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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Long Haul Edition (#97)

I’m changing the status of the This Week in Podcasts Twitter from minimally updated to much more than minimally updated. Follow TWIP there, too, for podcast love on days other than Friday. This week’s counts: 53 notable guests, 13 new podcasts, four deep dives and one interview…with a podcast. Pod Take of the Week “I always wondered […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Renovation Edition (#79)

Sooo many Trump emergency pods this week. But I won’t let it bog down the newsletter. The counts: 53 notable guests, 12 new podcasts, five deep dives and one Shakespeare reference. And one more thing: Sunday’s #ShareYourBudsSunday, a day to share your love of podcasts with family and friends. Learn more from #ShareYourBudsSunday co-founders and friends of […]

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This Week in Podcasts: Burrowing in the Arts Edition (#52)

On Nick Hornby’s implied advice, here’s an (almost) Michael Cohen- and Donald Trump-free edition. This week’s counts: 31 notable guests, nine new podcasts, eight deep dives and one conspiracy theorist at the top of the charts. Pod Take of the Week “It’s very hard to feel like any push toward activism is going to do […]

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This Week in Podcasts: Too Much to Eat Edition (#39)

It’s an abbreviated post-Thanksgiving edition. No pod takes. I’ll roll a few into the next edition, though. For now, please enjoy the tweet of the week. Go Deep 1) Hallmark Christmas Movies Listen: Deck the Hallmark Three guys, 37 Hallmark Christmas movies. They’re 11 movies into their binge and review of each of this year’s so-cheesy-they’re-good flicks. […]

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This Week in Podcasts: Push-ups with Bishop Tutu Edition (#38)

A lot of beginnings this week — welcome new pods about villains, Y2K, Stan Lee, hysteria and, yeah, true crime. And a couple notable endings — farewell Serial season three and 2 Dope Queens. Note: Next week’s newsletter will be an abbreviated edition. Taking some Thanksgiving time with family and a Baltimore Bomb pie. 5 Pod […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Blue Waves and Lazy Brains Edition (#37)

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 […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Ringing Like a Bell Edition (#36)

Coming at you today from the excellent Sound Education in Boston. Made some more tweaks this week based on your feedback, with small expansions to the guest and new podcast sections. And I scaled back the Pod Takes. I’m trying to keep the length from getting out of control. As always, I’m grateful for any and all […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Murder, Robots, and Shady Deals (#34)

The deluge of new podcasts continues. I’ve noted 16 this week. If you’ve got a new pod coming up that you’d like me to consider covering, please send it along.   7 Pod Takes   1) “Spoiler alert: Everything’s about to get worse.” Listen: Trump, Inc.: Pump and Trump (23:23) That’s Trump, Inc.’s Andrea Bernstein, in the middle of […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Curiosity, Craziness, and Googling the Queen (#33)

Some happy personal news: I’m cleared to walk without a brace, so less listening on the stationary bike, more listening while walking. 7 Pod Takes 1) “I feel like there’s an America out there that isn’t as crazy as we are.” Listen: The Argument: Is The Supreme Court Broken? Should Democrats Run on #MeToo? (9:01) That’s Ross […]

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This Week in Podcasts: Words, Whispers, and Outrage (#31)

I, too, was captivated by yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Prepare for a politics-heavy edition. Also, apologies to Dame Judi Dench for misspelling her name last week. 7 Pod Takes   1) “She had me at the word hippocampus.” Listen: Political Gabfest: The “One Hundred Percent Certain” Edition (3:41) That’s Emily Bazelon, crystallizing her reaction to Dr. […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Serial! Serial! Serial! (#30)

Quite the week for bingers and lovers of serialized podcasts. Have you heard Serial’s back? Also, Last Seen is finally here and Dr. Death is almost finished. Five of the top six pods on the iTunes charts today are deep-dive narratives. The intruder: The Joe Rogan Experience (No. 5). Though his three-hour episodes qualify as […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Villains, Sandwiches, and Spam on Christmas Eve (#29)

I’m at the ride-a-stationary-bike-for-many-hours stage of my Achilles recovery, so I binged while pedaling this week. Dropped several inspirational sports and fitness pods into my media diet, too. I also listened to Slow Burn. I don’t think getting infuriated by Linda Tripp helped my recovery any. 7 Pod Takes   1) “It’s the most crushing […]

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This Week in Podcasts: “Punk is a free space.” (#28)

Elon Musk made waves smoking a blunt with Joe Rogan. But, damn, many more interesting big names graced the pods. It was a massive week. 7 Pod Takes 1) “There’s an argument to be made that we’re born with the raw elements of Beatles songs in our heads.” Listen: WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 948 – […]

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This Week in Podcasts: “The Hope Diamond’s curse can smell fear.” (#26)

The new season of Slow Burn started this week and, yeah, it’s great. It’s now at the top of my pod queue for my upcoming vacation. Reminder: While I’m away, I’ll be taking a break from the newsletter. The next full edition comes out August 31. Thanks again for reading. Subscribe to This Week in […]

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This Week in Podcasts: “It’s always better to have company when you’re a captive.” (#25)

Shout out to fellow MCHS grad Michael Scott Moore for his appearance on this week’s No. 1 iTunes podcast. He survived more than two-and-a-half years as a hostage of Somali pirates. Glad you made it out, Michael. Schedule note: I’m taking a vacation soon, so I won’t be sending newsletters Aug. 17 and Aug. 24. […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: “Nanette,” Burnham, Zuckerberg and Denzel (#23)

We’ve come to the end of one hell of a week of podcasts. Podcasts broke news. Podcasts soothed (me, at least). Podcasts put things into perspective. Podcasts featured A-listers. Podcasts interviewed inanimate objects. And people are still listening to Serial! As of this afternoon, it’s No. 13 on the iTunes chart.Lastly, shouts to all who […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Remembering Anthony Bourdain, revisiting “Harry Potter” and the return of Rough Translation (#18)

Good luck to the World Cup pods out there. We’re all counting on you. 7 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts 1) “If I heard the phrase ‘bucket list’ one more time … I was gonna just beat someone severely with a baseball bat.” Listen: The Sporkful: Is This Pizza Worth Waiting For? […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: World Cup madness, Rihanna’s superpower and punchable faces (#17)

Two of the top pods on iTunes today are about the Kennedys. Guess in 50 years the charts will be dominated by pods about the Trumps. The rest of this week’s newsletter? Trump free. Thanks to everyone who sent feedback during the last few weeks. I tightened things a bit, and I’ll continue to calibrate. […]

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The Moby Dick of tacos, The Canterbury Tales of sports bars and Michael Chabon (#15)

Subscribe to This Week in Podcasts! Enter your email below and every Friday I’ll email you a skimmable recap of the week’s podcasts, highlighting provocative takes, great binges, new pods and a comprehensive list of notable podcast guests. We’re all literary up in podland this week. We’re still obsessed with criminals, too. Four pods about […]

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This Week in Podcasts

This Week in Podcasts: Donald Glover’s moment, hot Malcolm Gladwell takes and a new way to look at cereal (#13)

Gladwell’s back and Glover’s artistic breakthroughs blew away podcasters. All that and more in this week’s deep dive into the podcast universe. 8 Pod Takes: Provocative Thoughts From This Week’s Podcasts 1) “Rooting for the underdog is a form of moral weakness.” Listen: Revisionist History: Malcolm Gladwell debates Adam Grant (33:58) Gladwell’s gonna Gladwell. The […]