I’d been looking forward to Wind of Change. Many of you were, too. It’s the highest-ranking debut on both Apple Podcasts (No. 3) and Spotify (No. 13).
My take: It’s very good. Binged it already. Even streamed the Scorpions song a few times.
This week’s counts: 57 notable guests, nine new podcasts, four deep dives and one other song with untold influence.
Pod Take of the Week
“I’d say that ‘Wind of Change’ is one of the most important songs in music history.”
Listen: Wind of Change: 3. America’s Secret Weapon (15:39)
- That’s music journalist and DJ Markus Kavka, thrusting the power ballad “Wind of Change” by the Scorpions way, way up the global pop music power rankings.
- Kavka’s one of many people Patrick Radden Keefe speaks to during an eight-part dive into the question: Did the CIA have a hand in writing the anthem that may have played a part in the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Go Deep
Couples Under Lockdown
Listen: Where Should We Begin?
- Esther Perel’s podcast features real couples in therapy, and it’s turned its focus to couples under the stress of lockdown.
- The four episodes so far feature couples in Sicily, Italy; Bavaria, Germany; Lagos, Nigeria; and New York City.
“Friday”
Listen: Decoder Ring
- Willa Paskin goes 45 minutes on “Friday” by Rebecca Black, the most loved/hated viral song of 2011.
- Paskin talks to Black about the genesis of the song and the impact it had on her life — and pop culture.
The Future of Work
Listen: Reset
- The Recode pod takes a multi-part look at how the workplace has changed and will evolve post Covid-19.
Articles of Interest
Listen: 99% Invisible
- Avery Trufelman continues season two of her “podcast concept album … on clothes.”
- Eight episodes are now available.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = On Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = A Spotify exclusive. Aduba, Uzo Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air
Albright, Madeleine Death, Sex & Money
Bardem, Javier Off Camera with Sam Jones
Barris, Kenya Touré Show
Bee, Samantha Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
Birbiglia, Mike The Hilarious World of Depression
Blanchett, Cate WTF with Marc Maron
Carroll, Sean The Ezra Klein Show
Collins, Billy Sugar Calling
Cuban, Mark Pardon My Take
Duplass, Jay and Mark Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
Feldstein, Beanie The Big Ticket
Ferrera, America Armchair Expert
Garant, Robert Ben The Last Laugh
Gilbert, Elizabeth The Tim Ferriss Show
Glazer, Ilana Questlove Supreme
Gordon, Emily V. Off Menu
Gould, Dana Why Mommy Drinks
Hahn, Kathryn ID10T, The Watch
Hamm, Jon Never Not Funny
Harris, Sam The Tim Ferriss Show
Hittman, Eliza WTF with Marc Maron
Hodgman, John Fake the Nation
Isbell, Jason The Moment with Brian Koppelman, Men in Blazers
- The fungo bat/baby fat rhyme in Isbell’s “Super 8” gets me every time.
Jobrani, Maz Fake the Nation
Kaplan, Myq The Gist
Keefe, Patrick Radden Pod Save America
Kenney-Silver, Kerri The Last Laugh
Krasinski, John Office Ladies
Kroll, Nick The Bill Simmons Podcast
Lang, Maya Shanbhag Good Life Project
Lapkus, Lauren Tigerbelly, The Adam Carolla Show, The Margaret Cho, Anna Faris is Unqualified, Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig
- Lapkus gets into Edward Norton territory with at least five pod appearances this week in support of her movie “The Wrong Missy.”
Lennon, Thomas The Last Laugh
Lewis, Michael Flying Coach
Lupo, Dr. Recode Media
Mothersbaugh, Mark Creative Conversation
Myers, Mike Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Nixon, Cynthia Homo Sapiens
O’Brien, Conan The Three Questions with Andy Richter
O’Rourke, Beto In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt
Oswalt, Patton Pardon My Take
Pang, May Sounds and Vision Podcast
Papa, Tom The Joe Rogan Experience
Porter, Billy I Weigh with Jameela Jamil
Rodman, Dennis On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Quaid, Dennis ID10T
Savage, Dan WTF with Marc Maron
Shepard, Dax Life is Short with Justin Long
Sudeikis, Jason Small Triumph Big Speech
- The former SNLer celebrates Kara finishing her school video lectures early.
Tweedy, Jeff and Spencer Partners
Wright, Edgar Staying In with Emily & Kumail
Yang, Alan Hollywood Handbook
Yang, Andrew Making Sense with Sam Harris
Yang, Jimmy O. The Last Laugh
Yo, Michael The Joe Rogan Experience
Notable New Podcasts
- Jill Lepore looks at “the history of truth, and the historical context for our current fake news, post-truth moment.”
- It’s No. 6 on Apple Podcasts.
- The background: “It’s 1990. The Berlin Wall just fell. The Soviet Union is on the verge of collapse. And the soundtrack to the revolution is one of the best selling songs of all time, the metal ballad ‘Wind of Change,’ by the Scorpions.”
- The rumor: the song wasn’t written by the Scorpions. It was written by the CIA.
- The talent behind this one: Patrick Radden Keefe, and produced by Pineapple Street Studios, Crooked Media and Spotify.
- It’s No. 3 on Apple Podcasts.
- Every weekday morning on this mental health pod, Andy Puddicombe will “pause and reflect to consider what brings us together in this shared human condition and how we can live a life that best reflects our limitless potential.”
- It’s No. 10 on Apple Podcasts.
Living with Landyn with Landyn Hutchinson
- The influencer “bring[s] back the sage advice of the women who walked before us.”
- It’s No. 24 on Apple Podcasts.
Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020
- The iHeartRadio podcast goes out to all the high school and college seniors who will be missing in-person graduation ceremonies this year.
- Among those iHeart has enlisted to contribute commencement speeches to the pod: John Legend, Halsey, Kesha, DJ Khaled, Khalid, Pitbull, Tim McGraw, Hillary Clinton, Abby Wambach, Eli Manning, Mike Krzyzewski, Chelsea Handler, Sienna Miller, Jimmy Fallon, Katie Couric, Bobbi Brown, David Chang and Guy Raz.
- Jason Gots starts each episode with a random word picked by an algorithm. From there, “he has just one day to write [a] short story and a song inspired by it.” And then he has a conversation about the word with guests like David Sedaris and Gish Jen.
- The Guardian presents the “best football stories you’ve probably never heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists.”
- Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman “serve as your guides to the good, bad, and utterly bizarre corners of the baseball world and all that makes them special.”
- Missionary Renee Bach was initially praised “as a model missionary — an example of the healing power of God’s message. But a decade later she’s accused of masquerading as a doctor and rumored to have killed hundreds of children in her unlicensed clinic.”
And One to Look Forward to: No Stupid Questions (May 18)
- The Freakonomics spinoff addresses questions with “conversations that pull in surprising references to research, literature, philosophy, and history. You never know where their talks will go. More often than not, they lead to more questions, like Russian nesting dolls.”