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.” 

Pod Take of the Week

“The right-wing machine for pumping out this kind of misinformation is like the chocolates moving in front of Lucy and Ethel.”

Listen: Pod Save America: “Drunk dialing for kompromat.” (31:09)

• That’s Jon Lovett, on the overload of BS as the U.S. House of Representatives begins its impeachment inquiry. 
• Context: Watch Lucy and Ethel do their thing.

Go Deep

1) The Rise and Sale of Gimlet Media 

Listen: StartUp, Cold Call

• For podcast nerds, mostly. StartUp, the Gimlet Media podcast that has chronicled the company’s creation and growing pains for five years, starts its final season.
• It promises to tell the warts-and-all tale of its recent acquisition by Spotify. 
• For an outside perspective, the Harvard Business Review podcast Cold Call offers a Gimlet case study. 

2) The Market for Passports

Listen: The Documentary Podcast

• A 28-minute look at the “booming trade in passports” and “how easy it can be to get a second — or third — passport, for the right price.”

3) Facebook vs. Snapchat

Listen: Business Wars

• A six-part series on the tech battle between Mark Zuckerberg’s data-swallowing juggernaut and Evan Spiegel’s upstart. 

4) Pocky

Listen: Spilled Milk

• A 25-minute dive into Pocky and other stickbiscuits. 

5) Dave Chapelle

Listen: Still Processing

• A 42-minute dive into the comic’s latest comedy special, his place in the current culture and his highwire act of jokes about abortion. 

6) Jeanne de Saint-Remy 

Listen: Con Artists

• The pod kicks off a multi-parter on the 18th-century French con artist. 

7) John Wilkes Booth

Listen: 1865

• The pod completes a three-part series on Abraham Lincoln’s killer and his final hours.

Guest Appearances By…

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

Allende, Isabel Latino USA

Anderson, Nick The Dave Chang Show

• Convo with the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist. 

Armstrong, Heather B. The Hilarious World of Depression

Avett Brothers, The Armchair Expert

• Supplemental listening: The band’s new album, Closer Than Together. Or listen to this and have a cry. 

Bandera, Antonio Studio 360

Banhart, Devendra This Must Be the Gig

Barr, Roseanne The Joe Rogan Experience

Brie, Alison Anna Faris Is Unqualified

Bryson, Bill Conversations

Byer, Nicole The Goodie Goodie with Sabrina Jalees

Byrne, David All Songs Considered

Cameron, David Pod Save the World

• Former UK Prime Minister talks about democracy, his book. 

Carey, Drew Talkhouse

Carney, Patrick The Road Taken

• The drummer of The Black Keys talks touring, his band. 

Clinton, Hillary Call Your Girlfriend

Clinton, Chelsea Call Your Girlfriend

Cochran, Jason Explore the World

Cox, Laverne LGBTQ&A ($L)

Day, Charlie Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

DeVito, Danny WTF with Marc Maron

Ellis, Brett Easton The Portal

Faison, Donald Life is Short with Justin Long

Favreau, Jon Strictly Business

• Convo with the movie director.

Favreau, Jon Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

• Convo with the Crooked Media co-founder.

Feldman, Liz Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Gates, Melinda HBR IdeaCast, Wisdom From the Top ($L)

Gladwell, Malcolm Happier with Gretchen Rubin, The Ezra Klein Show

Glazer, Nikki The Joe Rogan Experience

Guggenheim, Davis The Vergecast

Gulman, Gary You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, The Gist, The Moment

• The comedian makes the pod rounds promoting his HBO special, “The Great Depresh.”

Henner, Marilu WTF with Marc Maron

Howard, Russell Full Disclosure with James O’Brien

Iger, Bob Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Klosterman, Chuck The Bill Simmons Podcast

Legend, John It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Lennox, Annie Cry Power with Hozier

Marantz, Andrew Longform Podcast

Marsalis, Wynton The Open Ears Project

Martin, Giles All Songs Considered

Miller, Chanel Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Convo with the sexual assault victim formerly knowns as Emily Doe.  

Neistat, Casey H3 Podcast

Newsom, Gavin The Lead

• California’s Gov. talk NCAA, allowing college athletes in the state to get paid for the use of their name and likeness.

O’Brien, Conan Off Book

Phoenix, Joaquin ID10T

Porowski, Antoni Beyond the Plate

Raskin, Rep. Jamie Pod Save America

Remnick, David Stay Tuned with Preet

Rock, Chris The Al Franken Podcast

Rodman, Dennis The Jordan Harbinger Show

Rogen, Seth Scriptnotes

Rushdie, Salman Bookworm

Russo, Joe Talks at Google

Sagal, Peter Go Fact Yourself

Sarsgaard, Peter Bullseye

Shaffir, Ari The Joe Rogan Experience

Simpson, Sturgill The Joe Rogan Experience

Smith, Ben Recode Media

Tegan and Sara Queery

Thruman, Niccole Culture Kings

Tolentino, Jia Keep It

White, Jack Broken Record

Yamagata, Rachel Wheels Off

Yang, Andrew The Portal

Notable New Podcasts

1) The Mysterious Mr. Epstein

• Another week, another pod about the insidious Jeffrey Epstein. 
• It’s No. 1 on iTunes.

2) Borrowed Future

• The pod from Ramsey Network “explores the lies we believe about college and digs into the soaring cost of tuition and the predatory nature of the student loan industry.” 
• It’s No. 10 on iTunes.

3) America Dissected 

• The ten-part series from Crooked Media “goes beyond the headlines to explore what really matters for our health.”
• It’s No. 27 on iTunes

4) Heads of Sierra Blanca

• An eight-episode series about “a serial killer inspired by Rube Goldberg” in Sierra Blanca, Texas. The pod explores whether the killings are tied to a Mexican cartel turf war. 
• It’s No. 33 on iTunes

5) Scam Goddess

• An Earwolf pod “dedicated to fraud and all those who practice it!”
• It’s No. 84 on iTunes

6) Condition

• The podcast from the Las Vegas Review-Journal covers the mass shooting at the Route 91 festival by sharing “the stories of two Las Vegas police officers, a woman in dire straits and the night their lives intersected.”

7) The Left Ear

• Host Dakota Johnson covers “stories of assault, abuse, and harassment from survivors around the globe.”

8) Cry Power with Hozier

• The musician “talks to artists and activists about how to take action and change the world.”

9) The Law & Order: SVU Podcast

• The official pod about the TV show brings “behind-the-scenes episode intel from the cast and crew.”

10) Worst Year Ever

• It’s all about the projected craziness of the election year 2020, which “isn’t going to be fun for anybody, left, right, or center.”

11) Cryptids

• It’s a scripted show about “a conspiracy radio show host and an avid listener who go in search of an afterlife.” 

12) The Road Taken

• The Ringer podcast hosted by Vampire Weekend’s Chris Tomson and Chris Baio takes “an honest look at the life of a touring musician through conversations with their peers, idols, and rivals.” 

13) Sonic Boom ($L)

• The Ringer pod “tells a story of basketball and politics, wealth and power—revealing new truths about the NBA’s greatest heist.”
• That heist would be the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics departure to Oklahoma City in 2008. 

14) Mother of All Shows

• Actress Kimmy Gatewood “aims to uncover what it truly means to be a modern parent in an over-informed, Google-obsessed, placenta-eating world.”

15) Bear and a Banjo

• The music podcast from iHeartRadio “tells the incredibly tall tale of a band that time forgot.”

And One to Look Forward To: Dolly Parton’s America

• The trailer’s out for the nine-episode “journey into the Dollyverse.” Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad hosts.

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

Pod Take of the Week

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

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

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

Go Deep

1) President Trump and the Impeachment Inquiry 

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

2) Living with Sharks

Listen: Outside Podcast

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

3) “The Shawshank Redemption”

Listen: The Rewatchables

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

4) “Do the Right Thing”

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts

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

5) Skylab

Listen: American Innovations

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

Guest Appearances By…

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

Allen, Byron WTF with Marc Maron

Ansari, Aziz Last Day

Apatow, Judd Thick Skin with Jeff Ross

Aukerman, Scott The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Blunt, James The Dan Wootton Interview

Booker, Sen. Cory The New Yorker Radio Hour

Brown, Karamo Naked with Catt Sadler

Burns, Ken Longform Podcast

Calcanis, Jason Inside Podcasting

Cannon, Nick ExpediTIously 

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

• Janet!

Cummings, Whitney Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Donoghue, Emma Bookworm

Duca, Lauren The Gist

Flea The Bill Simmons Podcast

• RHCP bassist talks music, Lakers. 

Francis, Dillon The Ron Burgundy Podcast

Gaffigan, Jeannie WTF with Marc Maron

Gaffigan, Jim Armchair Expert

Galifianakis, Zach Off Camera

Garofolo, Janeane Filling the Void

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

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

Gorsuch, Neil The Strategerist

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

Hurd, Will TED Talks Daily

Hyland, Sarah Celeste & Her Best ($L)

Izzard, Eddie The Open Ears Project

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

Kander, Jason The Al Franken Podcast 

Khanna, Parag The TED Interview

Klobuchar, Sen. Amy Radio Atlantic

Kurtis, Bill Go Fact Yourself

Leonard, Franklin Hear to Slay ($L)

• Convo with the founder of The Black List.

Levy, Dan Thirst Aid Kit

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

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

Ma, Jeff The Dave Chang Show

MacKaye, Ian Sound Opinions

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

Meltzer, Brad Kickass News

Morales, Natalie Yo, Is This Racist?

Olson, Elizabeth UnStyled

Penn, Sean ID10T

Phillips, Lou Diamond Latino USA

Pierson, Rich How I Built This with Guy Raz

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

Puddicome, Andy How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Same as above.

Schilling, Dave Culture Kings

Sedaris, Amy Life is Short with Justin Long

Silverman, Sarah Last Day

Soderbergh, Steven Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton

Starr, Martin Curious with Josh Peck

Thornton, Billy Bob The Bill Simmons Podcast

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

Warner, Sen. Mark Recode Decode

Will, George The Axe Files ($L)

Wilson, Mara The Hilarious World of Depression

Wilson, Rainn You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Zellweger, Renee The Big Ticket

Notable New Podcasts

1) Edge of Sleep

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

2) Points South 

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

3) Lost at the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi

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

4) Past Gas

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

5) School Colors

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

6) Last Day

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

7) Business Casual 

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

8) You’re Dead to Me

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

9) Next Question with Katie Couric

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

10) Frontier Tween ($L)

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

11) Metaphysical Milkshake ($L) 

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

12) Vocal Point ($L)

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

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

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

The counts: 54 notable guests, 23 new podcasts, six deep dives and one endangered letter of the alphabet.

Pod Take of the Week

“The alphabet should be reordered.”

Listen: The Hottest Take (:46)

• That’s Tyler Parker, with a scorching take during the debut week of the Ringer’s new opinion/comedy pod on Spotify.
• Parker just ain’t having R, S and T — “elite letters, superstar letters” — positioned behind Q. 
• Q, he says, can just be banished. K and W can do the work. 
• Says Parker: “If Q’s in the alphabet after this I’m gonna be furious.”
• Additional Reading: “The Mixed-Up Alphabet.” 

Go Deep

1) The World of Comedy 

Listen: The Gist

• The five-part, week-long series devotes an episode each to stand-up, improv, podcasts, film and late night. 
• Guests include Aparna Nancherla, Ron Funches and John August.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 1 minute.  

2) “Baby Shark”

Listen: Switched on Pop

• A 36-minute deep dive into the “dark magic” of the earworm, aka the parents’ “nightmare that will not end.”

3) Puerto Rico

Listen: Throughline

• A 1 hour, 6 minute dive into the relationship the territory has with the U.S. mainland.  

4) How to Make Meetings Less Terrible

Listen: Freakonomics Radio

• A 41-minute look at how to not waste time in conference rooms and on Zoom calls. 

5) “American Idiot”

Listen: Reminiscent

• The indie punk and emo music pod devotes 54 minutes to breaking down the landmark Green Day album on its 15th anniversary. 

6) U.S. Interstate System

Listen: Stuff You Should Know

• A 1 hour, 3 minute dive into the power — both positive and destructive — of America’s superhighways. 

Guest Appearances By…

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

Abrams, Stacey Lovett or Leave It

Ali, Laila Splitting Upward

Aukerman, Scott Off Camera with Sam Jones, Kickass News, Doughboys

• The co-creator of “Between Two Ferns” talks about the Netflix “Ferns” movie, Marie Callender’s.  

Baran, Madeline Inside Podcasting

Batiste, Jon The Open Ears Project

• The bandleader discusses his love for Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

Black Keys, The The Joe Rogan Experience

Black, Michael Ian Filling the Void

• The comic talks about poker. 

Braverman, Blair With Friends Like These

Carroll, E. Jean Death, Sex & Money

Carroll, Sean The Joe Rogan Experience, Science Weekly

Coates, Ta-Nehisi Longform Podcast

Cornwell, Patricia StarTalk Radio

Cummings, Whitney The Hilarious World of Depression

Day, Charlie Armchair Expert

Folds, Ben Conversations

Gadsby, Hannah Studio 360

Galifianakis, Zach Comedy Bang! Bang!

Gladwell, Malcolm Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations, The Bill Simmons Podcast, It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

• Gladwell makes the round of podcasts with long names to promote his new book about strangers. 

Glazier, Ilana The Thrive Global Podcast

Godin, Seth The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Gyllenhaal, Jake Talks at Google

Hale, Tony Life is Short with Justin Long, You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Hannah-Jones, Nikole The Ezra Klein Show

Howard, Britney The New Yorker Radio Hour

Jacobson, Abbi The Thrive Global Podcast

Jefferies, Jim Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

Kantor, Jodi Skimm’d From the Couch, Call Your Girlfriend, Recode Decode, The Daily

Kardashian West, Kim Foodgod:OMFG

Koenig, Ezra Keep It

Koepp, David Scriptnotes

Kramer, Julia Women Who Travel

• The editor of Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants in America list talks restaurants, rhubarb danishes.

Lake, Katrina How I Built This with Guy Raz

Lang Lang Here’s the Thing With Alec Baldwin

Lapkus, Lauren Comedy Bang! Bang!, Yo, Is This Racist?

Lorenz, Taylor Ringer Dish

Lynch, Jane The Three Questions with Andy Richter

McKenna, Aline Brosh Without Fail

Mendes, Sam The Open Ears Project

• The director talks about his affection for Carl Orff’s “Gassenhauer.”

Munroe, Randall The Ezra Klein Show

Newmark, Craig Recode Media

Nye, Bill Getting Curious with Johnathan Van Ness

Offerman, Nick The Poscast

Raphael, June Diane WTF with Marc Maron

Ray, Rachael Beyond the Plate

Ringwald, Molly UnStyled

Samuelsson, Marcus Off Menu

Sanders, Bernie Latino USA

Schine, Cathleen Bookworm

Snowden, Edward Fresh Air

Steinem, Gloria Work in Progress

Sturridge, Tom Talks at Google

T.I. Forked Up

Twohey, Megan Skimm’d From the Couch, Call Your Girlfriend, Recode Decode, The Daily

Zombie, Rob The Joe Rogan Experience, ID10T

Notable New Podcasts

1) Motive

• The murder-adjacent true crime podcast from WBEZ Chicago chronicles “a cruel sociological experiment. Lock up a 13-year-old boy for a murder that he swore he didn’t commit. Release him as a 30-year-old man. Then, give him $25 million.” The boy-turned-man is Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez. 
• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frank Main hosts. 

2) The Thing About Pam

• The true-crime pod from Keith Morrison and Dateline NBC focuses on a murder that sets off “a chain of events that would leave one man dead, another man implicated, and expose a diabolical scheme.”
• It’s the No. 1 podcast on iTunes.

3) Correct Opinions with Trey Kennedy

• Comic and video-maker Kennedy just wants us to “take a deep breath, make fun of some people and enjoy some remedy through roasting.”
• It’s the No. 10 podcast on iTunes.  

4) Passenger List

• Kelly Marie Tran and Patti LuPone star in the fictional pod about a flight that disappears while crossing the Atlantic.
• Tran plays a college student whose brother was in the flight, and she’s searching for answers. 

5) Finding Van Gogh 

• Another promising true crime pod about art theft, specifically Van Gogh’s “Portrait of Dr Gachet.”
• This one from the Stadel Museum “traces the painting’s eventful history – to get to the bottom of the question: where is the masterpiece now?

6) The Open Ears Project

• A non-news daily pod from WNYC “where people share the classical track that means the most to them.”
• Episodes run around 10 minutes each. 

7) Scared to Death 

• A podcast in which host Dan Cummins tries “to scare his wife Lynze to death with two tales of alleged-to-be-true horror.”

8) The Lead

• A daily pod about sports from The Athletic.

9) Campaign HQ with David Plouffe

• President Barack Obama’s campaign manager “digs into what the [Democratic presidential] candidates are trying to accomplish in their messaging.”

10) Working Daughter

• Host Liz O’Donnell focuses on “the millions of family caregivers juggling eldercare, career and life, telling their stories and answering their questions.”

11) Long May They Run

• LMTR goes for season-long deep dives into a band, its fans and “the journey that made them one of the most successful touring bands of all time.”
• Season one: Phish. 

12) Sports Criminals

• The focus is on “professional athletes who thought they could get away with anything, including blackmail, theft, prostitution and even murder.”

13) My Life of Crime

• 48 Hours’s Erin Moriarty launches a six-part true crime series that kicks off with a two-parter on the case of accused ax-murderer Lizzie Borden.

14) Three Big Points

• The management pod from MIT’s Sloan Management Review focuses on “one new idea from the world’s leading academics, researchers, and executives” and delivers it “with three takeaways.”

15) London, Actually (S)

• London Hughes’s Spotify-exclusive dating podcast finds the stand-up enlisting “various celebrity friends to help her find a man.” 

16) Foodgod: OMFG

• Reality show regular Jonathan Cheban talks” about his lifestyle, travels, food and more, often with his friends and celebrity guests.” 
• Like with his initial guest, Kim Kardashian West.  

17) She Makes Money Moves

• The pod from Glamour and iHeartRadio ”shares intimate, unscripted stories from women across the country along with advice from financial experts to help guide these women—and women everywhere—forward.” 

18) Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

• It’s about “frank, funny, personal, professional, and sometimes even political conversations with people who inspire Sophia.”

19) We Hear

• The podcast version of the New York Post’s Page Six column. Hard to believe this wasn’t already a podcast. 

20) Out Travel the System (S)

• Nisreene Atassi hosts Expedia’s Spotify-exclusive travel podcast.

21) Wide Open with Tony Gonzalez

• Former NFLer Tony Gonzalez has conversations “with the brightest minds in the worlds of business and entertainment to discuss health, wellness and mindset.”

22) The Hottest Take (S)

• The folks from the Ringer “will debate, defend, and parse a controversial opinion on a pressing topic of the day,” like fantasy football and indoor volleyball. 

23) Down to Date with Kendall Long

• Bachelor in Paradise’s Kendall Long hosts and listens in “to two complete strangers on a first date inside a recording studio.”

And One to Look Forward To: Frontier Tween (Sept. 24, $L)

• In the “coming-of-age scripted comedy series from Team Coco, the all-female writing staff takes you on a journey of 12-year-old poet Tilly Mulch’s life on the untamed prairie.”
• It’s a place “every day is full of adventure and the cows know all her secrets.”
• It’s from the team that created The Onion’s beloved A Very Fatal Murder.

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.”

5 Pod Takes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“On a unicorn.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Deep

1) Super Bowl Prop Bets

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast, Against All Odds

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

2) “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

Listen: Finale

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

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

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

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

Guest Appearances By…

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

Carvey, Dana Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

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

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

Chotiner, Isaac Pod Save America

• A guest spot for Twitter’s favorite interviewer.

Colman, Olivia David Tennant Does a Podcast With…

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

Cooper, Bradley The Treatment

Cuban, Mark Freakonomics Radio

Dion, Celine The Dan Wootton Interview

Eggers, Dave Peace Of Mind with Bhi Bhiman

Frum, David Stay Tuned with Preet

Fry, Stephen Making Sense with Sam Harris

Gaffigan, Jim ID10T

Hodgman, John Comedy Bang! Bang!

Jamil, Jameela Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

• Tahani!

Janney, Allison WTF with Marc Maron

Kahneman, Daniel On Being

Kane, Carol Bullseye

Klosterman, Chuck The Bill Simmons Podcast

Mandel, Howie KFC Radio

Nowitzki, Dirk The Lowe Post

Peña, Michael Armchair Expert

Savage, Dan Queery

Sims, Cliff Kickass News, 1A

Soderbergh, Steven The Bill Simmons Podcast

Tomkins, Paul F. Comedy Bang! Bang!

Notable New Podcasts

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

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

2) Murder Book

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

3) Case Closed

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

4) Le Batard & Friends – STUpodity

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

5) Extraterrestrial

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

6) Julie: The Unwinding of the Miracle

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

7) We Called Your Mom

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

8) The Intelligence

• The latest daily news podcast comes from The Economist.

9) David Tennant Does a Podcast With…

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

10) Russia Rising

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

11) Peace Of Mind with Bhi Bhiman

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

12) Let’s Get Civical

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

13) The Strategerist

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

14) Once Upon a Timestamp

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

Tweet of the Week

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.

Before I get to more on that, a shout out to Bello Collective’s 100 Outstanding Podcasts of 2018. I shared a few picks, and found a whole lot more to add to my listening queue. Check it out.

5 Pod Takes

1) “She’s always going to be remembered, and she’s going to be vindicated.”

Listen: The Teacher’s Pet: Arrest (41:49)

• That’s Julie Andrew, speaking about her late friend Lynette Dawson, whose 1982 disappearance is the subject of the true crime podcast.
• Andrew spoke an hour after news broke of the arrest of Chris Dawson, Lynette’s husband, on murder charges.
• The podcast sparked intense interest in the cold case. Police wouldn’t reveal the evidence that triggered the arrest, but they did tell host Hedley Thomas the podcast helped bring new evidence to light.

2) “I worry about humans…A human with an agenda, and with anger, is terrifying to me.”

Listen: 10 Things That Scare Me: Blair Braverman (5:40)

• That’s dog musher Braverman, revealing her No. 9 fear on this compelling new pod series from WNYC about people’s fears.
• Context: Braverman frames her fear of humans in relation to nature.
• She says: “A bear wants to eat, and a storm doesn’t give a shit about anything.”  

3) “It’s taking great, wonderful, imaginative people…and then crushing their souls by telling them what font size to use.”

Listen: TED Talks Daily: Confessions of a recovering micromanager I Chieh Huang (2:01)

• That’s Huang, nailing what it takes to kill happiness and morale at work.

4) “It’s like ‘Free Bird’ [and] ‘Hey Jude’ had a kid.”

Listen: Celebration Rock: Fantasy A&R: the Ultimate Mid-’90s Oasis Album(53:14)

• That’s Steven Hyden, who also throws the rocking parts of “Stairway to Heaven” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” into the mix when describing the alchemy of Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova.”
• It’s the closer on his excellent fantasy mid-90s Oasis album.

5) “The makers of these films have no idea what snow looks like.”

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: Hallmark Holiday Movies (5:45)

• Stephen Thompson breaks down one of Hallmark’s most lovable contributions to cinema.

Tweet of the Week

Go Deep

1) China and the West

Listen: The Daily

• A two-parter from Apple’s most downloaded pod of 2018 focuses on bad assumptions made by Western countries regarding China’s economic decisions.
• Binge time: 44 minutes.

2) “The College Dropout”

Listen: Heat Rocks

• A 54-minute deep dive into Kanye’s classic, with G Yamazawa.

3) Ernesto de la Cruz

Listen: Villains

• Shea Serrano goes 48 minutes on the “Coco” baddie.

Guest Appearances By…

Abrams, Stacey TED Talks Daily

• The former candidate for governor of Georgia shares lessons from her campaign.

Abumrad, Jad Pod Save the People

Aiken, Clay The Adam Carolla Show

Albarn, Damon Ways to Change the World

Alexandro, Tex WTF with Marc Maron

Allen, Lily ID10T

Armisen, Fred You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Automator, Dan the The Trip

Black, Jack The Treatment, The H3 Podcast

Bloom, Rachel Good One

Briggs, Bishop Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Brown, Sen. Sherrod Pod Save America

Burr, Bill Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Bush, Sophia Anna Faris is Unqualified

Carden, D’Arcy Off Book, The Good Place: The Podcast

• Janet!

Case, Neko Talkhouse

Cash, Rosanne The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Collazo, Julie Schwietert Without Fail

Cooper, Bradley Fresh Air

Copeland, Misty The Goop Podcast

Danson, Ted Off Camera with Sam Jones

• Michael!

Davis, Viola It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Dunham, Kelli My Best Break-Up

Eggers, Dave The New Yorker: Fiction

• He reads Sam Shepard’s story “ Indianapolis (Highway 74)”

Foer, Franklin Recode Decode

Galifianakis, Zach Doug Loves Movies

Gass, Kyle The Treatment, The H3 Podcast

Gebbia, Joe How I Built This with Guy Raz

Goggins, David The Joe Rogan Experience

Haidt, Jonathan Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Hamm, Jon Doug Loves Movies

Harbinger, Jordan Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Howroyd, Janice Bryant How I Built This with Guy Raz

Jeffries, Hakeem Pod Save America

Jenkins, Barry Monocle 24: The Big Interview

Kingsolver, Barbara Bookworm

Knievel, Robbie The Adam Carolla Show

Kurzweil, Ray The TED Interview, TED Talks Daily

Love, Darlene Ask Me Another

Luna, Diego Remote Controlled

Moore, Michael Scott Public Intellectual

Moretz, Chloe Grace Maltin on Movies

Nanjiani, Kumail Stay Tuned with Preet

Nelson, Tim Blake WTF with Marc Maron

Nepo, Mark Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

• Two-part convo with the author and philosopher.

Noah, Trevor Kickass News

Nosrat, Samin Fresh Air, Eater Upsell

Puddicombe, Andy Hannahlyze This

• Convo with co-founder of Headspace.

Reitman, Jason The Bill Simmons Podcast

Romer, Paul Conversations with Tyler

Savage, Andrea Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Savage, Andrew This Song

Scheer, Paul I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast

Schmidle, Nicholas Longform Podcast

Silverman, Sarah Doug Loves Movies

Stewart, Martha Skimm’d From the Couch

Storr, Will The Ezra Klein Show

Swisher, Kara TBD with Tina Brown

Taylor, James Oprah’s Master Class

Traister, Rebecca On Being

Verducci, Tom Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Weil, Dr. Andrew The Tim Ferriss Show

Wray, John Otherppl with Brad Listi

Wurtz, Bill The H3 Podcast

Zucker, Jeff The Axe Files

Notable New Podcasts

1) Post Reports

• The Washington Post’s long-awaited daily news podcast debuts. Martine Powers hosts.

2) Broken Harts

• The Glamour/HowStuffWorks co-production centers on the murder-suicide of the Hart Family. Twitter tagline: “Two white moms. Six adopted black kids. One car found upside down at the bottom of a cliff. What went wrong?”

3) Aria Code

• Each episode of this WQXR/Metropolitan Opera co-production “dives into one aria — a feature for a single singer — and explores how and why these brief musical moments have imprinted themselves in our collective consciousness and what it takes to stand on the Met stage and sing them.”

4) The Corp

• ARod and Big Cat of Barstool Sports “interview industry leaders, sports legends, and entrepreneurs on what makes them successful in their specific profession.” All seven episodes dropped Thursday.

5) Better at Everything

• Each season of this “zero b******t” self-help show will feature “a new expert who will help you get unstuck in a single but meaningful way.”

6) 10 Things That Scare Me

• The WNYC Studios production focuses on one person’s fears. “It could be anyone. It could be you. It’s someone driven by fears that keep them up at night, that define their lives, and inform their choices.”

7) These Miracles Work: A Hold Steady Podcast

• It’s a five-part deep dive into The Hold Steady’s album “Stay Positive.” I’m so in.

8) Wealth of Knowledge

• Host Antonio Barbera of U.S. News & World Report offers “weekly tips and expert insight on all things money.”

9) Numbers Geek with Steve Ballmer

• The former Microsoft CEO, current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and Internet-famous dancer uses “numbers and data to make sense of the world.

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

As promised, I’ve rolled some Pod Takes from last week to this week. Happy bonus content.

6 Pod Takes

1) “The robots, most economists think, will win out.”

Listen: The Daily: The Human Toll of Instant Delivery (24:31)

• That’s Jessica Silver-Greenberg, New York Times business reporter on the cold facts of the future of warehouse work.
• The Daily’s look at the how speedy delivery from Amazon and other retailers affects workers is chilling and heartbreaking.
• Tasha Murrell, a former warehouse employee, talks about when a co-worker died during her shift. Her supervisors: “Oh, well. People die. But we still gotta get this work out.”

2) “Has tax fraud gotten to the point where gangsta rap is in on it? Yeah, I guess so.”

Listen: Darknet Diaries: IRS (30:20)

• So says Jack Rhysider, highlighting one of the many places where tax fraud is thriving.

3) “It’s sort of James Baldwin and Charles Dickens wrote a book together.”

Listen: Broken Record: Nile Rodgers and Chic (28:48)

• That’s host Bruce Headlam, with the succinct and amazing take on music legend Rodgers’ autobiography.
• My take: You could do worse than start the weekend with this beloved Rodgers contribution to pop music.

4) “The best thing that ever happened to me was being hit by that car. It just changed everything for me. I highly recommend it for everyone.”

Listen: How It Is: Adventure, with Jameela Jamil, Danya Ruttenberg, and Jada Yuan (29:59)

• That’s Jamil, of “The Good Place,” who is not a monster for saying that.
• She adds: “As long as you can come out of it somewhat okay. Still alive. I really think it gifts you more than you would know. I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as you can imagine, because I think not everyone is as lucky as I was when I got out of that car accident.”

5) “Remember what happened [with] Tom Brady’s T-shirt that he wore? There were torchlight searches going on in my neighborhood. There’s Rembrandts missing. There’s Vermeer missing. I want that enthusiasm.”

Listen: Last Seen: ‘Last Seen’ Live (20:34)

• That’s Stephen Kurkjian, an investigative reporter on the Isabella Stewart Gardner art heist beat, on the kind of focus he’d like to see on the unsolved mystery.
• Flashback: In 2017, New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey was stolen. People went nuts.
• My take: An almost-satisfying finish to an almost-great podcast. Sarah Larson nails it.

6) “The butt is my window to the soul.”

Listen: Everything is Alive: Sean, Subway Seat (3:21)

• Thanks for sharing, Sean.

Tweet of the Week

Go Deep

1) Conversion Therapy in America

Listen: UnErased

• The four-part series hosted by Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad tells the stories of some of the 700,000 people who were subjected to conversion therapy, the “dangerous and controversial ex-gay treatment.”
• Binge time: 2 hours, 36 minutes.

2) Instagram

Listen: Why’d You Push That Button?

• Ashley Carman and Kaitlyn Tiffany, whose pod focuses on the choices technology asks us to make, finish a three-part mini-series on the fave social media channel.
• They cover Instagram boyfriends, Instagram shopping, what makes a place Instagram-worthy and food Instagram.
• Carman says: “They’re everywhere on Instagram with this stupid-ass rolled lasagna, disrupting the lasagna world.”
• Binge time: 2 hours, 32 minutes.
• See: The stupid-ass rolled lasagna.

3) Killmonger

Listen: Villains

• Shea Serrano goes 46 minutes on the “Black Panther” baddie.

4) “Raiders of the Lost Ark”

Listen: Scriptnotes

• Craig Mazin and John August dissect the 1981 classic that pits Indiana Jones against Nazis, snakes, dates.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 13 minutes.

5) The Assassination of JFK

Listen: Assassinations, Sinisterhood

• Guess we’ll never not be fascinated by the assassination of the 35th U.S. president.
• Assassinations completes a three-part series. Sinisterhood finishes a two-parter.
• Binge times: Assassinations: 2 hours, 14 minutes. Sinisterhood: 2 hours, 38 minutes.

6) Real vs. Fake

Listen: Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything

• Walker’s 15-part “battle between the real and the fake” concludes.
• Binge time: 8 hours, 55 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Attell, Dave The Bill Simmons Podcast

Bach, King Inside of You

Beard, Mary The Goop Podcast

Bell, Kristen Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Branum, Guy It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Brooks, Kim The Gist with Mike Pesca

• Convo with the woman who got 100 hours of community service for leaving her son alone in a car while she ran an errand.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

Cohen, Marilyn The Indicator from Planet Money

• The bond manager plays overrated, underrated.

Cooper, Bradley Playback

Connelly, Michael Kickass News

Dickey, Bronwen Code Switch

• Author of “Pit Bull” talks pit bulls.

D’Onofrio, Vincent Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Dodd, Chris The Axe Files

Ellis, Sarah Kate Queery

Elitch, Dave The Tim Ferriss Show

Everett, Bridget ID10T, The New Yorker Radio Hour

Fake, Caterina Without Fail

Finnegan, William StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Frank, Scott The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Gibney, Alex TBD with Tina Brown

Gilroy, Tony The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Hader, Bill Anna Faris is Unqualified

Haidt, Jonathan The Ezra Klein Show

Hall, Carla The Sporkful

Hawke, Ethan Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Heller, Emily You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Iyer, Pico On Being

Jackman, Hugh Katie Couric

James, LeBron The Tim Ferriss Show

• Basketball’s best player (ever!) talks about his training.

Kidd, Sue Monk Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

Kimbra This Must Be the Gig

Mackey, John Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

• Whole Foods co-founder talks creativity, food.

Mandel, Howie The Adam Carolla Show

Maron, Marc Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Mayer, Jane Monocle 24: The Big Interview

Moore, Michael Scott The Adam Buxton Podcast

Mortimer, Emily Employee of the Month

Mull, Martin WTF with Marc Maron

Mulligan, Carey Off Camera with Sam Jones

Nancherla, Aparna The Hilarious World of Depression

Nabongo, Jessica Travel Genius

• The blogger/influencer talks about her mission to become the first black woman to visit every country in the world.

O’Brien, Conan Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Peterson, Jordan The Joe Rogan Experience

Reitman, Jason The Treatment

Rock, Kid Planet Money

Ross, Jeff The Bill Simmons Podcast

Sakran, Dr. Joseph Fresh Air

• Convo with the trauma surgeon who started #ThisIsOurLane.

Shires, Amanda Sound Opinions

Slater, Kelly StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Soloway, Jill TBD with Tina Brown

Tebow, Tim The Dave Ramsey Show

Tweedy, Jeff All Songs Considered, WTF with Marc Maron

Vargas, Jose Antonio Recode Decode, How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Wainwright, Rufus Broken Record

Weiss, Emily How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with founder of Glossier.

Wolf, Michelle Ask Me Another

Yuan, Jada How It Is

• The NYT’s 52 Places traveler talks adventure, fearlessness.

Zimmer, John How I Built This with Guy Raz

Notable New Podcasts

1) The Slowdown

• U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith delivers a poem every day. She says, “poetry offers a way of slowing things down, looking at them closely, mining each moment for all that it houses.”

2) Business Schooled

• Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian “meets the OG generation of entrepreneurs and learns how they started their own booming businesses.” All eight episodes dropped this week.

3) TBD with Tina Brown

• Iconic magazine editor “talks with entertaining candor to writers, actors, politicians, crime sleuths, journalists, activists, digerati, thought-leaders and newsmakers of tomorrow’s social debates.” Whew.  

4) Winging It

• NBA players Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore, with an assist from Annie Finberg, take “a behind-the-scenes look at what NBA players think and talk about when their minds aren’t on the court.”

5) Super Awesome Science Show

• Jason Tetro’s pod will “venture into all areas. If it ends in ‘ology’, we’ve got it covered – chemistry and physics too.”

6) Chartable Radio

• The founders of the podcast analytics company “discuss all things podcasting, interview podcasters and dish the best advice on how to market and grow your podcast.”

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

Go Deep

1) Hallmark Christmas Movies

Listen: Deck the Hallmark

• Three guys, 37 Hallmark Christmas movies. They’re 11 movies into their binge and review of each of this year’s so-cheesy-they’re-good flicks.
• Binge time (so far): 6 hours, 19 minutes.

2) “Die Hard”

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour

• PCHH goes deep on the unlikely holiday season movie fave. Yippee-ki-yay!

3) The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Heist

Listen: Last Seen

• The tenth and final episode of the investigation into the theft of 13 pieces of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston dropped this week. You’re now free to binge every episode without delay.
• Binge time: 6 hours, 27 minutes.

4) Regina George

Listen: Villains

• Shea Serrano goes 49 minutes on the meanest of the “Mean Girls.”

5) William Goldman

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast

• Mike Lupica, Wesley Morris and Brian Koppelman join Simmons for a 2-hour, 50-minute deep dive into the life and career of the late “creative legend.”

6) Radiohead

Listen: Political Beats

• Political correspondent Molly Ball goes 3 hours, 17 minutes talking about the band.
• My take: Doesn’t get better than “Let Down.”

Guest Appearances By…

Anderson, Paul Thomas The Director’s Cut

Baker, Julien All Songs Considered

• Musician guest DJs with her boygenius bandmates.

Benioff, Marc Recode Decode

• Salesforce CEO says “every company’s going to need to be able to have a structured conversation around humane use” of their technologies.

Birbiglia, Mike Good One

Black, Ashley Nicole Code Switch

Bowie, John Ross The Hilarious World of Depression

Bridgers, Phoebe All Songs Considered

• More guest DJing with her boygenius bandmates from the maker of this amazing song.

Brooks, Garth Inside the Studio

Burnham, Bo Off Camera with Sam Jones

Coen, Ethan and Joel Fresh Air

Cousteau, Philippe Travel Genius

Cuarón, Alfonso The Director’s Cut

• Director talks to Alejandro G. Iñárritu about Cuarón’s new movie “Roma.”

Dacus, Lucy All Songs Considered

• Even more guest DJing with boygenius.

Daltrey, Roger Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Ferrell, Will Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

• Ferrell talks SNL, obsessively dressing like Jerry Reed on O’Brien’s debut pod.

Gadsby, Hannah My Best Break-Up

Grace, Topher Maltin on Movies

Harris, Sam Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Iñárritu, Alejandro G. The Director’s Cut

• Convo with Alfonso Cuarón.

Jacobs, A.J. The Goop Podcast

Jenkins, Barry The Director’s Cut, Playback

John, Daymond Curious with Josh Peck

Johnson, Ron Without Fail

• Convo with the “retail genius” behind Apple stores.

Jordan, Michael B. The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Treatment

Lauren, Lauren Bush Skimm’d From the Couch

Lobo, Rebecca Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Lonergan, Kenneth WTF with Marc Maron

Lowe, Rob The West Wing Weekly

Maddow, Rachel Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

Martin, Demetri The History of Standup

Martin, Mae Queery

McChrystal, Gen. Stanley Kickass News

McGraw, Tim Oprah’s Master Class

Nelson, Tim Blake Bullseye

Obama, Barack The Axe Files

Obama, Michelle Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Part two of former FLOTUS’s convo with Oprah.

O’Brien, Conan Comedy Bang! Bang!, How Did This Get Made?

Pharoah, Jay Anna Faris is Unqualified

Rather, Dan Kickass News

Rogers, Nile Broken Record

Ryan, Debby Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Sagal, Peter The Gist with Mike Pesca

Samuelsson, Marcus Code Switch

Schiff, Adam Pod Save America

• Incoming Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee talks about the future of the Mueller investigation of President Trump.

Schur, Michael The West Wing Weekly

• Co-creator of “Parks and Recreation” talks about how TWW influenced Parks.

Scott, Adam The West Wing Weekly

Shear, Emmett Recode Media with Peter Kafka

• Convo with the Twitch CEO.

Sotomayor, Sonia The Axe Files

Stamos, Alex If Then

• Convo with former security chief for Facebook.

Steinberg, Robin The TED Interview

• Convo with founder of The Bail Project.

Stewart, Martha Katie Couric

Stiller, Ben The Watch

Todd, Chuck Stay Tuned with Preet

Tosi, Christina Recode Decode

Tyson, Neil DeGrasse Bon Appetit Foodcast

Whitlock, Jason The Adam Carolla Show

Winkler, Henry ID10T

Notable New Podcasts

1) Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

• Talk show host O’Brien says he “has never made a real and lasting friendship with any of his celebrity guests. So, he started a podcast to do just that.”

2) Who Runs That?

• Slate’s pod promises “surprising conversations with the people in charge of some of America’s most interesting businesses.”

3) Cameron Knows Nothing

• Cameron Kasky, survivor of the tragic Parkland, Florida high school shooting who “got sort of weirdly famous,” starts his own podcast.

4) Impaulsive with Logan Paul

• He’s internet (in)famous and now he’s got a podcast.  

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

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

5 Pod Takes

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

Listen: 2 Dope Queens: Karaoke with Michelle Obama

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

2) “Greatness…is something gone wrong.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5) “This is their Upton Sinclair moment.”

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

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

Guest Appearances By…

Addario, Lynsey How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Addison, Bill Eater Upsell

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

Albini, Steve Talkhouse

• In conversation with Devo’s Jerry Casale.

Aravena, Alejandro Monocle on Design

• Convo with the Pritzker prize-winning architect.

Arquette, Patricia Remote Controlled

Becker, Alison Off Book

Birbiglia, Mike The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Bloom, Molly The Jordan Harbinger Show

Brown, Samantha Travel Genius

Cameron, Suzy Amis The Tim Ferriss Show

Cameron, James The Tim Ferriss Show

Casale, Jerry Talkhouse

• In conversation with Steve Albini.

Cheese, Kenyatta Function with Anil Dash

Conway, George T. III Skullduggery

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

Corcoran, Barbara Skimm’d From the Couch

Dafoe, Willem Kickass News

Damon, Matt Off Camera with Sam Jones

Del Toro, Benicio Remote Controlled

Douglas, Michael WTF with Marc Maron

Duvall, Robert Oprah’s Master Class

Edgley, Ross The Joe Rogan Experience

Gillum, Andrew Pod Save America

Gladwell, Malcolm The Bill Simmons Podcast

Glass, Ira Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Graham, Ashley The Goop Podcast

Hari, Johann Waking Up with Sam Harris

Horan, Kelly Studio 360

• Convo with co-host of Last Seen podcast.

Howroyd, Janice Bryant Without Fail

Hughley, D.L. WTF with Marc Maron

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

Jackson, Chris Employee of the Month

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

Jacobs, A.J. Ted Talks Daily

Kemper, Ellie Big Questions

Khosrowshahi, Dara WSJ’s The Future of Everything

Kiesling, Lydia Otherppl with Brad Listi

Klores, Dan The Gist

Kristol, Bill The Jamie Weinstein Show

Kugel, Seth This Week in Travel

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

Lansbury, Angela Maltin on Movies

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

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

Mayfield, Baker Pardon My Take

Obama, Michelle Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Paulson, Hank The New Yorker Radio Hour

Pegg, Simon The Adam Buxton Podcast

Perry, Steve Katie Couric

Phillips, Brian Bookworm

Phillips, Whitney The Ezra Klein Show

Pinker, Steven The Ted Interview

Polgreen, Lydia Queery

• Convo with the HuffPost EIC.

Popper, John The Adam Carolla Show

Ratajkowski, Emily Anna Faris is Unqualified

Reece, Gabrielle The Goop Podcast

Rosenthal, Phil Curious with Josh Peck

Shaffir, Ari Deviate with Rolf Potts

Spanberger, Abigail The Daily

• Convo with the new congresswoman from Virginia.

Stein, Jen Hope The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Stiller, Ben Where Ya From?, Remote Controlled

Systrom, Kevin WSJ’s The Future of Everything

• Convo with the co-founder of Instagram.

Thiessen, Tiffani Forked Up

Thompson, Emma My Dad Wrote a Porno

Thompson, Kenan Good One

Tierney, Maura Bullseye

Wacek, Dawn Ted Talks Daily

• Librarian stands up against book fines.

Whitmer, Gretchen Run Like a Girl

• Convo with the governor-elect of Michigan.

Xu, Tony How I Built This with Guy Raz

Yates, Sally Recode Decode

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

Go Deep

1) A Year Inside a U.S. Courthouse

Listen: Serial

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

2) “The White Album”

Listen: All Songs Considered, Celebration Rock

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

3) Mimi Sheraton

Listen: The Sporkful

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

4) The Last Episode of “The Office”

Listen: Finale

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

Notable New Podcasts

1) Villains

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

2) Broken Record

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

3) Headlong: Surviving Y2K

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

4) Cold

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

5) SciShow Tangents

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

6) Where Ya From?

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

7) Talking Points

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

8) Origins: Sex and the City

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

9) No Man’s Land

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

10) People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia

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

11) Drilled

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

12) Travel Genius

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

13) Scandal

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

14) Behind the Scenes

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

15) American Hysteria

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

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

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.

7 Pod Takes

1) “I believe the scholarly term is ‘hot mess.’”

Listen: Code Switch: The Cost to Cast a Ballot (21:11)

• That’s Carol Anderson, historian and a professor of African-American studies at Emory University, describing the 2000 election fiasco in Florida.
• This great ep takes a deep dive into the history of voter suppression and explores one of the most pressing topics in the U.S.: “Why people don’t vote and why more and more people can’t vote.”
• My take: It’s been awful. We must fight to do better.

2) “By the time you’re out of college your body is just done. Man, you are Brett Favre doing infomercials.”

Listen: Believed: The Good Guy (9:23)

• That’s host Kate Wells, outlining the crazy toll gymnastics takes on one’s body and highlighting the significance of doctors at the sport’s elite level.
• Wells and the Believed pod are focused on Larry Nassar, the once-beloved doctor now known as “one of the worst serial pedophiles in U.S. sports history.”
• The first episode of the series details how Nassar gained the trust of the gymnasts and their families.
• My take: Horrible story, masterful storytelling.

3) “President Trump is, more or less, a wedge issue generating machine.”

Listen: The Daily: How 1994 Gave Us Today’s Politics (3:21)

• That’s NYT opinion columnist Jennifer Senior, touting Trump’s unfortunate superpower, but also putting it in context.
• Senior tracks the genesis and evolution of the Republicans using wedge issues to gain political leverage against Democrats back to 1994. The costs are enormous.

4) “When you’re doing stuff that sucks you have a lot of time to think your way out of your present situation.”

Listen: The Gender Knot: Slow Burn’s Leon Neyfakh on gender in US politics(6:07)

• So says co-host Daniel Carroll, introducing himself in this insightful pod about the intersection of politics and gender.
• Neyfakh brings a POV influenced by his exploration of the Bill Clinton impeachment scandal on the excellent latest season of Slow Burn.

5) “I’ve had so many interviews about death…I think that’s probably improved my life in some ways.”

Listen: Outside Podcast: Dispatches: Alex Honnold on “Free Solo” (10:13)

• That’s climbing legend Honnold, in an interview about how his life has changed in the wake of his no-ropes ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan and the movie about his achievement.
• Outside calls “Free Solo” the best climbing movie ever made.
• Honnold also goes 1 hour, 51 minutes with Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience.

6) “What really matters is the microphone technique.”

Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: Halloween (20:35)

• That’s host Linda Holmes, with a playful shot at herself and the PCHH crew for their digression about the awful practices used by the podcasters who play a key role in the latest “Halloween” movie.
• Spoiler: While they were in agreement about podcast horrors, they split on the quality of the actual movie.
• My take: Gotta love the passion of podcasters defending their craft.

7) “It’s still an armpit in a lot of ways, but it’s a loveable armpit.”

Listen: The Bill Simmons Podcast: World Series Thoughts Plus Hasan Minhaj(12:43)

• That’s Simmons, with a not-so-hot take on the oldest MLB ballpark. Simmons broke down his experience at Fenway Park during Game One of the World Series pitting his beloved Boston Red Sox vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• My take: I’ll be happy if the series returns to that armpit.
• Go Dodgers!

Go Deep

1) Standup Comedy

Listen: The History of Standup

• Six-part series concludes with a look at the current (booming) state of standup.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 39 minutes

2) “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Listen: Binge Mode

• Book six is in the books. Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion continue their Harry Potter immersion with a 10-part deep dive into the penultimate book in J.K. Rowling’s series, including the movie.
• Binge time: 17 hours, 9 minutes

3) The Politics of Population

Listen: Outside/In

• The pod “about the natural world and how we use it” goes two parts on population and the politics and impact surrounding it.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 18 minutes.

4) Consent in the #MeToo Era

Listen: Radiolab

• The celebrated pod takes a three-part deep dive into sexual consent.
• In “In the No,” they “wander into rooms full of college students, hear from academics and activists, and sit in on classes about BDSM.”
• Binge time: 2 hours, 1 minute.

5) “Halloween” the Movie Series

Listen: Halloween Unmasked

• The Ringer’s eight-part series on the horror flicks winds up with a look at the latest sequel.
• Binge time: 5 hours, 23 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Acevedo, Stacey Skimm’d From the Couch

• Convo with Girls Scouts’ CEO.

Abrams, Stacey It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Bareilles, Sara The Dan Wootton Interview

Barinholtz, Ike The Treatment

Bateman, Justine The Adam Carolla Show

Bee, Samantha Stay Tuned with Preet

Brown, Karamo Keep It

Bryant, Aidy Origins SNL

Carden, D’Arcy You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

• Janet!

Carlson, Tucker The Adam Carolla Show

Condon, Zach All Songs Considered

Cowell, Simon Oprah’s Master Class

Dano, Paul The Big Picture, Fresh Air

Duplass, Mark Anna Faris is Unqualified

Esmail, Sam Remote Controlled

Gethard, Chris Good One, The Adam Carolla Show

Gillum, Andrew Pod Save America

Goldberg, Danny Sounds & Vision

Goodwin, Doris Kearns The Ezra Klein Show, Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Hayes, Sean Recode Decode

Idle, Eric Bullseye, WTF with Marc Maron

Jacinto, Manny The Good Place: The Podcast

• Jason!

King, Elle Bobbycast

Kolbert, Elizabeth Longform Podcast

Lear, Norman Maltin on Movies

Lee, Spike Playback

Lin, Jeremy Freakonomics Radio

McCarthy, Melissa Fresh Air

McElhenney, Rob Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Merchant, Stephen Inside of You

Middleditch, Thomas Comedy Bang! Bang!

Minhaj, Hasan The Bill Simmons Podcast

Orlean, Susan Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin, Bookworm

Oz, Dr. The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

Philipps, Busy Katie Couric

Plaza, Aubrey Talkhouse

• In conversation with Craig Robinson

Quavo The Bill Simmons Podcast

Redzepi, René House of Carbs

Roberts, Julia Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations, Remote Controlled

• The Hollywood legend goes two parts with Oprah, one part with Remote Controlled about the TV adaptation of “Homecoming.”

Robinson, Craig Talkhouse

• In conversation with Aubrey Plaza

Rogen, Seth How Did This Get Made?

Schiff, Richard The West Wing Weekly

Serrano, Shea The Bill Simmons Podcast

Silver, Nate The Ezra Klein Show

Singh, Lilly Pretty Big Deal

Slater, Kelly The Joe Rogan Experience

Thompson, Ben Conversations With Tyler

Ullman,Tracey Creative Conversation

Wain, David Comedy Bang! Bang!

Wojcicki, Anne Recode Decode

Yates, Sally The New Yorker Radio Hour

Notable New Podcasts

1) Believed

• NPR and Michigan Radio team for an investigative pod series that explores the question: “How did Larry Nassar, an Olympic gymnastics doctor, get away with abusing hundreds of women and girls for two decades?”

2) It Seemed Smart

• SB Nation debuts a seven-episode series about “the amusing, diabolical, and entertaining world of sports trickery and mayhem.” Spencer Hall hosts.

3) FWD: Thinking

• Quartz’s new pod covers “bold professionals who have challenged the status quo to recreate their careers.” Khe Hy hosts.

4) Dreamboy

• Night Vale Presents’ latest “is a story of creatures, human and otherwise, caught in the eternal pornography of the cosmos, told in the blockbuster cinematic style of Spielberg classics.” Listen for the murderous zebra.

5) My Best Break-Up

• The pod from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine features different break-up stories each week. Guests describe how their break-ups transformed their lives. Maeve Higgins hosts.

6) Instant Message

• Wall Street Journal technology columnists David Pierce, Joanna Stern and Christopher Mims “talk about the most important tech trends.”

7) Tai Asks Why

• 11-year-old Tai Poole “is trying to find answers to life’s biggest questions.”

8) Blackwood

• The audio drama focuses on “the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman.” Turns out the local legends are true.

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.”

7 Pod Takes

1) “Don’t be afraid to sit down in a crappy place and order every single thing you don’t recognize on the fucking menu.”

Listen: The Trip: A damn fine mezcal (11:57)

• That’s José Andrés, distilling a lesson learned from the late, great Anthony Bourdain in a bittersweet episode of the Roads & Kingdoms pod.
• Andrés joins Nathan Thornburgh and Matt Goulding in a heartfelt pod lamenting the loss of their friend and partner Bourdain, and celebrating a worldview that Bourdain championed.
• My take: Still feeling Bourdain’s loss. Glad to see R&K keep the pod going.

2) “Grievance and anger is a powerful motivating force in politics.” 

Listen: I Have to Ask: Nate Silver (6:03)

• That’s FiveThirtyEight’s Silver, with a take on one potential dynamic at play in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections next month, and potentially beyond, in the wake of the Kavanaugh hearings and almost two years of Trump.
• Adds Silver: “The more you gain policy-wise, particularly when you try to push forward policies whose popularity is ambiguous to slightly negative, then voters want to balance and you pay a price for that.”
• My take: Here’s to some righteous anger.

3) “I don’t love gentle things anymore.”

Listen: Recode Decode: ‘Full Frontal’ host Samantha Bee (32:03)

• So says Bee, who isn’t interested in just being entertained.
• She adds: “I like someone to take my hand and drag me into a world.”
• Host Kara Swisher conducts a compelling interview with Bee, ranging from her entertainment preferences to dealing with the fallout from her description of Ivanka Trump to the gamification of everything.

4) “It makes the telemarketing era look quaint.”

Listen: Today, Explained: All my friends are robocalls (11:10)

• That’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood on the rise of robocalls, a scourge of the digital era. About 4.2 billion robocalls were made last month.
• He traces the exhausting history of phone scams and unwanted calls back more than 100 years.
• My take: Same as yours, I’m sure. Someone make ‘em stop.

5) “A focus on quality, on uniqueness, on locality, on experience, ends up amounting to a kind of claustrophobic sameness.”

Listen: Decoder Ring: Hotel Art (30:17)

• That’s Willa Paskin, who goes deep on the evolution of hotel art and ends up in a familiar place.
• It’s the same as what’s happened at farm-to-table restaurants and “impeccably sourced coffee houses.”
• She adds: “Everywhere you go, there you are in a room with perfectly bespoke art that so carefully reflects presiding good taste. It looks like all the other rooms full of bespoke art.”

6) “Even if you’re famous, you shouldn’t go around stealing people’s memories.”

Listen: Heavyweight: Rob (19:45)

• So says Jonathan Goldstein, investigating whether Rob Corddry really broke his arm when he was eleven, as he remembers, or if he’s making it up, conflating his experience with his brother Nate’s, as his family believes.
• My take: It’s a poignant, entertaining pod about memory and the dynamics of family.
• Spoiler: Goldstein gets to the bottom of the mystery. Corddry ain’t stealing nobody’s memories.

7) “Pretty much everyone who’s fifty-one and still making rock ‘n’ roll is embarrassing most of the time.”

Listen: The Great Debates: Kurt Cobain Would Not Have Embarrassed Us(17:35)

• That’s Dave King, who takes the position that Cobain, should he have lived to be 51 and still with us today, would have embarrassed us because all old rockers embarrass us.

• My take: Wrong. Exhibit A: Without Bob Dylan still doing it into his fifties and beyond, we wouldn’t have this amazing moment.

Go Deep

1) Artificial Intelligence

Listen: American Innovations

• The six-part pod on thinking machines ends with an interview with chess legend Garry Kasparov.
• Binge time: 3 hours, 13 minutes.

2) That Infamous Sarah Palin Interview

Listen: Katie Couric

• The two-part docupod looks back 10 years to Couric’s interviews with the then-VP candidate, and asks how Palin’s rise helped usher in a new brand of politics.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

3) “Dazed and Confused”

Listen: The Rewatchables

• The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey go deep, “kick some ass, and drink some beer” with the Linklater classic.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 16 minutes.

4) “Halloween” the Movie Franchise

Listen: Halloween Unmasked, Nerdificent

• Two pods take a deep dive into the scary movie franchise, with Halloween Unmasked kicking off an eight-part look.
• Nerdificent goes deep for 1 hour, 17 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Armisen, Fred The A24 Podcast

Baldwin, Alec Origins: SNL

• SNL’s Trump talks SNL, Trump.

Bardem, Javier Off Camera with Sam Jones

Barinholtz, Ike It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Bell, Kristen Keep It

Bloom, Rachel Remote Controlled

Bridges, Jeff Kickass News

Brown, Alton The Sporkful

Charles, Larry Waking Up with Sam Harris

Chazelle, Damien Playback with Kris Tapley

Cummings, Elijah Off Message

D’Apolito, Lisa The Adam Carolla Show

• Convo with the director of “Love, Gilda.”

Damon, Matt The Bill Simmons Podcast

Deneen, Patrick The Ezra Klein Show

Faris, Anna WTF with Marc Maron

Garbus, Merrill Talkhouse

• In conversation with Meghan Remy.

Gay, Roxane How It Is

Glaser, Nikki The Joe Rogan Experience

Green, Hank How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

Haberman, Maggie The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Hague, Nick Houston We Have a Podcast

• Convo with the astronaut.

Hawke, Ethan Mad Influence

Hirono, Mazie Hysteria

Hozier All Songs Considered

• The singer/songwriter guest DJs.

Jett, Joan The New Yorker Radio Hour

Jones, Radhika Recode Media with Peter Kafka

Kardashian West, Kim Pretty Big Deal with Ashley Graham

Kid Mero, The The Bill Simmons Podcast

Kramer, Jana Inside of You

Kroll, Nick Comedy Bang! Bang!

Lewis, Michael Fresh Air

LL Cool J Oprah’s Master Class

Maher, Bill Waking Up with Sam Harris

Mayer, Jane Stay Tuned with Preet

McFarlane, Bonnie The Church of What’s Happening Now: With Joey Coco Diaz

McLendon-Covey, Wendi Armchair Expert

Michaels, Lorne Origins SNL

Nosrat, Samin The Tim Ferriss Show

Osnos, Evan Fresh Air

• The New Yorker writer talks Facebook and Zuck.

Pelosi, Nancy Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

Phair, Liz This Song

Power, Cat Song Exploder

• Chan Marshall breaks down her song “Woman.”

Remy, Meghan Talkhouse

• In conversation with Merrill Garbus.

Richards, Cecile How It Is

Ryan, Joey You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Santaolalla, Gustavo This Movie Changed Me

• The Oscar-winning composer talks “Wings of Desire.”

Schwartzman, Jason The A24 Podcast

Silverman, Riley Queery with Cameron Esposito

Smith, Kevin Anna Faris is Unqualified

Spacek, Sissy WTF with Marc Maron

Tenacious D Bullseye

Todd, Chuck The Axe Files

Traister, Rebecca Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes, The Ezra Klein Show, The Gist, Longform Podcast

• The writer makes the pod rounds promoting her new book, “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.”

Notable New Podcasts

1) Crimetown

• In season two of the pod Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier go deep on the culture of crime in Detroit.

2) Halloween Unmasked

• The Ringer launches an eight-part pod “celebrating the remarkable and terrifying phenomenon of America’s most revolutionary horror film, ‘Halloween.’”

3) Fangs

• A four-part pod about Dracula as a pop culture phenomenon.

4) Without Fail

• In the conversational pod, Gimlet’s Alex Blumberg talks to “visionaries of all kinds — about their successes, and their failures, and what they learned from both.”

5) Wild Thing

• The Los Angeles Times calls this pod “’Serial’ for Sasquatches.”

6) Mad Influence

• GQ gets in the pod game with “a conversational deep-dive into the behind-the-scenes stories and hard-won wisdom of iconic creative careers.”

7) Bear Brook

• The true crime pod from New Hampshire Public Radio covers a “cold case that changed the way murders will be investigated forever.”

8) Unobscured

• The pod from Lore’s Aaron Mahnke promises “to dig deep and shed light on some of history’s darkest moments.” The first-season topic: The Salem Witch Trials.

9) Heavyweight

• It’s season three of the pod that “goes back to the moment everything changed.”

10) Pretty Big Deal with Ashley Graham

• The “supermodel, style icon and barrier-breaking body activist” launches a pod with conversations about “culture, beauty, business and owning who you are” with noted podcast aficionado Kim Kardashian West.

11) Threedom

• Scott Aukerman, Lauren Lapkus, and Paul F. Tompkins “focus on the basics of being funny with each other.” The Wrap describes the pod as “casual conversations that suddenly veer into sharp bits of improv.”

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.

The intruder: The Joe Rogan Experience (No. 5). Though his three-hour episodes qualify as binges, amirite?

7 Pod Takes

1) “When I’m feeling optimistic, I appreciate that an elevator car in a government building is one of the few places left in our country where different kinds of people are forced into proximity.”

Listen: Serial: A Bar Fight Walks into the Justice Center (1:59)

• A taste of Sarah Koenig’s opening thoughts during the first episode of the much-anticipated third season of Serial.

• Koenig and her colleagues spent a year riding elevators in a Cleveland courthouse, during a deep dive into the U.S. criminal justice system.

• The first ep focuses on a bar fight that offers a window into some of the system’s intricacies and warped ways.

• Says defense attorney Russ Bensing: “In this county, innocence is a misdemeanor.”

• My take: So far, so great.

2) “These are works of the civilization that are so important, to remove them is to remove a piece of our civilization.”

Listen: Last Seen: Episode 1: ‘81 Minutes’ (30:19)

• That’s Anne Hawley, former director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, talking about the 13 pieces of art still missing in the wake of the world’s greatest unsolved art theft.

• That theft is the subject of this new pod that not only probes the crime, but explores the anguish among those who saw five Degas works, two Rembrandts, a Vermeer and other artworks disappear from their care.

• My take: Refreshing to have a great true-crime pod without a corpse.

3) “The first bite of that apple, I guess revealed the truth / That’s when Eve got smart, and that’s why Adam don’t like fruit.”

Listen: More Perfect: The Most Perfect Album: ”19th Amendment” by Dolly Parton

• That’s Parton, in her song about the constitutional amendment that gave women in the U.S. the right to vote.

• Parton’s song’s part of an ambitious and very fun project from the More Perfect pod: It features stories about the 27 amendments, accompanied by 27 original songs, including Parton’s jaunty, Schoolhouse Rock-y tune.

4) “There’s this American neurosis, this fear that the human body is being outstripped by our technology.”

Listen: Stay Tuned With Preet: Fair Play (with Sally Jenkins) (45:01)

• That’s Jenkins, adding that, because of this, Americans “get a little funny about our sports.”

• Jenkins and host Preet Bharara probe some of the fault lines of American society brought to the surface by sports, including the controversial penalization of Serena Williams at the U.S. Open and the ongoing issues surrounding protests and the NFL.

5) “I felt like he would hear that I didn’t have pants on.”

Listen: Origins: SNL / To Trump or Not to Trump (:12)

• That’s cast member Chris Redd, recalling his fear upon talking to SNL honcho Lorne Michaels when he learned he’d be joining the show.

• Redd and many other cast members, as well as Michaels, talk to Origins’ pod maker James Andrew Miller in this kickoff ep of the show’s fourth season, which takes a deep dive into SNL as it heads into its 44th season.

6) “The Pizza Hut lunch buffet is the most concentrated, fully realized manifestation of the free market.”

Listen: The Sporkful: Life Lessons From The Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet (25:24)

• That’s host Dan Pashman, distilling the POV of comedian Tim Dillon on the free-for-all experience that is the Pizza Hut lunch buffet.

• Another hot take, this one from Dillon: “Rich people don’t care about food.”

7) “Would you ever wipe Dame Judy Dench’s butt?”

Listen: Anna Faris is Unqualified: Adam Rippon (9:09)

• That how Faris breaks the ice with Olympic figure skater Rippon.

• Spoiler: He would.

Go Deep

1) National Parks

Listen: American History Tellers

• A six-part deep dive into the creation and preservation of the U.S. national parks.
• Binge time: 4 hours, 8 minutes.

2) Perfect Pop Songs

Listen: Rockin’ the Suburbs

• The RTS guys go deep with a five-part series that covers seven pop songs, including tunes from the killer Bs: Bowie, Badfinger, and the English Beat.
• My take: “Save It for Later” is a correct pick.
• Binge time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.

3) The Trans-Siberian Train Experience

Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts

• Potts and guest Jonathan Arlan talk over a two-part pod about the iconic train trip.
• Binge time: 2 hours, 17 minutes.

4) King Crimson

Listen: Political Beats

• Prog rock nerdiness abounds in this convo with Dave Weigel, political reporter and author of “The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock.”
• Binge time: 2 hours, 21 minutes.

Guest Appearances By…

Alley, Kirstie The Dan Wootton Interview

Andrés, José Pod Save America

Attenborough, David The New Yorker Radio Hour

Barinholtz, Ike Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Batiste, Jon I Think You’re Interesting

Bell, Kristen The Good Place: The Podcast, WTF with Marc Maron

• Eleanor!

Bergen, Candice Remote Controlled

Biskind, Peter Public Intellectual

• The author of “The Sky is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids, and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism” talks about Americans’ love of disaster and revenge.

Branson, Sir Richard Kickass News

Brown, Bobbi How I Built This with Guy Raz

Carden, D’Arcy Comedy Bang! Bang!

Coyne, Wayne This Must Be the Gig

Dessa Sound Opinions

English, Diane Remote Controlled

Fogelman, Dan Curious with Josh Peck, The Bill Simmons Podcast

Fonda, Jane Death, Sex + Money, Oprah’s Master Class

Godin, Seth On Being

Gyllenhaal, Maggie Fresh Air

Haidt, Jonathan I Have to Ask

• An interview with the author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” by host Isaac Chotiner. Chotiner got some Twitter love this week for his “masterclass” interviews.

Harari, Yuval Noah Waking Up With Sam Harris

Hawke, Ethan The Gist with Mike Pesca, The Big Picture

• He’s still making the pod rounds this week to promote his new movie, “Blaze.”

Henderson, Lacey Forked Up

• Talking food with the paralympian.

Hirono, Mazie Off Message

Holofcener, Nicole The Moment with Brian Koppelman, Bullseye, Recode Media with Peter Kafka

Kerry, John Pod Save America, Pod Save the World

Killam, Taran Off Book

• He helps improvise a musical called “Poetry: 1959.”

Klein, Linda Kay Fresh Air

• Convo with the author of “Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free.”

Koy, Jo The Adam Carolla Show

Kreischer, Bert The Gist with Mike Pesca

Lauren, Ralph Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

• Two-part pod with the design icon.

Lyne, Susan Skimm’d From the Couch

Mantzoukas, Jason Comedy Bang! Bang!

Nash, Steve The Bill Simmons Podcast

Nussbaum, Martha C. The Ezra Klein Show

Nye, Naomi Shihab On Being

O’Donnell, Lawrence The West Wing Weekly

Olsen, Angel Talkhouse

Patrick, Deval The Axe Files

Saslow, Eli Longform Podcast

Schatz, Brian Lovett or Leave It

• Convo with “the best senator on Twitter.”

Schur, Michael The Good Place: The Podcast, The Bill Simmons Podcast

Shaffir, Ari Lost in America

Shrum, Bob The Axe Files

Slash WTF With Marc Maron

Stevenson, Bryan The Goop Podcast

Tosi, Christina The Dave Chang Show

• A two-parter with the Milk Bar founder.

Witherspoon, Reese Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness

Notable New Podcasts

1) Serial

• The pod’s much anticipated season 3 goes to Cleveland for a deep dive into the U.S. justice system.

2) Last Seen

• The pod probes the 1990 theft of 13 pieces of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.