This week’s counts: 53 notable guests, 13 new podcasts, four deep dives and one interview…with a podcast.

Pod Take of the Week

“I always wondered about the marketing cat who came up with that one. Personal watermelons. It’s like a watermelon you could have as a friend.” 

Listen: Over the Road: The Biggest Tailgate in Trucking (:27)

• That’s “Long Haul Paul” Marehoefer, on one kind of precious cargo he’s delivered as a long-haul trucker. 
• Marehoefer hosts this new pod, which aims to give “voice to the trials and triumphs of America’s long haul truckers.”
• He adds: “Everything you see at the store, everything you buy online, moves by truck at some point. Add it all up, we’re talking about a $700 billion industry.”
• This podcast’s got traction: It’s No. 51 on iTunes.

Go Deep

1) False Confessions

Listen: Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions

• The new series explores the sprawling question: Why would anyone confess to a crime they didn’t commit?
• Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin, co-directors at Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, host.

2) Writing a Breakup Song

Listen: How To! With Charles Duhigg

• Ben Folds helps a Canadian dentist channel his emotions and write a breakup song — and uplifts creativity as a basic human need.
• Spoiler: Rhymes include ice cream store/adore and welts/somebody else.

3) “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• A 1-hour, 15-minute dive into Meat Loaf’s 1993 epic.

4) The Criminal Underworld of Child Abuse

Listen: The Daily

• The two-part series investigates “a digital underworld of child sexual abuse imagery that is hiding in plain sight.”

Guest Appearances By…

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

Apatow, Judd Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Biggs, Jason Pardon My Take

Braff, Zach Curious with Josh Peck

Bresler, Jacob Walk-Ins Welcome w/Bridget Phetasy

Brie, Alison Armchair Expert

• The actress talks apples, wrestling, deciding to do nudity.

Carraba, Chris The Watch, Ernie Ball: Striking a Chord

Centineo, Noah The Big Ticket

Chillag, Ian Richard’s Famous Food Podcast

• Fans of Everything is Alive — and fans of crazy, inventive, WTF is happening? podcasts in general — will appreciate the first episode of the pod’s second season: Chillag conducts “the world’s first interview with a podcast (on a podcast).”

Cho, Margaret Filling the Void

Coates, Ta-Nehisi The Ezra Klein Show

Dayne, Taylor Inside of You

DMC Broken Record

Esmail, Sam The Big Picture

Estelle Questlove Supreme

Farrow, Ronan Stay Tuned with Preet, Longform Podcast, WTF with Marc Maron

Garrett, Myles ESPN Daily

Gibson, Debbie The Rhino Podcast

Graham, Heather Keep It!

Grazer, Brian Talks at Google

Green, John Without Fail

• The podcaster/author/YouTuber talks the perils of fame with Alex Blumberg.

Greer, Judy Anna Faris Is Unqualified

Hartz, Julia How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with the co-founder of Eventbrite.

Holmes, Linda Judge John Hodgman

• The Pop Culture Happy Hour host helps Hodgman handle hectic cases. 

Huebel, Rob The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Hughes, Akilah The Bechdel Cast

Judge, Phoebe Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad

Kehlmann, Daniel Monocle 24: Meet the Writers

Kimmel, Jimmy R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?

• The late night host and Huey Lewis superfan joins for a special Youey Talkin’ Huey 2ey Me? episode.

Lewis, Huey R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?

• See above RE: Youey Talkin’ Huey 2ey Me?

Lovato, Demi Pretty Big Deal with Ashley Graham

Marx, Richard The Moment with Brian Koppelman, Sodajerker On Songwriting

McClinton, Delbert Walking the Floor

McKellen, Ian The Stage Podcast: Seven Stages

Monaghan, Michelle Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Munn, Olivia StarTalk Radio

Notaro, Tig Wheels Off

Pai, Ajit Freakonomics Radio

• The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission talks robocalls, 5G. 

Pally, Adam WTF with Marc Maron

Pinkett Smith, Jada On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Robertson, Robbie Talkhouse, The Adam Carolla Show

Rollins, Henry Angry Americans

Ross, Tracee Ellis Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Sarandos, Ted Talks at Google

Schwartz, Ben Bullseye

Scott, Drew and Linda ID10T

Systrom, Kevin The goop Podcast

• “The thing all great ideas have in common is that they all seem crazy at the beginning,” the co-founder of Instagram tells Gwyneth Paltrow. 

Turner, Richard The Tim Ferriss Show

Upton, Kate Good For You

Warren, Elizabeth Latino USA

Webb, Alli Naked with Catt Sadler

• Convo with the founder of Drybar.

West, David The David Banner Podcast

Woods, Zach Bullseye

Yang, Jimmy O. Green Eggs and Dan

Notable New Podcasts

1) I, Podivs

• John Hodgman and Elliott Kalan will spend the next 12 weeks recapping the BBC miniseries “I, Claudius.”
• Roman Mars of 99% Invisible has the correct take: “I’m sick of these big time, corporate podcast networks and their exploitive, lowest common denominator cash grabs.”

2) The Nobody Zone

• The six-part true-crime pod from RTÉ focuses on “a forgotten London underworld,” in which “a homeless Irishman kills multiple times without detection, unseen in a world where nobody seems to care. 

3) Music Exists (S)

• A Spotify exclusive with an awkward title from the company’s new acquiree, The Ringer. 
• The crux: “Bestselling author Chuck Klosterman and The Ringer’s Chris Ryan are not going tell you what music to listen to. They want to talk about why we listen, what we listen to, and how it shapes our perception of the world around us.”

4) Sticky Beak

• Another true crime podcast, with Jessica Fritz-Aguiar investigating “the Doreen Vincent case featured on Season 2 of the podcast Faded Out.”
• Vulture says the first episode is already “a tender and powerful rendering” of the 32-year-old missing persons case.

5) Black Wall Street 1921

• The podcast “chronicles the history and related events of what has been called ‘the single worst incident of racial violence in American history,’” the Tulsa Race Massacre. 

6) Bad Friends

• It’s a comedy pod co-hosted by Andrew Santino and Bobby Lee.
• It’s No. 24 on iTunes. 

7) The Last Degree of Kevin Bacon 

• It’s a Spotify-exclusive comedy about killing Kevin Bacon. 
• You have questions. Here are the details: “Randy Beslow has forever pinpointed his failed Footloose audition as the moment when everything in his life went downhill. 30 years later when he hits rock bottom, he vows to eliminate the one thing that ties together all of his problems: acclaimed character actor and cultural institution, Kevin Bacon.”

8) The Stage Podcast: Seven Stages

• The pod “asks leading performers and creatives about the seven productions that are closest to them.”

9) Cuddle Club with Lou Sanders

• A comedy interview pod that’s really into cuddling. The pitch: “On the surface it’s a show about cuddling, sure, but dig deeper and there’s even more cuddling to be had!”

10) The Test Drivers

• Hosts Myke Hurley and Austin Evans “put tech through its paces; no matter if it’s the absolute cutting edge or collecting dust in the bargain bin.” 

11) Flashback

• Stephen Hackett and Quinn Nelson look back at “failed tech products to see what we can learn by studying their demises.”

12) Back From Broken

• The Colorado Public Radio program is billed as a show about recovery and “a place to regularly showcase courage and what it takes to come back.”

13) Over the Road 

• Paul Marhoefer hosts an eight-part series that “gives voice to the trials and triumphs of America’s long haul truckers.” 

And One to Look Forward to: The Eleventh (Feb. 25) 

• The Australian Broadcasting Corporation pod takes a Slow Burn-style deep dive into “everything you never knew about one of the most famous chapters of Australian political history – the downfall of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.”
• It’s “a political drama, a spy thriller and a love story.” 

This week’s counts: 50 notable guests, seven new podcasts, six deep dives and one love songs deep dive. Happy Valentine’s Day. 

Pod Take of the Week

“We get to the right destination by walking down the wrong trail many times over and over.”

Listen: WorkLife with Adam Grant: Wild Work Advice from Cheryl Strayed (7:28)

• That’s Cheryl Strayed, with a solid reminder that mistakes and detours aren’t fatal. They’re necessary. 
• The former Dear Sugar advice columnist and best-selling author of “Wild” steers Grant toward the light when talking about what constitutes good or bad advice. 
• Says Strayed: “Life is a long game,” and we don’t know what “bad” experiences resulting from “bad” advice will mean over time. 
• She adds: “Sometimes we’re ten years out and we look back and we say, ‘Oh, that bad experience, that thing I shouldn’t have done, is the very reason I’m here right now in exactly the right place.’”

Go Deep

1) Love Songs

Listen: All Songs Considered, Reminiscent, Studio 360

• Your love song amuse bouche before you dive in: Spotify’s top love song (1.1 billion streams!), John Legend’s “All of Me.” 
• NPR’s music pod surveys nine musicians about the love songs they wish they’d written. Amelia Meath’s pick is the best pick: Dire Straits’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
• Reminiscent goes for a Valentine’s Day pop punk mixtape draft, made for a very specific situation: “The year is 2006, you’re crushing on that cutie from homeroom, and you don’t know how to tell her how you feel.”
• Studio 360 replays an excellent interview with the queen of sappy love songs, Delilah. 

2) Dating in the 2020s

Listen: Monica & Jess Love Boys

• Armchair Expert podcast spins off a 10-part series on the relationship struggles of two opposites. Jess, who dates too much and Monica who dates too little.”

3) The Cold War

Listen: The Cold War: What We Saw

• Another ten-part series. This one aims to share “what it was like to live through the end of the Cold War.”
• It’s the current No. 6 pod on iTunes. 

4) The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

Listen: The Tortoise Podcast

• It’s a four-part investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
• The background: “Daphne investigated corruption involving the most powerful businessmen and politicians in Malta where she lived. She paid with her life. Her son Paul goes in search of the men who ordered her murder.”

5) “The Breakfast Club”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• A 1-hour, 43-minute dive into the John Hughes classic that’s being re-evaluated in the #MeToo era.

6) Gun Violence in America

Listen: American Diagnosis with Dr. Celine Gounder

• The pod concludes a 36-part series with guests David Hogg and Tyah-Amoy Roberts, survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and members of the board of March for Our Lives.
• Today marks the second anniversary of the school shooting in Florida.
• Series binge time: 16 hours, 5 minutes. 

Guest Appearances By…

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

Abrams, Stacey Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Apatow, Judd Talkhouse

• He talks with David Duchovny about Garry Shandling. 

Bacon Brothers, The Vocal Point with Martina McBride ($L)

Barber, Andrea Nobody Told Me!

Bee, Samantha More with Anna Maria Tremonti

Bell, Kristen Second Life

Biggs, Jason Anna Faris is Unqualified

Bong Joon Ho The Awardist

Buscemi, Steve Bullseye

Cisneros, Sandra On Being

• Says Cisneros: “I think that artists are children that never grow up.”

Crow, Sheryl Rolling Stone Music Now

Dorsey, Jack The CouRage and Nadeshot Show

Duchovny, David Talkhouse

• Reminder: He talks with Apatow about Garry Shandling. 

Feliciano, Jose Latino USA

Ferguson, Craig Maltin on Movies

Fonda, Jane UnStyled

Gad, Josh Armchair Expert

Grohl, Dave The Bill Simmons Podcast

Howery, Lil Rey The Read

Iger, Robert The Bill Simmons Podcast

Jeong, Ken Office Ladies

John, Papa H3 Podcast

Kardashian West, Kim All’s Fair with Laura Wasser

Key, Keegan-Michael Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Kimmel, Jimmy The Al Franken Podcast

Klein, Ezra Armchair Expert

Kroll, Nick Comedy Bang! Bang!

Letts, Tracy Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Lewis, Huey This Must Be the Gig, You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes, Questlove Supreme, Bullseye

• The ‘80s music icon who’s been struggling with hearing loss makes the rounds in support of his band’s return with a new album. 

Louis-Dreyfus, Julia The goop Podcast

• “The fear is kind of like the gas in your tank,” Louis-Dreyfus tells Gwyneth. 

Luna, Diego The Big Ticket

Manson, Shirley The Margaret Cho

Martindale, Justin The Joe Rogan Experience

McKibbon, Bill Future Hindsight

• The author and environmentalist talks about facing climate change.

Miller, TJ The Adam Carolla Show

Nwodim, Ego Green Eggs and Dan

Obama, Barack Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Obama, Michelle Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Robertson, Robbie Broken Record

Ryan, Katherine Off Menu

Samberg, Andy Comedy Bang! Bang!

Schiff, Adam The Axe Files

Schwartz, Ben WTF with Marc Maron, ID10T, Comedy Bang! Bang!

Smith, Gary Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Sorvino, Mira Life is Short with Justin Long

Teller, Miles Pardon My Take

Tharp, Twyla Death, Sex & Money

Tomson, Shaun Remarkable People

Underwood, Blair Thirst Aid Kit

Wolff, Tobias Bookworm

Notable New Podcasts

1) Dying for Sex

• Molly gets diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and “decides to do something bold: she leaves her unhappy marriage and embarks on a series of sexual adventures to help her feel alive.”
• She confides in her friend Nikki, who hosts this podcast about “friendship, death, sex, and what you do with the time you have left.” 
• It’s No. 4 on iTunes. 

2) The Great Fail

• The pod examines epic failures from “companies, brands, and people.” Debra Chen hosts. 

3) The Seventh Daughter

• An audio drama set a century ago about “a mysterious woman {who] tutors a young girl in the arts of mind reading and clairvoyance.”

4) All’s Fair with Laura Wasser

• The celebrity divorce lawyer will “chat with celebrities, innovators and experts about all kinds of relationships, breakups, love, war and everything in between.”
• Big get for her debut episode: Kim Kardashian West.

5) Citizen Critic

• The pod critiques “the critics of some favorite and iconic movies, music, television, and more.”
• Musician Scott Janovitz and scientist Greg Conley host. 

6) Dating While Gray

• Laura Stassi reveals the “lessons she’s learned and the stories she’s heard from people 50 and older searching [for], finding and choosing love.”

7) The Redheads Book Club

• A book club hosted by The Morning Toast’s Jackie Oshry. 
• The kickoff book: “The Husband’s Secret” by Liane Moriarty.

And One to Look Forward to: The Last Degree of Kevin Bacon (Feb. 17)

• It’s a Spotify-exclusive comedy about killing Kevin Bacon. 
• You have questions. Here are the details: “Randy Beslow has forever pinpointed his failed Footloose audition as the moment when everything in his life went downhill. 30 years later when he hits rock bottom, he vows to eliminate the one thing that ties together all of his problems: acclaimed character actor and cultural institution, Kevin Bacon.”
• My take: Subscribed!

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.” 

This week’s counts: 31 notable guests, nine new podcasts, eight deep dives and one conspiracy theorist at the top of the charts.

Pod Take of the Week

“It’s very hard to feel like any push toward activism is going to do anything in this current climate, so I want to just burrow away in the arts.”

Listen: Employee of the Month: Nick Hornby on His New TV Project and Knowing Whether His Writing is Any Good (49:09)

• That’s writer Hornby, on how he’s getting through these outrageous times.
• Context: “You could become addicted to the news and listen to it for two hours a day and no one knows anything, so you’ve wasted those two hours because you come back at exactly the same point that you were when you started listening.”
• He adds: “So I’m now beginning to think, fuck it, I need to read a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with it. I need to listen to music. I need to watch movies. These are the things that keep my sane and provide my joy.”

Go Deep

1) Audrey Hepburn

Listen: The History Chicks

• A multi-part series on the Hollywood icon and humanitarian kicks off with a 1-hour, 26-minute episode.

2) Death Row vs. Bad Boy

Listen: Business Wars

• The pod kicks off a six-part deep dive on the rap label rivalry.

3) Luck

Listen: TED Radio Hour

• Poker pro Liv Boeree and several other speakers ruminate for 52 minutes on what does or doesn’t make one lucky.

4) “Reality Bites”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• Chuck Klosterman joins the core Rewatchables crew to break down the ‘90s film to honor its 25th anniversary.
• Ethan Hawke also makes an appearance.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

5) “The Breakfast Club”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

• A 1-hour, 3-minute dissection of the most enduring of the John Hughes high school movies.

6) “Queer Money Matters”

Listen: Nancy

• The pod kicks off a series on “the financial hurdles queer people face.”

7) “Baby Shark”

Listen: Decoder Ring

• A 38-minute dive into the “unstoppable earworm.”

8) The Lobby of the Trump Hotel D.C.

Listen: Trump, Inc.

• A 31-minute look at what goes on in the lobby of the Trump hotel.

Notable New Podcasts

1) Technopolis

• CityLab’s pod looks at “how technology is disrupting, remaking, and sometimes overrunning our cities.” Molly Turner and Jim Kapsis host.

2) Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast

• A behind-the-scenes pod with Conan writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell.

3) Parentland

• A BBC World Service podcast for “every parent in the world.”

4) Stay Free: The Story of the Clash

• Chuck D hosts the BBC-produced Spotify exclusive about the only band that matters.

5) Killer Instinct

• True crime alert! It’s rather generically described as covering “stories of serial killers, missing persons, and other horrible crimes.” Currently No. 174 on the iTunes chart.

6) To Live and Die in L.A.

• The creators of “Up and Vanished” and “Atlanta Monster” chronicle the story of Adea Shabani, “an aspiring actress and model who vanished without a trace” in Hollywood.

7) Obsession

• A branded podcast from Focus Features and Los Angeles Times studios delves “deep into the history, culture, science and often deadly consequences of unrequited love.”

8) RuPaul’s Drag Race: The Official Podcast

• A companion pod to the TV show.

9) On The Rebound w/ Dennis Rodman

• Even the Worm — billed as “fashion icon, world peace maker and relationship expert” — now has a pod.

Guest Appearances By…

Adlon, Pamela Fresh Air

Altman, Sam Conversations With Tyler

• The president of Y Combinator talks nuclear energy and the problem with coworking spaces.

Bunton, Emma The Dan Wootton Interview

Buttigieg, Pete Pod Save America

Clark Jr., Gary WTF with Marc Maron

Clinton, Hillary TBD with Tina Brown

Cole, Teju On Being

Fisher, Eileen How I Built This with Guy Raz

Gaffigan, Jim Ask Me Another

Garlin, Jeff Curious with Josh Peck

Goldblum, Jeff Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Gordy Jr, Berry Oprah’s Master Class

Houston, Pam The Moment

Johnson, Jake Armchair Expert

Jones, Alex The Joe Rogan Experience

• Conspiracy theorist gets a platform. It’s the No. 1 ranked episode of the week on iTunes. I’m not linking.

Kurtis, Bill The Axe Files

McCaskill, Claire The Axe Files

McKenna, Lori Bobbycast

McPhee, Katharine Anna Faris Is Unqualified

O’Rourke, Beto Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

• He’s running?

Osment, Haley Joel The Adam Carolla Show

Phil, Dr. The Joe Rogan Experience

Povitsky, Esther The Great Debates

Rodman, Dennis Pardon My Take

Rometty, Ginni The Future of Everything

• IBM CEO talks AI.

Roth, David Lee The Joe Rogan Experience

• 3 hours, 4 minutes with the spandex-y rock legend.

RuPaul The Ron Burgundy Podcast

• Ru counts down the top 10 women of all time with Ron. Spoiler: Diana Ross and Susie Q make the cut.

Savage, Andrea WTF with Marc Maron

Solskjaer, Ole Gunnar Men in Blazers

Thiessen, Tiffani Beyond the Plate

Tucker, Corin Bullseye

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a podcast-loving friend. If someone forwarded it to you, sign up for your own free subscription.

This week’s counts: 35 notable guests, eight new podcasts, seven deep dives and one controversial set of fake teeth.

Pod Take of the Week

“I don’t want him to win for talking through a retainer.”

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: 2019 Oscars Preview (8:14)

• That’s Glen Weldon, on the Best Actor nominee Rami Malek and his abundantly toothed performance as Freddie Mercuryin “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
• My take: I’m rooting for “Black Panther.”
• Spoiler: It’s the only Best Picture nominee I’ve seen.

Go Deep

1) “Scott Street”

Listen: Song Exploder

• A 22-minute dive into the exquisite 5-minute, 5-second song.
• Fact: The acoustic guitar played in the song was formerly owned by Glen Campbell.

2) Inside the Trump International Hotel

Listen: Skullduggery

• A 1-hour, 2-minute deep dive into what’s really going on at President Trump’s D.C. hotel, with 1100 Pennsylvania’s Zach Everson and Rep. Don Beyer.
• “It’s kind of in your face, isn’t it?” says Michael Isikoff on the Kuwaiti embassy holding its national day celebration at the hotel for the third year in a row.

3) Lennon and McCartney

Listen: One Plus One

• The new Wondery podcast debuts with a six-part series on the main creative forces of the Beatles.

4) The Great Depression

Listen: American History Tellers

• The deep dive kicks off with a look at the October 29, 1929 stock market crash.

5) The Making of a “The Simpsons” Episode

Listen: Scriptnotes

• Exec producer Matt Selman walks through the three-year (!) process.

6) Love Hotels

Listen: The Trip

• The Roads & Kingdom pod talks about the Japanese phenomenon with Toko Sekiguchi.

7) Pavement

Listen: Political Beats

• A 2-hour, 29-minute deep dive into the ‘90s indie band.
• My take: I’m team “Box Elder.”

Notable New Podcasts

1) Crimes of Passion

• True crime alert! These are love stories that inevitably become crime stories.

2) Crime Beat

• True crime alert, continued:Season-long stories about specific crimes, with “interviews of criminal masterminds, some of their victims and the detectives trying to piece together what really happened.”

3) Should This Exist?

• Caterina Fake asks “creators of radical new technologies to set aside their business plan, and think through the human side” of things.

4) SmoshCast

• The comedy pod from Smosh covers current events, YouTube drama and ”unqualified and unsolicited advice.”

5) One Plus One

• Hosts Rico Gagliano and Faith Salie chronicle “the ups and downs of the world’s greatest and most dramatic collaborations.”

6) The Double Shift

• Host Katherine Goldstein examines “the real, three-dimensional stories of mothers” in a reported, narrative show.

7) National Parks Traveler

• Independent coverage of U.S. national parks.

8) Knuckleheads

• Former NBA players Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles interview “athletes, musicians and entertainers to get brutally honest about everything from current events to untold stories from the golden era of sports and culture.”

Guest Appearances By…

Amanpour, Christiane Stay Tuned with Preet

Bird, Brad Maltin on Movies

Bryant, Kobe Anna Faris is Unqualified

Charles, Larry Kickass News

Day, Felicia Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Diller, Barry Recode Decode

• Chairman of IAC and the Expedia Group says “Hollywood is now irrelevant.”

Duplass, Mark 10 Things That Scare Me

Fleck, Bela On Being

Flynn, Gillian Armchair Expert

Garber, Don Planet Futbol

• MLS Commissioner talks expansion, using data in soccer.

Goodwin, Doris Kearns TED Talks Daily

Grant, Richard E. Studio 360

Headland, Leslye The Gist

Holmes, Pete Pardon My Take

Holofcener, Nicole Bullseye

Khanna, Parag Kickass News

• Convo with author of “The Future Is Asian.”

Kotick, Bobby a16z Podcast

• Activision Blizzard CEO traces rise of video games from nerds to mainstream cultural phenomenon.

Kwan, Michelle Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Lipsyte, Sam Bookworm

Logic H3 Podcast

Mann, Michael The Adam Carolla Show

McCabe, Andrew Fresh Air

Moore, Mandy WTF with Marc Maron

• Moore speaks about her former marriage to Ryan Adams and his recently disclosed abuses.

Meyers, Seth Good One

Nancherla, Aparna 10 Things That Scare Me

Parton, Dolly The Dan Wootton Interview

Peretti, Chelsea Armchair Expert

Polgreen, Lydia Longform Podcast

Radcliffe, Daniel Off Camera with Sam Jones

Ratliff, Evan But That’s Another Story

Remnick, David TBD with Tina Brown

Steinberg, Leigh Nobody Told Me!

Warren, Elizabeth Pod Save America

Washburn, Abigail On Being

Wenders, Wim The Kitchen Sisters Present

Onward to this week’s counts: 37 notable guests, 10 deep dives, nine new podcasts and one litigious kid with a backpack.

Pod Take of the Week

“The copyright office doesn’t want to be acting like the town from ‘Footloose'”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: Fortnite vs. Backpack Kid: Dance Battle Royale (7:17)

• That’s Shane McKeon, breaking down a key point regarding Backpack Kid’s lawsuit against the maker of the video game Fortnite, Epic Games.
• Background: Backpack Kid, aka Russell Horning, is suing the gamemaker for appropriating The Floss, the dance he created and popularized and performed with Katy Perryon SNL. (Others who’ve had their signature dances poached are also suing.)
• Fortnite sells a virtual version of the dance inside the game. Horning hasn’t seen a cent.  
• The crux: Is The Floss a mere singular dance move, which likely isn’t protected under current law, or is it a “choreographic work,” which can be protected?
• My take: Great, quick explainer on the legal issues of a fascinating digital-world conundrum.

Go Deep

1) Valentine’s Day

Listen: This American Life

• Ira and company go deep on people who go to extremes for love.
   

2) Failure

Listen: Theory of Everything

• Benjamen Walker’s two-episodes in to a miniseries on failures, such as the most disliked video in YouTube history.

3) Technology and the Future

Listen: Better Worlds

• A five-part series of short fiction about “how technology can shape our society and environment in better, more equitable ways.”
• Binge time: 2 hours, 11 minutes.

4) “Becoming”

Listen: Still Processing

• Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham take a 44-minute deep dive into Michelle Obama’s memoir.

5) Women in Gaming

Listen: Nerdificent

• A 1-hour, 5-minute dive into how women have “entered, evolved and conquered the world of video games.”

6) Medieval Times

Listen: Working

• An hour-long look at what it’s like to work at the dinner theater company amid all that jousting and roasted chicken.

7) Songs About Writers

Listen: Sound Opinions

• The hour-long exploration of music inspired by literature spans from Metallica (“For Whom the Bell Tolls”) to 10,000 Maniacs (“Hey Jack Kerouac”).

8) Led Zeppelin

Listen: Rockin’ the Suburbs

• The five-part deep dive into Led Zep favorites rambles on.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 7 minutes.

9) “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”

Listen: The Good Place: The Podcast

• A two-part crossover pod with the cast and creators of the show.

10) “A Star Is Born”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• A 1-hour, 33-minute deep dive into the Oscar contender.

Guest Appearances By…

Albright, Madeleine Kickass News

Bosh, Chris The Bill Simmons Podcast

• Convo with the 11-time NBA all-star.

Brooks & Dunn Bobbycast

Buteau, Michelle 10 Things That Scare Me

Chopra, Deepak The Ron Burgundy Podcast

Christie, Chris Kickass News

Colbert, Stephen Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Conte, Jack Danny in the Valley

• Convo with the founder of Patreon.

Dreyer, Benjamin The Book Review

• A podcast about a book about grammar. Some company for Gladwell.  

Esmail, Sam Without Fail

Fake, Caterina The Tim Ferriss Show

Gates, Bill The Vergecast

Gladwell, Malcolm American Innovations

• Gladwell joins host Steven Johnson to talk writing, innovation.

Grisham, John Wrongful Conviction

Harmon, Dan Thruline

Harris, Neil Patrick Beyond the Plate

• The actor accompanies his husband, David Burtka, to talk about the latter’s cookbook.

Heady, Lena Anna Faris is Unqualified

Henson, Taraji B. Pod Save America

Jeong, Ken TV Take

Jordan, Michael B. Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

Levy, Bernard-Henri TBD with Tina Brown

Mantzoukas, Jason Armchair Expert

Marin, Cheech Sidedoor

• The comedian talks about rasquachismo, the “Chicano art of working with what you’ve got.”

McKay, Adam Stay Tuned with Preet, The Treatment

McNamee, Roger Recode Decode

• Convo with the author of “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe.”

Merchant, Stephen Off Camera with Sam Jones

Penn & Teller, The West Wing Weekly

Robbins, Tim ID10T

Rollins, Henry Forked Up

• Punk legend talks pizza, smartphones.

Shalhoub, Tony WTF with Marc Maron

Silver, Nate The Axe Files

Smith, Yeardley WTF with Marc Maron

• A deep dive with “The Simpsons” mainstay.

Sullivan, Andrew The Ezra Klein Show

Usher Oprah’s Master Class

Watt, J.J. Pardon My Take

Wood Jr., Roy The Sporkful

Yang, Andrew The Joe Rogan Experience

• 2 hours, 1 minute with the U.S. presidential candidate for 2020.

Notable New Podcasts

1) Over My Dead Body

• True crime alert! The Wonder pod chronicles “a bad breakup, a worse divorce, and a murder case involving a menagerie of high-priced lawyers and unexpected co-conspirators.” Strong debut. It’s the current iTunes No. 1 podcast.

2) Who the Hell is Hamish?

• True crime alert, continued. The new pod from the producers of “The Teacher’s Pet” investigates the exploits of “a surfie dude from Sydney” who swindled many victims for millions. It’s currently No. 8 on iTunes.

3) The Investigation

• ABC News’s pod tracks the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation.

4) Hot & Dry

• Cally Carswell and Collin Haffey investigate “how climate change is transforming New Mexico. And what the hell we should do about it.”

5) Family Secrets

• Dani Shapiro explores “the power of family secrets and the ways in which discovering – and revealing – the truth can liberate us.”

6) Voyage to the Stars

• It’s a “fun sci-fi romp, disaster space opera,” says writer Ryan Copple.

7) On Purpose

• Host Jay Shetty says his “purpose is to make wisdom go viral.” Good start. His debut interview pod already ranks No. 5 on iTunes.

8) Strong Black Legends

• The Netflix podcast “honors the best of black Hollywood.”

9) Equal Parts

• The pod focuses on “true love stories about how people meet.”

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.

Made some more tweaks this week based on your feedback, with small expansions to the guest and new podcast sections. And I scaled back the Pod Takes. I’m trying to keep the length from getting out of control.

As always, I’m grateful for any and all feedback. Thanks for reading!

5 Pod Takes

1) “Algorithms don’t decide what’s fair. People have to do that.”

Listen: Undiscovered: Party Lines (25:17)

• That’s Annie Minoff, explaining why having a ”neutral” computer algorithm draw fair political districts isn’t possible.

• The pod dives deep into North Carolina’s partisan gerrymander and the math-based challenge to it that’s in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

• My take: A fantastic explanation of the problems created by the precision gerrymanders data and computing power make possible.

• Also: Vote!

2) “Earth rings like a bell. But the moon rings more like a gong.”

Listen: On a Mission: Music of the Spheres (12:43)

• So says host Leslie Mullen, summing up the POV of NASA colleague Bruce Banerdt.

• That revelation comes during the debut of a new pod from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory focused on the InSight robotic explorer of Mars. Banerdt’s the lead scientist on the project.

• Banerdt and his team, among other awesome things, will place a seismometer on Mars to hear what the red planet sounds like.

• Spoiler: The bell of which Banerdt speaks rings during earthquakes, for instance, but humans don’t hear the sound, which travels through earth at a frequency below what humans can hear.

• My take: Hope Mars sounds like this.

3) “I suspect I will never be anything but utterly confounded and just in awe of such a strange, impactful human being as Richard Simmons.”

Listen: Missing Richard Simmons: 18 Months Later (18:23)

• That’s the expert opinion of host Dan Taberski, in this short update, aka “Missing Missing Richard Simmons,” on Simmons’s status as well as others’ featured during last year’s podcast phenomenon.

• Spoiler: Simmons is still (mostly) missing from the public eye. He did write a Facebook post about someone close to him who passed away.

4) “The wonderful part about the internet is that loners and geeks and people who think that there’s no one else like them in the world can turn on the computer and find out there’s millions of other people out there like them in the world. Well, the racists are finding out the same thing.”

Listen: The Press Box: CNN and the Bomb, the Francesa Controversies, and Megyn Kelly (6:53)

• That’s co-host David Shoemaker, with a gut-punch of a kicker.

5) “It’s like going under the knife in a hospital where there’s really no doctors.”

Listen: Everything is Alive: Annie, Jack o’ Lantern (5:17)

• That’s Annie, with something to think about for next Halloween.

• She adds: “It’s just some amateurs kinda working at your face.”

• My take: Ouch. Sorry, Annie.

Go Deep

1) “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”

Listen: Heat Rocks, Dissect

• Author Joan Morgan joins Heat Rocks for a 50-minute examination of Hill’s classic album to mark its 20th anniversary.
• Dissect kicks off an eight-part deep dive, exclusively on Spotify.

2) Rudy in the Former Soviet Union

Listen: Trump, Inc.

• The Trump-focused pod goes deep on Trump acolyte Rudy Giuliani.

3) The Making of “Homecoming”

Listen: StartUp

• Gimlet goes meta with a four-part series focused on how the TV version of its pod got made.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Albom, Mitch Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Attell, Dave Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith

Axelrod, David Off Message, Political Gabfest

Brill, Steven The Axe Files

Caine, Michael Kickass News

Chehadé, Fadi Ted Talks Daily

• Technology architect talks ways for society to benefit from technology.

Clinton, Hillary Recode Decode

Costello, Elvis Freakonomics Radio

Cruz, Wilson The West Wing Weekly

Daltrey, Roger WTF with Marc Maron

Daschle, Tom The West Wing Weekly

Diaz, Joey The Joe Rogan Experience

Dubus III, Andre Otherppl with Brad Listi

Dunham, Lena Armchair Expert

Ellis, Jason Curious with Josh Peck

Fountain, Ben Bookworm

Glaser, Nikki Good One

Godin, Seth The Tim Ferriss Show

Gray, John Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Hagan, Joe Longform Podcast

• Author of the “Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine” talks about researching and writing his excellent book.

Harris, Sam The Ted Interview, The Tim Ferriss Show

Hill, Jonah Fresh Air

Jenkins, Brad Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

• Funny or Die DC’s exec producer talks politics, comedy.

Kass, Sam The Sporkful

• Chef talks about cooking Barack Obama’s lucky pasta.

Kazan, Zoe WTF with Marc Maron

Keisling, Mara Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

• Convo with the director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Kelly, Michael Remote Controlled

Kinnear, Greg Remote Controlled

Koy, Jo The Adam Carolla Show

Krosoczka, Jarrett J. The Children’s Book Podcast

• Have you read the Lunch Lady books a million times with your kids? I’ve read the Lunch Lady books a million times with my kids.

Lee, Bobby Anna Faris is Unqualified

Malek, Rami Playback

McChrystal, Stanley Gen. The Moment with Brian Koppelman

McGrath, Amy Pod Save America

Minhaj, Hasan Off Camera with Sam Jones

Monáe, Janelle The New Yorker Radio Hour

Moore, CeCe Nobody Told Me!

• Convo with the investigative genetic genealogist.

Musk, Elon Recode Decode

Neyfakh, Leon I Have to Ask

Neville, Morgan Studio 360

Perry, Steve Inside the Studio

• Welcome back, Steve Perry!

Palmieri, Jennifer Skimm’d From the Couch

Pollak, Kevin Doughboys

Pollan, Michael Endless Thread

Redzepi, René Bon Appetit Foodcast

Reitman, Jason Recode Media with Peter Kafka

Richie, Lionel Oprah’s Master Class

Ringwald, Molly The a24 Podcast

Roberts, Julia The Goop Podcast, StartUp

Sanford, Mark The Ezra Klein Show

Sasse, Ben Kickass News

Scaramucci, Anthony Inside the Hive

Schmidt, Steve The Axe Files

Smith, Tracy K. On Being

• Convo with the U.S. poet laureate.

Strong, AshLee Skimm’d From the Couch

• Convo with the press secretary for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

Taffer, Jon The Adam Carolla Show

Talamon, Bruce It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

• The photographer talks capturing images of black musicians.

Tenacious D You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Traister, Rebecca Recode Decode

Turner, Julia Women in Charge

Varda, Agnès Monocle 24: The Big Interview

Wahlberg, Mark Pardon My Take

Wojnarowski, Adrian The Lowe Post

• NBA media heavyweights talk Jimmy Butler, Washington’s awful team.

Notable New Podcasts

1) On a Mission

If you love: Mars, NASA, Robots, Science, Space

• Eight-part series from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory focuses on the InSight robotic explorer of Mars.

2) Front Burner

If you love: Canada, News

• CBC News debuts a daily new podcast.

3) Bag Man

If you love: Money-stuffed Envelopes, Politics, Serials, True Crime

• Rachel Maddow’s pod dives deep into the crimes of Richard Nixon’s disgraced vice president Spiro Agnew.

4) Shedunnit

If you love: Agatha Christie, Detectives, Mysteries

• The new pod from Caroline Crampton “unravels the mysteries behind classic detective stories.”

5) Proof

If you love: Deep-Fried Oreos, Food, Mysteries

• The America’s Test Kitchen pod “goes beyond recipes and cooking to solve food mysteries big and small.”

6) Kingpins

If you love: Gangsters, Money, Power, True Crime

• The pod focuses on “the leaders of organized crime rings, and how money and power corrupted and changed their communities.”

7) Chapo: Kingpin on Trial

If you love: Drug Wars, Gangsters, Money, Power, Trials, True Crime

• VICE’s Spotify exclusive goes eight-episodes deep into El Chapo’s “high-stakes case through the stories of people caught up in the drug war in the U.S. and Mexico.”

8) Standoff

If you love: Paranoia, Power, Remote Cabins, Serials, Sieges, The Feds

• Slate’s narrative pod asks what really happened during the standoff at Ruby Ridge. Ruth Graham hosts. ‏

9) The Rewind with Guy Raz

If you love: Behind the Scenes, Exclusivity, Music, Origin Stories

• Raz “digs into the stories behind some of the world’s most famous artists and musicians,” exclusively on Spotify.

10) Function with Anil Dash

If you love: Cultural Criticism, Games, Tech

• Dash’s pod asks, “What goes into the technical choices that change our culture?”

11) Lethal Lit

If you love: Crime, Detectives, Fiction, Murder

• Join “teen detective Tig Torres as she investigates the twisted mystery of the infamous Lit Killer murders.” It’s a six-part series.

7 Pod Takes

1) “Spoiler alert: Everything’s about to get worse.”

Listen: Trump, Inc.: Pump and Trump (23:23)

• That’s Trump, Inc.’s Andrea Bernstein, in the middle of dissecting shady real estate deals involving President Trump and the Trump family business.
• Spoiler: She’s not just talking about shady real estate deals.

2) “Just because an audience laughs doesn’t mean it’s funny.”

Listen: Inside the Hive w/Nick Bilton: Monica Lewinsky and Hannah Gadsby Talk Trauma (14:11)

• So says Gadsby in a riveting conversation with Lewinsky, recorded at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit.
• Lewinsky, who says she bawled her eyes out seeing Gadsby’s show “Nanette,” talks to Gadsby about trauma and why laughter may not equal funny.
• When comedians punch down and get laughs, Gadsby says “what you’re hearing is not that your joke is funny. But that those people who agree with you feel their inhumanity is justified.”
• My take: Compelling pod with two people who’ve been through a lot and have distinct perspectives on the world.

3) “People should be weirder in their conversations.”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: Overrated/Underrated: Nobel Prizes, Conversations, And Our Descendants (4:49)

• So says Tyler Cowen, arguing that being obsessive and weird in conversation is an underrated trait.
• More underrated things, says Cowen: Blogs, future ancestors, compound returns, and policies that pursue economic growth.
• Overrated: Nobel prizes, the damage from President Trump’s tariffs, the yield curve, and economic anxiety as a driver of populist sentiment.
• Overrated and underrated: Academia as a career.
• My take: One of my fave recurring podcast features.

4) “There are few positive images a bone saw conjures.”

Listen: The Gist with Mike Pesca: Myth Management (1:16)

• That’s Pesca, introducing a segment on the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi allegedly carried out by agents of Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

5) “There’s never been as strong a coupling between economic growth and democratic freedoms as we’d all like.”

Listen: The Ezra Klein Show: Why Bill Gates is Worried (45:11)

• That’s Gates on the tension between authoritarian and democratic governance during a compelling, wide-ranging conversation.
• Klein talks to Gates about politics, AI, poverty, the difficulty in feeding the world and, no biggie, the future of humanity.

6) “Luxury tends to infantilize us a little bit.”

Listen: The Happier Hour: The Road Less Travelled With Santayana and David Farley (21:51)

• That’s travel writer Farley, noting there’s nothing wrong with luxury, but there’s something that happens to a person when they only stay in five-star hotels.
• Farley talks to host Monica McCarthy about how and why we travel.
• Farley adds: “By putting ourselves out there and talking to people and going to places where other people don’t go…you’re opening yourself up.”

7) “We’re going to look back at people who had to stand in front of a charbroiler and inhale smoke and grease-laden vapors for their entire life the way we look back at people who worked in mines.”

Listen: WSJ’s The Future of Everything: Robot Restaurants: Good or Gimmicky? (10:41)

• That’s Alex Vardakostas, creator of a burger-making robot, talking about the potential of robot takeovers of restaurants.
• My take: Robot burgers? I’ll try ‘em.

Go Deep

1) Murder and Football

Listen: Gladiator, Carruth, Steve McNair: Fall of a Titan

• Three pods dive deep into the tragedies involving former NFL players, and as of this afternoon they’re all ranking well on the iTunes chart.
• In Gladiator (iTunes #1), the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team investigates the life of former New England Patriot and murderer Aaron Hernandez.
• Sports Illustrated produces Steve McNair: Fall of a Titan (iTunes #57), about the murder of the former NFL quarterback.
• The Charlotte Observer dropped all seven of its Carruth (iTunes #79) episodes about former pro Rae Carruth and his efforts to murder his pregnant girlfriend.
• Carruth binge time: 4 hours, 46 minutes.

2) “So Afraid”

Listen: Song Exploder

• Janelle Monáe breaks down her song in 19 minutes.

3) Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker

Listen: Political Beats

• Musician and artists rights activist David Lowery goes deep on his music catalog and artists rights.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 28 minutes.

4) Missouri Politics

Listen: The Daily

• The New York Times pod devotes a two-parter about the politics surrounding abortion in Missouri.
• Binge time: 40 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Addario, Lynsey I Have to Ask

Avenatti, Michael Inside the Hive w/Nick Bilton

Baez, Joan The New Yorker Radio Hour

Barinholtz, Ike The Dave Chang Show

Bon Jovi, Jon Oprah’s Master Class

Brennan-Jobs, Lisa Longform Podcast

Burch, Tory Skimm’d From the Couch

Burr, Bill Pardon My Take

Carden, D’Arcy The Good Place: The Podcast

• Janet!

Carlson, Tucker The Jamie Weinstein Show

Carmichael, Jerrod You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Carville, James The Adam Carolla Show

Chazelle, Damien The Bill Simmons Podcast

Costello, Elvis This Song

Coulter, Kristi Otherppl with Brad Listi

Couric, Katie Skimm’d From the Couch

Dreeke, Robin Nobody Told Me!

• Former head of the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Program talks making connections, communication styles.

Dworman, Noam The Daily, The Gist

• The owner of the Comedy Cellar talks to Barbaro and Pesca about letting Louis C.K. perform on his stage again.

Ferrera, America Katie Couric

Fillion, Nathan Remote Controlled

Garcetti, Eric Recode Decode

Gilbert, Elizabeth The TED Interview

Goodwin, Doris Kearns Kickass News

Grant, Richard E. WTF with Marc Maron

Gugino, Carla The Watch

Hamilton, Laird Curious with Josh Peck

Hill, Jonah The Big Picture, Playback, The Bill Simmons Podcast

• The actor makes the pod rounds in support of hit new movie, “Mid90s”

Hyman, Jennifer How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with the founder of Rent the Runway.

Jackson, Larry The Thrive Global Podcast with Arianna Huffington

• Convo with Apple Music’s head of content.

Kerry, John HBR Ideacast

Khan, Khizr The Axe Files

Kimes, Mina Sports? with Katie Nolan

Kokonas, Nick The Tim Ferriss Show

Kramer, Larry But That’s Another Story

Kreischer, Bert Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Landauer, Julia Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

McCartney, Paul Inside the Studio

McCartney, Stella The Goop Podcast

Michael, Drew You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Orange, Tommy Bookworm

Orlean, Susan Bullseye

Philipps, Busy WTF with Marc Maron

Redd, Chris Origins SNL

Robinson, Phoebe Fresh Air, Keep It, Good One

Rooney, Wayne Men in Blazers

• How amazing was this shot?

Rosen, Jay The Ezra Klein Show

Scalise, Steve Off Message

Schumer, Amy Armchair Expert

Sheraton, Mimi The Sporkful

Smith, Yeardley I Think You’re Interesting

Taibbi, Matt Waking Up with Sam Harris

Tagouri, Noor Pretty Big Deal

Thompson, Scott The Hilarious World of Depression

Turner, Tina Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Music legend goes two parts with Oprah.

Warner, Mark If Then

West, Nadja Women in Charge

• Army Surgeon General speaks about being born into a military family, choosing a career in medicine.

Notable New Podcasts

1) The TED Interview

• TED head Chris Anderson “speaks with some of the world’s most interesting people to dig into the provocative and powerful ideas of our time.”

2) Gladiator

• The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team ”takes a hard look at the crisis facing football through the lens of Aaron Hernandez’s life and terrible crimes.”

3) The Cut on Tuesdays

• New York Magazine and Gimlet Media team for a pod highlighting “women’s voices on culture, style, sex, politics, and people.” Molly Fischer hosts.

4) 30 for 30 Podcast

• Season four of the 30 for 30 pod kicks off with a chronicle of Jose Canseco’s memoir that called out his fellow players for steroid use, triggering a congressional hearing. The season promises stories on the 2003 World Series of Poker and the New York City marathon.

5) Carruth

• The Charlotte Observer and McClatchy drop a seven-part podcast about former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth. He masterminded the attempted murder of his pregnant girlfriend, and will soon be released from prison.

6) The Brights

• It’s a reality show pod starring Lydia Bright and her sisters, brother, and parents.

7) The Horror of Dolores Roach

• Gimlet’s scripted horror pod features Daphne Rubin-Vega and Bobby Cannavale in a “macabre urban legend of love, betrayal, weed, gentrification, cannibalism, and survival of the fittest.”

8) Steve McNair: Fall of a Titan

• Sports Illustrated’s first narrative true-crime podcast looks at the murder-suicide of former NFL QB McNair. The pod asks: Or was it murder-suicide?

9) Hell and Gone

• The true-crime pod focuses on the murder of Rebekah Gould in a small town in Arkansas, and the efforts of Catherine Townsend “to bring her killer to justice.”

10) Maculate Conception

• The pod documents a couple’s struggles with infertility and in vitro fertilization treatment.

11) 2038

• New York Magazine’s new pod asks, What will life look like in 20 years? Max Read and David Wallace-Wells host.

12) Future Perfect

• Dylan Matthews hosts Vox’s new pod that “tackles big questions about the most effective ways to save lives, fight global warming, and end world poverty.”

13) Long Distance

• Paola Mardo hosts a new pod focused on “life in the Filipino diaspora.”

14) Unspookable

• The pod’s “a family friendly look at the histories and mysteries behind your favorite scary stories, myths and urban legends.”

15) Hostage

• The new pod from Parcast “tells electrifying crime stories culminating in intense, life-or-death negotiations.”

16) What Next

• Slate debuts a daily news round-up show.

7 Pod Takes

1) “I feel like there’s an America out there that isn’t as crazy as we are.”

Listen: The Argument: Is The Supreme Court Broken? Should Democrats Run on #MeToo? (9:01)

• That’s Ross Douthat, one of the crazy “we” in question, along with his co-hosts on a new podcast from The New York Times opinion page, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.

• Says Douthat: “I’m not completely sure how much of this toxic mood is pervasive in the country, versus being sort of pervasive and constantly whipped up by those of us cursed to write about it for a living and argue about it on social media.”

• Fact check: True.

2) “We’re not afraid enough of water.”

Listen: Weather Geeks: Hurricane Hype & Hurdles (11:38)

• That’s Dr. Rick Knabb, former director of the National Hurricane Center, emphasizing the power of surges and flooding when it comes to hurricanes.

• Knabb and host Dr. Marshall Shepherd discuss whether the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is the most effective way to communicate the power of storms.

• Knabb says it’s a legitimate question whether the popular focus on wind speed is helping or hurting our responses.

3) “We’ve all been trained to posture. We have to learn something different if what we want is to understand each other.”

Listen: On Being: Living the Questions: Can conversation make any difference at a moment like this? (10:55)

• That’s Krista Tippett, who devotes a 22-minute pod to articulating the awfulness of the Kavanaugh hearings and why we need to strive for better conversation.

• Tippett took to her pod to explain and elaborate her polarizing late-September tweet.

• My take: Another reason podcasts are better than Twitter. The complexity and nuance of Tippett’s explanation on her pod is better and more enriching than any tweet.

4) “You need to start from a mindset that shutting down curiosity leads to problems.”

Listen: HBR IdeaCast: The Power of Curiosity (4:51)

• That’s Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino, whose research shows how creativity in the workplace can reduce conflicts and lead to better outcomes.

• She adds: Creativity doesn’t lead to inefficiency or unproductivity.

• My take: Excellent. We need more curiosity in the world.

5) “Think of an apology as an investment.”

Listen: Freakonomics Radio: How to Optimize Your Apology (8:29)

• That’s Ben Ho, associate professor of economics at Vassar College, who has developed a model of apologies.

• One prediction: Apologies are more likely in longer relationships.

• The most important prediction in his model: “For an apology to be effective it has to be costly.”

6) “The league’s more fun if the Knicks are good.”

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: Guessing 1018-19 NBA Over/Unders With Joe House (16:16)

• That’s Simmons, wishing the best to New York’s awful NBA squad.

• Simmons discusses the rumor Kevin Durant wants to join the Knicks next year.

• My take: That would be fun. Welcome back, NBA.

7) “Just Google the Queen of England and paint that face onto your face, and you’ll be good.”

Listen: Dear Hank & John: President Alligator (13:18)

• That’s John Green’s rec for dealing with awkwardness of people staring at you when they’re singing “Happy Birthday” to you.

• He adds: “She always has people looking at her so she is incredibly good at making a face that says, ‘I acknowledge you, thank you acknowledging me, and let the festivities continue.’”

• My take: Worth a shot.

Go Deep

1) The Murder of Laquan McDonald

Listen: 16 Shots, The Daily

• The WBEZ Chicago/Chicago Tribune production that, over the course of 25 episodes, followed the trial of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer who shot and killed McDonald, finished this week.
• Binge time: 8 hours, 18 minutes.
• Chaser: The Daily debriefs its Chicago bureau chief on the case for 22 minutes.

2) The Impeachment of Bill Clinton

Listen: Slow Burn

• The celebrated, eight-part deep dive into President Clinton’s impeachment and the surrounding events concluded this week.
• Binge time: 5 hours, 59 minutes.

3) Long-Distance Cons

Listen: The New Yorker Radio Hour

• The two-part pod about a businessman who “lost his fortune in what seems to have been a scam; years later, his daughter goes to confront the man behind the scheme.”
• Binge time: 1 hour, 4 minutes.

4) “Kokomo”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• A 1 hour, 35 minute deep dive into the Beach Boys’ polarizing last big hit.
• Says co-host Miel Bredouw: “This would be the whitest man in the world’s favorite song to strip dance to.”

5) Cops and Computers

Listen: Reply All

• The two-part pod focuses on New York City police officers who “are in a fight against their own police department.” A broken computer system stands at the center of it all.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Agg, Jen Women in Charge

• Restaurateur talks about her restaurant empire.

Aina, Jackie Creative Conversation

Albom, Mitch Kickass News, Nobody Told Me!

Barinholtz, Ike Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Lowe Post, The Big Picture, The Adam Carolla Show

• Actor/comedian makes the pod rounds to talk about his new movie, “The Oath.”

Barr, Roseanne The Joe Rogan Experience

Baty, Chris Write-minded Podcast

• Convo with the founder of NaNoWriMo.

Bell, Kristen Modern Love

• She reads an essay by Lori Jakiela, “The Plain, Unmarked Box Arrived.”

Big Freedia Keep It

Boot, Max Stay Tuned with Preet

Brown, Yvette Nicole Anna Faris is Unqualified

Chalamet, Timothée Playback

Chazelle, Damien Fresh Air

Che, Michael Origins SNL

Dikkers, Scott Kickass News

• Convo with founder of The Onion.

Erickson, Erick On Being

Gad, Josh Curious with Josh Peck

Gethard, Chris The Hilarious World of Depression

Gibbard, Ben Talkhouse

Griffiths, Megan Talkhouse

Gyllenhaal, Maggie Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Henson, Taraji P. Skimm’d From the Couch

Herzog, Werner Maltin on Movies

Honnold, Alex Ted Talks Daily, Pardon My Take

• Climber talks free solo climb of Yosemite’s El Capitan.

Jenkins, Tamara The FilmStruck Podcast

Jost, Colin Origins SNL

Kerry, John Off Message

Khosrowshahi, Dara Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton

• Uber’s CEO talks autonomous vehicles, Uber’s culture.

Kohn, Sally On Being

Kroll, Nick The Joe Rogan Experience

Krugman, Paul Conversations with Tyler

Lenker, Adrianne All Songs Considered

• Convo with the songwriter and lead singer of Big Thief.

Longoria, Eva Tilted

McCarthy, Andrew Deviate with Rolf Potts

Meyers, Seth Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Mitchell, Billy Dueling Decades

• Gaming legend on Donkey Kong, shenanigans in Iowa.

Monáe, Janelle This Song

Nowitzki, Dirk The J.J. Redick Podcast

Orange, Tommy Forked Up

Orman, Suze Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• The two-parter with the finance expert goes 2+ hours.

Ovitz, Michael The Adam Carolla Show

Reilly, John C. The Bill Simmons Podcast

Sarandon, Susan Oprah’s Master Class

Shteyngart, Gary Bookworm

Schur, Mike The Gist

Sedaris, David Monocle: The Big Interview, The Adam Buxton Podcast

Soloway, Jill Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Spacek, Sissy Off Camera with Sam Jones

Thompson, Keenan Origins SNL

Trevorrow, Colin Talkhouse

Union, Gabrielle Pretty Big Deal

Vargas, Jose Antonio The Ezra Klein Show

Vile, Kurt WTF with Marc Maron

Villaseñor, Melissa Origins SNL

Wambach, Abby How It Is

Winkler, Henry Inside of You

Yellowtail, Bethany The Mash-Up Americans

Notable New Podcasts

1) One to Grow On

• Hallie Casey launches a pod that “tries to understand the impacts of food production.”

2) Legal Wars

• Wondery’s new pod recounts “the most famous court cases in American history,” with host Hill Harper.

3) The Argument

• The New York Times Opinion page goes pod, explaining “arguments from across the political spectrum” once a week.

4) Sold in America

• Noor Tagouri hosts “an eight-episode journey into the world of selling sex in the United States.”

5) Tilted: A Lean In Podcast

• The pod focuses on the “gender bias that lurks in unexpected places, the impact it has on our everyday lives, and what happens when women lean in and start driving change.” It kicks off with a visit to Reese Witherspoon’s production company.

6) Underdog

• Texas Monthly and Pineapple Street Media team to cover “the most expensive, most talked-about political race of 2018: the U.S. Senate contest between Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Ted Cruz.”

Also, apologies to Dame Judi Dench for misspelling her name last week.

7 Pod Takes

1) “She had me at the word hippocampus.”

Listen: Political Gabfest: The “One Hundred Percent Certain” Edition (3:41)

• That’s Emily Bazelon, crystallizing her reaction to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.
• Bazelon noted Dr. Ford’s ability to “both bear witness and then also analyze as a psychologist the kinds of trauma she was feeling.” Dr. Ford says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982.
• Bazelon’s response was echoed across many political podcasts that came out Thursday evening and into today with their analyses of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

2) “Sometimes it takes a news article to turn whispered injustices into public outrage.”

Listen: Hidden Brain: Why Now? (17:15)

• That’s Shankar Vedantam in an incredible pod that, given the rise of #MeToo, asks, “What has changed in our minds and in our culture so that allegations of sexual harassment and assault are being taken more seriously than they were in prior decades?”
• Vedantam looks at the question through the lens of a group of women who accused a prominent playwright of sexual misconduct.

3) “The constitutional crisis would be an inconvenience, but the Tweetstorm, that would be deplorable.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “A little hiccup.” (43:44)

• That’s Jon Favreau, on the now-almost-forgotten report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he would agree to quit if President Trump wouldn’t disparage him.

4) “Stillness can be an adventure.”

Listen: Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations: Pico Iyer: The Art of Stillness (3:52)

• So says Iyer, the great author and travel writer in conversation with Oprah.
• Iyer, who’s written about travel with elegance and insight, turned to a life of relative stillness after years of jetting around the globe.

5) “Drugs are a lot of work.”

Listen: The Hilarious World of Depression: Neko Case Leaves Bad Places, Goes to Better Places (11:24)

• That’s Case, sharing a reason she turned away from illegal drugs.
• She chronicles that step and many others in her journey to musical success and in her fight to maintain mental health.

6) “Fashion is just another word for the constant inevitable shifts in popular taste.”

Listen: 99% Invisible: Kids’ Clothes: Articles of Interest #1 (6:20)

• So says Avery Trufelman, setting up the kick-off episode of 99% Invisible’s six-part detour into examining the clothes we wear.

7) “The early internet was deeply groovy.”

Listen: Crazy/Genius: Tech Was Supposed to Be Society’s Great Equalizer. What Happened? (4:55)

• That’s Meredith Broussard, talking about early vision for the internet.
• “There was a lot of hippie idealism,” says Broussard. The internet was “going to be better than everything that had come before.”
• My take: Ha.

Go Deep

1) The Democratic Party

Listen: The Wilderness

• Crooked Media’s 15-part series on the Democrats’ “journey through the wilderness after the most crushing defeat in history” concludes with a conversation with President Barack Obama.
• Binge time: 11 hours, 44 minutes.

2) “The Good Place”

Listen: Armchair Expert, The Good Place: The Podcast

• Synergies! In honor of season 3 of “The Good Place,” it’s “The Good Place” week on Dax Shepard’s pod, with guests Ted Danson (Michael!), D’Arcy Carden (Janet!), Kristen Bell (Eleanor!), and creator Mike Schur.
• Jameela Jamil (Tahani!) and writer Jen Statsky appear on the show’s own promo pod.
• Binge time: 8 hours, 48 minutes.

3) Southwest vs. American

Listen: Business Wars

• The six-part series on the battle between two U.S. airlines comes to an end.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 26 minutes.

4) Frank Ocean

Listen: Dissect

• The serialized music pod concludes its deep immersion into Ocean’s music.
• Season 3 took on “Channel Orange” and “Blonde.”
• Binge time: 13 hours, 46 minutes.

5) “Exile on Main Street”

Listen: Heat Rocks

• A 52-minute deep dive into The Rolling Stones’ classic album, with The Ringer’s Chris Ryan.

Guest Appearances By…

Anderson, Carol The Ezra Klein Show

Bateman, Justine The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Bautista, Dave Inside of You

Burns, Ken Kickass News

Burton, LeVar The Nod

Carfrae, Mirinda Another Mother Runner

• Three-time Ironman champ talks nutrition, stroller runs.

Cassidy, Sukhinder Singh Women in Charge

Chong, Tommy Curious with Josh Peck

Coppola, Roman Creative Conversation

Dyer, Christopher Tides of History

Fukuyama, Francis The Ezra Klein Show

Haberman, Maggie Recode Decode

Haddish, Tiffany The Bill Simmons Podcast

Hayward, Gordon Pardon My Take

Higgins, Steve Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Hill, Jonah Maltin on Movies

Holofcener, Nicole The Gist with Mike Pesca

Idle, Eric Off Camera with Sam Jones

Jett, Joan WTF with Marc Maron

Killam, Taran Comedy Bang! Bang!

Kissling, Frances On Being

Klinenberg, Eric Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

Lynch, Jane Recode Decode

Lynne, Jeff Required Listening

Miller, Geoffrey The Joe Rogan Experience

Munn, Olivia Modern Love

• She reads Marina Shifrin’s essay “A Life Plan for Two, Followed by One.”

Ovitz, Michael HBR Ideacast

Paz, Vinnie The Joe Rogan Experience

Polgreen, Lydia Recode Decode

Povitsky, Esther Forked Up

Rothwell, Natasha It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Keep It

Ruggirello, Jen Queery with Cameron Esposito

Saban, Haim How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with producer of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Sagal, Peter The Axe Files

Saltz, Jerry Longform Podcast

Savage, Dan The Gender Knot

Shepard, Dax You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

Suthana, Dr. Nanthia Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

• The neuroscientist talks about how virtual reality can be used in therapy.

Starr, Ken Off Message

Teigen, Chrissy The Goop Podcast

Tosi, Christina Skimm’d From the Couch

Zimmer, Constance Anna Faris Is Unqualified

Notable New Podcasts

1) Adventures in New America

• It’s a “sci-fi, political satire, Afrofuturistic buddy comedy” the New York Times called the “best new social thriller.”

2) The Shadows

• The first audio fiction from the CBC. In six parts, Kaitlin Prest tells the story “about the anatomy of a relationship: a crush, a choice, a resentment and an end.”

3) The Dream

• Jane Marie takes a deep dive into the “pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing, and all the other businesses that require their members to recruit their nearest and dearest in hopes of a commission.”

4) The City

• USA Today launches a longform pod that “tells true stories of how power works in urban America.” Season one begins in 1990 Chicago.

5) Time to Parent

• Julie Morgenstern’s pod focuses on “stories from real parents, advice from experts, and knowledge culled from her almost 30 year career as a consultant and a mom.”

6) Articles of Interest

• The six-part pod from 99% Invisible is “a show about what we wear,” produced by Avery Trufelman.

7) Happy Face

• Melissa Moore’s father is a serial killer. She “investigates her father’s crimes, reckons with the past, and wades through her darkest fears as she hunts for a better future.”

8) Pivot

• New Vox pod features Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway on “how technology is shaping business and culture across media, marketing, politics, and more.”

9) Start to Sale

• Erin Patinkin and Natasha Case talk to entrepreneurs and business about “the journey to succeed in business.”

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

7 Pod Takes

1) “There’s an argument to be made that we’re born with the raw elements of Beatles songs in our heads.”

Listen: WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 948 – Sir Paul McCartney (4:11)

• That’s Maron, prefacing his conversation with a pretty freakin’ great podcast guest, Sir Paul McCartney. Maron charmingly frets about what he’s gonna ask the Beatles legend that hasn’t been asked before.
• Maron invokes Chris Farley, but thankfully doesn’t “do a Chris Farley.”
• McCartney talks the Rolling Stones, Little Richard, recording in Nigeria, and how the communal experience of leading sing-alongs to “Hey Jude” and “Let it Be” during his concerts still gives him thrills.
• My take: Maron loses his way a couple times, but mostly earns props for an engaging interview.

2) “Punk is a free space.”

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts: Punk Icon Ian MacKaye on why we should question the official history of rock music (12:15)

• That’s punk legend MacKaye, defining what punk means to him.
• It’s not a sound or a style or a look or an attitude. He adds: “It’s the place new ideas can be presented without having to hew to profit motives only.”
• My take: If anyone would know, it’s MacKaye.

3) “[Money] is the sole barometer of someone’s worth in this country.”

Listen: The Gist with Mike Pesca: Hedging Your Bets With Lake Success(12:36)

• So says guest Gary Shteyngart, talking to Pesca about his new book and this country’s deep obsession with cash.

4) “I don’t think we’ve ever been so busy while accomplishing so little.”

Listen: The Ezra Klein Show: Your attention is being hijacked. Chris Bailey can help. (9:27)

• That’s Bailey, nailing a paradox of modern American life.
• Says Klein: “There’s a war on for our attention, and we’re often losing it.”
• My take: Thank you for your attention to this newsletter.

5) “I think anybody who’s going to read this is not going to come away feeling that this ship is on a steady path.”

Listen: The Daily: Anonymous Senior Administration Official (15:09)

• That’s James Dao, Op-Ed Editor of the New York Times, discussing the anonymous account of a Trump administration senior official on his or her resistance within the White House.
• Dao offers a great behind the scenes look at how the op-ed that rocked Trump and Twitter came to be.

6) “The NFL is like a drug lord and we’re like addicts.”

Listen: Radio Atlantic: How Much Longer Can Football Last? (4:11)

• That indictment comes from guest Mark Leibovich, author of the book “Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times.”
• Leibovich says despite big issues (concussions, Kaepernick) and the smaller reality-show drama of the NFL, people still love football.
• More Leibovich: He appears this week on the Kickass News pod.

7) “This is a little bit more like an adrenaline shot directly into the heart. It kinda goes from zero to Azz Everywhere in record time.”

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: Serotonin and What’s Making Us Happy(4:06)

• So says Stephen Thompson, touting the work of Big Freedia as something that boosts his and his family’s moods.

• Need a mood boost? Other recs from the PCHH crew include Ariana Grande’s “Sweetener” and news bloopers.

Go Deep

1) Women in Politics

Listen: Run Like a Girl, Women Belong in the House

• Women are running in record numbers for political office in the United States, with 323 women still contending for Congress. At least two pods are dedicated to chronicling the “pink tsunami.”
• The non-partisan pod Run Like a Girl launched August 23 and has released four episodes so far, including embedded reports from the campaign of Gretchen Whitmer, candidate for Governor of Michigan. Binge time: 2 hours, 48 minutes.
• Women Belong in the House, which debuted yesterday, aims to tell the stories of female candidates.

2) Robert F. Kennedy’s Assassination

Listen: The RFK Tapes

• The 10-part examination of the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy concluded this week with a bonus live ep. The whole series is now bingeable.
• Binge time: 9 hours, 46 minutes.

3) Coke vs. Pepsi

Listen: Business Wars

• The seven-part series chronicles the battle between the two sugary-drink purveyors.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 9 minutes.

4) Drake’s Summer Bangers

Listen: Switched on Pop

• A 43-minute deep dive into “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What.”

5) R.E.M.

Listen: R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: Me

• Adam Scott Aukerman finished their exhaustive and occasionally exhausting survey of R.E.M.’s entire music catalog.
• Binge time: 49 hours, 39 minutes (!!!)

Guest Appearances By…

Addison, Bill Eater Upsell

• Eater’s national food critic on fall’s most anticipated new restaurants.

Al-Adeimi, Shireen Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

• Michigan State professor talks Yemen.

Burr, Bill The Bill Simmons Podcast

• Comedian talks Tom Brady with the Sports Guy.

B-Real This Must Be the Gig

• Cypress Hill legend talks crowd surfing, new record.

Brennan, Margaret Skimm’d From the Couch

Bryant, Kobe The Adam Carolla Show

Carmichael, Jerrod Anna Faris is Unqualified

Carter, Jimmy Pod Save America

Chieng, Ronny Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Close, Glenn Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Danson, Ted The Good Place: The Podcast

• Michael!

Elder, Larry The Adam Carolla Show

Epshteyn, Boris The Jamie Weinstein Show

Feig, Paul Off Camera with Sam Jones

Goldberg, Danny The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• Music industry legend talks the future of the biz, the day Cobain died.

Gondry, Michel The Big Picture

Goodwin, Doris Kearns The Tim Ferriss Show

Goolsbee, Austan The Axe Files

Graham, Rev. Franklin The New Yorker Radio Hour

Hawke, Ethan Filmspotting

Higgins, Maeve Bullseye

Kidman, Nicole Playback with Kris Tapley

Kravitz, Lenny Oprah’s Master Class

Legend, John The Dan Wootton Interview

Levi, Zachary Inside of You

Lillard, Matthew Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Lowe, Rob Pardon My Take

Mantzoukas, Jason The Good Place: The Podcast

• Derek!

McKelvey, Miguel How I Built This with Guy Raz

McMillan, Tracy Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Morris, Wesley The Bill Simmons Podcast

• New York Times culture critic talks Burt Reynolds. RIP Burt.

Morrison, Keith Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Musk, Elon The Joe Rogan Experience

• CNET’s tweet about the pod sums it up: “Elon Musk smokes weed, talks flamethrowers.”

Nixon, Cynthia Pod Save America

Retta Curious with Josh Peck

Salzberg, Sharon You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Scaggs, Boz Bullseye

Sherman, Wendy Kickass News

• Convo with lead negotiator of the Iran Nuclear Agreement.

Simon, Paul All Songs Considered

Sittenfeld, Curtis The New Yorker Radio Hour

• Best-selling author talks about her love for the Midwestern supermarket chain Schnucks.

Snider, Dee The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Tchen, Tina M. How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Turner, David If Then

• Convo with the Penny Fractions newsletter maker.

Underwood, April Recode Decode

• Slack’s chief product officer talks about the future of work, Slack.

Weiner, Jeff Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Convo with the CEO of LinkedIn.

Welch, Florence Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Wolf, Michelle Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Notable New Podcasts

1) Dr. Death

• It’s the debut of a six-part series about a Dallas surgeon who intentionally harmed people. Hosted by Laura Bell.

2) Drunk Women Solving Crime

• Taylor Glenn, Catherine Wilkins and Hannah George promise a “[t}rue crime podcast with a twist… of lime.”

3) Animal Sound Safari

• The new kids’ podcast is “an aural safari around the world to hear amazing stories about animals.”

4) The Pat McAfee Show 2.0

• The former NFL all-pro is back with another sports pod.

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

It’s been great catching up on the pods, though. So many excellent eps this week.

7 Pod Takes

1) “Just as a warning, if you’re listening with kids, today’s episode features Mel Gibson.”

Listen: Today Explained: Don’t call it a comeback (:27)

• That’s host Sean Rameswaram, with a #MeToo-era twist on the adult-content advisory.
• Moments of silence follow, so parents can stop their kids from hearing about Gibson and other men attempting comebacks, like Louis C.K. and Matt Lauer.

2) “An absurd, ridiculous faux-poetic romp through an imaginary America with absurd language and terrible dialogue and over-the-top performances, and it makes me cry every single time I watch it.”

Listen: The PosCast: PosCast Draft: US States with Actor Nick Offerman(46:55)

• That’s Mike Schur on “Field of Dreams,” the movie he and Offerman pick apart with hilarity — only to succumb to its magic.
• Offerman hammers the film for its bad logic and continuity errors — have you really paid attention to Archibald “Moonlight” Graham’s mustache? Yet, Offerman says, “Despite all these complaints, I cried my eyes out three times.”
• My take: Indeed. Every. Single. Time.

3) “So many bad things happened you would think that it was like God telling you not to make Legos.”

Listen: Nerdificent: Episode 22: LEGO (1:36)

• That’s co-host Dani Fernandez, setting up the pod’s deep dive into the turbulent history of Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen.
• My take: Thanks for persisting, Ole. I spent a day of my vacation with my family at Legoland. Legos are amazing.

4) “The internet has made the right, particularly among younger people, the new counterculture in a way.”

Listen: Conversations with Tyler: Claire Lehmann on Speaking Freely (14:10)

• So says Quillette editor Lehmann, in a nuanced, open conversation with host Tyler Cowen about a range of topics, including which strands of the right are being emboldened by the internet and which are falling away.

5) “There is no Twitter worse than political figure passes away Twitter.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “Florida man.” (3:41)

• That’s Dan Pfeiffer, commenting on the predictable reaction on social media to Senator John McCain’s passing.
• He adds: “Everyone thinks this is the moment they have to offer their hot take because the moment for the hot take will pass if they don’t do it right there.”
• My take: I abstain.

6) “I don’t know much about either of these topics, but if I’ve learned anything from cable news it’s that having a strong opinion is much more important than having an informed one.”

Listen: Anthropocene Reviewed: The Yips and CNN (:17)

• So says John Green, prefacing his nuanced, 10-minute review of CNN. His verdict: Two stars.
• Green also reviews the malady known as The Yips, in which athletes with pinpoint accuracy or incredible grace somehow lose their ability to perform a heretofore simple sporting act. His verdict for The Yips: One and a half stars.
• He adds: “I can almost feel the muscle twitch inside the word itself.”
• My take: Too many stars for The Yips, John Green.

7) “People are at their best naked.”

Listen: Everything is Alive: Tara, Bar of Soap (5:34)

• That’s Tara, a bar of soap, being interviewed by host Ian Chillag. Tara certainly has the experience to know.
• My take: I can’t get enough of this pod. It’s so good.

Go Deep

1) Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Listen: RBG: Beyond Notorious

• The six-part deep dive into the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg builds off the doc “RBG.”
• The last ep debuted last Friday, but I had to grandfather in RBG.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 28 minutes

2) “L.A. Woman”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• Paul F. Tompkins joins the pod to work on the train wreck that is The Doors’ tune “L.A. Woman.”
• Binge time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

3) “Crazy Rich Asians”

Listen: The Bechdel Cast

• The pod takes a deep dive into the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.”
• Binge time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Guest Appearances By…

Aduba, Uzo Off Camera with Sam Jones

Bachman, Randy The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

Bateman, Jason Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Bridenstine, Jim Weather Geeks

• Convo with NASA’s new administrator.

Brooks, Arthur Kickass News

Byrne, Rose Ask Me Another

Caramanica, Jon Longform Podcast

Carden, D’Arcy The Good Place: The Podcast

• Janet!

Chaganty, Aneesh The Big Picture

Clark, Tom You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Crews, Terry Pod Save the People

Delsener, Ron Here’s the Thing With Alec Baldwin

• Convo with the man “who basically created the genre of the massive outdoor concert.”

Dennings, Kat Anna Faris is Unqualified

Dougherty, Dale Recode Decode

• Maker Faire founder talks about the maker movement, with Make Magazine editor Mike Senese.

Gupta, Sunil HBR IdeaCast

• Harvard Business School professor says your digital strategy needs work, businesspeople.

Hall, Regina Creative Conversation

Hardwicke, Catherine Maltin on Movies

Harper, William Jackson The Good Place: The Podcast

• Chidi!

Hawke, Ethan The A24 Podcast, This Song

• Actor talks Steve McQueen and Nova Scotia with Alia Shawkat, and with This Song about singer/songwriter Blaze Foley.

Hurwitz, Gregg The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

James, Steve I Think You’re Interesting

Jamil, Jameela Ways to Change the World

Koy, Jo WTF with Marc Maron

Lanier, Jaron Waking Up with Sam Harris

Levien, David The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Newsom, Gavin Pod Save America

• Convo with candidate for governor of California.

Ourand, John Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Peterson, Eugene On Being

Quigley, Mike The Axe Files

• U.S. Rep from Illinois talks polarization, Russian election interference.

Riggle, Rob Pardon My Take

Salbi, Zainab Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Senese, Mike Recode Decode

• Make Magazine editor talks about the maker movement, with Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty.

Shawkat, Alia The A24 Podcast

• Actor talks Steve McQueen and Nova Scotia with Ethan Hawke.

Simon, David The New Yorker Radio Hour

Stoner, Alyson Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Sutter, Kurt Remote Controlled

• Convo with the creator of “Sons of Anarchy,” “Mayans M.C.”

Syd It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

• Convo with “a breakout star of the hip-hop collective Odd Future.”

Theroux, Justin Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Twitty, Michael W. Forked Up

• James Beard-award winning author talks food and race.

Wasser, Laura The Bill Simmons Podcast

• Celebrity divorce attorney talks prenups.

Wilson, Rick Kickass News

Yang, Jimmy O. Bon Appetit Foodcast

Notable New Podcasts

1) Heat and Light

• A deep dive into “six key but lesser known stories” from the tumultuous year of 1968. Hosted by Phillip Martin.

2) Thinking Machines

• American Innovations’ four-part series on the rise of artificial intelligence kicks off.

3) The Punies

• Kobe Bryant created the show for kids about “an eclectic group of neighborhood friends who play sports and take on adventures together.”

4) 70 Million

• The pod focuses on “how locals are addressing the role of jails in their backyards.” The 70 million refers to the amount of Americans over 18 with a criminal record.

5) More than Seven Dirty Words

• The FCC now has an official pod. Its goal: “Maybe we’ll even achieve the impossible: make telecom interesting.”

6) Sleuth

• New true crime pod covers a 2010 double murder in Southern California. The pod’s release dates overlap with an accused accessory’s trial.

7) Up and Vanished: Season 2

• The latest season of the true crime pod, which focuses on the disappearance of Kristal Reisinger from a Colorado mountain town, debuted while I was on vacation. The debut episode — and all the episodes from the first season — are dominating the U.S. iTunes chart this week.

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

Podcasts broke news. Podcasts soothed (me, at least). Podcasts put things into perspective. Podcasts featured A-listers. Podcasts interviewed inanimate objects. And people are still listening to Serial! As of this afternoon, it’s No. 13 on the iTunes chart.

Lastly, shouts to all who sent podcast recommendations about Achilles, tales of your own Achilles woes and well wishes. Thank you, and thanks for reading.

7 Pod Takes

1) “I don’t think joy is a privilege. I think freedom can be a privilege; I think luxury and comfort can be a privilege. But joy is a piece of basic human resilience. It’s a human birthright.”

Listen: On Being: Living the Questions with Krista Tippett (7:58)

• So says Tippett in just a snippet of her wise and beautiful response to the question: “How can we stay present to what’s happening in the world without giving in to despair and hopelessness?”
• She adds: “[H]owever seriously we must take what’s happening in the world and what the headlines are reflecting, it is never the full story of our time. It’s not the last word on what we’re capable of. It’s not the whole story of us.”
• My take: Tippett’s the guide we need for these extraordinary times. A highly recommended pod.

2) “I’m Jewish, and there’s a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened. I find that deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong.”

Listen: Recode Decode: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: The Kara Swisher interview (20:25)

• That’s Facebook’s Zuckerberg, with the horrifically bad take that triggered countless hot takes and baffled millions.
• My take: See Jaron Lanier’s take from last week, arguing that we should delete our social media accounts.

3) “He might be another Alexander Hamilton in American history.”

Listen: Trumpcast: The Pieces of the Mueller Puzzle (5:35)

• That’s host Virginia Heffernan, on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s importance and potential place in history books.
• She adds: He’s a non-president who “has moral authority who wears it well and acts on it with integrity.”
• Heffernan talks to Garrett Graff, Mueller’s biographer and a critical voice chronicling the day-to-day of the Special Counsel’s investigation. Graff believes Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is the investigation’s linchpin.
• Graff says: “In a world of foxes and hedgehogs, Rod Rosenstein is the ultimate hedgehog. He knows how Donald Trump’s presidency ends.”

4) “Can you count to 27?”

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: Denzel Washington on ‘He Got Game,’ the Yankees, and LeBron (4:48)

• That’s Denzel, in a disappointing performance as a cliched New York Yankees fan taunting Boston Red Sox fan Simmons with the number of championships won by the guys in pinstripes.
• My take: Overall a strong pod, recommended for sports fans or Denzel fans. Or both.

5) “It’s cost us ‘Take your hand off my leg, you creepy boss’ money.”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: Saving Women (2:36)

• That’s Sallie Krawcheck, highlighting the damage of the gender investing gap.
• The numbers: Women save 74 percent of their income as cash. Men save 61 percent, and invest the rest.
• Says Krawcheck, who’s spent her career in Wall Street power positions: The costs of that gap are substantial, from having to stay in awful jobs to losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime.

6) “[Red pepper flakes are] the Meryl Streep of the table toppings.”

Listen: Bon Appetit Foodcast: Pizza, Pizza! (8:35)

• So says Alex Delany, touting red pepper flakes as the go-to topping during his effort to eat 30 slices of New York cheese pizza in 36 hours.

7) “I thank God every day of my life that I was not born a can of minestrone soup.”

Listen: Everything is Alive: Louis, Can of Cola (16:02)

• So says Louis, a can of cola and the star of Ian Chillag’s new interview show where all the guests are inanimate objects.
• My take: Brilliant and weird. Mostly brilliant.

Go Deep

1) “Nanette”

Listen: Srsly, Pop Culture Happy Hour, Original Content

• Hannah Gadsby’s stand-up special that somewhere in the middle turns into “something else entirely,” according to PCHH’s Stephen Thompson, has become a cultural phenomenon.
• It’s been talked about, written about and fawned over for weeks, but it seems to have hit a critical mass among the pods this week — the “backlash to the backlash,” says PCHH’s Glen Weldon.
• Why? The “something else entirely” of Gadsby’s show has created space and urgency to discuss gender, trauma, art history, abuse, anger, storytelling and the limits of stand-up comedy.
• Guest Kumail Nanjiani shares the perspective of a stand-up on PCHH.
• SRSLY says Gadsby shows how comedy works in a way that isn’t boring or technical.

2) Bo Burnham

Listen: Bullseye, Fresh Air, Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau, The Big Picture, Filmspotting, Mortified, The H3 Podcast

• Peak Burnham? The YouTuber, comedian and director of “Eighth Grade” makes the pod rounds in support of his much-loved movie about a 13-year-old girl’s last week of eighth grade and the videos she makes.
• Why a girl? Burnham researched videos of kids talking online. He says on Late Night Whenever: “The boys tended to talk about Minecraft. The girls tended to talk about their souls. So it was like, obviously I’m going to write about the girls.”
• He adds: “The story about the boy would be just like 90 minutes of Fortnite references.”
• Fact check from a father of an almost middle grader: True.

3) Nuclear Energy

Listen: American Innovations

• Wondery’s six-part series hosted by Steven Johnson chronicles the rise and future of nuclear energy.
• Binge time: 4 hours, 7 minutes

4) The Avett Brothers

Listen: You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

• A 3-hour, 54-minute pod with the brothers Avett, perfect for those who are sad because they have to miss them on tour this summer (read: me).

Guest Appearances By…

Bharara, Preet Remade in America with Bassem Youssef

Brooks, Arthur The Ezra Klein Show

Case, Neko I Think You’re Interesting

• The singer-songwriter of one the best songs ever featuring a killer whale talks about her process, women in the music industry.

Charli XCX And the Writer is…

Couric, Katie The Dan Wootton Interview

Danson, Ted The Good Place: The Podcast

Diggs, Daveed WTF With Marc Maron, The Deadline Podcast

• “Hamilton” star on Oakland, his new movie “Blindspotting.”

D’onofrio, Vincent Curious with Josh Peck

Duritz, Adam This Must Be the Gig

Esposito, Cameron Modern Love

• Comic and actress reads an essay about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

Gaffigan, Jim The Adam Carolla Show

Gillan, Karen Inside of You

Ginsburg, Josh Recode Decode

• Zignal Labs CEO on the rise of bots in social media.

Greenwell, Megan Longform Podcast

• Convo with Deadspin’s EIC, the first external hire to lead the site.

Grossman, Mindy Skimm’d From the Couch

Hannah, Liz Scriptnotes

• The screenwriter of “The Post” talks storytelling.

Jay-Z Oprah’s Master Class

Johnson, Dwayne Oprah’s Master Class

Koppelman, Brian Recode Media with Peter Kafka

• Convo about poker, restaurants and “Billions” with the show’s co-creator.

Kroll, Nick Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Madden, Steve How I Built This with Guy Raz

Manson, Shirley Dear Sugars

• Garbage singer on being an outsider.

Macdonald, Kelly Maltin on Movies

Nancherla‏, Aparna Late Night Whenever with Michelle Buteau

Newhart, Bob WTF With Marc Maron

Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria Pod Save the People

Pfeiffer, Dan The Axe Files

Roker, Al It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Rooney, Wayne Pardon My Take

Smith, Jeron Strictly Business

• Steph Curry’s media partner talks expanding into entertainment.

Souza, Pete Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

• Convo with the presidential photographer for Obama and Reagan.

Stanhope, Doug The Joe Rogan Experience

Totenberg, Nina Stay Tuned with Preet

Tyler, Aisha The Tim Ferriss Show

Van Sant, Gus WTF with Marc Maron, The Treatment

Waithe, Lena The Dave Chang Show

Whitehouse, Sheldon Important Not Important

• U.S. Senator on speaking about climate change in Congress 200 (!) times.

Williamson, Marianne The Goop Podcast

Youssef, Bassem Forked Up

Notable New Podcasts

1) The Wilderness

• Jon Favreau and Crooked Media launched a 15-chapter pod that chronicles the history and future of the Democratic Party “through conversations with strategists, historians, policy experts, organizers, and voters.”

2) Oprah’s Master Class

• The Queen of All Media spins off another pod, this one not-so-surprisingly about big achievers’ personal stories and lessons learned.

3) Everything is Alive

• It’s “an interview show in which all the guests are inanimate objects.” Ian Chillag hosts.

4) Race Chaser

• Alaska and Willam break down every episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

5) Business Wars Daily

• The binge-worthy show about business rivalries spins off a daily pod focusing on current biz issues.

6) Passions in America

• A simple but compelling premise: Joe Posnanski speaks with guests about their biggest passions.

7) Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone

• The comedian pitches her pod as “a comedy field guide to life.”

8) The Realness

• The pod “goes behind Prodigy’s music to reveal his lifelong struggle against his own body, and how that struggle informed his lyrics and fueled his success.” Prodigy suffered from sickle cell disease. He died in 2017.

9) Wrong Skin

• A new true crime pod about “a relationship banned under traditional law. An investigation into an unsolved suspicious death and a missing person in the Australian outback.”

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) “The exercise of curiosity requires a risk, a sacrifice, a commitment.”

Listen: Revisionist History: Malcolm Gladwell’s 12 Rules for Life (2:15)

• That’s Gladwell on why he loves one of Megan McArdle’s rules for life: “Always order one extra dish at a restaurant, an unfamiliar one.”

• Gladwell’s pod is a bait and switch — he doesn’t offer his own 12 rules — but it’s a great bait and switch.

• Gladwell puts forth one rule: Pull the goalie. Gladwell explains it in a typically Gladwellian way, circling through hockey strategy, home invasions, stand your ground laws and Wall Street quants for 45 minutes before getting to his point.

• That point: In life, don’t do the easy and agreeable thing.

2) “I think that’s the defining question of our time, not just in the United States but in Europe as well.”

Listen: The Daily: What Migrants Are Fleeing (21:18)

• So says Azam Ahmed, reacting to host Michael Barbaro’s articulation of “an incredibly complicated question for the United States.”

• The question: “If almost everyone in a country is living in fear and can make an argument that they need to come to the United States, what is the U.S. to do? It couldn’t possibly absorb an entire nation.”

• My take: A typically sober, insightful Daily pod about what’s driving migrants to the United States’ southern border and the towering challenges involved all around.

3) “It leaves truth telling no place to stand.”

Listen: Hidden Brain: Fake News: An Origin Story (22:14)

• That’s Andie Tucher, a professor at Columbia University, on Trump’s war on truth via assertions of “fake news.”

• She adds: “I find that really dangerous to the idea of a democracy.”

• Tucher and host Shankar Vedantam put the current cries of “fake news” into historical perspective, highlighting how what’s happening now differs from earlier cries of “fake news” in the U.S.

• My take: Tucher’s take’s on the money.

4) “Crumbs aren’t good in microgravity.”

Listen: The Kitchen Sisters Present: Give Space a Chance: Gastrodiplomacy in Orbit (4:43)

• So says Vickie Kloeris, manager of the International Space Station food system at the Johnson Space Center, in an excellent pod about food in space.

• It’s all about tortillas, she says. They offer a taste of Texas, where astronauts train. They also don’t shed crumbs that can peskily float into electronics.

• Spoiler: In space, people often crave spicy food.

5) “There’s gotta be a Ronaldo in there somewhere.”

Listen: The Indicator from Planet Money: The Beautiful Indicator (2:50)

• That’s Robert Smith, articulating the logic of Chinese leaders intent on turning their country into a world football/soccer superpower.

• China’s goal: to host and win the World Cup by 2050.

• The first steps: Build 20,000 training centers, 60,000 new fields and recruit 50 million players/potential Ronaldos.

6) “He just wanted to be the first cop in Middleboro to arrest a clown.”

Listen: Decoder Ring: Clown Panic (1:40)

• That’s Jonathan A. Martin, who was arrested in Kentucky in 2016 for wearing a creepy clown costume, on the motivation of his apprehending officer.

• Martin’s anecdote kicks off a terrific pod exploring the rise of creepy clowns in pop culture.

• Host Willa Paskin asks: “Why does an archetype that for hundreds of years made us laugh start to scare the bejesus out of us?”

7) “Cracker Jack are the coleslaw of candy.”

Listen: Pardon My Take: Vince Carter + Mt. Rushmore of Stadium Foods (14:44)

• The PMT guys stir up controversy around an early pick for the Mt. Rushmore of stadium foods.

• Spoiler: The hot dog earns George Washington’s spot.

Go Deep

1) The Supreme Court

Listen: Political Gabfest, Hysteria, Fake the Nation, Up First, NPR Politics, The Daily, 538 Politics

• The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy and the court’s (awful) decision to uphold President Trump’s travel ban dominated the news and politics pods. Among the highlights:

• Pod Save America: “It seems very likely that John Roberts is the swing vote on the court now,” says Jon Lovett.

• Trumpcast: Jacob Weisberg talks to UC Irvine Law and Poli Sci professor Rick Hasen.

• More Perfect: Reprises its episode on Korematsu v. United States, the case that upheld the internment of Americans of Japanese heritage during World War II.

2) The Islamic State

Listen: Caliphate

• The acclaimed New York Times pod about the Islamic State and the fall of Mosul finished up late last week, with the 10th and final episode trickling into The Daily’s pod feed over the weekend.

• Translation: Caliphate finished last week but I missed the last episode in my feed. I’m including it this week because it’s too powerful to skip. All 12 episodes are now available.

• Binge time: 5 hours, 25 minutes

3) WTF is Up with Kanye West?

Listen: Popcast

• The pod asks and answers important questions about Yeezy for 1 hour, 24 minutes.

4) Yellow Journalism

Listen: Business Wars: Hearst vs. Pulitzer

• A seven-part deep-dive into the rivalry that shaped American journalism for a generation.

• Binge time: 2 hours, 57 minutes

5) Pregnancy Discrimination

Listen: The Daily

• The 44-minute, two-part pod investigates “systematic and pervasive” discrimination against pregnant women inside large American companies.

6) “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

• The pod AV Club deemed one of the best of 2018 so far goes deep on the U.S. national anthem for 1 hour, 12 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Abrams, Stephanie Weather Geeks

• Convo with the meteorologist.

Anderson, Louie The Treatment

Apatow, Judd The New Yorker Radio Hour

• In conversation with Molly Ringwald about John Hughes movies and shifting cultural standards, Apatow asks, “How are we supposed to feel about jokes that we wouldn’t do now?”

Balaban, Bob I Think You’re Interesting

Bell, Kristen The Good Place: The Podcast

Bercovici, Jeff The Outside Podcast

• Author of “Play On” talks about being an athlete into your golden years.

Bialik, Mayim Anna Faris is Unqualified

Bloom, Rachel Amy Schumer Presents 3 Girls, 1 Keith

Boom, Steve The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• The VP of Amazon Music on how Alexa and music. Says host Lefsetz about Amazon Music: The service might get little ink, but it’s a powerhouse.

Chesky, Brian Recode Decode

• Airbnb CEO on being on the wrong side of Trump, politics in tech.

Danes, Claire Remote Controller

De Laurentiis, Giada How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Garcetti, Eric The Ezra Klein Show

Gunn, James Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum

• Convo with the director of “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Hoppins, Pete Planet Futbol with Grant Wahl

• Convo about Nigeria’s unis with Nike’s senior design director.

Howery, Lil Rey WTF with Marc Maron

Hyden, Steven Deviate With Rolf Potts

• Podcast host and author or “Twilight of the Gods” on rock as an aging art.

Kondabolu, Hari But That’s Another Story

Klein, Ezra Why is This Happening? With Chris Hayes

Meyers, Seth Remote Controller

Nugent, Ted The Joe Rogan Experience

Pesca, Mike Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air, The Sporkful

• The Gist host on politics, sports what-ifs and nachos.

Peterson, Jordan Remade in America with Bassem Youssef

• Convo with Canadian professor about Ukrainian farmers, white privilege.

Ringwald, Molly The New Yorker Radio Hour

• In conversation with Judd Apatow, she talks about her shifting feelings towards her work with John Hughes, which she wrote about for The New Yorker.

Rubio, Marco The Axe Files

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

Shriver, Maria Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Willner, Charlotte and Dave Recode Decode

• Convo with the creators of Facebook campaign “Reunite an immigrant parent with their child.”

Yang, Alan The Dave Chang Show

• Co-creator of “Master of None” on transitioning from studying biology to doing comedy.

Yankovic, Weird Al Comedy Bang! Bang!

• Post-”Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour” debrief from the musical comedy legend.

Zimmer, John How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with co-founder of Lyft.

Notable New Podcasts

1) Hysteria

• Erin Ryan hosts “a bicoastal squad of opinionated, mouthy women to discuss news, politics, and cultural stories that affect women’s lives, from serious to absurd.”

2) Inside Jaws

• Hosted by Mark Ramsey, it’s a “story of one man, a fresh-faced, inexperienced director who nearly wrecked his promising career and became the most important filmmaker of our era.”

3) Cher and Retweet

• Comedians Andy Balloch and Justin Porter take a “comedic journey down the rabbit hole that is Cher’s twitter feed.”

4) The Control Group

• It’s a 10-part “historical fiction” pod. The gist: “Encouraged by a private research group, a doctor at a mental ward sheds his ethical restraints in an effort to pioneer a new form of mental cleansing.”

5) At Liberty

• The weekly ACLU pod “explores the biggest civil rights and civil liberties issues.”

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