Nostalgia runs deep this week, particularly when it comes to ‘90s music. Two dedicated pods launched, and one hair metal song from the decade stars in another.
I queued up all three.
The counts: 48 notable guests, 15 new podcasts, six deep dives and one more true crime podcast at the top of the Apple chart.
Pod Take of the Week
“It has really been exciting, though. Coming home, being able to get up when you get ready. Eat when you get ready. Lay down when you get ready. Those things have really been awesome.”
Listen: In the Dark: Curtis Flowers (5:27)
- That’s Flowers, finally sitting for an in-person interview with Madeleine Baran, on what it feels like to be released from prison after almost 20 years.
- Flowers “endured six trials for the same crime and survived nearly two decades on death row at the infamous Mississippi State Penitentiary,” and In the Dark chronicled his story and the case against him that fell apart.
- It’s the interview listeners of the acclaimed podcast have been waiting for. Flowers also talks about his life before prison and the day police came to his door.
Go Deep
1) The Music of the 1990s
Listen: My 90s Playlist, 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s, 50 Years of Music w/ 50 Year Old White Guys
- 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s comes from The Ringer and Rob Harvilla. First song dissected in the Spotify original: Alanis Morisette’s “You Oughta Know.”
- My 90s Playlist comes from Sony Music. First song dissected: TLC’s “No Scrubs.”
- 50 Years of Music narrows the scope, picking the best three songs from 1992.
2) Nostalgia
Listen: Deviate with Rolf Potts
- Potts’s essayistic take on the subject encompasses a motorcycle wreck in Sri Lanka, found audio, Don Draper, Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” and falling in love during the pandemic.
3) The Integrity of U.S. Elections
Listen: Sway, The Chuck ToddCast: Meet the Press, 5-4
- On Sway, Kara Swisher launches a two-part series on election integrity.
- Chuck Todd completes a five-part series on the 2000 election and lessons learned from it. Total listening time: 3 hours.
- 5-4 looks at the Electoral College and “all the ways it could be used to stage a procedural coup in the upcoming election.”
4) The Future of the U.S.
Listen: Soonish
- The first episode of the two-part series tried to make sense of 2020 “in all its perverse complexity.” Part two “moves beyond the election to ask how we might reconfigure our politics to defuse the kinds of tensions that got us into this mess.”
- Total listening time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.
5) The Canadian Football League
Listen: North Americana
- Robert Reid explores the entwined roots of American and Canadian football.
- It’s an American love letter to the game of Canadian football, which, he admits, gets “a little weird.” In a good way.
6) The Godfathers of Wine
Listen: Business Wars
- The Wondery pod continues a six-part series on Ernest and Julio Gallo and the rise of the largest wine company in the world, E & J Gallo Winery.
Guest Appearances By…
($L) = Luminary, behind a paywall. (S) = Spotify exclusive. ($A) = Audible, behind a paywall.
Alam, Rumaan Working
Black, Lewis WTF with Marc Maron
Carlisle, Belinda The Margaret Cho
- The first of two Go-Go’s making the pod rounds.
Chuck D People Have the Power
Ciara Red Table Talk
Cleese, John ID10T
Clinton, Hillary Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Cooper, Sarah You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton
Costas, Bob The Axe Files
Coyne, Wayne WTF with Marc Maron
Cuban, Mark Pardon My Take
Duckworth, Angela You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton
France, Tan You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes, Homo Sapiens
- Convos with a “Queer Eye” guy.
Frankel, Bethenny Skimm’d From the Couch
Gaiman, Neil David Tennant Does a Podcast With…
Gilbert, Sara Armchair Expert
Glazer, Ilana Full Release with Samantha Bee
Hall, Tamron Going Through It
Hudson, Kate The goop Podcast
Janney, Allison At Home with Linda & Drew Scott
Jones, Norah Anna Faris is Unqualified
Jones Jr., Roy The Joe Rogan Experience
July, Miranda Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best
Kerr, Steve All the Smoke
Keys, Alicia Black Frasier
Killam, Taran Comedy Bang! Bang!
Killer Mike expediTIously
Kloss, Karlie Second Life
Lee, Tommy The Adam Carolla Show
Mantzoukas, Jason Home Cooking
McCarthy, Jenny Danica Patrick Pretty Intense
Nelson, Willie Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Nyad, Diana You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton
Obama, Barack Pod Save America
- The PSA guys host their former boss. Pretty good get, no matter the circumstances.
Papa, Tom The Joe Rogan Experience
Parker, Kevin Talkhouse
Richie, Nicole Keep It
Robinson, Marilynne The Ezra Klein Show, Bookworm
- Convos with one of Barack Obama’s favorite authors. Her latest book: “Jack.”
Sandler, Adam SmartLess
Sarandos, Ted Strictly Business
- Netflix’s chief content officer talks business strategy, the controversy over “Cuties.”
Seidel, Erik The Moment
Sorkin, Aaron Literally! With Rob Lowe
Stiles, Julia Midnight Snack with Michelle Collins
Tench, Benmont Broken Record
Valentine, Kathy Sound Opinions
- The second of two Go-Go’s making the pod rounds.
Vogel, Frank The Lowe Post
Wilson, Rainn StarTalk Radio
Wilson, Russell The Bill Simmons Podcast
Notable New Podcasts
Reminder: I’ve contracted and expanded coverage of new podcasts. The newsletter includes a curated list of the most notable and best new podcasts of the previous seven days.
Broader coverage now resides at weekinpodcasts.com, where I’ll show my work with an evolving list of new and upcoming podcasts. Know of any podcasts that should be included? Reply and let me know.
1) Anatomy of Murder (Oct. 14)
- Former New York City homicide prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi and former Deputy Sheriff Scott Weinberger examine “homicide cases and paths to justice for the victims.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 1.
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No 16.
2) Sofia With an F (Oct. 9)
- Sofia Franklyn, formerly of Barstool Sports’s Call Her Daddy, returns with a solo pod.
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 5.
- Spotify Trending Podcasts rank: No. 1.
3) Dead and Gone (Oct. 15)
- A true crimer about “the Grateful Dead and their missing and murdered fans.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 7.
4) BFFs featuring Josh Richards and Dave Portnoy (Oct. 13)
- The TikToker and the Barstool founder “talk about everything from dominating Tiktok in LA to running a media empire in NYC.”
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 19.
5) Brave New Planet (Oct. 11)
- Eric Lander hosts the “seven-part series that delves deep into powerful technologies changing our world.”
- Produced by a partnership of the Broad Institute, Pushkin Industries and the Boston Globe.
- Apple Podcasts rank: No. 76.
6) My 90s Playlist (Oct. 13)
- In the Sony Music pod, Tracy Clayton and Akoto Ofori-Atta break down “why we love the hits of the 90s so much, what made our favorite songs so popular back then, and why we are so nostalgic for them now.”
7) 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s (Oct. 14)
- The Ringer podcast argues that the “1990s were a turning point in music.”
8) The Trial of The Chicago 7 (Oct. 13)
- Wondery delivers a pod about the anti-war demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, and the charges against them of inciting riots and conspiracy.
9) Resistance (Oct. 14)
- Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. hosts a new Gimlet show “about refusing to accept things as they are. Stories from the front lines of the movement for Black lives, told by the generation fighting for change.”
10) The Motörcast (Oct. 12)
- Motörhead’s celebrating the 40th anniversary of its “Ace Of Spades” album.
11) Days Like These (Oct. 14)
- The Australian Broadcasting Corporation pod “introduces you to one regular human as they live through something wild.”
12) Love Under Lockdown (Oct. 14)
- The Stitcher Premium pod chronicles “the intimate daily lives of four couples quarantining together in the pressure cooker of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
- It’ll be available on other platforms starting Oct. 29.
13) Port of Entry (Oct. 14)
- The KPBS and PRX pod takes the place of the “Only Here” podcast. The retooled show tells U.S./Mexico cross-border stories.
14) Vice News Reports (Oct. 15)
- Vice’s weekly news pod “takes you to the story as it unfolds, giving you the unfiltered sounds of the world today.”
15) The Sesame Street Podcast with Foley & Friends (Oct. 14)
- It’s an Audible exclusive from the Sesame Workshop.
For 12 more podcasts that launched this week, plus upcoming debuts, visit the This Week in Podcasts website.