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

Pod Take of the Week

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

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

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

Go Deep

1) False Confessions

Listen: Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions

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

2) Writing a Breakup Song

Listen: How To! With Charles Duhigg

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

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

Listen: Punch Up the Jam

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

4) The Criminal Underworld of Child Abuse

Listen: The Daily

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

Guest Appearances By…

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

Apatow, Judd Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Biggs, Jason Pardon My Take

Braff, Zach Curious with Josh Peck

Bresler, Jacob Walk-Ins Welcome w/Bridget Phetasy

Brie, Alison Armchair Expert

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

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

Centineo, Noah The Big Ticket

Chillag, Ian Richard’s Famous Food Podcast

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

Cho, Margaret Filling the Void

Coates, Ta-Nehisi The Ezra Klein Show

Dayne, Taylor Inside of You

DMC Broken Record

Esmail, Sam The Big Picture

Estelle Questlove Supreme

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

Garrett, Myles ESPN Daily

Gibson, Debbie The Rhino Podcast

Graham, Heather Keep It!

Grazer, Brian Talks at Google

Green, John Without Fail

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

Greer, Judy Anna Faris Is Unqualified

Hartz, Julia How I Built This with Guy Raz

• Convo with the co-founder of Eventbrite.

Holmes, Linda Judge John Hodgman

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

Huebel, Rob The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Hughes, Akilah The Bechdel Cast

Judge, Phoebe Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad

Kehlmann, Daniel Monocle 24: Meet the Writers

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

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

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

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

Lovato, Demi Pretty Big Deal with Ashley Graham

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

McClinton, Delbert Walking the Floor

McKellen, Ian The Stage Podcast: Seven Stages

Monaghan, Michelle Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Munn, Olivia StarTalk Radio

Notaro, Tig Wheels Off

Pai, Ajit Freakonomics Radio

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

Pally, Adam WTF with Marc Maron

Pinkett Smith, Jada On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Robertson, Robbie Talkhouse, The Adam Carolla Show

Rollins, Henry Angry Americans

Ross, Tracee Ellis Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

Sarandos, Ted Talks at Google

Schwartz, Ben Bullseye

Scott, Drew and Linda ID10T

Systrom, Kevin The goop Podcast

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

Turner, Richard The Tim Ferriss Show

Upton, Kate Good For You

Warren, Elizabeth Latino USA

Webb, Alli Naked with Catt Sadler

• Convo with the founder of Drybar.

West, David The David Banner Podcast

Woods, Zach Bullseye

Yang, Jimmy O. Green Eggs and Dan

Notable New Podcasts

1) I, Podivs

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

2) The Nobody Zone

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

3) Music Exists (S)

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

4) Sticky Beak

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

5) Black Wall Street 1921

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

6) Bad Friends

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

7) The Last Degree of Kevin Bacon 

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

8) The Stage Podcast: Seven Stages

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

9) Cuddle Club with Lou Sanders

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

10) The Test Drivers

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

11) Flashback

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

12) Back From Broken

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

13) Over the Road 

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

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

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