Pod Take of the Week

“I’m not saying feral hogs is the only thing we should talk about as a country. I get that there’s a lot going on right now. But I just feel like feral hogs should be in the top 10.”

Listen: Reply All: 30-50 Feral Hogs (7:29)

• That’s PJ Vogt, doing what he and Reply All do so well: He investigates an issue that flared on the internet, and tells an incredible story about a pressing modern-day concern.
• At the center: A viral tweet from Willie McNabb, who wrote, “Legit question for rural Americans – How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?”
• Vogt interviews McNabb and many others to show how what much of the internet took as an opportunity to mock is a bonkers critical issue. 
• Stat: More than 5 million feral hogs roam the U.S. It’s a massive problem.

Go Deep

1) China and the NBA

Listen: The Journal, The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Gist, The Daily, Today, Explained

• Houston Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey tweeted about the protests in Hong Kong. With a single image and seven words, a global crisis erupted. 
• These podcasts do a good job of breaking down the state of play. 

2) Outrage

Listen: Hidden Brain

• The NPR pod takes a deep dive into “how outrage is hijacking our conversations, our communities, and our minds.”

3) Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN.

Listen: Dissect

• The pod kicks off a season-long deep dive into the Pulitzer Prize-winning album. 

4) The Best Rappers of All Time

Listen: expediTIously with Tip “T.I.” Harris

• The rapper picks the best 50 rappers in a two-part series. 
• Binge time: 1 hour, 42 minutes

5) Rooney v. Vardy

Listen: Ringer Dish, Who? Weekly

• Take a deep dive into the saga of Wagatha Christie, aka Colleen Rooney. 
• The wife of soccer/football star Wayne Rooney played detective on Instagram and…well, if you don’t know the story, I won’t spoil it. 
• Or, just wait for the inevitable six-part podcast series. 

Guest Appearances By…

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

Abagnale, Frank The Perfect Scam

• The “Catch Me if You Can” man quizzes you on scams. 

Brown, Brené In Pursuit

Brown, Karamo Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Brownstein, Carrie This Song

• The Sleater-Kinney mainstay talks about Rihanna’s “Stay.”

Budden, Joe Hotboxin with Mike Tyson

Busey, Gary Pardon My Take

Chriqui, Emmanuelle Life is Short with Justin Long

Colvin, Shawn The National Podcast of Texas

Conway, George Stay Tuned with Preet

Dennings, Kat Wine & Crime

Dessa The Open Ears Project

Diggs, Daveed Bullseye

Eisenberg, Jesse The Open Ears Project

Ellroy, James Monocle 24: The Big Interview

Fiorina, Carly Recode Decode

Hamilton, Argus WTF with Marc Maron

Harjo, Joy Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Hill, Jemele Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Jones, Radhika Longform Podcast

• Convo with the editor of Vanity Fair.

Kroll, Nick The Bill Simmons Podcast

Kunis, Mila Andrea Savage: A Grown-Up Woman #buttholes

Letterman, David Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Maddow, Rachel Pod Save America

Marshall, Winston The Road Taken

Pitbull Latino USA

Phair, Liz Studio 360

Platt, Ben The Big Ticket

Rajskub, Mary Lynn Doughboys

• The actress reviews Moe’s Southwest Grill.

Redban, Brian The Joe Rogan Experience 

Robertson, Robbie The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Serrano, Shea Recode Media, Yo, Is This Racist?, Unspooled, The Bill Simmons Podcast

• Internet hero makes the pod rounds to promote his new book, “Movies (and Other Things)” 

Shields, Brooke The Ron Burgundy Podcast

Singh, Lilly Anna Faris is Unqualified

Tippett, Krista Pod Save the People

Tollefson, Carrie Another Mother Runner

Tweedy, Jeff Rolling Stone Music Now, All Songs Considered

Tyler the Creator Broken Record

Wu, Constance The Thrive Global Podcast

Notable New Podcasts

1) The Last Voyage of the Pong Su 

• The Australian true crime pod tells the tale of a “North Korean dictator, bags of heroin, drug lords, spooks, sailors, Australian cops and a web of lies.”

2) Striped: The Story of the White Stripes 

• A deep dive into the White Stripes’ debut album and how Jack and Meg White “sowed the seeds of worldwide rock and roll domination.” 

3) The Undercovers 

• The podcast looks at the life and work of undercover federal law enforcers, and includes “unbelievable, adventurous, shockingly, violent, and harrowing stories.” Ed O’Neill hosts. 

4) American Elections: Wicked Game

• The Wondery podcast “will explore all 58 presidential elections to discover if there ever was a ‘good ol’ days,’ or if presidential politics have always been played dirty.”

5) California Burning

• The North State Public Radio podcast investigates how California’s “fire-prone forests have been managed and examines how we can all be better stewards of the land and avoid catastrophic wildfires in the future.”

6) Derailed

• The Wisconsin Public Radio podcast tells the story of a failed high-speed rail line between Madison and Milwaukee. 

7) Inside The Big Day Out 

• On “the rise and fall of the world’s biggest touring music festival.” From Australia’s Triple J.

8) Andrea Savage: A Grown-Up Woman #buttholes

• A “comedy podcast that every week is going to introduce another weird, hilarious, unique ‘grown up’ celebrity guest to prove that even though you are technically an ‘adult,’ you don’t have to be a total loser.” 

9) The Challengers

• Actress Amy Brenneman leads conversations about challenges we face “and how they have the potential to be our greatest teachers.” 

10) Feedback with EarBuds 

• A weekly podcast from friend-of-the-newsletter Earbuds Podcast Collective that corresponds with the weekly EarBuds podcast newsletter. 

11) Moonface

• A scripted podcast about “a Korean American son who wants to come out to his mom, but can’t because they don’t speak the same language.” 

12) Camp Monsters

• The REI podcast reveals “the stories of impossible encounters with impossible creatures in the wildest corners of North America.” 

13) Good Game: How Games Play Us

• A pod about video games and how they can “tell you about yourself and the way you see the world.”

14) The Storyteller: Murder Most Foul

• A true-crime podcast set in Scotland on the 20th anniversary of a brutal murder. 

And One to Look Forward To: Bad Batch (Oct. 23)

• A six-part investigative series about patients who are “offered a miracle cure, but instead they end up rushed to the hospital in critical condition.” 

And one more thing: Sunday’s #ShareYourBudsSunday, a day to share your love of podcasts with family and friends. Learn more from #ShareYourBudsSunday co-founders and friends of the newsletter, Earbuds Podcast Collective and Podcast Gumbo.

Pod Take of the Week

“It’s like they’re trying to rescue and preserve the last remaining copy of ‘Hamlet’”

Listen: Culture Gabfest: Iconic Staircase (26:29)

• That’s Stephen Metcalf, joking about HGTV’s sugary, much-hyped renovation of the Brady Bunch house on “A Very Brady Renovation.”
• HGTV marshalls eight hosts to join with the six Brady “kids” for a reno project: turn the real-life house that represented the exterior of the Brady home into a replica of the house depicted on the show’s set.
• My take: I’m so here for it. I love the collision of Slate’s over-intellectualization of “The Brady Bunch” and my own deep childhood love for the show.

Go Deep

1) President Trump and the Impeachment Inquiry 

• Emergency pods spawned even emergencier pods all week. I didn’t keep up. I followed the revelations about the whistle-blower’s complaint against President Trump and his Ukraine-related actions in real time. 
• If you need to catch up, the six top-ranked Trumpy pods of the week, per iTunes, are: 
• The Daily: ‘I Would Like You to Do Us a Favor’
• The Daily: The Whistle-Blower’s Complaint
• The Daily: An Impeachment Inquiry Begins
• The Ben Shapiro Show: Whistleblower Comes Up Empty
• FiveThirtyEight Politics: The Whistleblower’s Complaint
• Pod Save America: ‘Rudy Likes Club Drugs’
• Bonus: The audio version of the whistleblower’s complaint against President Trump.

2) Living with Sharks

Listen: Outside Podcast

• A 44-minute deep dive into the “extreme reactions” humans have to “living alongside one of the world’s most terrifying predators.”

3) “The Shawshank Redemption”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• A 1-hour, 50-minute dive into the movie that’s been playing on a loop on cable for almost 25 years. 
• The Ringer crew breaks it down with special guest, Bill Simmons’s dad.

4) “Do the Right Thing”

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts

• A 56-minute dive into another iconic American movie. Wesley Morris guests. 
• Morris says: “The importance of ‘Do the Right Thing’ out-lives all of the arguments against it. It embarrasses its critics, in a lot of ways. Spike Lee really is having the last laugh on this one.”

5) Skylab

Listen: American Innovations

• The pod kicks off a series on America’s first space station, known to one of the engineers that worked on it as “the little redheaded bastard out behind the barn.”

Guest Appearances By…

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

Allen, Byron WTF with Marc Maron

Ansari, Aziz Last Day

Apatow, Judd Thick Skin with Jeff Ross

Aukerman, Scott The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Blunt, James The Dan Wootton Interview

Booker, Sen. Cory The New Yorker Radio Hour

Brown, Karamo Naked with Catt Sadler

Burns, Ken Longform Podcast

Calcanis, Jason Inside Podcasting

Cannon, Nick ExpediTIously 

Carden, D’Arcy The Good Place, Comedy Bang! Bang!

• Janet!

Cummings, Whitney Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Donoghue, Emma Bookworm

Duca, Lauren The Gist

Flea The Bill Simmons Podcast

• RHCP bassist talks music, Lakers. 

Francis, Dillon The Ron Burgundy Podcast

Gaffigan, Jeannie WTF with Marc Maron

Gaffigan, Jim Armchair Expert

Galifianakis, Zach Off Camera

Garofolo, Janeane Filling the Void

Gladwell, Malcolm The goop Podcast, The Jordan Harbinger Show, Full Disclosure

• Gladwell continues the pod rounds to promote his new book. 

Gorsuch, Neil The Strategerist

• The George W. Bush Institute pod talks to the Supreme Court Justice. 

Hurd, Will TED Talks Daily

Hyland, Sarah Celeste & Her Best ($L)

Izzard, Eddie The Open Ears Project

• The comic and actor raves about “Clair de Lune.”

Kander, Jason The Al Franken Podcast 

Khanna, Parag The TED Interview

Klobuchar, Sen. Amy Radio Atlantic

Kurtis, Bill Go Fact Yourself

Leonard, Franklin Hear to Slay ($L)

• Convo with the founder of The Black List.

Levy, Dan Thirst Aid Kit

• Co-creator of “Schitt’s Creek” guests as the beloved former Buzzfeed pod re-launches at Slate. 

Ling, Lisa The Tim Ferriss Show, Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Ma, Jeff The Dave Chang Show

MacKaye, Ian Sound Opinions

• Fugazi founder talks about the band’s debut album, “Repeater.”

Meltzer, Brad Kickass News

Morales, Natalie Yo, Is This Racist?

Olson, Elizabeth UnStyled

Penn, Sean ID10T

Phillips, Lou Diamond Latino USA

Pierson, Rich How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with the co-creator of meditation app Headspace. 

Puddicome, Andy How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Same as above.

Schilling, Dave Culture Kings

Sedaris, Amy Life is Short with Justin Long

Silverman, Sarah Last Day

Soderbergh, Steven Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton

Starr, Martin Curious with Josh Peck

Thornton, Billy Bob The Bill Simmons Podcast

Van Ness, Jonathan It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Warner, Sen. Mark Recode Decode

Will, George The Axe Files ($L)

Wilson, Mara The Hilarious World of Depression

Wilson, Rainn You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Zellweger, Renee The Big Ticket

Notable New Podcasts

1) Edge of Sleep

• The No. 8 pod on iTunes is a fiction pod that focuses on a night watchman who’s “terrified to discover that everyone in the world who went to sleep the previous night has died. Now he and a band of survivors must stay awake and uncover the secret of this global epidemic, before they fall asleep.”

2) Points South 

• The tagline for the Oxford American podcast is simple and cryptic: “Southern Stories. Southern Songs.”

3) Lost at the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi

• The comedian is also a “pop culture fanatic,” and he “gets up close and personal with the most iconic artifacts at the National Museum of American History.” 

4) Past Gas

• The Donut Media pod focuses on the “craziest stories from all of automotive history.”

5) School Colors

• It’s a “narrative podcast from Brooklyn Deep about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools.”

6) Last Day

• Host Stephanie Wittels Wachs — sister of the late comedian Harris Wittels — reflects on the opioid crisis and “zoom[s] in on a person’s last day of life, exploring how they got there and how we, as a society, have gotten here.” 

7) Business Casual 

• The pod from Morning Brew features interviews with “thought leaders, CEOs, and high-profile experts.”

8) You’re Dead to Me

• Greg Jenner hosts a “history podcast for people who don’t like history or who forgot to learn any at school.” It’s a BBC Radio 4 production. 

9) Next Question with Katie Couric

• The TV host returns to podland with a show about “the people, movements, and issues changing our lives and redefining our world.”

10) Frontier Tween ($L)

• The “coming-of-age scripted comedy series from Team Coco” follows the journey of “12-year-old poet Tilly Mulch’s life on the untamed prairie.”

11) Metaphysical Milkshake ($L) 

• Hosts Rainn Wilson and Reza Aslan “tackle life’s big questions – What is spirituality? How do we walk through the world? Is Gen Z facing an epidemic of loneliness? Does money make rich people evil?”  

12) Vocal Point ($L)

• Martina McBride interviews “country music legends and her musical contemporaries, sharing life and music stories with each other and listeners.” 

And One to Look Forward To: The Road Taken (Oct. 2)

• Vampire Weekend’s rhythm section kicks off a 10-episode series about the realities of touring musicians.