”

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts: On American Highways I: A brief history of family road-trips in the USA (34:19)

• So says Potts, building on guest Richard Ratay’s observation that the 1975 song “Convoy” is “kind of an early rap song.”
• It’s a quick digression in an extensive, enthralling pod about road tripping in the United States, with the author of “Don’t Make Me Pull Over!”
• Part two of the pod, with guest Candacy Taylor, focuses on the African-American road tripping experience.

5) “I thought we weren’t going to get to the Nazis until at least 30 minutes in.”

Listen: The Ezra Klein Show: Jaron Lanier’s case for deleting social media right now (5:45)

• That’s Klein, following Lanier’s reference to the Nazis’ use of new-at-the-time media — cinema, radio and television — to distribute propaganda.
• Lanier says: “The novelty amplified the power of the propaganda.”
• Invoking Nazis sets up a discussion of social media. Lanier argues you should delete your accounts.
• My take: Tempting, Lanier. Very tempting.

6) “If you’re just an influencer, in my head I’m immediately just like [irritating screech] no talent.”

Listen: Sidenote: Influencers: Pure Trash or This Generation’s Treasure? (38:59)

• If you’re just selling something and you have no underlying skills, Sidenote co-host Greg has no respect for you.
• He and co-host Mitch aren’t totally dismissive. It’s a nuanced 56-minute exploration of social media influencer culture.
• My take: Greg’s screech is on the money.

7) “‘Wheel of Fortune’ is to ‘Jeopardy,’ as the Highlights magazine seek-n-find is to the Times Sunday crossword.”

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: Jeopardy! (2:29)

• That’s Glen Weldon, justifiably positioning “Jeopardy!” well above its fellow game show mainstay.
• Weldon adds: “As a vector for reminding your parents that they are raising an insufferable, smarty pants know-it-all, there is nothing better.”
• Linda Holmes has the game show’s back: “If you try to come at me and you say, ‘Jeopardy!’s not cool,’ that’s ridiculous. Jeopardy! is always cool.”
• My take: I’ve got your back, Holmes.

Got a Pod Take, a show to binge or a great guest I should consider for next week’s newsletter? Send it!

Go Deep

1) Fermi’s Paradox

Listen: This American Life

• The Fermi Paradox gets a ton of podcast love, including just a couple weeks ago on Crazy/Genius.
• This week, Ira shares three stories in a 1 hour, 1 minute episode on Fermi’s enduring question: If there’s a high probability of intelligent alien life, where are the aliens?

2) “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”

Listen: Binge Mode

• Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion continue their summer of Harry Potter immersion with a five-part deep dive into the third book in J.K. Rowling’s series, plus the movie.
• Binge time: 6 hours, 18 minutes

3) “Bend It Like Beckham”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

• One hour, 17 minutes with a soccer movie that passes the Bechdel test.

4) Ford vs. Chevrolet

Listen: Business Wars

• A four-part series on the rivalry between the American car makers.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 3 minutes

Guest Appearances By…

Carothers, Zachary Armchair Expert

• Portugal. The Man bassist on the elusiveness of a pop hit, with bandmate John Gourley.

Carden, D’Arcy The Good Place: The Podcast

• Janet!

Carter, Troy The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

Durbin, Dick Pod Save America

Duritz, Adam Celebration Rock, The Adam Carolla Show

• Counting Crows singer-songwriter on songwriting, “Perfect Blue Buildings.”

Fogel, Bryan Longform Podcast

• Convo with the director of “Icarus.”

Goldthwait, Bobcat WTF with Marc Maron, Maltin on Movies

Gourley, John Armchair Expert

• Portugal. The Man singer on the elusiveness of a pop hit, with bandmate Zachary Carothers.

Groff, Lauren Bookworm

Jillette, Penn The Moment With Brian Koppelman

Kaine, Tim Rockin’ the Suburbs

• U.S. Senator plays harmonica, talks about his love for The Replacements.

Liotta, Ray WTF with Marc Maron

• The actor talks about his adoption, Melanie Griffith.

Love, Darlene Ask Me Another

McElhenney, Rob Inside of You

• “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star on his childhood, fighting with his co-stars.

Middleditch, Thomas Comedy Bang! Bang!

Negreanu, Daniel Pardon My Take

• Poker legend talks about about poker and betting about eating McDonald’s.

Newmark, Craig Recode Decode

Pennington, Ty Remote Controlled

Perlman, Itzhak Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Pesca, Mike But That’s Another Story

Pfeiffer, Dan How to Be Amazing With Michael Ian Black

Pollan, Michael Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Reiner, Rob The Adam Carolla Show

• Director promotes his new film, talks for millionth time about “This is Spinal Tap.”

Riley, Boots WTF with Marc Maron, Talkhouse, The Treatment

Sanz, Horatio Comedy Bang! Bang!

Sedaris, David Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Silverman, Sarah Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Southern, Taryn Duncan Trussell Family Hour

Urrea, Luis Alberto On Being

Vanderpump, Lisa Remote Controlled

Van Sant, Gus The Big Picture

Voss, Chris Waking Up With Sam Harris

• Convo with a former FBI hostage negotiator.

Wilson, Rainn It’s Been a Minute With Sam Sanders

Yang, Alan The Dave Chang Show

Notable New Podcasts

Bonus: Two weeks’ worth this week.

1) Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

• The actor promises “spirited conversations with people who know how hard it is, and yet how good it feels, to really connect with other people.”

2) Gaslit Nation

• Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior attempt to tame the “chaotic news cycle” with a bi-monthly news pod. Their promise: a deep dive on the news with “analysis, history, and context.”

3) Jesus and Jollof

• A new comedy pod with “Luvvie Ajayi and Yvonne Orji, two proudly Nigerian women talking about the things they love, their stories, and life in general.”

4) Don’t @ Me

• Justin Simien conducts “unfiltered conversations with the stars, artists and creators shaping our culture.”

5) Junk

• Tommy Pico “interviews a treasure trove of cultural luminaries about relics, keepsakes, and rando baubles in their apartments, sussing out the stories of their Junk.”

6) Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities

• It’s a “tour of the unbelievable, the unsettling, and the bizarre” from the guy behind Lore.

7) You Must Remember This

• The pod that explores “the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century” returns for a new season. Nicholas Quah talks to host Karina Longworth all about it.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Also, find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

7 Pod Takes

1) “I think you can be in love and not love the person.”

Listen: Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith: Love (2:47)

• Schumer’s new pod begins with a hot take about love. She says: “Being ‘in love’ is a feeling that passes.”

• The whole pod’s about love, which, with Schumer (and three of her friends), means the conversation bounces from slow jams to the manipulation of “being songed” to Applebee’s to bladder devices.

• Also, there’s a Pound It or Pass segment, if you’d like to know which famous people Schumer and her friends would sleep with.

• Yes, Spotify’s paying her $1 million for her pod.

2) “If you could gamble on the existence of alien intelligence in Las Vegas, it’d be the easiest bet at the casino.”

Listen: Crazy/Genius: Why Haven’t We Found Aliens (5:44)

• Derek Thompson sums up the position of his guest, astrophysicist Adam Frank.

• The astrophysicist, by the way, would push all-in with a pro-alien intelligence bet.

• Says Thompson: “We are getting tantalizingly close to answering one of the greatest mysteries in the cosmos.”

• My take: A riveting, science-driven look at the oldest question in astronomy: Are we alone?

3) “This is an incredibly complicated policy problem even if you have the best, smartest, most experienced, compassionate people doing it. We do not have that in this situation.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “Sta-cey! Sta-cey! Sta-cey!” (4:18)

• That’s Dan Pfeiffer, talking about U.S. immigration policy and the Trump administration’s inhumane practices at the border.

• My take: I appreciate the mix of justified outrage and sober discussion about the challenges of border issues and immigration. The Pod Save America guys’ knowledge of the complex issue from their time in the Obama administration shows.

4) “Back in the day, if you wanted to see good-hearted Americans fighting Klansmen, you’d turn on Jerry Springer. And now if you want to see good-hearted Americans fighting Klansmen, you turn on CNN.”

Listen: The Press Box: Trump’s “Lies,” the Strange Case of Ali Watkins, and Stephen A. Smith (2:21)

• Co-host Bryan Curtis nails the state of media discourse in America.

5) “Biography the best form of history.”

Listen: The Tim Ferriss Show: Brandon Stanton — The Story of Humans of New York and 25M+ Fans (22:01)

• That’s Stanton, the man behind Humans of New York, which he says might be the most popular photography project on the planet.

• Biography, he says, “cuts through the theory” and the speculation of the author.

• My take: Inspiring story about an incredible project. Worth the Ferrissian-length pod of almost 2 hours.

6) “Everybody’s family believes they’ve pulled a fast one. And they never do. Everybody always knows.”

Listen: Dear Sugars: Who’s Your Daddy (24:11)

• That’s Steve Lickteig, whose family and most of his community kept his true identity a secret from him for 18 years.

• Spoilers: His mother and father, who he thought were his adoptive parents, are his biological grandparents. His eldest sister is his biological mother.

• My take: A fascinating look at Lickteig’s life, as well as the consequences of DNA testing and genetic discoveries on families.

7) “[It’s] kind of like when you get a really excellent burrito, and you’re like, ‘I cannot finish this, but I will.’”

Listen: Hannahlize This: We Tried a Rage Room (6:16)

• That’s Hannah Gelb, comparing smashing objects in a rage room to one of the greatest dishes in the world.

• My take: Rage rooms are like burritos? Rage rooms sound wonderful.

Got a Pod Take, a show to binge or a great guest I should consider for next week’s newsletter? Send it!

Go Deep

1) Songs of Summer

Listen: Switched on Pop, All Songs Considered

• Switched on Pop announces its Switched on Summer series, which will deconstruct “summer pop hits from the ‘60s to the present.”

• All Songs Considered pops open a box of wine and rides the roséwave for 38 minutes.

• Says NPR Music’s Lars Gotrich: Roséwave isn’t a musical genre. It’s a lifestyle.

2) Travel Writing

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts

• Travel writing heavyweights Potts and Thomas Swick highlight a discussion about the state of the genre in a post-Bourdain world.

• Binge time: 1 hour, 7 minutes.

3) Inclusivity in Outdoor Communities

Listen: Outside Podcast

• Outside wraps a four-part series looking at people of color in outdoor sports and communities.

• Binge time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

4) “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

• A 1-hour, 16-minute breakdown of the movie.

5) “Pretty in Pink” Soundtrack

Listen: Heat Rocks

• Eliza Skinner goes 43 minutes on an iconic ‘80s movie soundtrack.

Guest Appearances By…

Adlon, Pamela Remote Controller

Alexander, Jason Modern Love

• The actor reads a story about the search for love and parking.

Anderson, Louie Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!

Barbaro, Michael Recode Decode

• Convo with host of “The Daily.”

Bird, Brad The Treatment

Beane, Billy Men in Blazers

• Inspiration for “Moneyball” talks soccer.

Boogie2988 H3 Podcast

• Convo with the comedian/vlogger.

Bortles, Blake Pardon My Take

• Bortles!

Brady, Tom Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Two-part convo with the New England Patriots’ QB, who attempts to prove he’s not a robot.

Buss, Jeanie Inside of You

• Convo with the president of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cannon, Kay FilmStruck

• The writer/director talks comedy writing, “Rocky” fantasies.

Cenac, Wyatt Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

Cordeiro, Carlos Planet Futbol with Grant Wahl

• Convo with U.S. Soccer president about how Canada, Mexico and the U.S. won the 2026 World Cup. Also: Yes!

Donovan, Landon Planet Futbol with Grant Wahl

Ek, Daniel Recode Media with Peter Kafka

• Spotify’s CEO on R. Kelly, losing money.

Esposito, Cameron Remade in America with Bassem Youssef

Fahrenthold, David Pod Save America

• WaPo Pulitzer winner talks about his reporting on the Trump Foundation.

Frank, Adam The Joe Rogan Experience

• The astrophysicist goes 2 hours, 32 minutes on alien worlds.

Gillibrand, Kirsten Off Message

• Convo with the U.S. Senator from New York.

Glaser, Rob The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• Convo with the founder of RealNetworks.

Grant, Heidi HBR Ideacast

• Social psychologist on how to ask colleagues for help.

Green, Laci Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

• Convo with “the internet’s favorite sex educator.”

Hamm, Jon Hannibal Buress Handsome Rambler

Itzkoff, Dave WTF with Marc Maron

• Author of new Robin Williams bio talks about the one-of-a-kind comic.

James, Jim Celebration Rock

Jacinto, Manny The Good Place: The Podcast

• Jason!

Kaine, Tim Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Kondabolu, Hari I Think You’re Interesting

Kreischer, Bert Anna Faris is Unqualified

Maddow, Rachel The Axe Files

Metcalf, Laurie Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Mitchell, Donovan The J.J. Redick Podcast

• Convo with one of the NBA’s top 2017-18 rookies.

Moore, Mandy Remote Controller

• Convo with the ”This is Us” star.

Mraz, Jason The Monocle Culture Show

Nash, Niecy It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Nichols, Rachel Pardon My Take

Olson, Kaitlin Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Pao, Ellen The Ezra Klein Show

Pfeiffer, Dan Recode Media with Peter Kafka, The Gist, The Moment with Brian Koppelman

• Convos with Pod Save America co-host about his new book, “Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump.”

Prine, John This Song

• Singer/songwriter discusses Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.”

Riggle, Rob The Adam Carolla Show

Rosner, Helen Longform Podcast

• Convo with The New Yorker food writer.

Snider, Dee This Past Weekend

Stickles, Patrick This Must Be the Gig

• Singer of Titus Andronicus on Sleater-Kinney and the band’s new album.

Taffer, Jon The Adam Carolla Show

Thornton, Billy Bob WTF with Marc Maron

Wilde, Olivia The Goop Podcast

Wilson, Chip How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with founder of Lululemon Athletica.

Yang, Andrew Waking Up with Sam Harris

• Longshot presidential candidate talks universal basic income.

Notable New Podcasts

1) Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith

• Amy Schumer and her friends “dish about their lives, pop culture, politics, and stand-up comedy. It’s dinner with your besties—if your besties were morally bankrupt.” Extended episodes are available on Spotify.

2) Hard Factor

• Barstool Sports stays on brand with a “10ish minute news-suppository for people who think cable anchors don’t scream at each other enough.”

3) Rivers of Oil

• New Minnesota Public Radio pod’s “about the oil pipelines that flow beneath our feet and the epic tug of war between our reliance on oil and the risk that oil poses to the future.”

4) Aftereffect

• WNYC’s new pod tells the story of,a police shooting that “upended the life of Arnaldo Rios Soto, a 26-year old, non-speaking, autistic man.” Audrey Quinn hosts.

5) Hey Babe

• Missy and Bryan Lanning offer “a behind the scenes look into what it’s like running a family and multiple YouTube channels.”

6) Hollywood in Color

• The pod that covers “the stories of the stars usually left out of entertainment history — the people of color in front of and behind the camera” returns for its second season.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Also, find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

7 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts

1) “If I heard the phrase ‘bucket list’ one more time … I was gonna just beat someone severely with a baseball bat.”

Listen: The Sporkful: Is This Pizza Worth Waiting For? (10:36)

• That’s Doug Sohn of Hot Doug’s, who was fed up with people who just wanted to eat his food. The problem, as he saw it: People waited up to four hours during his Chicago eatery’s waning days just to say they went there.

• Dr. Queue, aka MIT professor Dick Larson, calls such lines celebratory lines.

• Is waiting for hours for a slice of pizza or a sausage worth it? Sohn says he told his customers, “If you think it is.”

• Host Dan Pashman thought it was worth an hour wait for pizza at Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn.

• Spoiler: He wouldn’t do it again.

• My take: A great, thorough look at an unfortunate cultural phenomenon.

2) “The marshmallow test is the human condition.”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: Let Them Eat Marshmallows (9:29)

• Stacey Vanek Smith sums up the marshmallow test, the famous experiment that asks little kids to eat the one marshmallow in front of them now — or wait five minutes and get two.

• Kids who can delay gratification allegedly grow up to be more successful.

• Spoiler: Scientists may have been thinking about the experiment wrong.

• Says Tyler Watts of the NYU developmental psych department: “[Delay of gratification] isn’t something we need to be overly concerned with teaching four year olds.”

3) “I think they would have thought it was the most asinine assertion possible.”

Listen: Lovett or Leave It: Autoerotic Obstruction of Justice (40:25)

• That’s the strong opinion of Kimberly West-Faulcon, weighing in on what the founders might have thought of President Trump’s suggestThe gision that he could pardon himself.

• She adds: “It’s taking a little bit of text of the constitution, and ignoring the rest of the entire document and its structure and its purpose.”

4) “Do I really have to advise you, ‘Try not to cast a vote based on a word you didn’t like six months ago from a person who has no power to affect your life?’”

Listen: The Gist with Mike Pesca: When Border Policy Crosses the Line (28:11)

• Mike Pesca wants nothing to do with stories about how Samantha Bee’s words or Robert De Niro’s words might sway voters.

• My take: Right on, Pesca.

5) “This is just a person who is living to an extreme that women are rarely granted.”

Listen: Still Processing: We Need Bad Women (21:07)

• So says Jenna Wortham, of the bruschetta-eating, ice cream-ruining murderous Villanelle in “Killing Eve.”

• Wortham and co-host Wesley Morris spend 48 minutes analyzing and celebrating that show and the movie “Ocean’s 8” for breaking ground in presenting “bad” women.

6) “Somehow Gedde Watanabe’s performance is one of the great comic performances of the last 30 years.”

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts: Why 1980s coming-of-age movies matter (30:34)

• That’s guest Kevin Smokler talking about Watanabe’s portrayal of Long Duk Dong in “Sixteen Candles.”

• Yes, Smokler knows Watanabe’s playing an offensive racial stereotype. He says Watanabe’s “an absolute force of nature, is like a weather system coming through that movie.”

• Smokler wrote “Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ‘80s Teen Movies.”

• My take: A great, nuanced conversation about ‘80s teen movies overall as well as the most problematic character in the genre.

7) “The funny people are depressed, and the horror people making depressing, assaultive movies are super happy.”

Listen: Scriptnotes: Upgrade (12:02)

• So says Leigh Whannell, writer of “Saw” and other horror movies, about the people he sees in Hollywood.

Go Deep

1) Remembering Anthony Bourdain

Listen: The Press Box, House of Carbs, Pop Culture Happy Hour, Sound Opinions, I Have to Ask, StarTalk Radio, Anderson Cooper 360, The Watch, Fresh Air

• One way to judge Anthony Bourdain’s massive impact and his loss: His appeal was so broad that podcasts across topics from pop culture to writing to music to food to politics to astronomy offered their heartfelt remembrances. Here are just a few:

• Bryan Curtis on The Press Box: “What I was most struck by was, here’s a guy who had something like a hundred percent acclaim in American life.”

• Andy Greenwald on The Watch: He played a major role “not just in our lives, but in making us have better lives.”

• Glen Weldon on Pop Culture Happy Hour highlights Bourdain’s writing: “That prose was filled with such tightly controlled energy.”

• Sound Opinions revisits a conversation from 2008 about the similarities between the lifestyles of rockers and chefs.

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson revisits his two-part interview from 2013.

• Fresh Air revisits its 2016 interview.

• I Have to Ask runs a previously unaired 20-minute conversation from 2017.

2) “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

Listen: Binge Mode

• Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion kick off a summer of Harry Potter immersion with a five-part deep dive into the first book in J.K. Rowling’s series, plus the movie adaptation.

• Binge time: 6 hours, 22 minutes.

3) Women in “The Royal Tenenbaums”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

• Jenny Yang joins the hosts for a 54-minute deep dive into the representation of women in the Wes Anderson classic.

4) “What a Fool Believes”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• A 1-hour, 15-minute deep dive into The Doobie Brothers song, what they call “the most Dad song of all time.”

• My take: Wrong. The most dad song of all time is this.

Guest Appearances By…

Adlon, Pamela Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Balaban, Bob WTF with Marc Maron

Bird, Brad The Big Picture

• Convo with the director of “Incredibles 2.”

Bryant, Howard Fresh Air

• Convo about “the history of social protest among African-American athletes.”

Chua, Amy Why Is This Happening? With Chris Hayes

• Author of “Political Tribes” talks political tribalism.

Coe, Tyler Mahan Celebration Rock

• “Cocaine and Rhinestones” host talks Townes Van Zandt.

Cross, David How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Dubner, Stephen American Fiasco

• “Freakonomics” host talks World Cup soccer, USMNT failure.

Dunham, Lena RuPaul: What’s The Tee with Michelle Visage

Durkan, Jenny Off Message

• Mayor of Seattle on today’s political reality: “‘Resist’ is too passive.”

Frank, Adam The Joe Rogan Experience

Gibbard, Ben All Songs Considered

• Death Cab for Cutie singer on new music, how neighborhoods change.

Hanks, Colin Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum

Hinojosa, Maria Remade in America with Bassem Youssef

• Convo with the host of “Latino USA.”

Hinton, Anthony Ray Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Two-part convo with man who spent 30 years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit.

Hunter, Holly WTF with Marc Maron

Irby, Samantha Talkhouse

• In conversation with Abbi Jacobson.

Jacobson, Abbi Talkhouse

• In conversation with Samantha Irby.

Jamil, Jameela The Good Place: The Podcast

Johnson, Jake Hannibal Buress: Handsome Rambler

Kerr, Steve The Lowe Post

• Post-NBA Championship convo with the Warriors’ coach.

King, Larry You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Klepper, Jordan The Treatment

Kroll, Nick The Bill Simmons Podcast

Kwan, Kevin But That’s Another Story

• Convo with “Crazy Rich Asians” writer.

Kweli, Talib Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Lambert, Liz The Tim Ferriss Show

• Convo with founder of Hotel San Jose about urban renewal.

Lampanelli, Lisa Curious with Josh Peck

• Comic talks food, roasting Chevy Chase.

Lawson, Jenny Dear Hank & John

Linnell, John This Must Be the Gig

• Convo with a giant of They Might Be Giants.

Macchio, Ralph ID10T

Mantzoukas, Jason Comedy Bang! Bang!

Manziel, Johnny Pardon My Take

• Talking CFL, Drake with the QB.

Moore, Mandy Modern Love

• “This Is Us” star reads an essay about “disability, ability, and the misconceptions surrounding both.”

Meyers, Seth The J.J. Redick Podcast

Neville, Morgan The Big Picture

• Convo with the director of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.”

Ondaatje, Michael Bookworm

Perel, Esther The Gender Knot

Remnick, David Bon Appetit Foodcast

• The New Yorker editor shares his Sunday morning smoked fish ritual.

Tamblyn, Amber WTF with Marc Maron

Tyler, Aisha I Think You’re Interesting

Warner, Mark Recode Decode

• Convo with the U.S. Senator from Virginia.

Winokur, Marissa Jaret Whine Down

Wright, Edgar R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?

• “Baby Driver” director talks R.E.M., music in movies.

Yang, Jimmy O. Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Zabka, Billy ID10T

• Johnny!

Notable New Podcasts

1) Bubble

• Maximum Fun’s first scripted comedy series follows a “band of monster killers” struggling “to make ends meet and find love in a nightmarish version of the gig economy.”
• Alison Becker and Keith Powell star, with podcast faves John Hodgman, Paul F. Tompkins and others as guests.

2) Gossip

• The “comedic soap opera” follows “three unlikely female friends” who “meet each week to drink coffee and share the latest gossip floating around their not-so-traditional suburban town.” Allison Raskin stars.

3) ZigZag

• Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant document “the process of starting a media company without becoming bad mothers, bankrupting themselves, or destroying their wonderful creative partnership.”

4) Middle:Below

• The audio drama focuses on “ghosts, cats and the odd people who look after them.”

5) Comeback Szn

• Johnny Manziel is one of the hosts of a new Barstool Sports pod about football and Manziel’s journey with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL.

6) Rough Translation

• NPR’s beloved pod that asks “How are the things we’re talking about being talked about somewhere else in the world?” returns for its third season.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. Also, find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

8 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts

1) “Memes are people too.”

Listen: Endless Thread: I, Ken Bone (23:50)

• Ben Brock Johnson advocates for humanity on the internet, specifically regarding those who’ve been memed. Like Ken Bone.
• Bone guests on the pod, sharing what it was like being a meme and lessons learned from the experience.
• Refresher: Bone and his red sweater became a meme at a 2016 U.S. presidential debate. You may also know his “Make America Bone Again” leisurewear.
• My take: The pod takes something most of us gave two seconds of thought and gives it a lot of thought, recontextualizing it and making us see that thing a different way. One of my favorite kinds of pods.

2) “You can say a lot of things about pineapple pizza, but you can’t call it boring.”

Listen: Episode 5: The Anthropocene Reviewed: Hawaiian Pizza and Viral Meningitis (9:40)

• That’s John Green, near the end of a winding and highly entertaining review of Hawaiian pizza.
• Stops along the way: The Islamic calendar, the agricultural revolution, the Columbian Exchange, King Ferdinand’s first taste of pineapple, lead poisoning, Canada and Australia’s affinity for pineapple as a pizza topping.
• Spoiler: Green awards Hawaiian pizza two stars.
• My take: Too many stars, John Green.

3) “He wasn’t changing lanes. He was being sucked into the inflow of the tornado.”

Listen: Weather Geeks: El Reno – Storm Chasing’s Deadliest Tornado (13:21)

• That horrifying observation comes from Mike Bettes, who was on the scene during the 2013 El Reno tornado, the largest tornado ever measured.
• The pod marks El Reno’s 5-year anniversary with a difficult yet enlightening look at the storm’s impact and those who chased it.

4) “I’m talking to you about what the spirit can do, and it’s not measurable.”

Listen: Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations: Diana Nyad, Part 1: The Swim of Her Life (2:53)

• That’s Nyad, legendary swimmer. New and not-so-legendary swimmer Oprah says Nyad has “transcended her humanness” in pursuit of physical feats. Like swimming for 53 hours straight.
• Adds Nyad: “There is something beyond what the body is capable of.”

5) “You don’t need to be in a different country to have problems given to you by parents.”

Listen: Remade in America with Bassem Youssef: Don’t Play a Terrorist and Other Lessons from Maz Jobrani (8:01)

• That’s Youssef, aka “the Jon Stewart of Egypt,” during the debut of his new pod. It’s about being an outsider in America.
• Youssef moved to the U.S. recently after living in Egypt for more than 40 years.

6) “I’m a hispanic woman and you’re a black woman, and yet we both related to this blonde white lady.”

Listen: This Movie Changed Me: Bridget Jones’s Diary (16:44)

• That’s Lily Percy, talking with Samantha Powell about the significance to their lives of Renée Zellweger’s portrayal of Bridget Jones.
• Percy adds: “It says something about the writing.”

7) “Somebody’s entire body of work and their fate in history, at least for some period of time, can depend upon the actions of a single human being.”

Listen: Otherppl with Brad Listi: Michelle Dean (21:40)

• That’s Listi, talking to Dean about the fickleness of artistic legacy and her book, “Sharp: The Women Who Make an Art of Having an Opinion.”

8) “It took a year of marriage to love my husband more than cheese.”

Listen: Modern Love: Love Stories in 13 Words (1:53)

• That’s one of 9,000 people who responded to Modern Love’s call for 13-word love stories. This bonus pod highlights dozens of them, in the tellers’ own words. Some standouts:
• “He said ‘I love you.’ I whispered ‘I love you,’ to his dog.” (4:55)
• “Both widowed young. Never going to try again. Married 31 years.” (8:51)
• “I was sad. He sent me dinosaur erotica. I knew it was love.” (11:05)

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Go Deep

1) “The Americans” Finale

Listen: Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air, I Think You’re Interesting, The Americans Podcast

• The pods go deep on Wednesday’s series finale of “The Americans,” with analysis and guests ranging from the show runners, to stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, to the guy who played the other FBI agent.
• Spoiler: Paige got off the train.
• If you’re looking for answers about why Paige got off the train, good luck finding them here.
• My take: WTF Paige? You shouldn’t have got off the train.

2) Video Game Wars

Listen: Business Wars: Nintendo vs. Sony

• The six-part series chronicles the ongoing battle between two tech giants.
• Spoiler: Sony’s PlayStation almost didn’t come out.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 54 minutes

3) “The Wizard of Oz”

Listen: Unspooled

• A 1 hour, 1 minute deep dive into the No. 10 movie on the AFI top 100 list.

4) “Training Day”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• A 1 hour, 26 minute reassessment of the Denzel Washington/Ethan Hawke crime thriller.

Guest Appearances By…

Apatow, Judd The Treatment

Aronoff, Kenny The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• Convo with drummer who’s played with everyone.

Avenatti, Michael Trumpcast

• Stormy’s lawyer takes time away from promoting himself to promote himself.

Barnes, Julian Men in Blazers

• Man Booker Prize-winning author talks novels, Leicester City.

Brosnahan, Rachel WTF with Marc Maron

• Convo with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star.

Clapper, James The Axe Files

• Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence talks security challenges.

Coppola, Sofia A24 Podcast

• In conversation with Paul Schrader.

Davidson, Adam The Josh Marshall Podcast

• The New Yorker writer talks Trump.

Emmerich, Amy The Limit Does Not Exist

• Convo with Refinery29’s content chief.

Enten, Harry I Have to Ask

Feig, Paul Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

Friedberger, Eleanor This Must Be the Gig

• Still love this song.

Gethard, Chris The Gist with Mike Pesca

Hader, Bill Sooo Many White Guys

Hefner, Christie Skimm’d From the Couch

Jacobs, Gillian Comedy Bang! Bang!

Jordan, Lindsey Celebration Rock

• Convo with the “wisest teenage indie rocker,” according to Pitchfork.

Jurvetson, Steve The Tim Ferriss Show

• An almost 3-hour convo with the venture capitalist.

Klepper, Jordan It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Knoxville, Johnny Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Krasinski, John The Director’s Cut

Lawson, Nigella The Sporkful

Legend, John Pod Save America

• Singer talks about elections for local prosecutors.

Mars, Roman Recode Media with Peter Kafka

• The 99% Invisible host talks about the state of podcasting.

Neyfakh, Leon Longform Podcast

• Convo with the host of Slow Burn.

Pollan, Michael Waking Up with Sam Harris, How to Be Amazing With Michael Ian Black

• He’s baaaack!

Rankin, Molly Celebration Rock

• Convo with the writer of one of my favorite songs of the last few years.

Retta Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

Roberts, Michele The J.J. Redick Podcast

• The podcaster/NBA player talks to National Basketball Players Association executive director.

Rosner, Helen The Dave Chang Show

• The New Yorker food correspondent talks food journalism, #MeToo.

Schrader, Paul A24 Podcast

• In conversation with Sofia Coppola.

Sedaris, David Fresh Air

Smith, Kevin The Joe Rogan Experience

• Three hours, 17 minutes with the filmmaker/comedian/podcaster/comic book writer.

Talley, André Leon Fresh Air

Tompkins, Paul F. Comedy Bang! Bang!

Wagner, Aly Planet Fútbol

• Convo with the first woman to do game commentary on U.S. English-language TV for men’s World Cup soccer.

Warren, Elizabeth Pod Save America

Whitford, Bradley The West Wing Weekly

Wu, Tim Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

• Exploring why the internet “feels pretty crappy these days.” Only pretty?

Yates, Sally The Axe Files

• Convo with the former acting U.S. Attorney General.

Pick From a Podcaster

This week’s podcasters: Bryan Gould and Peter Villa, co-creators and co-hosts of the weekly show “How Was Your Run Today?”a comedy and interview podcast about their love/hate relationship with running.

• Peter adds: Bryan and I both ran the Boston Marathon in 2015 and couldn’t stop talking about the experience of training for, and actually completing, the historic race. Our friends and family got tired of hearing us talking about it, so we decided to start recording our conversations and posted them on the internet. Turns out runners LOVE to listen to other runners talk endlessly about running!

Bryan’s pick: 99% Invisible’s Curb Cuts.

• He says: If you’re not familiar with the show, they explore design, mostly in architecture, which most people either don’t notice or take for granted, thus it is 99% invisible. This episode is a mini-documentary about the history of the sidewalk curb cut. While this, of course, is interesting on its own, the second half of the show explores the “Curb Cut Effect,” including how everyone can benefit from universal design in buildings and digital curb cuts.
• Peter adds: You are going to be amazed by the origin story of the football huddle.

Notable New Podcasts

1) Covert

• The pod “takes listeners on a heart-pounding journey through the most dangerous military operations of all time.” Hosted by Jamie Renell.

2) Remade in America

3) Unravel True Crime: Blood on the Tracks

• It chronicles a five-year investigation into the death of 17-year-old Mark Haines, whose body was found on an Australian railway line in January 1988.

4) She Says

• Sarah Delia’s working to “unwrap the case of ‘Linda,’ a Charlotte-area woman who was sexually assaulted by a stranger in 2015… and is still struggling to find answers.”

5) Cover-Up

• The first podcast from People Magazine investigates “the hours after Ted Kennedy’s car went over the bridge in Chappaquiddick.”

6) The Gateway

• The six-part series focuses on Teal Swan, “a new brand of spiritual guru, who draws in followers with her hypnotic self-help YouTube videos aimed at people who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.”

7) The Good Place: The Podcast

• Marc Evan Jackson hosts “a rotating slate of co-hosts and special guests, including actors, writers, producers and more” in an official deep dive into the NBC show.
• As the pod’s promo goes, “Holy motherforking shirtballs!”

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8 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts

1) “Probably the biggest intellectual change in my lifetime is the fact that we’ve moved from this period where knowing about the past meant you were smart, and now knowing about the past kind of means you’re irrelevant almost.”

Listen: Celebration Rock: Chuck Klosterman On The Rise And Fall Of Classic Rock (47:31)

• That’s take-machine Klosterman, who blames Twitter for fostering a culture that elevates ignorance.

• Klosterman’s exhibit A: The response when Kanye and Rihanna made “FourFiveSeconds” with Paul McCartney. Klosterman says it inspired a Buzzfeed listicle of tweets from people who had no clue Macca existed.

• My take: Bad take, Klosterman. My exhibit A: Slow Burn, American History Tellers and many more popular backwards-looking podcasts. There’s a cultural thirst for understanding the past.

• One more (good) take from host Steven Hyden: With streaming services, “no genre of music really ever has to die.”

2) “Synchronous movement is a language of its own.”

Listen: Hidden Brain: Baby Talk (8:25)

• That’s Shankar Vedantam, highlighting guest Laura Cirelli’s insight about the power of synchronization in human communication.

• It’s a language of affection, says Cirelli.

• My take: A fascinating and enlightening pod that cracks some of the mysteries of baby babbling.

3) “Scientists must be free to fail.”

Listen: Ted Talks Daily: Scientists must be free to learn, to speak and to challenge (4:32)

• That’s Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s first Minister of Science, on how most science doesn’t lead to Hollywood endings.

• But failures can lead to unintended discoveries that, nevertheless, contribute to science.

4) “Ruth Bader Ginsburg did change the way the world is for American women whether they know it or not.”

Listen: It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders: How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Became ‘Notorious RBG’ (8:25)

• So says NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, summing up the life and legacy of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

• Sanders adds: “She was living this kind of Sheryl Sandbergian have-it-all life before we had a name for that.”

• Adds guest Julia Cohen, co-director of the film “RBG”: “She was leaning the heck in before leaning in was a thing.”

5) “It’s like they loaded a shotgun with commas and fired it at the Second Amendment.”

Listen: Revisionist History: Divide and Conquer (19:15)

• That’s Malcolm Gladwell, clearing his throat during an (inevitable?) Gladwellian deep dive about “the world’s most controversial semicolon.”

• Spoiler: An obscure law review article leads Gladwell to punctuation that means Texas could break into five different states and “turn American politics upside down.”

• My take: Gladwell and grammar. Great combo.

6) “What more does she have to do on this Earth to be regarded as a genius?”

Listen: Still Processing: We Unpack Black Male Privilege (25:18)

• Rembert Browne’s talking, of course, about Beyoncé.

• Context: In the wake of Donald Glover’s elevation to genius post-”This is America,” Browne and Wesley Morris discuss how our cultural genius bar has evolved.

• Spoiler: Black women, they say, don’t seem to make the cut.

7) “Nixon retained the soul of a benchwarmer throughout his aborted presidency.”

Listen: Upon Further Review: What If Nixon Had Been Good At Football? (17:48)

• Host Leon Neyfakh ties Nixon’s Nixon-ness back to his days as a football wannabe at Whittier College.

• Neyfakh speculates how Nixon’s life — and American life — might be different had he been better at the sport he loved.

• My take: Love this premise for a pod: revisiting what ifs from sports history.

8) “Now we can lose money legally, Cousin Sal. What a day. This is the greatest day of our lives.”

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: Sports Gambling Is Legal (!) With Cousin Sal, and Ethan Hawke Breaks Down Every Fun Movie He Ever Made (3:19)

• So says Simmons, loving the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the federal ban on sports gambling in the U.S.

• My take: You’re exaggerating, Simmons. But only slightly.

Go Deep

1) The Royal Wedding

Listen: When Meghan Met Harry

• Hurry! There’s only a little time left to binge all 22 full episodes of this royally obsessed pod before Meghan and Harry get hitched.

• Binge time: 11 hours, 34 minutes.

2) The Saga of the Bundy Family

Listen: Bundyville

• A seven-part pod chronicles armed uprisings in Nevada and Oregon by the Bundy family.

• The central question: Are the Bundys patriots or domestic terrorists?

• Binge time: 3 hours, 23 minutes.

3) “Yeezus”

Listen: Heat Rocks

• Dissect’s Cole Cuchna helps dissect Kanye’s album.

• Length: 43 minutes.

4) “No Tears Left to Cry”

Listen: Switched on Pop

• Nate and Charlie break down Ariana Grande’s latest track.

• Length: 39 minutes.

Pick From a Podcaster

This week’s podcaster: Conor Reid, whose Words To That Effect is a literary podcast of the intriguing, the curious and the unexplored.

• Conor adds: The show is created in Dublin, Ireland, and it’s a research-based, storytelling show which explores the places where literature, history and science collide. Why did the creator of Sherlock Holmes fervently believe in ghosts and fairies? How do we reach utopia? What is transhumanism? What is the cultural history behind zombies?

Conor’s pick:  Documentary on One’s “Don’t Go Far”

• Conor says: I love storytelling podcasts with great sound design that really bring you into the world of the story. Documentary on On, the multiple award-winning documentary unit of RTE (the Irish national radio station), has been producing stories of this type for decades.
• He adds: “Don’t Go Far” tells the story of two young Dublin boys, aged 10 and 13, whose spur-of-the-moment adventure made national news in the 1980s. After a quick journey on a local train, they bluff and lie their way past security guards onto a ferry to Britain, a train to London… and a plane all the way to New York City. It’s a great story, recounted years later by one of the boys, and full of mischief and humour.

Guest Appearances By…

Albright, Donald The Adam Carolla Show

• “Atlanta Monster” podcaster talks murder, with co-producer Payne Lindsey.

Ames, Jonathan Otherppl with Brad Listi

• Convo with “You Were Never Really Here” author.

Andrés, José The Axe Files

Avenatti, Michael Pod Save America

Bloom, Rachel Scriptnotes

• Convo with “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-creator, with Aline Brosh McKenna.

Brolin, Josh WTF with Marc Maron

• Thanos!

Brooker, Charlie The Adam Buxton Podcast

• Convo with “Black Mirror” creator.

Cena, John The Adam Carolla Show

Corcoran, Barbara How I Built This With Guy Raz

• Mogul recounts path from real estate to “Shark Tank.”

Donelly, Tanya This Song

• Throwing Muses and Belly musician talks about the influence of “All You Need is Love” on her life and music.

Falcone, Ben The Big Picture

Ferguson, Niall The Jamie Weinstein Show

• Famed history professor on Trump, China, North Korea.

Fieri, Guy Beyond the Plate

Filkins, Dexter Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

• Convo with The New Yorker foreign correspondent.

Gil, Gilberto The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• Convo with the eminent Brazilian musician and social activist.

Guthrie, Savannah Skimm’d From the Couch

Hachisu, Nancy Singleton Bon Appetit Foodcast

• Convo with the author of “Japan: A Cookbook.”

Hawke, Ethan The Bill Simmons Podcast

Heti, Sheila Longform Podcast

• “I think my mom always had this idea that writing is playing, and it is playing, but it’s a serious kind of playing,” says the author of “Motherhood: A Novel.”

Ifill, Sherrilyn Stay Tuned With Preet

• Convo with the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Jacobs, Gillian Bullseye

Johnson, Rian The Dave Chang Show

• “The Last Jedi” director talks innovation and criticism, with Karina Longworth.

Kelly, Kevin Deviate With Rolf Potts, The Tim Ferriss Show

• “If you have a chance to travel, just do it. You won’t regret it,” says Wired magazine co-founder.

Kotb, Hoda Skimm’d From the Couch

Laguens, Dawn Queery

• Convo with EVP of Planned Parenthood.

Lanier, Jaron Danny in the Valley

Leist, Libby Skimm’d From the Couch

Lindsey, Payne The Adam Carolla Show

• “Atlanta Monster” podcaster talks murder, with co-producer Donald Albright.

Longworth, Karina The Dave Chang Show

• “You Must Remember This” host talks innovation and criticism, with Rian Johnson.

McKenna, Aline Brosh Scriptnotes

• Convo with “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-creator, with Rachel Bloom.

Mitski All Songs Considered

• Musical artist talks about her new album.

Nolan, Christopher The Treatment

• Filmmaker talks about reviving 70mm reprint of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Notaro, Tig Fresh Air

Oates, Joyce Carol Bookworm

• Prolific author discusses her 2,923rd* book. (*estimated)

Pao, Ellen How It Is

• She talks about her stand against sexism in Silicon Valley.

Penn, Mark Recode Decode

• “The first thing people get rid of when they get more money is kids,” says the pollster and author of “Microtrends Squared.”

Pollan, Michael The Ezra Klein Show, Fresh Air, Recode Decode

• Food guru talks and talks and talks about his new book about mind expansion.

Rexha, Bebe The Dan Wootton Interview

Richardson, April R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?

• Comedian talks “Monster” with Scott and Scott.

Scheer, Paul The Watch

• Convo with the actor/filmmaker/podcaster.

Scovell, Nell How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Serrano, Shea House of Carbs, The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Gist

• Teacher turned best-selling author on Houston and San Antonio as food cities, “Cobra Kai,” bank robbery movies, Becky Hammon.

Sietsema, Robert Eater Upsell

• Chemist turned food critic takes food tour of Queens.

Smigel, Robert Bullseye

Solo, Hope We Came to Win

• Convo with U.S.A.’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper.

Steenburgen, Mary WTF with Marc Maron

Thomas, Louisa The Gist

• Convo about Becky Hammon’s potential to be the NBA’s first female head coach.

Thompson, Tessa Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

Tyler, Steven The Joe Rogan Experience

Union, Gabrielle Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Urban, Keith Required Listening

Waithe, Lena How It Is

• On the importance of giving zero fucks.

Yang, Jimmy O. Sooo Many White Guys

Notable New Podcasts and New Seasons

1) Unspooled

• Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson kick off 100 podcasts, one for each of the films on AFI’s list of the 100 best movies.
• First episode: “Citizen Kane.”

2) The Wonderland Murders

• It’s “the tale of a violent home invasion robbery and the revenge rampage that followed. It involves a drug-fueled gang of criminals, a crazed crime kingpin — and the world’s most famous porn star on a downward and deadly spiral.”

3) Dissect

• Cole Cuchna’s song-by-song dissection of albums returns for a third season, exclusively on Spotify.
• This season’s albums: Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange” and “Blonde.”

4) Upon Further Review

5) Business Wars

• The Wondery pod’s latest season recalls the Sony vs. Nintendo video game wars.

6) The Space Race

• American History Tellers begins a deep dive into the post-war space race.

7) Revisionist History

• Gladwell’s pod’s back for its third season.

8) Love + Radio

• Another season of “otherworldly-produced interviews.”

Meta Podcast Moment of the Week

“Every time they say podcast, drink.”

Listen: The Gist: Becky Hammon’s Next Big Shot

• On his podcast, Mike Pesca shares the drinking game he created for “Alex, Inc.”, a TV show about a podcast company where they say “podcast” many, many times.
• Spoiler: “Alex, Inc.” has been cancelled.
• Perhaps Pesca can revive the game for the TV version of “The Daily.”

Thanks for reading! Find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

8 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts

1) “Rooting for the underdog is a form of moral weakness.”

Listen: Revisionist History: Malcolm Gladwell debates Adam Grant (33:58)

• Gladwell’s gonna Gladwell. The Revisionist History host delivers hot pod takes galore in this crossover with Grant, host of WorkLife.
• On parents (3:57): “Parents are never more crazy than when they are interacting with the teachers of their children.”
• On teaching vs. stand-up comedy (5:24): “If you’re asking me would I rather teach a class of first graders or do a stand-up performance, the answer is: I would do a stand-up performance a million times before I would teach.”
• On specificity (7:45): “All the interesting people I know are people whose speech and thinking has a great deal of specificity to it.”
• On bureaucracy (22:29): “You don’t want bureaucracies run by Marine Corps guys. The worst thing that can happen if you’re in a bureaucracy is that the bureaucracy gets really, really good.”
• My take: The most entertaining pod I listened to this week. Can’t wait for Season 3 of Gladwell’s pod.

2) “This is the beginning of the end of all smartphones.”

Listen: WSJ The Future of Everything: What’s Next for AI? (14:43)

• It’s not a prediction, Amy Webb stresses. It’s what she’s reading in the data about shifts and changes in mobile.
• What to look for in 10 years, according to Webb: More voice interactions with machines, image and object recognition, and biometric tools.
• She adds: “Every human alive needs to think good and hard and long about ourselves as oil, and how we’re being mined and refined in exchange for what?”

3) “It’s the most exciting video probably since Beyoncé’s Formation.”

Listen: The Watch: This is Donald Glover’s Moment (16:01)

• That’s Andy Greenwald’s take on Glover’s/Childish Gambino’s powerful video for “This is America.”
• He adds: “The video is not just commenting on America’s obsession with entertainment and obsession with guns, and our ability to block out one constantly in the service of the other. It’s also…a comment on who he feels he is in the world.”
• More takes on his SNL/”This is America” achievements: The Brilliant Idiots, Keep It, Damage Control.

4) “I’m not really interested in books about who shot John, because everybody in prison has shot John.”

Listen: Ear Hustle: Catch a Kite 2 (8:04)

• That’s Kevin Sawyer, who’s read 371 books during his 22 years in prison.
• Few of them have been about murders. Those kinds of books? To a prisoner, they’re “not so entertaining.”

5) “Food is such an intersection of culture, of politics, of inequality. We can’t not address those issues.”

Listen: Bon Appetit Foodcast: The Current State of Restaurant Criticism (13:51)

• That’s Bon Appétit EIC Adam Rapoport, with a complex double negative about the complexity of writing about food and restaurants in 2018.
• Spoiler: Given the challenges facing media, food criticism is shrinking in some big cities.

6) “I’m not sure Donald Trump needed to give Kim Jong-un a five-star rating on Airbnb.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “Essential Bribery, LLC” (5:12)

• So says Dan Pfeiffer, who credits President Trump for the release of three hostages from North Korea before jabbing him for his crack that North Korea was “excellent” to the people it held against their will.

7) “We want to experience Berlin as a Berliner, without having to speak German or deal with Holocaust guilt or really enjoy public nudity or any of the other things that also signify authentic Berliner-ness.”

Listen: Public Intellectual “Travel Writing is Bad” (w/Haley Swanson) (1:11)

• That’s Jessa Crispin, introducing her conversation with Swanson about modern travelers’ desire for “authenticity” and how that quest impacts travel writing, as well as local communities.
• They start with a critique of the much-hyped New York Times’ 52 Places column.
• Says Crispin: “I should have been aware that it was going to be…bad.”

8) “You’re stuck in an old way of looking at cereal.”

Listen: The Great Debates: Sneezing is a Pleasant Experience. (11:59)

• So says Dave King, debating the pro side of the topic: Cereal is better at night.
• Spoiler: King wins. If you see nighttime cereal on store shelves soon, blame these guys.

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Go Deep

1) Love and Heartbreak

Listen: Love Letters

• The Boston Globe pod about love and relationships finished its eight-episode season, which focused on breakups.
• Among the topics covered by host Meredith Goldstein: Rebound sex, social media fallout, mementos, breakup songs.
• My take: A raw, intimate and binge-worthy pod.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 48 minutes.

2) “Divorce Song”

Listen: Song Exploder

• Liz Phair and producer Brad Wood break down one of the most celebrated songs on her landmark album, “Exile in Guyville.”
• Phair says: “I wanted to write about all the in-between moments that people have with a relationship, where you disagree about things, or just the ordinary things that happen that if you’re in that relationship are incredibly dramatic and they mean so much.”
• Length: 24 minutes.

3) Rush

Listen: Rockin’ the Suburbs

• Wouldn’t expect anything less than a five-part, week-long series about Rush from the Rockin’ the Suburbs guys.
• Albums covered: Moving Pictures, 2112, Permanent Waves, Signals.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 8 minutes.

Pick From a Podcaster

This week’s guest: Rolf Potts, whose Deviate podcast features experts, public figures, and interesting people exploring fascinating topics that meander off-topic.”

• Adds Rolf: “Each episode tends to begin with an issue that has piqued my curiosity. What’s it like to be a black police officer? What happens in a dominatrix dungeon? Why is it so hard for Americans to talk about death and dying? From there I encourage guests to explore these issues in a digressive way that gives listeners a perspective that goes beyond sound bites and click-bait.

Rolf’s pick: The Truth: Brain Chemistry

• Rolf says: “I recently binged on podcasts during a multi-stop journey to the West Coast. Much of what I listened to was, as usual, nonfiction (highlights include Snap Judgment’s “The Badlands,” Unfictional’s “Louie Louie,” and Bill Simmons going meta with Marc Maron on why podcasts are a great format).
• He adds: “But what set this trip apart is that I dug into fictional podcasts for the first time — and I was mesmerized by The Truth, which is the podcast equivalent of a sci-fi TV series like Black Mirror. The anthology format lets you skip around the archives in any manner you wish, and while there are many episodes to love (Moon Graffiti, for example, or The Decider), “Brain Chemistry” stood out for its whimsical exploration of what’s at stake when a cryogenically frozen man is revived in the future.”

Are you a podcaster who’d like to be featured? Let me know.

Guest Appearances By…

Andrés, José Recode Decode

Baker, Mike The Joe Rogan Experience

• Almost 3 hours with the former CIA covert operations director.

Berninger, Matt Celebration Rock

• Convo with The National singer, with guitarist/keyboardist Aaron Dessner.

Bloom, Rachel WTF with Marc Maron, ID10T

• “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star and co-creator tells Maron, “The way I treat roller coasters is the way I think my husband thinks about women.”

Brie, Alison How Did This Get Made?

Brooks, Danielle 2 Dope Queens

Case, Neko Bullseye

• Still so good.

Close, Glenn The New Yorker Radio Hour

Collison, John and Patrick How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with the brothers behind Stripe.

Daniel, Britt Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

• Spoon co-founder plays the game.

Davidson, Adam Longform Podcast

• New Yorker staff writer on Trump, money, writing.

Dessner, Aaron Celebration Rock

• Convo with The National guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter, with singer Matt Berninger.

Dowd, Ann Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

Edwards, Kellee Outside Podcast

• On her journey from bank teller to Travel Channel show host.

Eisenberg, Jesse Kondabolu Brothers

Eubank, Zac Nerdificent

• Convo with the “Chief Executive Overlord” of Hyper RPG.

Fallows, Jim and Deb The Ezra Klein Show

• Couple talks about their new book, “Our Towns.”

Fugelsang, John Fake the Nation

Gay, Roxane Queery, Ask Me Another

• “Do what you want to do, and be good to other humans,” says the writer.

Giamatti, Paul The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Haberman, Maggie I Have to Ask

• Convo with New York Times White House correspondent/Trump whisperer.

Hanh, Thich Nhat Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Convo with the Buddhist monk, author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

Hammond Jr., Albert Talkhouse

• Strokes guitarist and maker of this excellent song in conversation with Andrew W.K.

Hodgman, John Fake the Nation

Hung, William The Word from Mouth

• Even that guy from American Idol has a podcast.

Hsu, Hua The Treatment

Jamison, Leslie Bookworm

• Author of “The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath” talks about the relationship between longing and what it means to drink alcohol.

King, Peter Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

• Convo with longtime football writer for Sports Illustrated.

Lawson, Nigella Eater Upsell

Malkmus, Stephen The Watch

Martin, Brett House of Carbs

• Convo with writer of GQ’s Best New Restaurants in America, 2018.

McCarthy, Melissa WTF with Marc Maron

McHale, Joel Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Marcario, Rose Recode Decode

• “Capitalism is great, but it needs to morph and change and evolve into something that makes work more meaningful,” says Patagonia’s CEO.

Meyers, Seth Off Message

Moby The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

Plepler, Richard Strictly Business

• Convo with HBO’s CEO touches on competition from Amazon and Netflix.

Pollan, Michael The Tim Ferriss Show

• Pollan goes 2+ hours with Ferriss about the science of psychedelics, the subject of his new book
• “The brain is still very poorly understood,” says Pollan.
• Ferriss says it might be his most important podcast of the last two years.

Reitman, Jason The Big Picture

Riggle, Rob The Adam Carolla Show

Schneiderman, Eric Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

• A pre-resignation conversation with the former New York Attorney General.

Scovell, Nell Recode Decode

• Writer and comedian talks about her new book.

Sinclair, Ben 2 Dope Queens

Stamos, John Curious with Josh Peck

Tapper, Jake The Gist, Larry Willmore: Black on the Air

Toobin, Jeffrey The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Thune, Nick Comedy Bang! Bang!

Wain, David R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?

• Movie director talks about being in an R.E.M. tribute band.

Weisz, Rachel Modern Love

• The actress reads Kristen Scharold’s story about looking for a husband.

W.K., Andrew Talkhouse

• Party rocker in conversation with Albert Hammond Jr.

Yang, Jimmy O. It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Youssef, Bassem Stay Tuned With Preet

• Heart surgeon turned “Jon Stewart of Egypt” talks politics, his upcoming podcast.

Zamata, Sasheer Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

One Podcast That Mesmerized Twitter

Reply All: INVCEL

The gist: “How a shy, queer Canadian woman accidentally invented one of the internet’s most toxic male communities.”

• “This week’s @replyall on incels was SO GOOD. I demand they be given their own HBO series.” — BrandyZadrozny
• “Every single person that thinks feminism isn’t absolutely necessary needs to listen to the latest episode from @replyall INVCEL” — @katiekoff
• “Expected more from this episode. Didn’t like that it solely focussed on the toxic masculinity of incel, giving a platform to sick individuals like the monster who killed 10 in Toronto. Injustice to the families of he victims. This left sour taste in my mouth” — @k1ttykat_
• “This weeks @replyall podcast may be the greatest/ funniest/ saddest allegory for organised religion ever. The @Gimletmedia team should be very, very proud of the quality of their ‘content’ as the non-kids call it.” — @JohnPudney
• “Of course a woman invented (even if by accident) something that men turned toxic. This @replyall ep on Incels is blowing my mind.” — @MereMay87

Notable New Podcasts

1) American Innovations

• Hosted by the excellent Steven Johnson, it focuses on “dramatic stories of the bright ideas and the brilliant men and women whose work has transformed the world over the last century.”

2) Lend Me Your Ears

• A six-part series on Shakespeare and politics.
• The questions at hand: “So what political currents are likely influencing Shakespeare while he’s writing his plays? What can we learn about our present political moment from reading his works now? How have theater makers wrestled with staging the politics of Shakespeare’s plays?”

3) Crazy/Genius

• The Atlantic’s new pod, hosted by Derek Thompson, offers “[b]ig questions and provocative conclusions about technology and culture.”

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Enter your email below and every Friday I’ll email you a skimmable recap of the week’s podcasts, highlighting provocative takes, great binges, new pods and a comprehensive list of notable podcast guests.

8 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts

1) “Nothing cuts tension better than Rick Astley.”

Listen: Love Letters: The Night I Became Roy Orbison (3:35)

• So says Patrick Garvin, maker of song mixes for people who’ve been dumped. The episode explores “the healing power of music after a breakup.”
• A “breakup mix is a Trojan horse for letting someone know they’re not going through it alone,” says host Meredith Goldstein.
• Here’s Garvin’s go to Astley song.
• My promise: I’m never gonna Rickroll you.

2) “We had to wake up and watch Fox & Friends, which is something I would not wish on my worst enemy.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “It’s your Justice Department!” (1:47)

• Cracks Dan Pfeiffer, about Trump’s interview on the Fox News morning show. His ramblings gave political pods material to fuel panel conversations for weeks.
• Or at least until the next thing happens in … a few hours?

3) “You have to let people be disappointing.”

Listen: It’s Been a Minute With Sam Sanders: Meg Wolitzer on “The Female Persuasion” (16:33)

• That’s Wolitzer, author of book-of-the-moment, “The Female Persuasion,” being persuasive about why some of her characters annoy each other — and readers.
• My take: That’s life.

4) “Usually children’s books challenge us to be better, and adult novels don’t really do that anymore.”

Listen: Ministry of Ideas: Child’s Play (24:04)

• The insight comes from Christina Phillips-Mattson, children’s literature scholar and guest on this terrific pod exploring why we shouldn’t be dismissive of adults reading “Harry Potter” and others books primarily marketed to younger readers.
• “When you finish a children’s book…most of the time you’re not holding an object that’s morally neutral,” says Phillips-Mattson.

5) “There is a rhetoric…of panic right now. Something has gone wrong at a level that is almost unique in American political history.”

Listen: The Ezra Klein Show: Is American democracy really in decline? A debate. (19:27)

• So says Klein, who cops to being part of the problem at times.
• This episode isn’t part of it. It’s a welcome, sober, fact-filled discussion about just how panicked we should be.

“6) Do you think that 18 million people moved here because of Hollywood?”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: 3 Things You Didn’t Know About L.A. (2:36)

• That’s NPR’s Sonari Glinton, repping the economic diversity of Los Angeles.
• The Indicator spends the week reporting stories from a city that’s as much “There Will Be Blood” as it is “La La Land,” says host Cardiff Garcia.
• Biased newsletter maker from L.A. says: “Tell ‘em, guys.”

7) “Aren’t we in the post-4/20 world at this point?”

Listen: The Press Box: Trump and Haberman, LeBron’s Sideline Interview, and the Meltdown at Harper’s (1:10)

• David Shoemaker’s tired of the media’s 4/20 obsession.
• He adds: “If we’re at a point where professional athletes are smoking weed on camera for sports media outlets, aren’t we past the point where we need to peg this on, like, national elbow-you-in-the-ribs, tee-hee, weed-smoking day?”
• My take: Yes.

8) “We are New York City public high school graduates. And that is like Navy SEAL training for roasting people.”

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA Craziness Plus the Return of Desus and Mero (1:34:33)

• Viceland’s Desus & Mero know their edge. You’re warned.

Go Deep

1) The Golden State Killer

Listen: My Favorite Murder, Generation Why, Crime Writers On…

• It’s a justified nine fucks, two shits intro for Karen and Georgia on My Favorite Murder. Like everyone in the true crime podcast community (and all of humanity, presumably), they’re blown away by the arrest of the Golden State Killer.
• Background: A decades-ago string of unsolved murders and rapes in California became an obsession for writer Michelle McNamara. She tragically passed away before publication of her book on the GSK, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.” The book became a bestseller, and helped lead to this week’s arrest.
• Crime Writers On… commemorates the moment with the release of its inaugural true crime book club pod about IBGINT, and a second pod reacting to the arrest.

2) The Struggle for Equality in Global Women’s Soccer

Listen: Planet Futbol with Grant Wahl (Part 1, Part 2)

• A panel discussion comprises this two-part pod about the status of women’s soccer worldwide.
• Panelists: Jean Williams, Shireen Ahmed, Gwendolyn Oxenham.

3) “Mr. Brightside”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• PUTJ goes deep on The Killers’ classic.
• My take: Stop it. The song needs no punch up.

4) “Put Your Money On Me”

Listen: Song Exploder

• Arcade Fire’s Win Butler takes 22 minutes to break down his band’s song and declares his love for the 808.
• His other inspirations: Marvin Gaye, Harry Nilsson and ABBA.

Guest Appearances By…

Burgess, Tim This Must Be The Gig

• The Charlatans frontman once put a headlock put on Iggy Pop.

Burke, Tarana WorkLife with Adam Grant

• Founder of #MeToo movement appears with Ronan Farrow and Ashley Judd.

Crosby, David Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Danner, Blythe The Goop Podcast

• Gwyneth and her mom on mothers and daughters.

Farrow, Ronan The Josh Marshall Podcast, The Gist, WorkLife with Adam Grant, Stay Tuned with Preet

• So. Much. Pulitzer. Winner.

Gawande, Atul Freakonomics Radio

• Surgeon/professor/writer for The New Yorker on the state of health care.

Gay, Jason House of Carbs

• WSJ sports columnist tried to eat at a nice restaurant accompanied by children, talks about it.

Green, Seth Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

• Actor talks zero gravity and working with bears.

Hader, Bill The Watch

Inslee, Jay Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

• Gov. of Washington on decarbonization, standing up to Trump.

Jacobson, Abbi Modern Love

• “Broad City” actress/writer reads an essay about a carboholic.

Judd, Ashley WorkLife with Adam Grant

• “Silence breaker” talk’s #MeToo with Ronan Farrow and Tarana Burke.

Kendzior, Sarah Otherppl with Brad Listi

• Convo with the author of “The View from Flyover Country.”

Manning, Chelsea Talkhouse

• In conversation with Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokno.

Martin, Giles The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• Convo with legendary producer George Martin’s son.

Nissenblatt, Arielle Bitrate

• EarBuds Podcast Collective founder talks about the power of listening.

Oswalt, Patton Maltin on Movies

Payne, Alexander Cooking by Ear

• Make vegetable gratin with the director of “Election”/former Chez Panisse intern.

Riggle, Rob The Adam Carolla Show

Robinson, Phoebe Comedy Bang! Bang!, Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

• On the beginnings of “2 Dope Queens,” a visit to a hot tub.

Ross, Tracee Ellis Ted Talks Daily

Schumer, Amy Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Oprah goes 64 minutes with the comedian/actress/author.

Sinclair, Ben Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

• Convo with the “High Maintenance” star.

Smith, Ben The Jamie Weinstein Show

• Buzzfeed’s EIC talks politics, defends publishing the Steele Dossier.

Srinivasan, Balaji Conversations With Tyler

• CTO of Coinbase on the promise of the blockchain.

Tapper, Jake Fresh Air

Thile, Chris You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Thompson, Nicholas The Tim Ferriss Show

• Convo with the EIC of Wired.

Tolokno, Nadya Talkhouse

• In conversation with Chelsea Manning.

Vande Hei, Mark Radiolab

• The astronaut dials in to the pod. From space.

Whitford, Bradley WTF with Marc Maron

• “If you’re good and you want it, maybe you won’t be an actor, but you can have a life in storytelling,” says the actor.

Winkler, Henry The Watch

Yorn, Pete Celebration Rock

• Musician talks about his upcoming collaboration with Scarlett Johansson.

Zhao, Chloé The Treatment

• Convo with the director of “The Rider.”

One Podcast That Mesmerized Twitter

The Habitat

Gimlet’s seven-part pod about six volunteers living in an imitation Mars habitat dropped last Thursday. Listeners are still digesting it. Also, they havefeelings.

• “Stop what you’re doing and listen to The Habitat by @Gimletmedia. Most bingeable podcast since Serial.” — @mentink21

• “It sure is a podcast about six people who do fuck all for a year.” — @ThePodReport

• “I literally threw my headphones across the room. Lookin at you@Gimletmedia. I loved Habitat but the chewing was TOO MUCH” — @Bazteki

• “Highly recommend if you like science, claustrophobia and gossiping.” — @pageantmalarkey

• “i never thought i would be into a podcast about space and rockets and@NASA but turns out: i just needed @LynnRLevy.” — @almutheva

Pick From a Podcaster

This week’s podcaster: Adela is founder of Podcast Brunch Club, which is like book club, but for podcasts. The PBC podcast is a podcast version of the monthly conversations that are happening at Podcast Brunch Club chapter meetings IRL all over the world.

Adela’s pick: The Moth Radio Hour: Surviving Being Human

• Adela says: “The episode includes stories about overcoming adversity, fear, and the power of the human spirit. The second story wrecked me. When given an opportunity to find out about his past, he asked, ‘My mother?’ and his voice cracked as he told the audience about that conversation.”
• She adds: “That was the moment during his story that I got the chills and tears welled up in my eyes.”

Are you a podcaster who’d like to be featured? Let me know.

Notable New Podcasts

The Dave Chang Show

• A food and culture pod from influential chef/aspiring media mogul Dave Chang.

• “Dave and a rotating cast of smart, thought-provoking guests talk about their inspirations, failures, successes, fame, and identities.”

How It Is

• A pod from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media brand, where “women tell our own stories, in our own words, and share the truths we’ve learned and lived through.”

• Diane Guerrero hosts.

We Came to Win

• Gimlet’s first sports pod focuses on the stories of “the greatest moments of the World Cup.”

The Infinite City

• “[S]tories of people and place, design and belonging, survival and celebration.”

• The first six-episode season focuses on Belfast.

Thanks for reading! Find us on Twitter @WeekInPodcasts.

1) “I, for one, am very excited to stay at the Trump Pyongyang.”

Pod Save America: “Give Ruth a Break.” (LIVE from Houston, March 9 (6:05)

• Jon Lovett senses a motive in President Trump’s acceptance of Kim Jong Un’s invitation to talk.

2) “We all need to cultivate a more relaxed attitude about what we’re eating.”

The Sporkful: Why Won’t Anyone Invite Michael Pollan To Dinner?, March 5 (4:45)

• Says Pollan, who is indeed the same man who says don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
• Invite him to dinner, though, and he promises he won’t ask you the provenance of your eggs.

3) “When your life’s at stake, it’s easy to do research.”

Deviate With Rolf Potts: Adventure writer Tim Cahill on fear, and what it’s like to be dead for ten minutes, March 6 (15:55)

• Cahill, the “godfather of literary outdoor journalism,” riffs on his motivations and his near-death experience in the Grand Canyon.

4) “The kids are born with information warfare in their DNA.”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: The “Infocalypse,” Conspiracies, and the Future of the Internet With BuzzFeed’s Charlie Warzel (Ep. 334), March 5 (25:27)

• Says Warzel, analyzing the social media response of the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting vs. trolls.
• Warzel focuses on the internet’s evolution. Prevailing thought: It’s gonna get dark. Much darker.

5) “They hate us. They really hate us.”

Recode Decode: Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg on techlash and #MeToo, March 7 (10:48)

• That’s host Kara Swisher, with her take on Americans’ current attitude toward tech companies.
• She and Sandberg talk Facebook and #MeToo at the Lesbians Who Tech summit.

6) “The Presidency didn’t break him.”

“And he didn’t break the country.”

Still Processing: We Paint the Town Obama, March 8 (24:36)

• Takes from Jenna Wortham (quote #1) and Wesley Morris (quote #2) upon seeing President Barack Obama’s portrait at D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery.
• The pair recorded in the gallery, beautifully capturing their giddy, raw reactions and their extended analysis of Barack and Michelle’s portraits. A mesmerizing pod.

7) “[It’s] kind of crazy to say it’s a crazy story about Josephine Baker, because her whole life is just unimaginable.”

The Nod: Josephine and the Amazing Technicolor Rainbow Tribe, March 5 (1:59)

• That’s Emanuele Berry, on the entertainer/activist/spy’s attempt to build a “racial utopia” by adopting kids from multiple races and bringing them home to a 16th century French chateau.

8) “Love is a verb, and not a noun.”

This Movie Changed Me: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, March 6 (21:35)

• Says Chaitanya Kumar, about lessons learned from the 50 times (!) he’s seen “Eternal Sunshine.”

9) “It’s kind of a bummer that only a certain type of dude is being allowed to play with these action figures.”

The Watch: ‘Star Wars’ to TV and ‘The Sopranos’ to the Big Screen, Plus the Shib Sibs, March 8 (6:20)

• That’s Andy Greenwald’s take on Disney tabbing Jon Favreau to lead the “Star Wars” series for its upcoming streaming service.
• On the other hand, with Favreau, the opportunity opens up for Greenwald’s slightly off-target “Swingers” joke: “Luke is gonna leave the longest series of voicemails for Leia.”

10) “If those farts are powerful enough to upend a demon, they’re probably going to be potent enough to disturb my competition for nine innings.”

The PosCast: PosCast Draft: The Good Place Characters with Mallory Rubin, March 2 (57:15)

• That’s Rubin, with a reason she made the (obvious) first pick of Good Janet in a draft of characters from “The Good Place.”
• Good Janet, she suggests, can adopt Bad Janet’s, uh, superpower.
• A flaw in the hilarious draft: Nobody picked Maya Rudolph’s Judge Gen.

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Go Deep

Eight Degrees of Bruce Springsteen

Celebration Rock: 20th Century Boss, Feb. 12-March 5

Bruce Springsteen “had one of the great runs in rock history” from the mid-70s to the ‘90s, says host Steven Hyden. He and eight musicians dig into The Boss’s 20th century work, in eight episodes that explore Springsteen’s cultural significance and rise.

• If you have any romantic ideas of New Jersey (it’s possible!), Bruce probably implanted them, says Hyden.
• Hyden leads the conversation with a sharp critical eye, but it’s the musicians who lend a fascinating perspective.
• Musicians Brian Fallon, Jeff Rosenstock, Julien Baker, Patrick Stickles, Phoebe Bridgers, Patterson Hood, John Darnielle and Tim Showalter all share their love.

If you listen to just one: Try Phoebe Bridgers on “Nebraska,” the rawest and most intimate of the releases covered.

• Hyden places the 1982 album on a continuum with Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes and Bon Iver’s work.
• Says Bridgers: “One of my favorite things about him as a writer is I feel like the craziest things are the things he leaves in the spaces.”

Spoiler: The best Springsteen album is “Nebraska.”

Go deeper: Hear Marc Maron’s celebrated interview with Springsteen, David Remnick’s New Yorker Radio Hour interview and The Moment’s Brian Koppelman on “Nebraska” on My Favorite Album.

Guest Appearances By…

Achatz, Grant The J.J. Redick Podcast

• El Bulli made the influential chef feel like he was on Mars

Bosh, Chris The Bill Simmons Podcast

• Two-parter with two-time NBA champ

Buck, Joe Pardon My Take

Callen, Bryan The Joe Rogan Experience

Carden, D’Arcy Lovett or Leave It

• “The Good Place” actress plays the woman who’s never heard of Trump

Coe, Tyler Mahan Rockin’ the Suburbs

• Three-part series with New Yorker-praised Cocaine & Rhinestones host

Eisen, Norm Pod Save America

• Former Ethics Czar for Obama administration

Finley, Ron Forked Up

• “Gangsta Gardner” talks changing underserved communities

Flake, Jeff The Axe Files

Gebbia, Joe The Tim Ferriss Show

• Almost 3 hours with a co-founder of Airbnb

Grann, David The New Yorker Radio Hour

• Shares his amazing story about Antarctic explorer Henry Worsley

Kennedy, Joe The Ezra Klein Show

• The Democratic house member from Massachusetts

Kimmel, Jimmy The Bill Simmons Podcast

• A post-Oscars debrief from the jet ski giver away-er

Mayer, Jane Fresh Air, The New Yorker Radio Hour

• She talks about her jaw-dropping Christopher Steele story

Medine, Leandra Skimm’d from The Couch

• Convo with Man Repeller founder

Miller, Von Pardon My Take

• Dancing with the Stars contestant/Super Bowl MVP talks football

Nash, Steve Planet Fútbol with Grant Wahl

• Basketball legend talks about his passion: soccer

Oliver, John Fresh Air

Oprah The Goop Podcast

• First guest on Gwyneth’s new pod

Oyelowo, David WTF with Marc Maron, Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Reid, Robert This Week in Travel

• Travel media neglects Russia, says travel writer

Schiff, Adam Stay Tuned with Preet

Scott, Adam Armchair Expert

• The actor/RU Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME? host loves Will Ferrell and Spike Lee

Shields, Kevin All Songs Considered

• He goes deep about his seminal record with My Bloody Valentine, “Loveless”

Simpson, Sturgill The Joe Rogan Experience

• Three-hour pod with critics’ fave country artist

Stone, Sharon WTF with Marc Maron

Whitaker, Forest Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Will.i.am I Am Rapaport

• He’s got a nuanced take on Fergie’s national anthem performance at the NBA All-Star Game

Pick From a Podcaster

This week’s guest: Matt Elzweig, whose Falling Uphill is “a podcast about ordinary people in unthinkable situations, flying blind and hoping for the best.”

• Adds Matt: “I made the first episode as a one-off with no specific purpose in mind except to record a friend’s insane job interview story. Then I realized it had a common theme which became the basis for the podcast.”

Matt’s pick:  Happy Hour: “Blend In and Stay Out the Sun”

Happy Hour, a podcast from It’s New Orleans, “is a cocktail-fueled 60 minutes of random conversation with folks who have nothing in common, other than being New Orleanians in a bar.”

• Matt says: “If you love New Orleans, this podcast is the next best thing to actually being there. Even if you don’t, it brings together the most unlikely of companions and a host who isn’t afraid to push his guests’ buttons to get them talking. The latest features a singer, a lawyer, and a developmental psychologist.”

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