Big week for political podcasts. Let’s get right to what consumed podcastland this week — at least in the U.S.
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
- 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.”
- 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.
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