It’s the last TWIP for 2019. Thanks so much for subscribing and reading! And to all the podcasters out there: Thank you! It’s been a pleasure to listen. Next issue: January 3, 2020.
This week’s counts: 38 notable guests, nine new podcasts, five deep dives and one important tip for the holidays.
Pod Take of the Week
“[Rituals] actually allow the day to happen where everyone sorts themselves in a way that’s optimal, and then suddenly it’s all over and nobody killed anybody.”
Listen: The Happiness Lab: BONUS: A Happier Christmas (7:27)
- That’s Michael Norton, on the power of rituals to make the holidays with your family less stressful. It’s one of several science-based holiday survival tips in this pod.
- He adds: “Rituals tell everyone exactly what they should do at all times. So it’s you and you go out and do that, and then we’ll do this in the kitchen while you do that over there, and then we’ll get together at four and watch the thing and then dinner’s over at six and then we’re done.”
- My take: You’ve got this!
Go Deep
1) The Decade in Pop Songs
Listen: The Decade Wrapped Podcast (S)
- Spotify taps into its Wrapped data and insights, and talks to critics, comedians, influencers and writers in a look back at music from 2010 to 2019.
- Eric Eddings hosts the 10-part series.
2) The “Friends” Phenomenon
Listen: It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders
- Sanders goes deep on the throwback pop-culture phenomenon that won’t die.
3) The Case of Curtis Flowers
Listen: In the Dark
- There’s been a new development in the case of the man who’s been tried six times for the murder of four people in Mississippi, and the pod has a new episode up.
- If you haven’t already listened, consider a holiday binge of all sixteen episodes of one the most celebrated podcasts around.
4) Escaping the Nazis
Listen: City of Refuge
- The 10-part-series about “a small French community that rescued around 5,000 refugees from the Nazis” finishes.
5) Drinking Songs
Listen: Rockin’ the Suburbs
- The music pod goes two parts on songs that are good companions for all your holiday drinking.
($L) = On Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = A Spotify exclusive.
Alexander, Jason Angry Americans
Andre 3000 Broken Record
- Dre tells Rick Rubin, “I haven’t been motivated to make a serious project. I’d like to, but it’s just not coming. In my own self, I’m trying to figure out, where do I sit? I don’t even know what I am. Maybe I’m nothing.”
Andreessen, Marc Starting Greatness
Awkwafina The Big Ticket
Birbiglia, Mike The Three Questions with Andy Richter
Boyle, Greg On Being
Brown, Samantha Well-Traveled with AAA
Burrow, Joe Pardon My Take
- Convo with the winner of the Heisman Trophy.
Carlson, Gretchen Work in Progress with Sophia Bush
Crudup, Billy Life is Short with Justin Long
Cruz, Ted The Jamie Weinstein Show
Darby, Rhys Armchair Expert
Doolittle, Sean Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
Ferguson, Craig Kickass News, Never Not Funny
Fields, Kim Questlove Supreme
Foxx, Jamie The Awardist
Garnett, Kevin The Bill Simmons Podcast
Gibney, Alex WTF with Marc Maron
Gilligan, Vince ID10T
Gyllenhaal, Maggie UnStyled
Harris, Sam Penn’s Sunday School
Hiddleston, Tom The Open Ears Project
Howard, Brittany Broken Record
Kimes, Mina Longform Podcast
Krieger, Mike How I Built This with Guy Raz
Mulaney, John Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Osteen, Joel Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
Phair, Liz Death, Sex & Money, Off Camera
Povitsky, Esther Worst Firsts with Brittany Furlan
Rhimes, Shonda a16z
Roach, Jay WTF with Marc Maron
Russell, Keri Armchair Expert
Sandler, Adam The Bill Simmons Podcast
Schiff, Adam Words Matter
Shlesinger, Iliza The Joe Rogan Experience
Shatner, William Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson
Systrom, Kevin How I Built This with Guy Raz
Warren, Elizabeth Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
Notable New Podcasts
1) Blood Ties
- In the scripted pod, Eleonore (Gillian Jacobs) and Michael Richland (Josh Gad) “lose their parents unexpectedly in a small plane crash, [and] they must choose between two very different paths: honor their father’s legacy as a world-renowned cardiologist and health care magnate — or risk everything for the truth.”
- It’s No. 1 on iTunes.
- The rabble-rouser “talks to a wide range of people from comedians and politicians to the people who’ve tried to kill him.”
- It’s No. 12 on iTunes
- Gymnast Shawn Johnson and NFL player Andrew East “sit down to share their most vulnerable sides and open up like they never have before.”
- It’s No. 7 on iTunes.
4) Solve
- The makers are promoting this one as “the world’s first interactive murder-mystery podcast that puts you at the center of the investigation.”
- Triumph has a quiz show!
6) National Lampoon Radio Hour: The Podcast
- It’s a “twisted collection of comedy sketches, characters, music, and more” from the iconic comedy troupe.
- Nostalgia alert: Host Wil Shriner guides “a behind-the-scenes look and insider’s view of the show and its guests,” including selected clips.
8) Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People
- The Silicon Valley mainstay interviews “thought leaders, legends, iconoclasts, and moguls.”
- Interviews with sports stars who “have faced real mental health issues.”
- Basketball legend Chamique Holdsclaw hosts.
And One to Look Forward To: Podcast Gumbo (Jan. 3)
- Fellow podcast newsletter-er Paul Kondo launches his new podcast-recommendation pod. Good luck, Paul!