5 Pod Takes

1) “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth does that mean it’s not real?”

Listen: Binge Mode: The Farewell | Harry Potter(2:06:41)

• That’s Mallory Rubin, channeling Albus Dumbledore in an emotional finale to the epic 68-episode deep dive into the world of Harry Potter she undertook with co-host Jason Concepcion.
• Says Rubin: “[The words] embody why we love stories. They remind us that ink and paper can be stronger than concrete or metal or any other building block. They convey in a single sentence, the unsurpassed power of fantasy to unlock in each and every one of us a world of infinite possibility.”

2) “I am trying to create a stable community in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured, and ya gotta do that somewhere.”

Listen: Anthropocene Reviewed: Indianapolis and Love at First Sight (10:13)

• That’s John Green, channeling Kurt Vonnegut and explaining why he lives in Indianapolis.
• Green’s verdict on Naptown: 4 stars.

3) “We’re all going to leave here best friends holding hands and running off into the sunset together.”

“On a unicorn.”

Listen: Conversations With People Who Hate Me: I Hate Amanda Palmer (20:29)

• That’s Dylan Marron (setup) and musician Amanda Palmer (kicker), with their ideal outcome to Palmer’s conversation with a woman who tweeted, “I’m not sure I hate any celebrity the way I hate Amanda Palmer.”

4) “You can’t just delegate that responsibility to an algorithm.”

Listen: The Fatherly Podcast: Children Have Horrible Taste in Music: Can They Rise Above Baby Shark? (23:01)

• That’s John Schaefer, imploring parents to be active in shaping their kids’ musical tastes, lest they discover “Cat Flushing a Toilet.”

5) “Would you rather watch Maroon 5 yammer their way through whatever adult alternative songs they have?…Or a marching band that makes really cool shapes and a dancing bear?”

Listen: The Great Debates: Super Bowl Special 2019 (5:07)

• That’s Mina Kimes, with the winning proposal for the ideal Super Bowl halftime show.
• My take: Go Rams!

Go Deep

1) Super Bowl Prop Bets

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast, Against All Odds

• A 2-hour, 21-minute deep dive that may help you figure out if you should bet on how long it will take Gladys Knight to sing the national anthem during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

2) “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

Listen: Finale

• The pod goes 29 minutes on Buffy’s last episode.

3) “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• A 1-hour, 34-minute deep dive into the Green Day classic.

Guest Appearances By…

Burgess, Titus It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Carvey, Dana Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Cenac, Wyatt The Art of Process with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo

• Writer, actor and comedian is the debut guest on the new pod about creativity.

Chotiner, Isaac Pod Save America

• A guest spot for Twitter’s favorite interviewer.

Colman, Olivia David Tennant Does a Podcast With…

• Star of “The Favourite” is the debut guest on Tennant’s pod.

Cooper, Bradley The Treatment

Cuban, Mark Freakonomics Radio

Dion, Celine The Dan Wootton Interview

Eggers, Dave Peace Of Mind with Bhi Bhiman

Frum, David Stay Tuned with Preet

Fry, Stephen Making Sense with Sam Harris

Gaffigan, Jim ID10T

Hodgman, John Comedy Bang! Bang!

Jamil, Jameela Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

• Tahani!

Janney, Allison WTF with Marc Maron

Kahneman, Daniel On Being

Kane, Carol Bullseye

Klosterman, Chuck The Bill Simmons Podcast

Mandel, Howie KFC Radio

Nowitzki, Dirk The Lowe Post

Peña, Michael Armchair Expert

Savage, Dan Queery

Sims, Cliff Kickass News, 1A

Soderbergh, Steven The Bill Simmons Podcast

Tomkins, Paul F. Comedy Bang! Bang!

Notable New Podcasts

1) The Art of Process with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo

• The musical collaborators team to chat up their “friends across the creative spectrum to find out how they work.”

2) Murder Book

• True crime alert: Novelist Michael Connellyinvestigates “a thirty-year-old Hollywood killing that tests the limits of the American criminal justice system.”

3) Case Closed

• More true crime: Based on the book “Secrets of a Marine’s Wife,” the podcast “investigates the murder of Erin Corwin, who was just 19 years old when she kissed her husband Jon goodbye at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California, and headed to Joshua Tree National Park to scout hiking trails. It was the last time he would ever see her alive.”

4) Le Batard & Friends – STUpodity

• Sports media personality Stugotz’s new pod is currently No. 1 on the iTunes chart.

5) Extraterrestrial

• New Parcast podcast promises to “examine reports of a different alien occurrence, and land on the most plausible explanation.” It’s currently No. 11 on iTunes.

6) Julie: The Unwinding of the Miracle

• The late Julie Yip-Williams, who died from colon cancer, chronicles the “process of preparing for her death and revisiting the events of her extraordinary life, through hours of intensely personal and revealing conversations.” It’s a companion to her posthumous memoir, “The Unwinding of the Miracle.”

7) We Called Your Mom

• Beth Stelling and her mom Diane “call up the mothers of artists & comedians you love to chat them up about their super talented children.”

8) The Intelligence

• The latest daily news podcast comes from The Economist.

9) David Tennant Does a Podcast With…

• Beloved Scottish actor and 16th Sexiest Man in the World (source: Cosmopolitan, 2008) “gets talking with the biggest names from TV, movies, comedy and elsewhere.”

10) Russia Rising

• A seven-part investigative series goes “inside Putin’s Russia to unravel its mysterious evolution from tenuous ally to potential global threat.”

11) Peace Of Mind with Bhi Bhiman

• The indie musician bills his podcast as an album and a podcast.

12) Let’s Get Civical

• It’s “part civics class and part comedy show,” hosted by Lizzie Stewart and Arden Walentowski.

13) The Strategerist

• The George W. Bush Institute’s contribution to podcasting channels “the 43rd President, late night sketch comedy, and interesting conversation.”

14) Once Upon a Timestamp

• Randi Zuckerberg and Natasha Lewin create “modernized, empowering recreations of outdated, crusty old fairy tales.”

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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.

5 Pod Takes

1) “How does Paul Bunyan’s ox say hello?”

“How?”

“It’s a blue wave.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “We won.” (3:35)

• That’s Jon Lovett, with the corny but satisfyingly accurate take about the results of the U.S. midterm elections. Straight-man assist to Jon Favreau.
• The Democrats captured the House of Representatives and more than 300 seats in state legislatures, a “blue wave” of political change.

2) “It’s such a long list [of potential investigations] it’s hard to remember all of this stuff.”

Listen: Trump, Inc.: So What Trump Investigations Could Be Coming (21:49)

• That’s Eric Umansky of ProPublica, who foresees so many potential investigations of the Trump administration he needs four buckets to put them in.
• Those investigative buckets: 1) Trump’s business dealings. 2) Foreign government spending on Trump’s businesses currently. 3) Influencers and accessors. 4) Corruption among government agencies.
• The pod’s guests are the “1927 Yankees of Trump corruption.“
• They are: Umansky, David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post, Anita Kumar of McClatchy and Adam Davidson of The New Yorker.

3) “The brain, as busy as it can be, is actually very lazy.”

Listen: On Being: James Doty — The Magic Shop of the Brain (7:37)

• That’s Krista Tippett, recounting a story told to Doty about why magic tricks work.
• Why? Because “[m]ost people who are watching a magic show aren’t really there watching the magic show. They are regretting something they did yesterday, or worrying about something that might happen tomorrow.”
• Doty adds: “There was a study that was done that showed that the average person, almost 80 percent of the time, they’re not focused on the present, they’re focused on exactly that: regret about the past or anxiety about the future.”

4) “Life is a team sport.”

Listen: Maltin on Movies: Ryan Coogler (16:36)

• That’s “Black Panther” director Coogler, talking about one of the things that he and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common.
• Coogler talks to Leonard and Jessie Maltin about the doc “RBG” and what it takes to be successful in the movie business, as well as their personal connection. Coogler took a class of Maltin’s when he studied at USC.

5) “There’s one thing we’ve learned as a species about email, that’s all caps means you’re shouting. And basically we haven’t learned anything else.”

Listen: HBR IdeaCast: Avoiding Miscommunications In A Digital World (7:34)

• That’s communications expert Nick Morgan on the medium you’re reading this on.
• Fact check: False. We’ve learned email is splendid for learning about podcasts.

Go Deep

1) “All the President’s Men”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• The Ringer takes a timely deep dive into politics and conspiracies in the 1976 political thriller about Watergate.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

2) “Election”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

• The pod takes an equally timely deep dive into elections, analyzing the excellent 1999 black comedy.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

3) The WWI Armistice

Listen: Conversations

• The Australian pod reflects on the 100th anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended WWI with a series of stories related to the moment.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 37 minutes.

4) Napster vs. Record Labels

Listen: Business Wars

• BW goes back to 2000 with a seven-part series on the fight between file-sharing system Napster and record labels.
• The crux: Could people could download music for free? Or was it stealing music?

• Binge time: 2 hours, 58 minutes.

5) Civil Rights

Listen: American History Tellers

• AHT goes wayyy back to the 1860s and Honest Abe to tell the history of the fight for civil rights for black Americans.
• Binge time: 4 hours, 18 minutes.

6) The Last Episode of “The Office”

Listen: Finale

• The pod analyzes the final episode of the U.S. version of “The Office.”

Guest Appearances By…

Aikman, Troy Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Bocelli, Andrea Inside the Studio

Boi, Big Song Exploder

• Musician breaks down “Order of Operations.”

Bowie, John Ross Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Butterfield, Stewart The Secret History of the Future

Cody, Diablo I Think You’re Interesting

Cohen, Ben Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

• That’s Ben of Ben & Jerry’s fame. Americone Dream, all the way.

Cohn, Nate I Have to Ask

Coyle, Daniel Nobody Told Me!

Crawford, Cindy Oprah’s Master Class

Daltrey, Roger Kickass News

Dacus, Lucy Talkhouse

Dorian, Shane The Joe Rogan Experience

• Convo with the big-wave surfer.

Duplass, Mark Armchair Expert

Earnhardt Jr., Dale The Joe Rogan Experience

Field, Sally Monocle 24: The Big Interview

Freston, Kathy Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Gethard, Chris Kickass News

Green, John Death, Sex & Money

Greenfield, Jerry Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

• That’s Jerry of Ben & Jerry’s fame. I’m still team Americone Dream.

Harris, Sam TED Talks Daily

Helms, Ed Ask Me Another

Honnold, Alex Curious with Josh Peck

Jacobs, A.J. The Tim Ferriss Show

Jacobson, Abbi It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Keep It

Johnson, Gary Gov. Lost in America

Kinnear, Greg The Bill Simmons Podcast

Klores, Dan The Bill Simmons Podcast

• The director talks about his 20-hour (!) documentary “Basketball: A Love Story.”

Kotb, Hoda The Thrive Global Podcast with Arianna Huffington

Koy, Jo The Brilliant Idiots

Lamott, Anne Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Leonard, Franklin TED Talks Daily

Lincoln, Sadie How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with founder of Barre3.

Lonergan, Kenneth Studio 360

Mantzoukas, Jason Comedy Bang! Bang!

Marshall, Frank FilmStruck

McElroy, Travis Off Book

McMillon, Doug The Tim Ferriss Show

• Convo with CEO of Walmart.

Mitchell, Finesse The Adam Carolla Show

Mogahed, Dalia The TED Interview

Myles, Eileen Bookworm

Neyfakh, Leon The Ezra Klein Show

O’Reilly, Bill The Adam Carolla Show

P, Christina The Joe Rogan Experience, The H3 Podcast

Pagels, Elaine Fresh Air

Pelosi, Nancy Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

• Convo with the likely next U.S. Speaker of the House, conducted before the midterms.

Pike, Rosamund Off Camera with Sam Jones

Plymell, Charles Deviate with Rolf Potts

Reitman, Jason Playback

Reznor, Trent The Treatment

Rich, Simon Bullseye

Ripken Jr., Cal Pardon My Take

• He’s anti-bat flip. Boo.

Roach, Yusef Culture Kings

Ross, Tracee Ellis Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Rubin, Gretchen Nobody Told Me!

Rudner, Rita WTF with Marc Maron

Salonen, Esa-Pekka Monocle 24: The Big Interview

Schnabel, Julian The Director’s Cut

Schriock, Stephanie Hysteria

Schumer, Amy Pretty Big Deal

Schwarzenegger, Arnold The Axe Files

Shearer, Harry The New Yorker Radio Hour

Sheraton, Mimi The Gist with Mike Pesca

• Convo with the NYT’s first female food critic.

Sigler, Jamie Lynn Inside of You

Skipper, John Recode Media with Peter Kafka

Sulzberger, A.G. Recode Decode

Tierney, Maura Anna Faris is Unqualified

Tolokonnikova, Nadya The Jordan Harbinger Show

Tompkins, Paul F. Comedy Bang! Bang!

Traister, Rebecca Waking Up with Sam Harris

Wambach, Abby Planet Futbol

Weinzweig, Ari Eater Upsell

Williams, Paige Longform Podcast

Yeun, Steven The Dave Chang Show

Notable New Podcasts

1) Imagined Life

• The pod’s an “immersive journey through the surprising moments and challenges that shaped someone’s life before they were famous.”

2) Forever Ago

• New Brains On pod is a family-friendly history show with episodes that explore “the origin of just one thing — like sandwiches, video games, clocks and more — while teaching listeners to think critically about history.”

3) Prognosis

• An eight-episode series from Bloomberg’s business health team “explores the leading edge of medical advances.”

4) The End of the World with Josh Clark

• It’s “a 10-episode deep dive that explores the future of humanity and finds dangers we have never encountered before lurking just ahead.”

5) Chat Sematary

• The pod dives deep into Stephen King’s books and their adaptations. Deanna Chapman hosts.

6) Players with Lindsay Czarniak

• Former ESPNer Czarniak interviews country music personalities about sports.

Shouts to Zachary Davis and everyone at Sound Education for a superb conference last week. So many new-to-me podcasts to consider for upcoming weeks.

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