Like me, podcasters took it easier than usual over the holidays. I didn’t find as many new podcasts or notable guest appearances over the last couple of weeks as I usually do. So I’ll ease into the new year with a pop-culture heavy edition. Don’t worry, true crimers: There’s something new for you, too.
This week’s counts: 19 guest appearances, six new podcasts, four deep dives and one solid shot at Ross from “Friends.”
Pod Take of the Week
“I also think that if you invest that amount of time in a show, it’s nice to watch someone on TV wasting years of her life with Ross so that you don’t have to.”
Listen: Pop Culture Happy Hour: We Revisit Friends (20:03)
- That’s Stephen Thompson, touting one of the benefits of binge-watching “Friends.”
- PCHH takes a look back at the show that’s become a streaming staple — it was the most popular show on Netflix before it left the service Dec. 31 — and the default cultural hangout for teens and 20-somethings.
Go Deep
1) “The Mandalorian”
Listen: The Mandalorian Watch, Collider Jedi Council, Binge Mode, The Watch,
- A little bundle of Reddit-approved and chart-topping recaps of the first season of the Disney+ hit.
- Plus, The Watch dives deep into the finale and the bigger picture about what the success of Disney+ means for the streaming wars.
2) Machines of Antarctica
Listen: Past Gas
- The pod that mines automotive history turns to the icy continent to explore how people get around the coldest place on earth.
3) “Dunkirk”
Listen: The Rewatchables
- Director Quentin Tarantino joins the Ringer crew for a 1-hour, 37-minute dive into the Christopher Nolan epic.
4) Tariffs
Listen: The Munk Debates Podcasts
- A 38-minute debate explores the terrific-ness of tariffs.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = On Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = A Spotify exclusive.
Aciman, Andre Bookworm
Brown, Brene On Being
- Says Brown: “I talk about this high lonesome culture that we’re living in right now, where we are the most sorted that we’ve ever been, in terms of — most of us no longer even hang out with people that disagree with us politically or ideologically.”
Davidson, Adam Recode Media
DiFranco, Ani Useful Idiots
Dinoto, Mia Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig
Filkins, Dexter The New Yorker Radio Hour
- The writer discusses the killing of Qassem Suleimani and his 2013 profile of the man who was Iran’s most powerful military and intelligence leader.
Franken, Al Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Gerwig, Greta The Awardist
- Convo with the “Little Women” writer-director.
Jalees, Sabrina The Three Questions with Andy Richter
Jurado, Damien Talkhouse
Lorre, Chuck Strictly Business
O’Connell, Jerry Life is Short with Justin Long
Phil, Dr. Kickass News
Rodman, Dennis Curious with Josh Peck
Rogen, Seth Questlove Supreme
Tarantino, Quentin The Rewatchables
Thune, Nick Talkhouse
Twain, Shania George Ezra & Friends
Wee Man Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People
Notable New Podcasts
- The creators of Atlanta Monster and Monster: The Zodiac Killer take a deep dive into the Washington, D.C. sniper attacks of 2002.
- It’s No. 26 on iTunes
2) Down
- The sci-fi series follows an expedition into an Antarctic trench called The Bottomless Pit, where the crew succumbs to literal and figurative pressures.
- A true crime podcast “that closely examines one case per season, and enlists experts and people connected to the case to help tell the story.”
- Fellow podcast newsletter-er Paul Kondo launches his new podcast-recommendation pod.
5) Childish: The Podcast Musical
- College student Dante “becomes an RA in order to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Childish Gambino,” and then “his delusions of grandeur are shattered when he realizes his dweebish co-workers are hellbent on making his life miserable.”
- Poet-turned-comedian Auton kicks off a year-long daily podcast where he reads “pieces of writing he has written that he likes enough to want to share with people who are not him.”