Woah. Bi-weekly / weekly newsletters again? That’s crazy! I’m doing my best in trying to get everything hyperlinked that I reference.

It’s hot over here in L.A. It’s my birthday month, yes, month. Because 4th of July holiday is around my birthday, I usually celebrate at some point in the month. Which I did…with some magic and karaoke. I went to the Magic Castle, the magic and comedy mansion, building. It was young superstars week, so really talented high schoolers to young college age comedian-magicians were entertaining as heck.

Karaoke, a couple of friends and I went to a new karaoke spot in West Hollywood called Mic Drop. It has a main stage and private rooms too. We did the main stage, and I share this because, poof, a world famous podcaster showed up. Lance Bass (The Last Soviet, Frosted Tips) was there! Yes, he is/was also part of *NSYNC. Duh. We got our pictures, and he validated my Spice Girls shirt while I complimented The Last Soviet.

Definitely a great weekend….so LET’S GOOOOO!!!

The Round-Up

• Great Pods Website update: This week’s Podcast Slide Puzzle is on the artwork: Belief In The Future podcast. It’s lovely podcast logo and a little more difficult to solve.

  Try it now!

• I love a new design/website especially with friends. Eurowaves, the only European podcasting newsletter and hub, now has a live website! Discover international partners, advertisement opportunities, and more. As always sub to the Eurowaves- newsletter here on Substack for interviews, industry news, recommendations and opportunities.

  

• Shoutout to for curating 3 podcast episodes on our home page for Juneteenth. It’s still up there until the end of the weekend. Check them out.

• We have new carousel feature submissions! I want to call out those using this feature from publicists to indie podcasts as we test it out. Here’s some of them.

  • Current and previous features included: Government That Doesn’t Suck, Sukany4: The Walk and Talk Podcast, What Makes a Good Day?, Sweet and Savre, Fayl Tales, Framed - The Kit Martin Story, Podcast Network Insights, The Bad Therapist Show, The Missing conversation, So Glad You Asked, The Wild History of War, Legend Lunchbox…and a lot more.

    One Link To Rule Them All

Get Featured

• International Women’s Podcast Awards which is being presented by my poddy friends at Tink is taking entries until August 14th, 2026. If you know any women-led podcasts, apply now!

• We lost a Spanish speaking professional reviewer in and Escucha podcast due to burnout. Hopefully Pablo comes back, but definitely, take care of yourself first. You can see some of the reviews from Pablo here. I went back in his archives to add as many as I could.

• In the meantime, we have new Spanish language reviewer in the mix from - Cosas que (me) pasan. You can also follow her here.

• Shout out to Critic as he continues to contribute to Forbes.com as an industry writer. Well, Great Pods got mentioned in Forbes among our peers on where to read about podcasts! Read all about it here! Bro, we’re in Forbes!

• Storytime: I was adding new reviews to GP earlier this week “watching” in the background Epic Gardening Channel. I’m growing basil at home, ok?! The episode was on the Obama presidential garden at the Obama Center with a detailed curation of the location. Long story short, at the end they meet Obama, so I switch from listening to watch a little, and I’m glad I did! I was surprised to spot a Poddy friend, Ana (Podcast marketing & growth coach - The Podcast Space) in the group with Epic Gardening and others. I was that Leo GIF.

  • Ana was able to finally share what she was there for in this video and you can read about it here.

  • Now the center has an auditorium for live events including podcasts in which IMO w/ Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson inaugurated it with a live episode featuring Abbott Elementary's Quinta Brunson.
    Quinta is/was a delight.

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: The Romesh Ranganathan Show
Genre: Interview Comedy
Publisher: Ranga Bee / Listen

About: The world’s biggest stars join Romesh for candid conversations and loads of laughs. Romesh Ranganathan meets actors, musicians, comedians and icons who share stories you won’t hear anywhere else, combining humour, heart and genuine insight. Expect backstage anecdotes, untold tales from the spotlight, and extraordinary insight into what makes them tick.

Supporting my South Asian people, Romesh is a well-known UK comedian for over a decade. There’s not much to the premise that I need to convince you for. It’s a chat podcast, but with some semblance of a structure vs. just riffing for an hour. In regards to Romesh, I’ve been catching a few of things around on YouTube, so I know his comedy chops are there.

When a guest starts to enjoy themselves on a chat podcast, then I don’t know, I start to enjoy listening too. I am a sucker for comedy callbacks and Romesh does a great job at it. For example, Aziz has been going to the doctor and was late to the taping of the episode. Later in the episode they talked about the gift and Romesh made a callback to the doctor thing which was hilarious.

In the beginning Romesh gives a gift to the guest that has some tangential meaning, often funny, but also leading to some good conversation on why that particular gift.

Hannah Fry (The Rest is Science) - Got a mini-Tesla coil gift which failed and then worked, scaring the bejesus out of everyone. Must watch/listen the Tesla incident.

Aziz Ansari - now living in London, health checks regarding male things, recently selling out Royal Albert Hall and still being a foodie. I must go to Hoppers next time in London.

Miriam Margolyes - The Harry Potter (Professor Sprout) actor was hilarious not knowing that Romesh is a comedian, and therefore the gift she got was Romesh’s book. LOL.

Scott Bryan - Podcast Rex

…the fact that he’s now got his own interview series is a real treat. It’s some of the best audio I’ve heard all week.

Maths to Comedy

Podcast: Dropping Names ...and other things
Genre: Interview Comedy
Publisher: Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes

About: Dropping Names ...and other things with Brent & Jonny is a conversation podcast show from Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) stars Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes. Each episode, these longtime friends sit down with fascinating characters they’ve met across decades in Hollywood.

Whether you’re a sci-fi fan, a film buff, or just here for the laughs, this is the show where great stories meet great conversations… and a few names get dropped along the way.

I’ve been waiting a while until a review came out. Lucky me, good ol’ Frank R. with the review so I could recommend it here!

Yes, if you are a Star Trek fan, this is a great podcast, since we get guests like LeVar Burton and Michael Dorn (The Next Generation Alums), and a slightly different premise of a listen that should appeal to a wider audience. Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and Brent Spiner (Data), buddies since the TNG days, have an extensive Old Hollywood friendships and stories that allow for a lot of “name dropping”. However, even the Trek alums expand more than TNG especially everyone’s lengthy resume. LeVar and the legendary movie, Roots. Dorn and voicing for the animated series Gargoyles.

Also, for non-trekkie guests:

Dean Devlin (Independence Day) - Filipino-American mother was an actress AND in an episode of The Original Series of Star Trek! But an interesting tidbit Dean mentions which was educational was around rights of a Hollywood spec sheet on a title that you create and sell to a studio, which Dean and Roland Emmerich did for Stargate the movie in the 90s. After 30 years you can claim your rights back, and thus now, Dean and Roland are bringing Stargate (the TV series) back, and to Amazon in a new continuing series. This similarly reminded me about the hoopla around Ryan Coogler’s 25 year Sinners deal with Warner Bros. After 25 years the rights go back to Ryan. Fascinating.

Ron Perlman (Hellboy) - I do not want to mess with him.

Joel McHale (Community) - Improvises while talking Community and Chevy Chase drama.

Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion (Firefly) - are a delight. Especially the story Alan shares when he was on stage once, he did an impression of Sean Connery in front of him, while he was alive. Connery notoriously hated impressions of himself and when they met backstage he literally poked Alan pretty hard.

Jane Leeves (Frasier) - Chatting Betty White, Frasier of course, but hearing how Jane met her husband, who oversaw Star Trek at Paramount for a little bit in the 90s.

Frank Racioppi - Ear Worthy

Dropping Names with Brent & Jonny is like celebrities doing pirate radio. Even the title doesn’t give away who they are. I wish all celebrity interview podcasts had the breeziness, informality, and that sense of not taking themselves too seriously as Dropping Names with Brent & Jonny…may be another celebrity interview show in a long line of such shows, but it is one of the best.

Energize!

PS. The fan edits of Jonathan Frakes when he hosted Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction are hilarious. Sorry, I’m getting distracted. =)

Most Viewed Podcasts (MVP) on GP!

5. Ask a Matchmaker -

4. Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - SiriusXM Podcasts

3. Intimacy - BBC Sounds

2. Lo Fi Lit -

1. Me, Myself, and AI - MIT Sloan Management Review

Most viewed pages on GP • Last updated Jul 29, 2026

Stay safe, seriously, stay safe, call that friend, and be kind!

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to make finding your next podcast fun. Tell a friend!

First up, my SoCal Podcast Meetup co-organizer, Stephanie A., for helping organize the media kit and with the “pr” of it all. Thanks to Brian, the designer, for the last-minute design assist.

First round of media launch Thank You’s:

Pod The North, Good Tape, , HigherEd Pods, , , , Podnews, The Podcast Academy, , , Fiction Podcast Weekly, Tink, and Ear Worthy as the first round of media supporters! More on the next one!

Let’s GOOOO!

The Round-Up

• For podcasters: Submissions! Get featured on the home page Carousel, Coming Soon, and articles. Try it out! - Makes my life/operations easier in making features live.

• Higher Ed Con is happening today, July 15th and 16th, in Cleveland. Info here.

• Electric Futures podcast, from USC (of course, I’m biased), launched the 3rd season, and I went to campus as they had a live podcast recording panel with the podcast. ✌️

• Bing Bong, SidetalkNYC started a video “podcast” of them walking around, but not the party atmosphere their social media videos entail, the wild side of NYC. Their first episode launched with Mayor Zohran, which is an enjoyable watch too. Episode here.

• Big news from our poddy friends! Tink is now presenting the IWPA (Independent Women’s Podcast Awards) show! Entries are now open until the end of July! The show will be held this fall in Toronto.

• Pour one out. One of the OG big podcast companies, Wondery, was acquired by Amazon Music, and the time has come to shutter the doors of Wondery+ as it’s being absorbed into Amazon Music & Audible. #RIPWondery+

  • “Wondery+ is ending in the coming months. Both the Wondery app and Wondery+ subscription service will no longer be available. We know this impacts your listening experience and want to make your transition as smooth as possible. We have great news: you can keep listening to many of your favorite Wondery+ shows now on Audible.”

  • You’ll start to see the publishing name of Wondery changed to Audible on shows like Dr. Death. By the way, Dr. Death Season 5, Bad Cowboy, just came out. Listen Here.

• In previous weeks, I was lucky enough to go to two distinctly different podcast events.

  • Launch Party: Holly Brown’s launch of her podcast Nobody Knows But Me launch party and karaoke. MY voice cracked way too early on. Happy Birthday, Holly! If you are in LA, Holly will be hosting a live end of the podcast season at the UCB theatre. Tickets: https://ucbcomedy.com/show/everybody-knows-but-me/

  • A conversation with TK Dutes from The Secret Life of TK Dutes. The event was hosted by producer Kristen Bennet. It was a great, intimate sit-down conversation with TK. Never forget, “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.”

• The Podcast Show - London conference was two months ago, and I attended. Overall, it was great as usual seeing all my pod friends from Tink to Eurowaves. For me, setting up new meetings via the app was a wash and disappointing. So I had to improvise. Overall, probably 80% from of previous years I was able to experience. You can read a great write-up from Frank R. in Forbes on pulling together a summary of the conference here.

• I did get to meet Wisecrack’s Jodi A. and Edd Hedges, along with pod buddy and co-founder of Tenderfoot.TV, Donald Albright. Read: Send in the Wisecrackin!

  

• Tribeca Festival had its festival with an expanded list to their audio programming. Natasha M.(Bitter/Sweet), who helped with Resonate reporting in November, is covering for GP in NYC. The programming does remind me of Resonate in the art of podcast storytelling. I was posting behind-the-scenes footage on our Instagram, but if you missed that, the write-up from Natasha is coming soon.

• Eurowaves x The Podcast Space are hosting a podcast meetup in London on July 23rd, 2026. Audience: Community Meet-up for Women, Trans, and Non-Binary Podcast Experts - RSVP here.

• Speaking of Resonate, they are going to South Africa 2027! Maybe start your flight plans now? The fall conference sold out within 3 hours.

• The iHeartPodcast Awards were in March, and Sabrina K. attended for GP, held in Austin, TX. I watched from the stream. You can start reading her write-up after the break.

• Don’t forget to check out the home page for new updates on the carousel, new reviews, articles, and coming soon sections!

• Thank you all for your patience as the website took priority.

On to the write-up and my picks…

I should preface the write-up with what I wanted for GP write-ups. The goal for writing these days is about the experience and the feeling of a show, red carpet, or interview from the individual. Not hardcore industry chatter. - Captain Ron

About Sabrina: Our guest writer, Berkeley Alum living in Austin, avid two-stepper, and aspiring cat owner. She's passionate about social justice, mental health, & psychology.

Awards shows are the shifting tastes, norms, and politics- not to mention gossip, that mark the year on display. Everything unique to that specific point in time in the collective memory from content to aesthetic are presented for commentary. At their best, they offer an opportunity to acknowledge great accomplishments, highlight meaningful expansion, celebrate strides in representation, and in general provide a reunion.

I had been to a music awards show once at ACL Live’s Moody Theater, so I wasn’t walking in completely blind. It is a sleek, dark space that never feels crowded, but maintains a sense of intimacy. Quiet and pristine once you enter, despite being in the heart of downtown Austin. Due to SXSW traffic, I arrived one minute before the doors closed and was frazzled as it was a live filmed event. However, from the moment I was greeted by the lovely woman (with the coolest jacket that I’ve had my eye on online for a while now- Classic Rock Couture) at the press check-in it was smooth sailing. As soon as I gave her my name and company she mentioned she’s been contacting us regularly to work together. Was she smoothly flattering me by fluffing up the company ego? Maybe. Was it effective? Absolutely. I already felt more confident and excited walking in.

The staff were polite and gracious, even when they had to tell me no. I was instructed to go upstairs to the Mezzanine for seating with my pass, but the attendant up there said they had not been told that… then admired my dress…

Read More Here!

Podcast: This is Propaganda
Genre: Marketing, Society
Publisher: BRINK

About: In this Webby Award-winning narrative podcast, co-hosts Josh & Malcolm from BRINK MEDIA reveal the hidden influence of the propaganda all around us and how it continues to profoundly shape our culture today

It’s a stunning listen when you can deconstruct and unlearn what you have learned in your own education on the way humans operate in the world. Especially when things like the wizard’s curtain reveal. I feel that way about marketing and propaganda.

I recommended season 1 a while back, as that was a history of marketing and how it came about. Season 2 takes a look at the war edition of marketing. The military involvement, World War II pin-ups, and Betty Crocker. For obvious reasons, we can apply the lens to current events and how we see things beyond.

Josh and Malcom have great follow-up questions to why. I mean, I went back into Season 1, just to listen to the episode Media Literacy, and the primer for S2, Hollywood and The Pentagon. Brought me back to watching movies like Transformers or Top Gun, and what the military involvement looks like. Heck, it’s even being aware that Pitch Perfect 3 had propaganda.

It’s a great discussion with nuance.

Keelin|Mentally? A Magpie.

This is Propaganda has given me not a perspective of empathy, like most of the podcasts I listen to, but a new way of thinking that is making me reconsider and move forward in a way that is not about me.

Props

Most Viewed Podcasts (MVP) on GP!

5. Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan - Lemonada Media

4. Chameleon - Audiochuck | Campside Media

3. Adam Buxton’s Successpod - Audible

2. The Last 12 Weeks - Serial Productions & The New York Times

1. Me, Myself, and AI - MIT Sloan Management Review

#podcasts

Most viewed pages on GP • Last updated Jul 14, 2026 • Updates Every Tuesday

Stay safe, seriously, stay safe, call that friend, and be kind!

Listening with you,

Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to make finding your next podcast fun. Tell a friend!

Let’s GOOOOO!

The Round-Up

• 60 Minutes reported on the Havana Syndrome and who could be behind it. The timing is interesting to say the least. I post it because the producers have been working on it on and off for the last 9 years, before a recent acquisition hire happened. Spoiler alert: The producers say Russia is behind it (Direct Energy Weapon), meanwhile, the CIA is still investigating. AND I’ve heard the US Govt. has something. The point is:

  • Listen to Vice’s Havana Syndrome

  • And Brazen’s The Sound: Mystery of the Havana Syndrome

• iHeartPodcast Awards were live-streamed last week from Austin, TX, at the Moody Theatre during SXSW. The full list of the winners is here with badges!

  

  • We have a write-up from the iHeartPodcasts Awards that we are proofreading for the next newsletter. Stay tuned for that.

• LA Times Festival of Books’ free festival at USC mid-April has listed their limited podcast lineup so far. 2 of the 6 slots remain empty. Here’s what we have so far. I should ask Sam Sanders if he will be hosting an episode of any of his podcasts again.

• TBPN, a small but niche business tech live show that podcasts its episodes out of Silicon Valley, was acquired by…OpenAI(ChatGPT) for $30 million! The talk about the acquisition here. I hear it’s big on Twitter…

• Age of Audio documentary is making the rounds. Last week was in LA, and will be in Texas & Rhode Island this April. Check it out here.

• I am also testing the “Featured Episodes” this week on the homepage. In honor of Artemis II launching, episodes from From Future Principles Pod, 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II, and NASA’s Curious Universe. Check it out! Play them from your mobile browser or desktop!

On to my pick this week!

Podcast: Wisecrack
Genre: True Crime with a hint of Comedy
Publisher: iHeartPodcasts & Tenderfoot.TV

About: He left home as the chubby kid with a dream, a decade later, he's a touring comic with a killer set. Literally. In Wisecrack, stand-up comedian Edd Hedges returns to his hometown for a charity gig, only to find himself headlining the most terrifying night of his life. The warm welcome quickly unravels into a chilling true crime tale of a downward spiral and a town shaken by murder. When TV crime producer Jodi Tovay stumbled across Edd’s comedy set, it did more than get a few laughs, it opened the door to a years-long investigation she never saw coming. Part comedy special, part true crime thriller, Wisecrack blends punchlines with plot twists in a genre-defying ride where the laughs are real and the danger is no joke.

AirPods in. Great Pods mini-player set. Vacuum plugged in. Post-Eid, the chores weren’t going to do themselves. Family kept interrupting my zone, but honestly, this one pulled me back in every time.

Wisecrack won Podcast of the Year and Best Sound Production at this year’s Ambies, plus iHeart’s Best Crime Award. When a podcast takes 8+ years to investigate, interview, and even just figure out if there’s a story worth telling, you can hear why. Jodi Tovay took us on the adventure.

Edd’s comedy set plays more like a dramedy set, a clever way to ease you in before things get dark. And they get dark. Episode 2, Edd revisits his family home. Banging starts outside. His family’s whole tone shifts. I’m in my living room in broad daylight, thinking, good thing it’s not nighttime right now.

The cast of characters is something else. John Hedges, a hulking man with eight fingers from a sawmill accident. Carol, Edd’s wonderfully daffy mother, who accidentally became a village meth dealer through someone she met on Farmville. And then there’s Pete Rogers, the killer’s father, who casually drops that he warned the victims to hide their sharp knives beforehand because he knew there was a “risk.” Just let that sit.

What got me is that both Edd and the killer were bullied, dyslexic kids from the same street. One ended up on a comedy stage. The other was on the wrong side of the police tape. And look, I’ve said it before in this newsletter, we can’t wear the other person’s shoes. We just don’t know what happened, nor can we. Jodi eventually bypasses the scripted set entirely and goes straight for the cold, hard facts.

What makes this one stick is the unfiltered evolution (using big words today) of Jodi and Edd’s relationship, which involved the comedian literally living in Jodi’s house for weeks so she could “keep eyes on him.” From getting kicked out of English pubs to analyzing crime scenes where seven kitchen knives were used, the podcast masterfully navigates the gray areas of culpability. By the end, you’re not just looking for a guilty verdict. You’re witnessing the transformation of a man making peace with his childhood bully in a way that’s as hilarious and scary at the same time.

Jodi pitched this to streaming TV companies. They passed. Tenderfoot TV, the folks behind Radio Rental, did not. Their loss, our gain.

This is a team effort, and you can tell. Funding, sound design, and years of patience. Not a one-person bedroom pod. This took a village. A very unsettling English village.

Here’s the clip from the Ambies at the moment of Jodi’s speech.

There are also bonus episodes worth sticking around for. Honest, hindsight-heavy, and they don’t let Edd off easy. Was he exaggerating too much in his act? He addresses it. Was Edd actually a bully himself? Checkmark that box. Plus panels from various CrimeCons if you want to go even deeper.

”good old fashioned journalist quest. As the tone evolves from terror to tragedy, and humour intermixes with empathy, a multitude of emotions pass through your frontal cortex.”

- , Bingeworthy

Send In The Wisecracking!

Most Viewed Podcasts (MVP) the past week on GP!

5. MF DOOM: Long Island to Leeds - BBC Sounds

4. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Lemonada Media

3. Fraudacious - Novel in association with BBC Studios

2. The Idiot - Serial Productions & The New York Times

1. Me, Myself, and AI - MIT Sloan Management Review

Most viewed pages on GP • Last updated Mar 31, 2026 • Updates Every Tuesday

Stay safe, seriously, stay safe, call that friend, and be kind!

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to make finding your next podcast fun. Tell a friend!

Links provided by Great Pods Analytics. Get your free link-in-bio, short link tracking, and link analytics for free. Sign up here.

Today I’m writing to you with my nerdy Star Trek reference. I wanted to write a little more in-depth on my feelings on particular podcasts, so occasionally you’ll see a Supplemental edition.

Expression is not easy. For the creator putting their experience out there, or for me trying to write about what I felt listening to it. Both of us are out here doing something vulnerable.

Engage and let’s gooooo!

The Round-Up

• Added some fun to GP: Podslide Puzzle

  • Exploring podcasts on GP? Want something fun to do? Podslide is the simple tile puzzle I’ll be updating each week.

  

• The Ambies Award show was delayed by a day in Brooklyn because of the blizzard that hit the East Coast. Curiously, the event was not going to be livestreamed compared to every year The Ambies has been around, but Mother Nature, and cancelled travel, said, “Nope, livestream it.” You can watch the award show here on YouTube

  • The big update on Great Pods is that we have Awards Badges for the winners on their podcast pages.

    

  • And we have a full list of the winners on one page here.

• In addition to creating badges for Ambies, the NAACP Image Awards had 5 podcast categories with 3 winners. Badges for them, and the short list is here.

• On Air Fest wrapped up with a celebrity-driven week with a sprinkling of independent creators like TK Dutes (I write about below). Lauren and Arielle’s recap is here.

• Podcast Movement announced the 2-day conference in NYC, Hell’s Kitchen, in September. A sort of re-invention, if you will. But the initial posts I’m seeing of folks speaking are non-minority leaders. Sooooo, ya. I’m sure it’ll diversify as more announcements come in. Tickets.

• SXSW start this week this week with Podcast Evolutions (from Podcast Movement)

  • iHeartPodcast Awards, which will be held at SXSW, is next Monday, the 16th. I’ll have the updated winners’ badges after the show.

• Age of Audio - Podcast Documentary will be in Long Beach, co-hosted by Jesse Thorn with special guest Jesse Thorn (Maximum Fun)on March 17th. Tickets here. I should be there, but it’s literally the day of celebration for Ramadan. Lo siento.

• Important: Black Podcasters Association (myself included) has made a call for more Black representation with podcast reviews. If you are interested, head over to the BPA and answer “the call” you Backstreet Boy.

  BlkPodNews™

  Become a BlkPod Reviewer

  The Black Podcasters Association is launching BlkPodReviews! A new initiative through BlkPodNews dedicated to reviewing Black podcasts with the cultural nuance they deserve. For far too long reviews of our shows have been too few and far between. We’re building a team of community rooted writers to change that…

  Read more

  6 months ago · 20 likes · 3 comments · Black Podcasters Association™

On to my write-up. Wish me luck…

Podcast: The Secret Life of TK Dutes
Genre: Personal Journal
Publisher: Keisha TK Dutes

About: The Secret Life of TK Dutes is the story of what it means to become when the system won’t let you be. One woman sets out into the world, looking for ways to get ahead as an Artist. Producer. Daughter, Sister. Partner. Together with those who bear witness, TK throws away the scripts and looks for answers, in airports, dentists offices, across borders. Each episode is a new world, pioneering the art of loose autobiography to build the picture of a life in a community of voices. What happens when you stop doing what is expected of you and start doing YOU? A better life can be a hustle. It doesn’t have to be a secret.

Some of TK’s credits include: Good Words with Kirk Franklin, HeadSpace’s HiberNation, Buzzfeed’s Thirst Aid Kit, Function with Anil Dash, Hear to Slay

Let me be honest. Initially, I couldn’t recommend this one without a proper listen, and so it happened. It was too good to pass up. However, while writing this post, two reviews popped into my view, thus giving The Secret Life of TK Dutes the proper curation for Great Pods.

I met TK Dutes at Resonate Podcast Festival week, first at the Off The Record Business Summit. The 45+ minute episodes demanded more attention than a festival hallway could give. So Quinn (Camera) and I still interviewed her, and I went home knowing I’d have to come back to this one properly.

The majority of my listening happened in LA traffic. One perfect hour drives that, for once, made me appreciate being behind the wheel. The downside? I wanted to take notes the whole time.

Here’s what you need to know about The Secret Life of TK Dutes: it’s raw, it’s open, and it’ll take you somewhere.

The episodes range from TK in the hot seat, doing the kind of work that honestly made me feel like I was the one in therapy, to TK interviewing others about their own breakthroughs. Episode one is split into two parts because you can’t do just one session. Being Black, being queer, being burnt out. Dr. Nicole Rawls, the episode producer Kristen Bennett, and TK keep it as real as it gets. TK’s voice, the anger, the tears, the emergence from it all, had me feeling things. If a podcast can evoke any emotion from me, I’m in. This one had me in from the jump.

What surprised me was the structure that I was not used to. Most of the time, it’s producers coming in at the end of the episode, but Kristen comes in between. The series moves in unexpected directions, and honestly, I respected it. Not every podcast has to fit a mould. As a creator, you get to decide how your art is experienced, and TK leans into that fully. Dang, Resonate, introducing me to the real art in podcasting for us.

In Minneapolis, she takes us to Nicole Crowder, a designer and curator who talks about how something as simple as chair upholstery can carry history, meaning, and be therapeutic. “Chairs were small enough to carry myself, but big enough to make a statement.”

That’s what this podcast is, really. A personal statement. And we get a window into it.

...her episodes are thoughtfully crafted first-person accounts about making career changes to conversations exploring mental health, boundaries, inner voice, and more...The show combines memoir, journalism, and experimental audio for an intimate listening experience...

Frank Racioppi | Ear Worthy

I may not live TK’s experience, but I felt it. Her transparency, the trust she extends to her audience, is something I aspire to do with Great Pods.

At the risk of sounding cheesy: it felt bold.

I told my sister this the other day, “BLACK WOMEN CAN TELL STORIES!”

BRB, I’m on my own God quest.

Listen HERE!

Here’s a short video of TK presenting at Resonate.

TK also has a Patreon if you would like to support, where she takes listeners behind the scenes of producing the podcasts with semi-regular updates on her journey.

Shoutout to the TK’s team:
Kristen Bennett
Tre' Jones
A. B. Nazareno (she/her/hers)
Mike Brown
Aseloka Smith
Mark Pagán
Siona Peterous

Post Production/Marketing & Art:
Manny Faces
Conscious Walker
Faybeon Mickens
Gabrielle A. Smith

Most Viewed Podcasts (MVP) on GP this past week!

5. SOLAR - CurtCo Media

4. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Lemonada Media

3. Blood is Thicker: The Farris Wheel - CBS News

2. Who Shat On The Floor At My Wedding? And Other Crimes

1. Me, Myself, and AI - MIT Sloan Management Review -I can only assume folks are searching for AI content, because we all know.

Most viewed pages on GP • Last updated Mar 10, 2026 • Updates Every Tuesday

Stay safe, seriously, stay safe, call that friend, and be kind!

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to make finding your next podcast fun. Tell a friend!

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We have users! I have a tear in my eye. So far, we have over 300 users registered for Great Pods! I can’t believe it. The number is public on the landing page.

This is the biggest foundational update yet. You can now follow a critic reviewer and have the latest reviews from those you follow on YOUR logged in home page. Who you follow is private. It’s just for you. Podcast Critics influence my listening and this newsletter; it’s about time to give them a follow.

How do you follow? Log in, click on a critic’s name from a review, or browse the critics page. Unfollowing is in your profile page

Ramadan starts next week for me, so ya, got that on my plate too!

Now….Let’s GOOOOOO!!!

The Round-Up

• Netflix Is A Joke announced their lineup, including live podcasts for the May 4th Festival throughout Los Angeles. Here’s the list I pulled together so far. Tickets are on sale now here.

• On Air Fest announced its full lineup for the fest starting Feb. 23rd. Tickets and the lineup here.

  • FYI, the Ambies Award Show will now be a part of On Air Fest this year. If you are a Podcast Academy member, voting is open.

  • I will not be attending this year for Evolutions, Ambies, and On Air Fest for the GP media hard-launch, keeping me under a rock until the end of March. If I know you and you are in NYC, shoot me a note if you can cover On Air Fest and the Ambies.

• iHeart Podcast Awards have their awards during SXSW and have their list of nominees, also open for voting. Check it out here.

  • Podcast Movement, which was acquired by Sounds Profitable, moved the Podcast Evolutions (the Spring conference) to SXSW starting this year. They are also announcing their expanded lineup.

• Shoutout to new collaborator-critic, writer/reviewer (Ana Ribera) for her Spanish reviews of English and Spanish podcasts. She’s already adding her backlog of reviews. Give her a follow on Great Pods! (I can’t believe I get to actually say that!)

• While I’m soft-launching, fixing bugs and features, I’m thankful for the community poddy people for supporting with the soft launch so far, like .

  Eurowaves

  🎧2026's first wave: from Germany to Egypt

  Hey podcasters…

  Read more

  8 months ago · 2 likes · 3 comments · Andreea Coscai

• It was nice to read the Best Podcast aggregation from | post over the aggregation for top podcasts on the year lists aggregation. I’ve missed out on doing this past year because…refresh. I don’t have ownership over it, so I was happy they made the report! You can read their aggregated full list here.

• Wild Things, the Apple TV hit podcast, is currently filming the live-action version starring Andrew Garfield and Jude Law as Siegfried and Roy. A fan account posted a photo of the duo in their first look.

  

Wild Things Podcast Reviews

• Podcast Art by that caught my personal listening ear-eyes.

• On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Operation Night Cat
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: New Hampshire Public Radio, Taylor Quimby

About: A Fish and Game warden follows a tip to someone’s backyard. He finds a twisted game of one-upmanship, digital trophy rooms, and one of the biggest poaching cases in recent state history. Then, the hunting investigation takes a surprising turn when it reveals another set of potential crimes – this time, behind the brick walls of New Hampshire’s State Prison for Men. Host Nate Hegyi has spent the past year digging into what happened next. “Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.

A couple of newsletters ago, there was another CBC podcast, Sea of Lies, which had suspect names Ron, which was kinda funny to me. This time, we have a good guy named Ron Arsenault, Conservation Officer with the Fish and Game Department. Are there a lot of Ron’s up in the Northeast/Canadian area?

Lauren Passell | Podcast The Newsletter

Operation Night Cat starts out as a story about poaching but is a cave that gets deeper and darker with every step. I was yelping listening to it on my walk.

I honestly went in thinking it was going to be a spicy story about the deer or a bobcat being poached. I did get that, and Lauren wasn’t wrong in her review. It transformed into illegal baits, cameras, protected animals, state prisons, government priorities, and state-line smuggling.

It’s fascinatingly frustrating how Nate uncovers one thing after another that doesn’t stop at the individual poaching, as he expertly does, follows the evidence like a great investigative journalist would do.

Also, it’s always nice to hear the credits and a familiar pod friend and critic, Rebecca Lavoie. You can follow Rebecca and the Crime Writers’ On team reviews on Great Pods!

Operation Meow

Additional reading from NHPR.

MVP Chart for the newsletter is on hold as I’ve been making updates on which data it needs to pull the information from. However, you can see what the update is today.

MVP MVP!

Most viewed pages on GP • Last updated Feb 13, 2026 • Updates Every Tuesday

Stay safe, drink some water, Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy NBA All-Star Weekend, and be kind to your neighbors!

XOXO
Captain Ron

Links provided by Great Pods Analytics. Get your free link-in-bio, short link tracking, and link analytics for free. Sign up here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Great Pods Refresh is NOW Soft Launched before the New Year! Is it functioning? Yes. Is it 100%? No. But every week the website is being updated. The heavy lifting is done, and now the fun begins.

I just want to take a moment to share that this has been a burden on my shoulders for 3+ years. Shout out to my USC Engineering lead, Khushi, for the database migration. It kind of feels like those Neutrogena commercials of a splashing face. That’s how I feel now. The next task is marketing.

What can you do?

Finally, you can create an ACCOUNT and start favoriting podcasts! Almost all features, like sampling an episode, FOLLOWING a critic by clicking on their name, and sorting a episodes’s feed, are all behind a registration wall. Why? Because it’s a free website, and I need to know how you use the site in order to improve it. This period of time is to clean up any major errors. If you run into any, let me know by replying here or hello@greatpods.co.

The new search, compared to the old website search, which was just title names, has improved with better capabilities, but is currently slow on purpose. We will speed it up in the new year.

The Evolution of Great Pods:

LET’S GOOOOOO!!!!

The Round Up

• I’m catching up on the last 6 months of reviews and adding them to the database. If you can volunteer, shoot me a note. I need an assist.

• My pod friend, Natasha (Bitter/Sweet podcast) went to Afros & Audio conference, and her write-up is below. Thanks, Natasha!

• We (Natasha, Quinn, and I) all went to the Resonate podcast festival back in November. It was very cool. Seriously though. Podcast art outside of the chatty pods and business talk. That write-up will come soon.

• Since GP is in the USC Incubator for startups, a fellow incubator company mentioned they were looking for testers on a tool to help in the podcast space:

  • Case Study: Expanding Podcasts Into New Markets

  • TAC Labs is an innovation hub created by The Africa Channel (TAC), leveraging more than two decades of global media distribution expertise. Our team combines proven industry knowledge with cutting-edge AI solutions to help creators, broadcasters, and distributors optimize workflows, reduce costs, and expand their content’s reach worldwide.

  • TAC Labs is looking for podcasts interested in a case study on international market expansion through dubbing. Whether you are an English-language show aiming for global audiences or a Spanish, French, or Portuguese podcast looking to reach English listeners, we would like to talk. Contact Chris at ceckman@taclabs.ai.

On to Afros & Audio!

About Afros & Audio

Since 2019 - The First Multi-day Conference For and By Black Podcast Creatives and Audio Professionals.

Great Pods - Afros in Audio October 2025 - By Natasha Miller

There is something beautiful about being introduced to a city for the first time through sound when you are visiting it for an audio conference. As I vacated the bus that transported me to Baltimore from New York City, I was greeted to the familiar sounds of their metro trains, a foggy horn cheer that clouded the air with a loud and warm boom. Clichéd perhaps, but I was instantly reminded of David Simon’s The Wire and its signature reverberation. White steam also rose from the manholes, and added to the mystic of the city.

The craft of storytelling is a bound in Baltimore and no more so than at Afros & Audio, a podcast event centering Black indie podcast creatives & audio professionals, but the sense of community is far richer. This is the golden thread that ties all attendees together, creating a strong sense of belonging that other festivals are not able to foster. At Afros & Audio, attendees are family, and whilst podcast formats may differ, a shared sense of identity and support does not. At this year’s festival, attendees were treated to workshops on topics like crafting compelling narratives, creating immersive sound worlds, and centering cultural memory. Panels and discussions included “The Art of the Win: How Storytelling Built Our Podcasting Careers.” At night, they celebrate!

Communities like these are a necessity but they don’t always get the support that is needed to support them. For Talib Jasir, the founder of the festival the struggle is worth it but it is not sustainable. So, Afros & Audio is evolving from a multi-day annual conference into a year-round creative ecosystem. They are building spaces that amplify indie voices, connecting cross-industry collaborators, and growing their network of audio storytellers. This transition is because Afros & Audio has not garnered the financial support or sponsorships that other podcast industry festivals do but the mission to provide a relevant and progressive programme is not compromised and the mission will not change. Talib is committed to collaborating and creating spaces that enable Black people to do things together. The evolution of the festival means that he can continue to do this!

More information on the new Afros & Audio year-round cohort for the podcasters ecosystem can be found here.

Through regional micro-events, creator activations, and new partnerships, we’re creating more ways for indie creators to connect, learn, and earn.

MVP - Most Viewed Pages Top 5 on GP the past week

We implemented new tracking so it’ll take a couple of weeks for the chart to settle-in and it will also display on the home page of the GP Refresh.

1. You’re Dead To Me - BBC
2. In The Dark (Season: Blood Relatives) - The New Yorker
3. Office Ladies - Audacy
4. Slow Burn - Slate
5. Fun City - Fun City Ventures LLC

Stay safe, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR, and be kind to your neighbors!

XOXO
Captain Ron

Hi to all the new subs since my last newsletter. It’s been since May! Ouch.

I finished writing this edition of the newsletter on the 4th of July, after my birthday, but procrastination, website updates, and GP Analytics made for a perfect delay. I hope you are doing okay and can take a breath from the real life outside for a moment. There will be some information that’s old and some new. I’m just trying to catch up.

Let’s GOOOOOOOOOO!

The Round-Up

• Two things kept me away

  • Remember the last couple of newsletters about the Techstars Pitch event, where I pitched GP Analytics, the beginner’s journey into podcast analytics. A live beta version of https://GreatPodsAnalytics.com! Based on all the customer interviews, I built a couple of features, and when it was ready to onboard my first user, NOTHING WORKED! Almost everything was broken. I was so embarrassed, even though it was working for me.

  • If there was any learning from this, is that it was a reminder to create one feature and release it to test, then move on. So now, I’m proud to say that two features work. Short link creators like bit.ly and the smart link tree creator like Linktree (link in bio). I’m particularly proud of the link-in-bio because you can customize it a bit, which would be in the paid versions of Linktree. I have it for free, AND you can make a Podcast Tree too. Check out my GP Tree. Get your social link-in-bio or podcast-in-bio page for FREE now at https://greatpodsanalytics.com.

    

  • I’m working on the social posting feature with assistants to help with creation and tracking.

• The second thing that kept me away, and most important for this audience:

  • The Great Pods refresh of 2025 - The website, which has been stale and without updates for over 3 years, is due for an update. As I learned from GP Analytics, one thing at a time. There are three major ones we’ve been needing for a while now.

    • 1. DONE: Database migration

      • We moved the database from Airtable, which served us well, to Supabase, which is a more professional database and can hold more information, like a million podcasts. Airtable had limits. It was a tedious task to learn and move for our student engineers. And now we test.

    • 2. Up Next: Login and Registration

      • Over 300k (Source: GP Google Analytics and GP Microsoft Clarity Analytics) folks have visited GP over the last couple of years, and yet I barely know anything about the audience. That’s not good for me, nor is it a good experience for you. With Log In and Registration, we can actually check the data and audience and build useful tools for the listener.

    • 3. Soon: Ingestion of podcasts automation

      • Do things that don’t scale is the startup saying so you can first-hand see what problems and solutions to come up with. Well, I did that, and I’m ready to automate it. We’ll be working on ingesting podcast information from various sources automatically, vs. me manually adding them. Podcast Screener will be adjusted for this as well.

• Nobody Should Believe Me came out with a 6th season. I was happy to get a press email from them, not only adding reviews for their marketing, but also adding GP in the email press release.

• We heard rumblings about video podcasts on Netflix in the past, but now we have a clear picture. Spotify will be bringing some of its video podcasts to Netflix and removing them from YouTube in a new partnership. Some say it is a pact to protect against YouTube’s growing video podcasts. Read it here.

  • For transparency, I am still a critic of Bill Simmons, The Ringer network founder and head of monetization for Spotify podcasts, not being questioned when the first round of big layoffs happened at Spotify podcasts. If he’s the head of monetization, shouldn’t he have been held accountable? If I missed something, someone please share the new information.

• Today is the last day to submit your podcast for the The Ambies Award at The Podcast Academy. Submit here.

• Afros & Audio Podcast Conference was this past weekend, and I had the pleasure of assigning Natasha from the wonderful Bitter/Sweet podcast and the UK to attend the event. Early indications from Natasha say that it was an enjoyable experience! Thanks to Talib, founder of Afros & Audio, for the invite. A post on the event will be in an upcoming newsletter.

• I’ll be heading out to the Resonate Podcast festival in Virginia in November, talking, interviewing, networking, and promoting the upgrade to GP. Sold out, but keep watch on the GP’s Instagram for the IG stories. Shoutout to the founder of Resonate, Chioke I’Anson, for the invite.

• Non-podcasting news: I’m supporting my friends’ local charity for South Asian breaking stigma in our community. More info here.

• Oh, and Comedian and long-time podcaster Marc Maron aired his final episode with a revisit from President Obama. Listen here.

I have more catching up to do on the next newsletter! (Conferences, Incubators, New Updates). On to the pick this week…

Podcast: Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan
Genre: Business, Women
Publisher: Lemonada

About: As Meghan, Duchess of Sussex builds out a business of her own, she’s getting advice and insights from a handful of amazing women who have scaled small ideas into successful companies. These fly-on-the-wall conversations will no doubt inspire anyone who’s interested in turning their own entrepreneurial dreams into a reality and anyone else who just wants to hear what really happens behind the scenes.

I was really holding off on this one for a while, as you can tell by the above updates. Holy guacamole. I figured this podcast was going to be another fluff piece by Meghan Markle, and my curation style is that if it’s reviewed, I will put it into the mix even if I don’t like it, but you might. However, all the reviews coming out were lambasting the podcast, similar to Archetypes, except for one from Marie Claire magazine. Anytime a podcast gets a plethora of bad reviews, I’ll still listen because it could be decent enough to improve.

Episode 1

Most of the press is from the Brits, who may or may not have a bias against her, had reviews on episode 1, with Bumble’s CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd. I will say it was merited as a bad episode. It was all surface-level conversation, and none of the podcast edge we listen for in an educational yet friendly podcast. Meghan and Whitney never peel the layers and get deep. Whitney went through a major lawsuit with Tinder’s co-founders, maybe go in depth about that experience since it’s been ten years. Just a thought. What learnings did you get to not only create your own competitor application, but also to become one of the first female self-made billionaires? Instead, it felt like a conversation from Archetypes about drinking some rose. They probably would’ve had a better podcast if they had the drinks going like Drink Champs.

Versus Episode 2+

All that to say, episode two+ is a whole other podcast. It feels like, when Meghan has a guest that she doesn’t actually hang out with on vacations to Aspen, that’s when things change in the conversation. She’s more curious about the guest in their struggle and story.

For example, “The Long Game with Girls Who Code’s Reshma Saujani,” we hear Reshma’s chance to lead, her upbringing, history, also the layers I mention, unpeeling for our education and encouragement. All the while making Girls Who Code a successful non-profit. Anytime I hear a story and there is a genuine break in the voice of the guest, I can feel the pain. It was really good.

Then I landed on “Building Your Brand Brick by Brick with Highbrow Hippie’s Kadi Lee, Colorist, who started her own mom and pop stylist shop and product. From a blog to a physical good was awesome to hear and take notes on from a Black woman-led business.

And finally, the episode, “Attaining the Unattainable with IT Cosmetics’ Jamie Kern Lima” provided me with a re-listen to the guest. I highlighted Jamie’s story when I curated the Mel Robbins podcast, on which she was a guest. I really like her rejection stories and the way she tells them in proving her naysayers wrong, and oh so excitedly
.
Other episodes include Spanx billionaire founder Sara Blakley, which had the Rose style conversation, but we did get to hear about Sara’s early ideas in the shoe market (heels that you actually want to wear and that are comfortable) before pivoting into Spanx.

So kudos to the Lemonada team and Meghan for improving their game.

Kate Hassett • Marie Claire

“Markle’s ability to converse and extract meaningful insight from Herd was apparent throughout, as she continued to offer examples of how she managed to overcome that time in her life and move into the next phase of her career. Focusing on the highs and lows of building a business shouldn’t just be a conversation about numbers and strategy.”

Chris Bennion • Telegraph UK

“Apart from the surface-level waffle, the thing that will strike you is Meghan’s. Distractingly odd. Staccato. Delivery. With a very UNusual, EMPHasis on. Various words. In the actual conversation with Wolfe Herd, she is more relaxed and natural, but never adds much more than fulsome agreement and gentle tap-ins for her guest.”

Catch Up On Confessions

Sidenote: As of sending this today, I learned that Confessions of a Female Founder won a listener’s choice Signal Award.

No Top 5 until the migration test and the full site is back up.

Highlighting podcasts from my inbox and Podcast Screener (not linking to Great Pods because of the migration testing):

Open Thoughts with Funny Marco
The Peacemaker
The Savage West: A Port at the Edge of the World
The Crypt of Horrors
Play on Podcasts - Timon of Athens
Crying Wolf
Spooky Story Time (Halloween Specials)
Project: Daydream
Soul Operator
Top Floor
Behind the Data
What Your Therapist Thinks
Another Fucking Horror Podcast
Keeping the Zoo
Wholesome TV Picks
Hot Mess-Terpiece Theatre
Simple and Clean: A Kingdom Hearts Podcast
Charlie’s Place
Oceanography
Elevate your business | A podcast for mortgage professionals

Miss you all! Stay safe, listen, and donate to your local charity!

XOXO
Captain Ron

Over a week ago, there was a USC-Techstars Startup weekend, a glorified way of saying hackathon with pitches. I pitched a dirty version of an analytics site that was received really well. We ranked 4th. Thanks to some early customer discovery interviews before (you know who you are) and last week, I’m now building. This is part of the reason why I’ve been radio(podcast)-silent on the newsletter. This is the first time I’m doing a podcast recommendation with a non-podcast recommendation. Eeeek.

Let’s GOOOOO!!!

The Round-Up

• The Ambies - Excellence in Audio by The Podcast Academy was a month ago. I was live posting on Substack the winning podcasts as I watched on Twitch. Check out the winners here.

• I was watching the livestream, and it was for a good hour, around 800-900 concurrent viewers watching. At one point, it jumped to 7k. Who posted it on their socials?

I wasn’t the only one…

• Results: It turns out the Twitch streamer was on the red carpet too, with Twitch folks on hand to assist. Once she left the red carpet to present, the stream to The Ambies jumped. Kudos to that team! It doesn’t affect our lives, so it was just a fun little investigation for me.

• Building: Great Pods’ Critic Corner is now live. In the last newsletter, I said I was building a hub for writers to access their reviews and even add new ones. The last couple of years, I was manually doing it. Consider this my formal announcement if I haven’t reached out to get your login if you’re a professional reviewer that Great Pods has aggregated. It’s go time.

  https://podcastcritics.com

• Have a podcast? Add to GP here with Podcast Screener by Great Pods.

• Left the Coming Soon section- Also a quick shoutout to those who used Podcast Screener: Moonburn, Don’t Cross Kat, My Friend Daisy, Underbelly: Killing Kurt, Deep Cover (New Season), Targeted, Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer, Good Bad Billionaire (New Season), Out of Frame, The Latest with Loren LoRosa, DC High Volume: Batman, Big Time, Confessions of a Female Founder, Surviving Trump: With Democracy On Life Support, La Vida Mas Chevere de Childfree Latinas, The Intercept Briefing, Mayo Clinic on Nutrition, The Five Books, Insiders: The TV Podcast, Dub Dynasty, Nonprofits Now: Leading Today, Death County, PA, The K-Factor With Beomhan, Second Wind, Yokai Detective Agency, The Toxic Talk Shit Show

• The Podcast Show is coming up the week of May 20th in London. I’ll be over there speaking, thanks to Masala Podcast’s, Sangeeta Pillai for the invite.

On to my picks-ish this week…

Podcast: Fire Escape
Genre: Society, Documentary
Publisher: Snap Studios, Wondery

About: Amika Mota was a young mother, a midwife, and the daughter of a feminist icon. One night she caused a fatal crash that would separate her from her family and brand her as a criminal. Trapped inside prison, looking for any way out, she gets the call to join an all-female crew of incarcerated firefighters. When the alarm sounds, they drive out into the community on fire trucks as heroes – pulling bodies from crash scenes, saving lives and fighting fire. Every call brings her the chance to reclaim the world she lost.

TL;DR
A great podcast from beginning to end. Showing us empathy and forgiveness in the middle of tragedy. The extra episodes are worth it, not just for the short stories, but because the guest flips the script right back to Anna.

Anna Sussman has been a reporter, producer, and editor at Snap Studios for fifteen years. She’s been covering prisons designated for women in California for nearly twenty years. I met Anna during On Air Fest this year through some random circumstance, and we hit it off. Mainly because of my appreciation for her work with Glynn Washington at Snap Studios. Required Halloween listening every year: Spooked.

Glimpse of Anna from On Air Fest

Because of the California fires earlier this year, Fire Escape was already on my list. It was just the timing of the release, even though it doesn’t talk about the Alta Dena or Malibu fires. It was a glimpse at the front lines and the people who fight it from the incarcerated. If you know anything about the Western U.S. (Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington), we have inmate programs that fight wildfires. There are variations on what that entails, but in California, inmates can actually be on the front lines.

Amika, with Anna’s sensitive reporting, really gives us a full 360 view, from the time she was locked up to when she was released. Everything from family, internal jobs, treatment (regardless of how you feel about this), release, external jobs, reconnecting with family, and her psychology. The remorse is felt in every episode. The “I know I can’t bring your family member back” is all there. But the podcast transforms into something else: a rehabilitation of those crimes through a well-known program of becoming firefighters. Many of these young women, some still kids, find purpose in saving lives, protecting homes, and preserving nature.

Anna’s experience as a journalist shows in the way she asks questions and weaves the story. Even reintegration into society after release is painfully difficult. You might think, “Well, they did the crime and they have to pay for it forever.” I thought that way, too. But I’m starting to question the blanket statements I grew up with. Long-time readers know: if a podcast makes me ask myself something, I’m really into it.

Then we get the bonus episodes, which are truly the icing on the cake. I texted Anna that I was thinking about interviewing her for this post, but listening to all the bonus episodes with some podcasting royalty answered everything.

Ear Hustle’s Earlonne Woods - Just released from prison.

Death, Sex, and Money’s Anna Sale.

On Our Watch’s Sukey Lewis.

They all ask Anna Sussman poignant questions, especially the kind that get her to be vulnerable. Why these stories? Why these women? Why did they matter so much to tell? It’s not sugar-coated. It’s layered and complex. Anna Sale saying, “I don’t have an answer,” is actually a great answer. We don’t have to have all the answers. Sometimes we just need to listen.

Anna Sussman ends one bonus episode saying, “You don’t know what you made…” and that feels real. We all take stories differently, like music, and I love that.

Yolanthe Fawehinmi • Independent (UK)

"Fire Escape is an immersive, chilling and heartbreaking story about a woman who continues to challenge the narrative around women in prison, and their fundamental right to live a full and worthy life."

Listen Now

This one is not a recommendation, but a rant. Sorry for my unprofessionalism.

Podcast: This is Gavin Newsom
Genre: Politics
Publisher: iHeart

About: I’m Gavin Newsom. And, it’s time to have a conversation. It’s time to have honest discussions with people that agree AND disagree with us. It's time to answer the hard questions and be open to criticism, and debate without demeaning or dehumanizing one other. I will be doing just that on my new podcast – inviting people on who I deeply disagree with to talk about the most pressing issues of the day and inviting listeners from around the country to join the conversation. THIS is Gavin Newsom.

I threw this on out of pure curiosity, but what the hell, Gavin? You’re out here chatting it up with Steve Bannon, The Mooch (Anthony Scaramucci), and Michael Savage like it’s a bro brunch. No pushback, no real talk. Just vibes and compliments. “You’re amazing, you’re a top podcaster, you were a Democrat!” Cool. What are we doing?

This ain’t strategy, it’s simping. If the plan was to meet the moment, it missed the mark. If anything, these guys are walking all over you, getting a free PR ride to your own base. You debated DeSantis with fire, where is that Gavin?

This podcast could’ve been something. Instead, it’s all butter, no substance.

Gavin needs to do better.

Anyway, here’s Wonderwall…

Jay Caspian Kang • New Yorker

“This Is Gavin Newsom” was the strangest political podcast…Newsom seems incapable of interrogating any right-wing position. Listening to Newsom get steamrolled by his right-wing guests for three hours, I wondered where his pride had gone.”

This Is Gavin...

'Top of the Pods' this past week on greatpods.co!

5. Blink | Jake Haendel's Story - Corinne Vien Jacob Haendel

4. Vine: Six Seconds That Changed The World - Global

3. Guru: Don't Cross Kat - Wondery Media

2. Good Hang with Amy - Spotify

1. Gems w/ Miles and Julian - Independent

Stay safe, be kind, and feed the needy.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

We are busy bees over here! My disappearance from Ramadan is over, politics is all-consuming, and I ran the LA Marathon Big 5k in support of K9Youth Alliance. The 5k is the only distance I could handle while fasting. Remember to say Happy Eid, or Eid Mubarak to your Muslim friends!

It’s also been busy since I launched the new podcast submission form, and I’ve been working on a page for the critics/reviewers to access their reviews. It’s a lot more difficult in trying to connect the dots in programming than I thought it was. Enough nerd-talk…

Let’s GOOOOOOOOO!

The Round-Up

• The Ambies are live in Chicago tonight! One of the OG award shows in podcasting. Awesome comedian Tig Notaro is hosting. Stream it live on Twitch! 4PM Pacific, 6PM Central, 7PM Eastern in the States. Watch it here NOW.

  • My red carpet team will be there since I am home celebrating the end of Ramadan. Professional reviewer Michael Bergonzi from AudioDramaReviews.com ( ) and podcaster Dawn-Michelle from Dawn of an Icon.

  • Sam Sanders to receive the Impact Award at The Ambies tonight - More Info here.

  • This American Life’s Ira Glass is receiving the Governor’s Award.

• iHeart and Imagine Entertainment launched OBSCURUM: Invasion of the Drones. Well, not about the New Jersey drones from last year, but it's close enough. This podcast is about the 2019 sightings in Colorado and Nebraska. Listen Here.

• I was on a quick road trip, and even though there weren’t reviews, I enjoyed the newish game show ClueLess from SmartLess. Short 10-15 minute games. Entertaining and funny. I quickly binged the 6 episodes at that time.

• YouTube is saying TV viewership has surpassed mobile and computer viewing. However, for Great Pods, 6% of our YouTube audience comes only from TV.

  • Just reading that has me questioning. Reading more into it, anyone who tagged their video “podcast” was counted. That’s weird. I could have a regular YouTube video that’s about gardening and has nothing to do with podcasts, but just label it as one, and it would be counted. So I take their definition of a podcast with a grain of salt.

• Shoutout to Tink Media and Indie writer of Andreea C. for spotting a bug in podcastscreener.com. FIXED!

  • For new or current podcasts, add your podcast to GP’s Podcast Screener.

• Left Coming Soon Section: Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, Crook County, Shofar, So Good!, The Soulmate Quest, It’s My Party, Disrupting Peace, The Dylan Hour with Dylan Mulvaney, This Old House Radio Hour, Possible Now, Good Hang w/ Amy Poehler, When The Wolves Came, Dawn of An Icon, The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast, No Time To Be Timid, Divine Intervention, How We Made Your Mother, Nature's Secret Service, Journey Through Time, Late Nights with Nexpo,

• Bill Simmons signed a new contract with Spotify. Read here.

  • I’m rather neutral to Bill, however, my one concern was over the Spotify podcast layoffs and cuts to programming. All the while, Bill, who was Head of Podcasting, was nowhere to be found in comments or questions while his “Ringer” network podcasts were safe. Was it the “stay silent and maybe they won’t notice me” method?

• Congrats to pod friends at Podglomerate for being named at #10 one of New England’s fastest-growing companies. Read more here.

  • They also put some handy resources together:

    • Curious about video podcasting? Join the webinar on May 1st. Free.

    • Additional resources for marketing, choosing a platform, and more can be found here.

• On Air Fest 25 - The video files are pretty big, so we are working on getting those uploaded. A lot was happening from sessions, live podcasts, and in-the-moment interviews and games to spice it up.

  • Quick notes: I danced with Comedian Reggie Watts at the iHeart party, teaching him some Bhangra moves. Met journalist/podcaster (podcast - Power User), Mehdi Hasan from (I asked him about his Nike shoes- hard-hitting question - podcast, We’re Not Kidding), Anna Sussman (See later this week), NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick, and Sam Sanders. I got to see a friend of GP, from The Industry podcast, and hear him pitch a story to ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast. To finish off the festival, I met the Victory Light podcast crew hosts as they made their 100th episode. I could go on, which I will, in additional posts…

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: IMO w/ Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
Genre: Society, Conversational
Publisher: Higher Ground

About: Michelle Obama and her big brother Craig Robinson bring their unique experiences and candid perspectives to a range of listeners’ personal dilemmas, from the everyday to the existential. Each week, they’re joined by special guests to tackle audience questions with practical advice, relatable anecdotes, and plenty of laughs. From dating and relationships to parenting and financial planning, IMO sees the iconic First Lady at her most relaxed and honest. This podcast will leave you laughing, reflecting, and feeling more prepared to tackle life’s challenges.

I’m leaving more in today and placing the other two recs later this week.

I have been only able to find mostly 2-star critic reviews of the pod, and that’s not a bad thing; however, amidst the constructive low star reviews, it still made me want to listen. Now, will I get past the initial two episodes remains to be seen or heard.

In My Opinion, it was good. It’s more serious than the comedy “We’re Here To Help” and a little more personal, like Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, but maybe not as in-depth just yet. If you like Michelle, you’ll like this podcast. If you don’t like Michelle’s politics but like her, you’ll like this podcast. There is no partisan type of political chatter here. It’s about each other. I think maybe some reviewers got lost because they wanted a political, democratic response to what is happening in the US at this moment. This is not that podcast.

I have to be transparent as well; none of the reviews are from Black writers. I think that perspective is needed for additional context around the podcast. I encourage any Black writers that read this: We need more professional reviews.

If there is anything I’ve learned via social media in the last ten years, it is that Black and immigrant communities are eerily similar in our upbringings. Even though Pine-Sol is a sponsor, their first conversation about cleaning and using Pine-Sol was seamless but also relatable to me, too. I can hear my mom now talking about getting the Pine-Sol out for me to clean.

I have to say that there’s comedy if you see it. Craig speaking of sponsor, Colonguard is sorta funny because it’s not a pod ad we’re used to. Colonguard?

Sir, this is a Wendy’s. Anyway, I was expecting a betterhealth.com ad, and guess what? I got one. I do hope Michelle and Craig can find their podcast voice and start to expand their conversational depth.

Issa Rae was the first celebrity guest, and the conversation was fine.

Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian

“Michelle...is an immensely impressive person, but her “go high” positivity is reduced to platitudes here. There was the odd insightful moment”

My Opinion or Yours?

‘Top of the Pods’ this past week on Great Pods:

5. Khloé in Wonder Land - Khloé Kardashian

4. Scam Factory - Wondery

3. The Broken Veil - Cheese, Pickle

2. The Telepathy Tapes - Ky Dickens

1. The Severance Podcast - Audacy

Stay safe, be kind, and feed the needy.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

Exciting times ahead. No, not the Techstars-USC program we were vying for. I don’t think we got in. My exciting news was that I was able to create a form that cut my time of work of adding a podcast from 5 minutes to 30 seconds. This is for anyone adding their podcast to Great Pods or even announcing a new season. This version searches the database to see if there are duplicates. I can’t tell you, copying and pasting podcast information for a long time. This is a relief. Updates will happen on the fly and feedback is welcome! https://podcastscreener.com

Next up: Adding a brand-spanking new landing page.

All that chatter about me tightening up the newsletter is out the window. This one is stacked.

Let’s goooooo!

The Round-Up

• The Top 15 Critics List, yes, Critics, that was the most clicked on from 2024 is live! Read the full list here. Get to know a professional reviewer, ya?

  • TL;DR: James Marriot from The Times UK was number one for another year.

• The Telepathy Tapes reviews are still coming in and the initial wonder and amazement is starting to wear off.

• Gone from Coming Soon (they launched):

  • BEAM: Black Healing Remixed - The Podcast

  • Scratch & Win

  • The Dangerous Ones Podcast

  • Here Comes the Drama with Christa Innis

  • Dos Amigos

  • We Came to the Forest

  • Greatest Escapes

  • Straight to Cam with Cam Brink & Sydel Curry-Lee

  • Bed of Lies S3

  • Think Big, Buy Small New Season

  • Monster: BTK

  • LA Made (Various Seasons) Moonshot

• The hit true-crime scam podcast, Scamanda, is now live on ABC/Hulu in a 4 episode documentary. I’ve started watching, like with any updated documentary, we get to see past interviews with Amanda and various appearances. Spicy.

• The hit true-crime scam stories podcast, Laci Mosley’s Scam Goddess, is also live on Freeform/Hulu. We see Laci going to the towns where each episode takes place and is doing her best getting-to-know-you impressions of the town.

• Think Big, Buy Small from Harvard Business School launched its latest season. I’ve heard of the Baby Boomer generation increasingly hitting retirement and therefore, selling their small business versus passing it down over the last two years. It’s a great way to get a head start.

• There are a lot of videos, reactions, and podcast episodes dissecting Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance. I thought Vibe Check’s high-level discussion of the performance was a good start. Listen here.

• On Air Fest 2025 is going off next week with a stacked lineup. Check it out here. I’ll be there running around. Catch me if you can on GP Instagram.

• Podcast Evolutions, March 31st, is being held in Chicago, announced their first featured speakers in journalist Ronan Farrow and Audible’s Rachel Ghiazza. More info here.

  • I was going to attend, but it is literally at the end of Ramadan when we celebrate. I am planning on having someone participate on behalf of GP.

• Speaking of Podcast Evolutions, The Ambies Award, Award in Audio Excellence ceremony will be hosted by Handsome’s costar comedian, Tig Notaro, and will be held in Chicago right before Evolutions begins.

  • Nominees include friends of GP, the news podcast for kids, The Ten News with some of the usuals like Conan and SmartLess. Looking at the list, holy moly, there’s a lot to explore…Full list here.

  • One of my favorite pieces of content from Tig is a past show with Funny or Die where Tig doesn’t know the celebrity guest and tries to guess who they are. Like she really doesn’t know who they are in a face-to-face interview.

    

• I attended LAist’s newest podcast live recording post-LA fires in Pasadena, Nobody Knows Anything. A light, fun, Hollywood-showbiz game show dedicated to families and firefighters in the community. Hosted by The Black List founder Franklin Leonard, he and his team run fun games to quiz writers, actors, directors, etc. in the industry. Leading to a mad-libs conclusion. The episode I attended included director Jason Reitman, actor and Dungeons & Dragons fan Joe Manganiello (and his pet Chihuahua), and writer Lennon Parham. Listen here.

  • Thanks to Katie (Lippin Group) for the invite.

    On to my quick picks this week…

Podcast: CRAMPED
Genre: Women’s Health
Publisher: Kate Downey

About: One nerd’s quest to find out why we know next to nothing about period pain. Tired of suffering from "death cramps" with no diagnosis for 20 years, Kate Downey has to look for her own answers. She interviews top doctors and researchers, and delves into topics from Greek history to sitcoms to TikTok wellness scams, all to figure out why menstrual pain is so often dismissed and untreated. What she finds will change how you think about your own body and the medical system. Because having a microphone gets you more answers than having a uterus.

This podcast is relatable to me and I am a guy. I sweat, all your men do need to listen to this podcast. Even if it’s just the first two episodes. It’s packed with pain, knowledge, experience, understanding, and probably more I can’t describe. I know after listening to the first episode I got out of the car and let out a big sigh. A family member was and is going through Women’s health challenges for the last 3 years.

That’s why this podcast is relatable to me. Even doctor-patient relationships are tried, and knowing what your period pains are telling you? Sometimes it can be even worse than a period. For example, emergency room-level pain.

CRAMPED is a great podcast for everyone to start unlearning the bias from our past and start relearning about women’s health. I wasn’t cringing at any of the descriptions of pain Kate or the stories shared. I was more disappointed in the system and past education we had. I could feel the frustration. Kate is quick and clear throughout the podcast with her expert interviews.

My challenge is how do I get more men to listen to this podcast.

• Ear Worthy

“...empowers listeners with knowledge, builds a sense of community for those who have felt isolated by their experiences, and pushes for systemic change. In essence, listeners will be able to laugh and cry at the podcast.”

How Are You Feeling Today?

Podcast: The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
Genre: TV
Publisher: Pineapple Street Studios, Audacy

About: Hi, we're Ben Stiller and Adam Scott. We have severed ourselves from the world for 5 years, making the workplace thriller Severance. While we have no memory of what happened during that time, we thought we should make a companion podcast for all the Innies who will have no recollection of watching, in an attempt to reintegrate them with their memory of the show. This is the Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott, an episode-by-episode, behind-the-scenes breakdown with the creators, cast, crew, and fans of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning TV show.

The podcast logo itself is funny because of the recent talk show appearances of Adam Scott chatting about the running. Clip below.

Regarding the podcast, I am doing what we are supposed to do. Watch an episode then listen to an episode of the podcast on that specific episode. I’m at episode 4 now of the first season. For a podcast or a companion podcast, it’s excellent and satisfies some of the why or what they were thinking. As mentioned in the review below, Adam is knowledgeable in the world of podcasts, and Ben is a tad more reserved, however, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t talk. He definitely does. I think it was special to hear the cast talk about how they all met Ben in the Red Hour production offices and how they all felt emotionally leading up to being cast and filming season 1 during COVID times. This is a good one.

I do like how aware they are of their podcast surroundings. Ben gave a shout-out to all the Severence fan podcasts and teased potentially doing guest spots on those podcasts proactively. Nice.

Cory Barker •

“Stiller and Scott...are passionate and collaborative hosts. Their rapport helps facilitate a good conversation with guests…Stiller is a bit of a revelation to me on this pod…a fascinating look into how stories go from the page to the screen.”

How Was Work Today?

Podcast: Hyperfixed
Genre: Self-Help, Society
Publisher: Radiotopia, Hyperfixed

About: Maybe it’s just a quiet annoyance you’ve grudgingly learned to put up with, or a life defining issue that makes it hard to move forward. Whatever it is, Alex Goldman — reporter, radio producer, and overconfident idiot — will get to the bottom of it (if there’s a bottom to be found. Results may vary). Follow Alex as he figures out not only the vast hidden mechanisms that create these problems, but works with you, the listener, to find a solution. Or at least enough of an explanation that you’re ok with the annoyance. He’s not perfect.

Curiously told, I couldn’t find myself annoyed at some of the challenges people have never done, like driving a car at a later age. Not that late, but not 16. Alex sets up the premise and conversation with podcastable guests. I ended up rooting for the normal, uneventful episode. Maybe that’s what I needed. A low-stakes podcast that I could root for.

Storytime: Speaking of driving, I learned to drive a stick at a later stage. However, I was only in 3rd or 4th gear in my education. I had gone to Bombay to visit, and a friend asked me to drive. Firstly, on the other side of the road! Secondly, manual stick on the left hand! Thirdly, IN INDIA!?!? Non-US driving is another level. I managed, but only going to 3rd gear and never leaving it. I probably ruined my friend’s engine.

There will be a live podcast taping Hyperfixed at On Air Fest this year and I think major tears are going to flow based on the topic. I’ll report back.

Chiara Sagramola, Giacomo Bagni •

Italian: "Spirito investigativo e umorismo caustico permeano Goldman… Hyperfixed è insomma un riuscito tentativo di tornare a trovare, nello spazio audio, quella modalità narrativa tutta incentrata sulla potenza delle storie raccontate con cura, per solleticare la mente e la curiosità delle orecchie di chi ascolta.

English: Investigative spirit and caustic humor permeate Goldman … Hyperfixed is a successful attempt to return to find, in the audio space, that narrative mode entirely focused on the power of carefully told stories, to tickle the mind and curiosity of the listener's ears."

Fix You

‘Top of the Pods’ time this past week on greatpods.co!

5. Bed of Lies - The Telegraph

4. The Rest is Classified - Goalhanger Pods

3. Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - SiriusXM

2. The Telepathy Tapes - Ky Dickens

1. The Severance Podcast w/ Ben Stiller & Adam Scott - Audacy

Stay safe, be kind, and feed the needy.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

It feels like it’s been 84 years since my last newsletter. A lot has happened since then. We (Great Pods) went through 2 rounds of interviews with TechStars LA accelerator for startups. Selection committees will pick 15 startups out of the 600 that applied. Cross those fingers; if you know anyone at TechStars, kindly recommend Great Pods!

I spent 2 to 3 weeks off from heavy Great Pods work during the holidays to attend my cousin’s wedding in Orlando. I got sick and have been slowly recovering. So Happy New Year and let’s see how it goes.

So…let’s gooooo!

• Top 24 Podcasts of 2024 on Great Pods list is out! Read it here.

  • Of the bunch, the top 3 publishers were Wondery (4), Lemonada Media (3), and Goalhanger podcasts (3).

• The Observer, the oldest newspaper run by The Guardian (Miranda Sawyer being the main audio critic), has a new investor, Tortoise Media. We know Tortoise because of Sweet Bobby, Hoaxed, Tortoise Investigates, etc…What does it all mean? Read more here.

• Podcast friend, Maya Chupkov (Proud Stutter) is now turning it into a video documentary and going to Sundance! Very cool. Check it out.

• The local LA charity I support, K9 Youth Alliance had another fundraising event as well. I may not be running the marathon/half-marathon again this year (it’s during Ramadan), but I will be training with them to keep in shape. Donate here.

• TuneIn Radio, the company where I learned most of my Silicon Valley startup knowledge for 8 years is going through some changes. Podnews with the hot piece here.

• The obvious fires in LA have me moved to my aunt’s home. So far our home is fine. Donate to the LA fire dept foundation.

• Notables this week: Added the Severance (Official TV) podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott this week and it already shot up to #1 on GP. The new season starts on January 17th. Trailer here.

• On Air Fest 2025 is happening in mid-February, and the lineup being released is looking to be very entertaining. I am excited to see Kareem from Subway Takes web program. Lineup and tickets are here.

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: 16 Sunsets
Genre: Science, Documentary, Space
Publisher: Antica Productions

About: Get ready for "16 Sunsets," a thrilling 10-part podcast series that dives deep into the dramatic history of NASA's Space Shuttle program. Join award-winning storyteller Kevin Fong as he takes you on a journey from the audacious first flight of the Shuttle Columbia in 1981 to the incredible challenges faced by its engineers and astronauts. Featuring captivating music by Christian Lundberg from Hans Zimmer's Bleeding Fingers Composers' Collective, this series brings to life the inspiring tales of those who built and flew the Shuttle, exploring the political and cultural forces that shaped its inception. With over 40 exclusive interviews from NASA veterans and Fong’s personal insights as a witness to the Shuttle era, "16 Sunsets" reveals the human stories behind the missions and celebrates the spirit of innovation that defined a groundbreaking chapter in space exploration.

NASA was launching something special. The Enterprise space shuttle! What a time to be alive during the first space-faring feats of humankind. If you’ve listened to the acclaimed 13 Minutes To The Moon, then you’ll like this podcast from host Kevin Fong. This crowdfunded podcast is a proper documentary if I were to use my imagination. Opening credit music from Hans Zimmer included. Having to re-imagine what that time frame felt like a time capsule as well as the political climate.

Any mention of Star Trek within the history of NASA’s programs always warms my Sci-Fi heart.

Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian

“It’s a well-produced and researched story of Nasa’s space shuttle programme…once we get into the meat of the show, and interviews with those who worked at Nasa, you’re captured...the interviews are fresh, and the use of sound excellent…”

Take Me There

Podcast: The Good Whale
Genre: Documentary, Society
Publisher: Serial, NY Times

About: Fans of the movie “Free Willy” are outraged to learn that the real whale who played Willy lives in a tiny pool at an amusement park in Mexico City. So well-intentioned experts embark on an epic science experiment to try to teach one celebrity orca how to be free — while the world watches.

The Good Whale got better for me as the episodes went on. Where I felt tired in episode one it slowly turned into something more exciting and even while knowing the ending, I was asking myself the question, “Are they going to be successful?” “You can do it Keiko!”

Chloe Walker • PodcastReview.org

“That nonjudgmental acknowledgment of human fallibility in the face of even the best intentions, combined with one hell of a central story, is what makes The Good Whale such a compulsive listen.”

You Were My Friend

Podcast: The Telepathy Tapes
Genre: Science, Society
Publisher: Ky Dickens

About: The Telepathy Tapes Trailer introduces you to SEASON ONE of the riveting show by host Ky Dickens. In a world that often dismisses the extraordinary as mere fantasy, The Telepathy Tapes dares to explore the profound abilities of non-speakers with autism—individuals who have long been misunderstood and underestimated. Through emotional stories and undeniable evidence, The Telepathy Tapes offers a fresh perspective on the profound connections that exist beyond words. Traveling with Neuroscientist Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell, witnessing mind-boggling telepathy tests and forging deeply intimate relationships with families around the globe - Host Ky Dickens invites you to contemplate the world through the eyes of those who speak without words. Prepare to be captivated, challenged, and ultimately transformed as the series shines a light on the untold capabilities of those who have been underestimated for far too long.

This surprised me when adding this podcast last month. “Is there a professional review of the podcast so I can recommend it?” My buddy, Sebastian found one from comedian-writer-actor Michael Ian Black’s newsletter where he reviewed The Telepathy Tapes.

Am I still skeptical after listening? Yes. Is it still fascinating? Yes.

Is it a part of human evolution is what I kept asking myself. As a kid, we wished our superheroes were real, like the X-Men. A lot of them mutated because of evolution. But that’s comic book stuff. In real life, we will and should always be skeptical. Ky is going down the scientific testing route, much like Extrasensory’s psychologist did towards the end. This podcast has taken up the listening world with intrigue.

"...the series makes a compelling case that there’s something deep and profound we do not understand about ourselves and our world….it’s an incredible listen. Maybe it resonates with you. Maybe not. If nothing else, it’s fascinating."

Read Minds

‘Top of the Pods’ this past week…

5. Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - SiriusXM

4. The Good Whale - NY Times, Serial

3. The Diary of a CEO - Steven Bartlett

2. The Telepathy Tapes - Ky Dickens

1. The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott - Apple, Pineapple Street, Audacy

Stay safe, be kind, and feed the needy.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

It’s 7 AM East Coast time as I finalize this newsletter edition. I’m back in Syracuse with my brother and his Thanksgiving dinner. LA vs. Syracuse. Which one do you think I immediately missed when walking out in some 30-degree weather? At the moment it’s clear skies, but a snowstorm is brewing when we leave. There is a lot of physical labor to be done this weekend. There goes my “time off”.

Let’s GOOOO!!!

The Round-Up

• Leaving the Coming Soon section: Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire, Generation Barney, 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & The Kid Mero (New Season), Post Run High, Arts Educators Save the World, Terms of Service with Clare Duffy, 16 Sunsets, Faraway, Views on First, Lords of Death, The Rest Is Classified, SmartLess Presents ClueLess, REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana

• Friends of Great Pods attended the Signal Awards Winner’s Party last week in Brooklyn since I couldn’t fly over. Thanks, Quinn and Jenn for the write-up. Read more here. Pictures included.

  • This weekend Acast in collaboration with Amazon Music is opening a podcast studio in London. One of the studios will have Amazon Music naming rights and will be for Indie and underrepresented creators. Nice. There’s an opening party and I won’t be there, but I have boots on the ground to give us a writeup.

    

• On Air Fest 2025 tickets are on sale for the Brooklyn festival and intimate events. The first round of guests has been announced and discounted tickets before prices rise. Get Tickets.

• London Podcast Show 2025, tickets are in pre-sale and live for the next 48 hours. Check it out here.

• On Great Pods' LinkedIn page, we shared the top 10 podcasts from the previous month. Here’s October’s Top 10 Pods.

• Professional Reviewer, from Ear Worthy, posted his Thanksgiving list. Good people to follow on it, *cough cough*. Read it here.

• What’s on the Coming Soon…

  • Extra Dirty, ‘Tis The Grinch Holiday Talk Show (Season 2), Fire Escape, Reimagining Us, Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce, Legacy Lyrics and Life

• Fellow USC Incubator company, SecretMovieClub.com invited me to see Pakistan’s animation submission to the Oscars called The Glassworker. I was lucky to attend because it was pretty darn good for an original and from the first hand-drawn animation studio made in Pakistan. I asked the CEO of the animation studio, Mano Studios, Khizer Riaz what podcasts he listens to.

  On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Candyman: The True Story Behind The Bathroom Mirror Murder
Genre: True Crime, Society
Publisher: 48 Hours

About: On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 to report that someone was trying to enter her Chicago housing project apartment through the bathroom medicine cabinet. Police thought she was imagining things, but when authorities finally checked on McCoy two days later, they found her dead with four gunshot wounds. Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder, revisits the real-life account of McCoy's strange death – one of the inspirations for the Candyman horror film. Hosted by journalist and Chicago native Dometi Pongo, this 6-episode limited series – produced by 48 Hours and CBS News – explores why McCoy's desperate calls for help were ignored…

Tony Todd, the original Candyman star passed away a couple of weeks ago. So the timing of me listening to this recent podcast is strange to me. True Crime, Housing inequality, apartment bathroom mirror designs, and Hollywood. Dometi and the 48 Hours team manage to weave a tragic story and a Hollywood script into a podcast on heartbreak, empathy, and giving us listeners an education. Thankfully, there are transcripts and interviews with the original Candyman writer/director, Bernard Rose who adapted the original Clive Barker story which was based in the UK. Bernard added the Chicago elements during his revisions of the script.

Bernard says the only thing he took from the real-life murder story was how the killers came through the medicine cabinet. I never saw the 1991 movie, but after finishing this podcast, I actually might watch it, even though I can’t stomach horror movies.

I’ve gotten through 4 episodes so far and I can emphatically say, we as a society need to care more about each other. It’s not a scary podcast, but it can be if you think about housing inequality.

| •

Italian - Quello del diritto all’abitare è un tema più attuale che mai e Dometi Pongo e collaboratori fanno un ottimo lavoro di ricostruzione di una realtà locale che riflette a livello globale molte delle tematiche ancora irrisolte dagli anni ottanta ad oggi in diverse parti del mondo…oltre ad essere un prodotto ben fatto e costruito su solide fonti.

English - The right to housing is a more topical issue than ever and Dometi Pongo and collaborators do an excellent job of reconstructing a local reality that reflects globally many of the issues still unresolved from the eighties to today in different parts of the world…a well-made product built on solid sources.

Candyman Candyman Candyman

Podcast: The Energy Curfew Music Hour
Genre: Music
Publisher: Audible

About: It’s time to unplug with the Grammy-winning Punch Brothers, fronted by singer-mandolinist Chris Thile, as they bring you a multi-episode musical variety show with dazzling musical guests, like Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Jon Batiste, Norah Jones, James Taylor and many more.

We join them in the near future when diminishing resources and extreme weather have ushered in a worldwide effort to ration electricity. America has instituted a weekly “energy curfew” where the power grid goes down completely and we all live electricity-free for 24 hours.

Recorded live in front of an audience, revel in the wild and wonderful joy unleashed in these one-night-only performances. Chris Thile and Punch Brothers help you wind down before you power down. Happy Dark Day, y’all.

Ahhhh. Kacey Musgraves on Energy Music Hour? I’m in. If you’re a fan of Prarie Home Companion or Chris Thile’s follow-up Live From Here, then this is the perfect companion. Kacey has been on Live From Here before including a lot of the artists. I got this weekend warmth feeling that sounds like someone is saying “Welcome Home”. Folksy fun, original music, and comedy. Enjoy it this weekend. I’m saving one episode for each week to give me that NPR weekend feel.

I am enjoying the Norah Jones and Sylvan Esso episodes too!

Keelin • Mentally? A Magpie.

"Part satire, part comedy, but mostly a showing of musical prowess, this is a podcast where the listener is a part of this future. After a few episodes you find the rhythm of segments, bantering bits that take this from good, to breathtaking. This podcast reaches back to the idea of live music over the radio."

Live From Your Podcast App

Podcast: E Pluribus Motto
Genre: Comedy, Educationaal
Publisher: Maximum Fun, Janet Varney, John Hodgman

About: Listening to E Pluribus Motto is like taking a road trip with friends Janet Varney and John Hodgman. In each episode, they spotlight one state and chat about its motto, bird, beverages, songs, and–occasionally–muffins. Plus, you'll hear from residents and guests whose lives or work have been inspired by that state. This podcast is a celebration of regional culture and an homage to the love we all seem to have for the place we call home. Pack your snacks and jump on in!

Yet another fun and educational listen. Judge John Hodgman and Janet Varney banter about the facts and funny around state mottos. It’s a nice car ride listen especially since the US is going to have record-breaking travelers this weekend. I do enjoy a podcast that has some kind of connection with the guest.

…whose lives or work have been inspired by that state…

It gives it a nice rounded-out listen. I don’t know about Connecticut, but I’d like to go to Rhode Island. Hah! Or the official state muffins in Massachusetts. Knowing what I know about lobbying and politics these days, the fact that Massachusetts politicians were banning muffin lobbying, but allowing so much dark money through via PACs…Ok, this took a dark turn. It’s a great podcast and enjoy it this weekend.

Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter

"It’s a study of America we’ve never had before. Everything about this show is thoughtful, unique, silly, genuine, and just really sweet."

What's a Motto with you?

‘Top of the Pods’ chart from greatpods.co in the past week.

5. Fail Better w/ David Duchovny - Lemonada Media

4. Kill List - Novel, Wondery

3. Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - Stitcher Studios

2. The Good Whale - Serial

1. Redacted: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana - Wondery, BallenStudios

Stay safe, be kind, and feed the needy.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

Hope you are chilling out this week. We need it. Exciting news on the website front. I’ve acquired the talents of a student-led engineer to work on the next steps of the foundations of GreatPods.co. Now I’m opening up user interviews/discovery to improve the site. If you have 30 minutes to spare, we would love to talk to you about your podcast listening. Thank you in advance.

Sign up here.

Also, this isn’t an election special except for one recommendation. I’ll leave it at that.

Let’s GOOO!!

The Round-Up

• Drama from Intuit (Turbo Tax/Quickbooks) and The Verge’s Decoder podcast episode:

First-person response from The Verge here. I watched the podcast clip and what made me smirk is that Intuit’s CEO nonchalantly says, I’m paraphrasing here, “Oh ya, we are good people because have free filing” with no irony that it was Intuit lobbying hard against having free filings.

• Leaving Coming Soon (Catching up): Céline: Understood, Spolitics, Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond, The Best Idea Yet, In Good Companies, What in the Winkler?, Flula Makes Five, Born To Love with Ellie Kemper and Scott Eckert, Nocturno: Tales From The Shadows, Extrasensory, Fitz & Whit

• New to Coming Soon: Arts Educators Save the World, Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire, The Optimist Project with Yara Shahidi, 16 Sunsets, Generation Barney, Faraway, Terms of Service with Clare Duffy

• Previously, Handsome with comedians Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin, ad sales were under Headgum’s Gumball division. Now they have officially joined the Headgum family. Read more here.

  • I just read Nicole Byer’s Why Won’t You Date Me? just joined Headgum as well. WWYDM? was previously with Team Coco’s network. Read more here.

• Serial Productions is dropping hints on their next series and taking guesses. I have no clue. You can try!

• Podcaster Meetup: While is on hiatus, a few folks are putting together a meetup on November 13th. Los Angeles Podcast Industry meetup next week. Free to attend. Sign up here. I’ll be there.

• On my side quest recap/rewatch podcast Chai After Dark (), we are now covering Kundalini Yoga drama from HBO Documentary’s Breath of Fire.

  • If you haven’t yet listened, we had one of the bright spots from Indian Matchmaking, Vyasar, on the pod. He even gave us breaking news in life since the show ended. He’s engaged!

• If you’re wondering (you weren’t) what I was for Halloween, I was Commander Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation with Ear Hustle podcast socks.

• Resonate Podcast Festival popped off in Richmond, Virginia last week. I wasn’t able to attend, like many East Coast functions, but podcaster Tania Mohammad (Undiscarded) was kind enough to share her thoughts and pictures from the weekend. Read it here on the GP Blog.

• A nice read from colleagues in the space. On ’s , she interviewed Podcaster and more importantly, Podcast Critic, Rebecca Lavoie of Crime Writers On. You’ll see me curate podcast reviews from the Crime Writers On team every now and then. Read the interview here.

• Good Tape (printed newspaper magazine) released its latest edition. Grab a copy here.

  • For the first edition, I attempted to do an ASMR opening of the newspaper. My video sucked, but you can be the judge of that. Content creation isn’t easy.

• Do you see value in Great Pods want to help? Hit reply!

On to this week’s picks…

Podcast: The Wonder of Stevie
Genre: Music, History
Podcast: Audible, Higher Ground

About: The year 1972 saw the beginning of a five-year span in which Stevie Wonder released five groundbreaking, critically acclaimed albums, garnering him more than half a dozen Grammys and more than 10 million albums sold, securing his place as one of the most important American musicians and songwriters in history. For the first time, uncover the untold story of an extraordinary artistic journey that shaped the greatest creative era in popular music history. Hosted by New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning culture critic Wesley Morris, The Wonder of Stevie revisits Wonder's iconic creative evolution, his transformative spiritual path, and the profound inspiration he drew from both the beauty and pain of the Black American experience—driving his eventual emergence as his generation’s most unflinching and uplifting artistic voice.

Be warned, host Wesley Morris comes in hot with his enthusiasm. I am thankful for it because on my drive listening to the podcast is filled with music history and joy. The advantage of this kind of podcast is the access to licensing of the music to coincide with the conversations. That doesn’t mean the content is all joy though.

In The Wonder of Stevie, the 70s is full of randomness and politics (which decade isn’t?) but reflected in Stevie’s music. Surprisingly he was just starting in his 20s in Motown. Every episode I am floored at the age and what Stevie put into it. His reflection on society and experimentation in music. How he used a synth as a tool to help make music. I would compare it to the way ChatGPT is used as a tool to assist us in today’s age.

Another thing I shouldn’t admit is the amount of Stevie knowledge I don’t know about. My intro was the 80s Stevie and appreciating the Cosby Show episode where Vanessa and Theo get into the car accident. I’m happy they got that out of the way in the first episode.

The podcast is produced by Obama’s Higher Ground company, in which they do make appearances. It’s easy to listen and to learn the genius of Stevie. I can’t believe he wrote his initial hit songs, like Signed, Sealed, Delivered at 17. I mean I could’ve easily looked it up on Wiki, but that’s boring. Having it delivered to me in audio form from the source is better. So far, I think the most surprising interviews to me are Ray Parker Jr.’s (Ghostbusters Theme Song) stories about touring with The Rolling Stones and being part of Stevie’s band!

Touré • The Grio

"It’s a smart, fun deep dive into Stevie’s greatest period. The show reminds me of the way we often sit and talk and commune and argue about music. The Wonder of Stevie is a work of beauty about works of beauty. It’s a joy to listen to and a fitting tribute to our beloved Stevie. Don’t miss it."

Signed, Sealed, and Listen

Podcast: Extrasensory
Genre: Documentary, True Crime, Mystery, Family, History
Publisher: AppleTV, Blanchard House Productions

About: Will Sharpe (The White Lotus) hosts a mind-bending real-life story of reincarnation and a spooky tale of family secrets. In 1950s England, milkman John Pollock makes a sensational prophecy: His dead daughters will be reborn. At first, even his own wife says he’s a crank. But then she gives birth to twin girls who have uncanny similarities to their sisters who died. Suddenly, the world sits up and takes notice. Pollock’s prophecy attracts the attention of a serious American scientist who crosses the Atlantic countless times to study the twins. And his conclusion is astonishing. So, what if death is only the beginning? Extrasensory goes in search of the two people who know the truth—the twins themselves.

I had the opportunity to have a conversation with the producer of Extrasensory Rosie Pye (Co-founder of Blanchard House), about the podcast.

The short of it. I got to listen to the full season of Extrasensory, and it was a lovely conversation about the twists and turns of the podcast. Especially, how we question ourselves in times of crisis, mentally and in our spirituality. Are there mere coincidences? How do we investigate for truth when trauma is built up?

Will does a great job hosting as a celeb host and the story goes along the timeline from the beginning.

I thought I could edit the video of the interview and blog post in time, but it’s a lot more work when you do it yourself and not a trained writer. The link for that is in the next newsletter. In the meantime, listen to the podcast.

Fiona Sturges • Financial Times

“...with a sparky script that blends curiosity with scepticism…A spooky seasonal mystery, it is, above all, a family story, one that shows how fiercely held beliefs often come loaded with baggage and that memory is a matter of interpretation.”

To reincarnate or not to reincarnate...

Podcast: Hacks on Tap
Genre: Politics
Publisher: Hacks On Tap

About: When David Axelrod and Mike Murphy get together to talk politics, it’s not academic. They speak from the perspective gained through hundreds of campaigns for offices from City Hall to the White House. So if you want to know what’s really going on behind the scenes, where strategic decisions are being made, pull up a stool for Hacks on Tap. Incisive, sometimes uproarious and always entertaining, these political warhorses and their guests will give you insights you’ll only get from folks who have spent a lifetime in the political trenches of both parties.

FYI:

• Mike Murphy is one of the Republican Party's most successful political media consultants.

• David Axelrod is an American political consultant and analyst, best known for his role as the chief strategist for Barack Obama's successful presidential campaigns.

Oh, there’s a US election that EVERYONE is stressing about? I didn’t know that. Just kidding. In this case, it’s my only curated political podcast. Why? Because of the glowing review from The Times UK Podcast Critic, James Marriot. Reminder: He rarely gives 5-star reviews.

I had to drop it into my queue.

I didn’t want an echo chamber to listen to, so I’ll give David and Mike credit for trying to keep this a centered podcast. Where critical aspects from their points of view can go both ways. One additional note, in my case, the podcast conversation sounded like these two guys were on an AM radio talk show. Thus, there was a nostalgic factor for me in listening.

James Marriot • The Times UK

"...the best podcast about American politics by miles and one of my favourite podcasts about anything. Amid the nastiness of American politics it is disarmingly genial. On top of all that, Murphy and Axelrod know as much about political campaigning as there is to know."

Go Vote!

‘Top of the Pods’ this past week on GreatPods.co:

5. Talk Tuah w/ Haliey Welch - Betr

4. Sweet Bobby - Tortoise

3. Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire - Lemonada *New*

2. Mind Your Own w/ Lupita Nyong’o - Lemonada

1. Sidebar: A Suits Watch - Stitcher

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

I hope you’re having a safe week. When I skipped a week of writing, I kept thinking there wasn’t enough content of interest for a send. Every time I do that, I end up having TOO much in the next newsletter. Today’s edition is no exception. My bad. Just to speed up this intro…Let’s GO!!!

• It’s LA Tech Week right now. I went to the A16Z podcast and networking event on Monday, followed by former podcast industry colleague, Victor’s (Apollo podcasts) new venture Saywise, putting together a panel at Techstars LA (Startup Accelerator).

  • On Sunday there’ll be a podcast-brunch-networking event former Snapchat HQ with WeAreLATech. If there are spots open, rsvp here.

• You’ve already heard me gush over the excitement of the Sweet Bobby podcast launching as a Netflix Doc. Well, it was released. Here are my initial thoughts.

  • On the Chai After Dark ( ) podcast with my friends, we got into the documentary.

  • We were talking with Netflix UK PR about getting Kirat (the subject of the catfishing) on the show. After giving us a timeframe, they ghosted us. Sad.

• Scamanda the ABC News production of the hit podcast, is delayed until 2025. Host, Charlie Webster posted it on her IG and USWeekly reported scheduling conflicts with Football and What Would You Do? programming. There goes that excitement.

• Surprise! Rising on the Great Pods charts is QCode’s The Edge of Sleep w/ streamer Markiplier. It turns out they soft-launched a live-action version starring the streaming on Amazon Prime Video early this week then hard-launched today.

  • QCode also signed the popular And That’s Why We Drink podcast to the network. (Pod Critic) and I had the opportunity to talk to the hosts 2 years ago. I still have that video up.

• Love Is Blind’s new season is out, but Season 1’s married castmates, Lauren and Cameron, have a new podcast. Read more here.

• Wondery/Tinkercast/Wow In The World launched a kid’s toy line. To be honest, it makes sense. Read more here.

  • Wondery/The Best One Yet podcast (a podcast I’ve followed since their Robinhood collab days) also launched a new podcast called The Best Idea Yet. Read more here.

• Comedian Flula Borg and his 90s TV sitcom parody podcast, Flula Makes Five is getting a second season launching on Oct. 22nd.

• Complaint: Yes, I’m going to complain. Hasan Minhaj and Whatsapp released a “podcast” on international love stories via the Whatsapp communities. I’m all about the evolution of the term podcast, but this is a HARD NO. It is not a podcast, but a glorified 10-minute voice note and it’s a poor quality audio voice note. That’s all. It was even harder to find this voice note while searching after it was promoted on Instagram.

  • Welcome to Started on WhatsApp: Love Stories

    “In our new podcast, Hasan Minhaj chats with long distance couples from around the world and learns exactly how they make it work.

    Our first episode is all about Ankita and Deepanker from New Delhi—a couple who moved past the friend zone while in different time zones. Check back next Friday for a brand new episode.”

    

    I can’t even properly send it if you are interested because the link process was janky. Poor experience.

• Via Shell Game ( ) game podcast and my friend Chetan, I tried NotebookLM because of the implications it may have on podcast creation from AI. It’s scary good, but still a little off. For Great Pods and what we do, at this time I only find this useful for accessibility reasons and for the newsletter itself. I fed it the newsletter from the last edition and this is what it spat out:

• In the sphere of improved conversations, Trevor’s podcast has evolved from when I initially recommended the podcast and now giving space to his friend & cohost, Christiana, more space to join in. Especially in this episode with Ta-Nehisi Coates and the firestorm around CBS News’s conversation. Spicy.

• Leaving Coming Soon: The World with Richard and Yalda, Informants: Lawyer X, Before We Go, Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain, Tech Unheard, The Love Seat, Kill List, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Season 3)

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Mind Your Own with Lupita Nyong'o
Genre: Conversation, Personal
Publisher: KQED, Lemonada Media, Lupita Nyong’o

About: Lupita Nyong’o knows what home feels like. But where exactly is it? In Mexico, where she was born? Kenya, where she grew up? Or the States, where she’s spent the past 20 years?

Like Lupita, millions of Africans are spread out across the globe following family, searching for love, building futures and creating stories. It's these stories – wild and messy, intimate and joyous – that she wants to hear.

Welcome to Mind Your Own, a storytelling podcast navigating what it means to belong, all from the African perspective. Join Lupita as she shares tales of her own and dives into the lives of real people finding their way in new worlds of every kind.

This was relatable and enjoyable. Most immediately I was reminded of Trevor Noah’s early episodes of What Now? It’s not the first pod to do it of course where someone shares a personal story. Lupita, for example, shares a story of her life around the topic of the episode. After that, a guest tells a well-produced story about the topic. More often, I thought ”Dang, Lupita is just like us”. Duh.

How our moms are similar or what we consider home. Even the accent story from episode 1. I could relate because of the circles around me, followed by my name pronunciation.

Lemonada has great podcasts, but this one is by far the more relatable one to me. I feel that.

Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter

"...her pacing that is perfect, her control of language, and you get the sense that as she is telling you she is really tapping into something, reliving the story in her own head. "

Authentic Self

Podcast: Kill List
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Wondery, Novel

About: Every day, hundreds of people go about their lives with no idea that someone has paid to have them killed. In the depths of the dark net, tech journalist Carl Miller makes a disturbing discovery: a secret “kill list” targeting hundreds of innocent people on a murder-for-hire website. When the police are slow to investigate, Carl is thrown into a race against time to warn those in danger and uncover the truth before it’s too late. From Wondery and Novel comes a shocking true story about obsession, control and the price of life and death.

There’s a style to Wondery that makes it a Wondery podcast. Even though Kill List was a collab with Novel, the style is something I’ve grown to know. Re-creation of a story, music supervision, and scripting all play a role.

Regarding the content, I didn’t think I was going to be into it. The critic reviews, put me over and into my ears. That’s why I like professional reviews and built this platform. It’s really good and I think for me, it’s because of the balance between the re-creation of voices, real interviews with people on the Kill List, and the host’s wins and losses bring it all together.

There’s shock and some satisfaction in the fact that one of the dark websites for contract killing was just a Bitcoin scam.

Driving through LA traffic, it’s a great companion.

Ximena Smith • Radio New Zealand

"...explosive premise...it's really gripping stuff..."

Contract Killin

Podcast: The English Disease: Legacy
Genre: Sports, History
Publisher: Stak.

About: There was a time when football hooliganism was everywhere. For decades it dominated headlines, merging the two things England loves most: football and fear. Over the course of six episodes, writer Sam Diss digs deeper – beyond the stereotypes and tabloid headlines – to understand what first brought people to this violent, sprawling subculture, and how it has forced its way back into our society today. This is the untold story of The English Disease.

I do love my soccer/football. Did you know the word soccer was invented by England first? And they hate us for using the term? psssh. That’s not discussed here in the podcast. It’s all about Hooliganism and how it shaped certain parts of their society. What I found interesting on the relation with the 90s, Rupert Murdoch (not so cool billionaire), Sky News, and the creation of the English Premier League.

My note on the pod is that Sam’s voice is a little low and monotone and I have to take a break to continue with an episode, but compelling history otherwise.

Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian

"...a strange nostalgia trip...Diss lets the subject stretch, articulates his own mixed feelings in his excellent script. It’s his lyricism and understanding that makes this series more than just chin-scratching aggro porn. Rather than dismissing it as something to be stamped out and legislated against. "

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Here’s this week’s 'Top of the Pods' on greatpods.co

5. The Coming Storm - BBC

4. Talk Tuah w/ Haliey Welch - betr

3. Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - Stitcher Studios

2. Call Her Daddy - Unwell Prod. / SiriusXM

1. Who Shat on the Floor at My Wedding? - Indie

   1. Talking to the Who Shat team, they saw a spike in pod listens too, but don’t know where. A friend sent an IMGUR post with 10k views. That is most likely the culprit.

      

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

I hope you are safe wherever you are. We’re in the last quarter of the year and I feel like things are just heating up. Well, in Los Angeles, literally the weather is heating up. In my world, campus visits have increased I am seeing positive outcomes slowly come to fruition. In addition to that, we’re calling the startup podcast I’m creating with the USC Incubator companies, “Greif Startup Spotlight”. Greif is the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in which the USC Incubator resides.

In previous newsletters, I’ve mentioned on campus there are about 4 podcast studios. I record my podcast from the Business school. I did finally get to see the Iovine and Young Academy Podcast studio(it’s tiny), and the new one at the main library (looks like the one in the business school). I have one more to go, and that’s from Annenberg’s Media Center. More updates in the coming weeks.

Let’s GOOOO!

The Round-Up

• A Dios Le Pido… NPR’s culture-defining music program and often podcasted, Tiny Desk concert kicked off with “El Tiny” for Hispanic Heritage Month, and when Juanes struck those chords for A Dioa Le Pido I was as giddy as the backup singers were. I’m assuming they stopped podcasting the show, which is sad, because of music rights and all. So this is my podcast-adjacent rec.

• Crooks Everywhere was just released from iHeart | Vespucci. I’m interested in this take and what updated information from two previous podcasts about the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The previous podcasts:

  • Who Killed Daphne? - Wondery

  • My Mother's Murder - Tortoise

• Reminder: Afros & Audio Podcast Festival is happening Oct. 18th-20th in Baltimore. More info here.

• Sweet Bobby trailer is out! The awesome catfishing podcast from Tortoise Media launches on Netflix on October 16th, 2024.

• AND Scamanda trailer is out! Unlike the one episode Sweet Bobby, Scamanda will be a series. Launching October 9th, on Hulu. The official ABC News / Hulu channel for some odd reason made the official trailer private all of a sudden. At the time of sending the newsletter, I added a random YouTube channel that had the trailer instead. ABC News what happened?

  

• Coming Soon: The World with Richard and Yalda, Informants: Lawyer X, Before We Go, Broken Record (New Season), Kill List, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (New Season), In Good Companies (Launching on Fall US Tax Day)

• Left Coming Soon: Boneheads with Emily Deschanel and Carla Gallo, Mind Your Own with Lupita Nyong'o, 60 Minutes: A Second Look, Niche to Meet You, GoalLess: A Soccer Show, On the Table with Ashley, Feed the Queue, Beyond Voting, Crooks Everywhere, Historical Records, Less Radical, We Don’t Always Agree with Ryan & Sterling, Criminal Attorney, Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast, Chess Piece: The Elián González Story, On the Table with Ashley

• Pushkin’s Broken Record podcast is launching a new season with Blue Note Records interviewing jazz artists. Read more here.

• I just got Oasis reunion tickets this morning for the LA Show. If you managed to get tickets for next summer’s tour, make sure you listen to The Rise and Fall of Oasis.

• On , we got our first interview with South Asian guest actor, Welcome to Plathville, Kapeesh Mourya!

Today’s recs go from casual-society-educational to traumatic.

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Rebel Spirit
Genre: Society
Publisher: iHeart

About: Rebel Spirit is a brand new podcast series from Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media’s “What a Day”) about her return to her small town of Florence, Kentucky with a mission to change her high school’s mascot from a Confederate General into a Biscuit. The show features moving interviews with everyone from the artist behind “Gritty,” The Philadelphia Flyers’ viral mascot, to principals at schools across the nation who have made this change. In speaking to people at every inflection point of the issue of problematic mascots, Rebel Spirit endeavors to make the process of correcting historic wrongs less of a bummer.

While working at TuneIn, there was a sports deal with Minor League Baseball to air the radio calls of the games. While indexing all the teams, most had such whimsical and fun mascots. The sports mascot logo that was a favorite of ours was The Montgomery Biscuits. A buttery biscuit.

My mind was always on this while listening to the podcast. I was rewarded in episode 5 and it melted my buttery heart. Not only did Akilah have a quick chat about it but also another new favorite mascot, Philadelphia’s own, Gritty from the NHL team Philidelphia Flyers. I admit it, for the first year and a half, I followed Gritty when it was launched and watched its Instagram live. Just Gritty walking through the streets of Philly giving high fives to joggers and taking selfies with folks on their lunch break.

That was the payoff for me, but educationally, we see local school boards and community red tape as folks hold on to their troubled past. Akilah and the team do a wonderful job in giving a casual, but educational look at how the high school process might work, especially in from her high school.

Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter

"It’s got a real mission, it’s journalism but it’s funny but it’s making a real point. And then I started thinking about the biscuit as a mascot, and that checks a lot of boxes, too."

I Rebel

Podcast: Shell Game
Genre: AI, Tech, Society
Publisher: Evan Ratliff

About: A podcast about things that are not what they seem, hosted by journalist Evan Ratliff. In Season One, that thing is Evan’s voice. By creating a voice clone and hooking it up to an AI chatbot, Evan set out to discover what happens when you try to take control of the very technology that threatens to replace you. Shell Game was named one of the the best podcasts of 2024 by New York Magazine and called "awesome" by The Verge. Over the course of six episodes, Evan’s voice agents talk to spammers and scammers, to Evan’s friends and family, to colleagues and sources, to other AIs, and even to a therapist—all to better understand what AI voice is able to do, what it can't yet do, and what to expect from a future in which more and more of the people we encounter in the world aren’t real. (Also, on substack )

It’s funny. sometimes alarming, and a great way to start your AI listening journey.

Online therapy company BetterHelp spent $6.4mn in podcast advertising in August, according to the latest data from Magellan AI. I bring that up because in episode 4 AI Evan calls a BetterHelp therapist. Eventually, he calls as the real Evan and lets the therapist in on the experiment. She was super nice about the situation and used the opportunity to upsell for real Evan to call back when he needed it.

In episode 5 Evan “pranks” his friends like Kaleidoscope’s (Skyline Drive) founder and host, Mangesh Hattikudur, and others. Interestingly enough, we could immediately tell it was an awkward tone vs. the real Evan in the cadence and processing of the dialogue. However, one of them was able to have the AI confess it was an AI. It’s just entertaining to hear weird things like how AI Evan says “the neeeeewwwwwsss”.

Nicholas Quah • Vulture

"The resulting series can be a little shaggy and uneven at times, but the underlying oomph of Ratliff’s exploits here is reliably compelling. It’s fun to hear a human being rebel in a bid to defend his own humanity."

My favorite funny interaction was when AI Evan was talking to a scammer posing as Spectrum TV/Internet (in Los Angeles). The scammer’s response to finding out it’s getting a fake telephone number lives rent-free in my head now. Clipped here.

You and Me and AI makes 3

Also listen: Me, Myself, and AI - Mosaic Monocle - When humanity meets AI in a conversation about life, things get interesting. In this show, Dawn-Michelle Lewis, teams up with AI co-host, Aria, to explore what it really means to be human.

Podcast: In The Dark (Season 3)
Genre: True Crime, Investigation, News
Publisher: The New Yorker

About: A crime committed. A crime forgotten. A crime unpunished. A man in Haditha, Iraq, has a request for the In the Dark team: Can you investigate how my family was killed?

Finally, I got around to listening to what people in my podcast circle have been listening to. Season 3 of In The Dark. Maybe I’m a masochist for important-infuriating podcasts, but holy guacamole, this investigation is one of those. Especially if you are looking it at like from a current events point of view. Military coverups, false incident reports, and countless innocents as collateral damage to the lies fed to us. Sometimes I wonder how much more I can take of these type of stories.

Thankfully The New Yorker was able to acquire the In The Dark team and their fantastic work. The four years of exhaustive investigating is quality and it shows.

Rebecca Lavoie, Kevin Flynn, Lara Bricker & Toby Ball • Crime Writers On

"Rebecca declares season three a hella achievement. Lara says the team knocks it out of the park, with great writing, thoughtful sound design, and superior reporting. Toby admired how the team cut through the platitudes of "the fog of war""

Investigate This

The New Yorker published the graphic images that the military doesn’t want you to see. Visit with your own caution. It’s pissing me off. Simple as that.

A five-year-old girl, Zainab Younis Salim, was shot in the head by a U.S. Marine.

This was just one of the pics…

‘Top of the Pods’ from the past week brought on some new players!

5. Scamanda - Lionsgate Sound

4. The Coming Storm - BBC

3. Talk Tuah w/ Haliey Welch - Betr

2. Who Shat On The Floor At My Wedding - Indie (not sure why it’s back on the charts)

1. Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - Stitcher Studios *New

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

Hello, new subs! School is in session and I’m on campus (USC) several times a month now. Why? There are four podcast studios on campus. Long-time readers know this already because I don’t shut up about it. In any case, I am tired of being asked, “So do you have a podcast?” I can say that I have a new podcast coming out in collaboration with the Incubator and the Grief Entrepreneurial Center’s Blackstone Launchpad. Unlike business podcasts with leaders at the middle or end of their startup journeys, I’ll be interviewing incubator startups at the beginning of their journey. Hopefully, students and alumni can get inspired to start something. Maybe you’ll find that inspiration as well. Stay tuned and until then…Let’s GOOOOO!

The Round-Up

• Hawk Tuah viral Hailey Welch launched her podcast called, Talk Tuah with Jake Paul’s company, Betr. Read more.

• Sweet Bobby, my favorite true-crime catfishing podcast is getting the Netflix documentary treatment! Read more here.

• I saw this tweet and I immediately thought of the fiction podcast The Soyuz Files:

• Speaking of NASA, on an entertaining episode of Tosh Show, he interviews Astronaut Steve Swanson. More about the Soyuz spacecraft.

• Leaving the Coming Soon section: Let’s Talk Offline, Fine Dining, Naked Sports with Cari Champion, The Godfather: A Film We Can’t Refuse, Empire City: The Untold Origin of the NYPD, Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim, Adventures of Curiosity Cove, Coach with Bill Belichick, Talk Tuah with Hailey Welch, Cozy Critters (from Doug the creator of Curious State)

• There are a lot of podcasts coming soon. Get that play button ready: Boneheads with Emily Deschanel and Carla Gallo, We Don’t Always Agree with Ryan & Sterling, Mind Your Own with Lupita Nyong'o, Glory Daze with Johnny Manziel, Criminal Attorney, Feed the Queue, Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast, 60 Minutes: A Second Look

• Graphic novelist, author, screenplay writer, and fiction podcaster (The Sandman, Narration on Third Eye), Neil Gaiman, is having his entertainment projects put on hold due to sexual assault allegations. The Tortoise podcast, Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman, is the main source of the pause. Read more here.

• Based on reporter Mandy Matney’s podcast, Murdaugh Murders, Hulu ordered the small-screen adaption starring Patricia Arquette. Read more here.

• NYPD opened fire on a fare jumper, two bystanders, and their own officer over a silly $2.90. That just jumped the Empire City podcast to the top of my queue.

• If you’ve seen Reservation Dogs on Hulu, you know Bear, one of the four leads of the show. If you haven’t seen it, you should, it’s so good, educational, entertaining, funny, and emotional. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai had a hand-painted on his face to bring attention to the missing and murdered Indigenous Women movement.

  • What’s the podcast connection for us? To highlight the great and Pulitzer Prize award-winning Indigenous podcast, Stolen. Have a listen. Bravo Bear!

• In the last edition of the newsletter, we saw Oasis get back together. I expected the BBC’s The Rise and Fall of Oasis which had just finished weeks prior, to release a new episode of the reunion. Well, they did. Listen here.

• Comedian Virdas with his take on the “alpha” money-making podcasts out there:

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Violence Week
Genre: Society
Publisher: Emily Reeves, The Silver Podcast Network

About: In East Lansing, Michigan, an outburst of violence at the local high school, and the discovery of a gun, leads to a community reckoning over school safety, racial equity, and the role of police in schools. This four-part documentary series asks big questions about school safety, policing, racial equity, and what it’s like to be a teenager in an era of school shootings.

This is frustrating. Mixed with archival audio to current audio interviews of the student victims, we get a captivating and first-person listen into the security at schools. I would be very curious after listening to a bunch of policing podcasts, what mental health or stress tests are there for these people who get hired. Mix it in with an affluent high school in East Lansing, Michigan, who are they securing?

The incident was only a decade ago, when Emily’s old classmate, Marcus, was tased for deescalating a situation he wasn’t involved in. He wasn’t even able to continue his football career in college because of the trauma-caused incident. We also get educated about restorative justice.

University of Wisconsin - Law School

“Restorative justice seeks to examine the harmful impact of a crime and then determines what can be done to repair that harm while holding the person who caused it accountable for his or her actions. Accountability for the offender means accepting responsibility and acting to repair the harm done.”

An easy four-episode listen for you to binge on and be informed.

Stephen O. • Podcast Delivery

“Violence Week not only shines a light on the first-degree effects and turmoil but also steps back to ask broader societal questions. It’s almost as though this one high school’s terror is a reflection of an entire society’s vulnerabilities and thrusts it all into the national spotlight.”

Violence Is The Answer?

Podcast: Scamtown
Genre: True Crime, Scams
Publisher: Apple, FunMeter

About: Welcome to Scamtown! It’s a place where the true crime is stranger than fiction and the stories are filled with quirks and moral ambiguity. Join the mayors of Scamtown, Emmy-nominated filmmakers and Signal Podcast Award winners James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte (McMillion$ and The Big Conn), as they take you through stories ranging from the strange to the unbelievable. Wild scams, surprising heists, forbidden love, and massive explosions are just a little taste of what’s in store.

I dislike saying a podcast is enjoyable when serious things happen, but here I am saying it for Scamtown. listen because maybe some of them are further in the past versus last year. I would venture to say that the stories picked in Scamtown, like the Casino bombing in Lake Tahoe, which I knew nothing about, were more Scam-adjacent versus a true scam. That story had a real threat and a real bomb with a real person threatening the area for a ransom. Compelling yes. A scam? Not sure. If I’m wrong, someone school me on it. Regardless, it was still a good episode!

However, true to the scam, as we know it today, is the episode on the early “telemarketing” scams. Originating like all great exports, not in India, but right here, in the States. An FBI bust and a first-person account of the agent who was excited to arrest these scammers was a fun listen.

Hannah Verdier • The Guardian

"They lift the lid on twisted stories, wild hustles and almost unbelievable tales in this thunderingly entertaining podcast."

Scammers Delight

Podcast: Question Everything
Genre: News
Publisher: KCRW

About: Reporter Brian Reed re-examines everything about journalism, the profession he thought he knew. In the middle of making his second hit podcast, Brian got sued. Accused. Told the biggest story of his career – the Peabody Award-winning series S-Town – wasn’t journalism.  Which meant he had to spend years proving that it was. Obsessing over the question, “What is journalism, anyway?” Join Brian as he turns the tools he’s acquired over his years as a journalist on journalism itself.  With gripping stories, reporting, and interviews every other Thursday, Question Everything is a show for anyone who's ever felt confused, frustrated, or misled by the news they rely on. At a time when distrust in the media is at an all time high, when so many believe that journalism is failing, Question Everything is a real-time quest to try and make journalism better.

I was about to repeat what the description had, but it explained it perfectly. In the first episode, we have journalist, Gay Alcorn questioning Brian about his journalism in S-Town and the controversy surrounding it. It was a nice opening episode to reflect on his most popular podcast. Gay wrote a piece on S-Town for The Guardian in 2017.

“This American Life’s [S-Town] strength is that it allows the listener into the process, that it doesn’t pretend that the reporter is an objective observer. It has built a reputation, and garnered trust, because it acknowledges that reporters are human beings responding to real people, trying to find things out as best they can.

But Reed doesn’t let us in, not really.” - Gay Alcorn, The Guardian, 2017

This is where Brian agrees with her write-up on the transparency of the process that could have been done better and goes on to recollect a particular scene.

The second episode which is also had been video taped for Youtube, has Ira Glass, Zoe Chace, Jonathan Eig, Astead Herndon, discuss the challenges of journalism in their worlds and what compels them while having cocktails. For example, Astead Herndon talks to conservatives at a rally where they complain that the New York Times doesn’t like to talk to conservatives and is never there. Meanwhile, he is actually there representing NY Times and interviewing them.

Alexi Duggins • The Guardian

“An admirable, open-hearted wrestle with a vital question – with an impressive first episode...”

??????????

‘Top of the Pods’ from the past week with You Probably… back on the charts and at #1:

5. Scamtown - Apple

4. The Rise and Fall of Oasis - BBC

3. Chai After Dark - The Midnight Chai Society

2. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra - MSNBC

1. You Probably Think This Story’s Is About You - Larj Media

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

Back in action Post-Podcast Movement 2024 from DC. I hope you had a great week and hello to the new subs! Here I was, not only as a founder but also as a podcaster. (Originally, I started my Bollywood show back in 2010. Lasted about a year-ish.) I did get to check out the National Archives, but I did not try to steal the Declaration of Independence. With that, LET’S GOOOOOOO!

The Round-Up

• Wondery signs The Kelce Brothers, New Heights for more than $100 million. Read more here.

  • Crooked Media agreed to a union contract after they went on strike. Read more here.

  • Wondery and Crooked Media are teaming up for a new podcast on NYPD history.

    • Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD Trailer here.

• GP help: I’m looking for a Great Pods programmer/engineer who would be able to do some GP work for equity options starting with part-time. It's nothing complicated to start. Hit me up if you know someone in your network who could assist.

• What left the Coming Soon section: Chai After Dark Podcast (wink wink), Dungeon Masters, Game Plan: The Wendell Brown Story, Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams, Didn't I Just Feed You?, Law & Order: Criminal Justice System

• What joined the Coming Soon section: “Fine” Dining, Me, Myself, and AI, Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD, Glory Daze with Johnny Manziel

• , the side quest podcast with my friends, takes an episode break from Indian Matchmaking to chat about the worldwide Ambani wedding. We’re a little dumb, a little tone-deaf, but possibly fun. You decide.

• My European Pod buddies, Podimo, acquired Dutch company, Tonny Media to expand their podcast business. Read more here.

• Shoutout to ex-TuneIn folks I saw again especially Jared at Consumable who were one of the sponsors of Podcast Movement. Ad delivery company entering the podcast space. Jared was a proponent of my karaoke ways at TuneIn.

  • KD, another ex-TuneIn buddy, is the co-founder of Simplified AI, an All-in-one AI tool for your media or podcast.

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Conspiracy, She Wrote
Genre: Women History, Conspiracy, Society
Publisher: Unladylike Media

About: From pastel QAnon to celebrity pregnancy truthers, host Cristen Conger (Unladylike) unravels the conspiracy theory webs woven by and about women. If you’ve ever wondered where tradwives came from, why Taylor Swift can’t shake off psyops or who made Beyonce’s Illuminati mess, get out your red string and follow along.

Cristen Conger, of Unladylike podcast, another GP recommendation, hosts this new historical conspiracy podcast around women. It starts with the Illuminati with Beyonce to Trad wives spreading conspiracies, and the initial days of fascist women to disinformation.

Each episode has the premise set up in the beginning. For example, in the latest episode, Beyonce x Illuminati collab that never was and how it began with the Super Bowl performance after she threw up the Roc Nation symbol for her hubby Jay-Z.

Enter the expert. It’s very clear to all of us while listening that a lot of conspiracies start with people just not knowing, which can be lazy too.

“I think that there's a way that Black cultural signifiers are misinterpreted, especially when they're in a pop culture moment and they're being exposed to communities who aren't familiar. And then there's an assumption that there is something problematic about that behavior—that there's something seedy or conspiratorial in relationship to that behavior.” - Moya Bailey, Associate Professor of Communications at Northwestern University on Conspiracy, She Wrote

I enjoyed this one.

Moya finishes the episode on Beyonce—

“if you just take a moment and think about what's happening in the world right now—I mean, I'm thinking about the volcanoes in Iceland and then multiple genocides and all of the things that are occurring right now. It's so overwhelming…I'm hopeful that this conversation gets people to think about their own role in perpetuating misogynoir and perpetuating ideas that don't actually get us closer to the world we actually want.

I want to note that I did learn a new word in the episode.

Misogynoir - hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against Black women. - Merriam Webster

Keelin • Mentally? A Magpie.

"This podcast is fascinating, frustrating, enlightening, and disheartening. It is a testament to research, conversation, and the hope of humanity. By openly talking about the good and the bad we are brought and wrought, Conspiracy, She Wrote lures the listener into a new mindset."

Don’t worry, there’s an episode on Taylor Swift too.

History of Womenly Conpiracies

Podcast: Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter
Genre: Adventure, Fiction
Publisher: iHeart

About: Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter chronicles the larger than life adventures of Tom Slick (Owen Wilson) and his steadfast pursuit of the unknown, culminating to one of his greatest and most mystifying expeditions: his 1958 hunt for the Yeti. Tom Slick’s epic story is told through hidden tapes found by his granddaughter Liv Slick (Schuyler Fisk) in the attic of her mother, Claire Slick (Sissy Spacek). What is a climactic tale of a legendary man and his hunt for the Yeti is, for Liv, the discovery of a grandfather whose life was largely shrouded in mystery… until now.

Ahh yes. Finally, a fun adventure to go on in the fiction podcast world. Yes, headphones, and earbuds are recommended. Owen Wilson is great, naturally, and I didn’t think about Lightening McQueen the entire time I was listening. KaChow.

As the description says, personal tapes are uncovered while Liv and Claire retell from the present-day standpoint. Tom wasn’t home much because he was on the biggest search of his life. Is it a Yeti or not? Cue the adventurous music. I could see this implemented into a TV series for Paramount. Add it to the book to podcast to TV pipeline. While there are about 7 episodes out now, he’s about to reveal the final tape.

Based on the 2005 book by Catherine Nixon Cooke.

Fiona Sturges • Financial Times

"Wilson is well cast in the title role, an Indiana Jones-meets-Edmund Hillary figure bursting with charisma and derring-do, while Spacek is a more down-to-earth presence as the daughter posthumously getting to know her father. The soundscaping is excellent: ambitiously multi-layered and noisy in a way that is entirely fitting for a rollicking and bingeable action-adventure series…"

I Never Met A Yeti

Podcast: The Rise And Fall Of … (Season) Oasis
Genre: Music
Publisher: BBC

About: Join Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq as they delve into the complex relationship between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, a fascinating sibling rivalry that both made, and ultimately destroyed, Oasis. Featuring archive material, music, outrageous anecdotes, and first-hand accounts from bandmates, producers, and industry insiders.

If you are Gen X, grew up in the ‘90s rock, or seemingly noticed an Oasis song going viral on TikTok, well, the always-fighting siblings are getting back together it was announced this week. Liam and Noel will be launching their reunion tour next summer 2025. Alternative rockers are rejoicing, with caution, in case they cancel it.

This 8-episode season of The Rise and Fall of… presents us with the obvious creation of the band to the breakup. Looks like they may have to release a special episode since announcing the tour. Using BBC’s massive archives we go back to their show in Newcastle(chaos) and their first song, Columbia, being played on the BBC.

Jo gives her first-hand experience on her first Oasis gig. She pulled the archive of the interviews she did at that gig for the BBC. Oasis famously left halfway through the gig because of the chaos. Classic.

Oh, and the drugs…

In any case, a great BBC edition of interviews, music, and history from two long-time English music DJs gives a lesson on one of the UK’s greatest 90s rockers.

So anyway…here’s Wonderwall. Episode 3 they get into Wonderwall.

Alice Florence Orr • Podcast Review

"...is everything you could want from a music history podcast. As veteran music journalists, they bring their anecdotes and opinions to what is already a well-researched and expertly produced radio documentary. It leaves little room for criticism."

Definitely, Maybe Listen

'Top of the Pods' the week after Podcast Movement on greatpods.co :

5. Conspiracy, She Wrote - Unladylike Media

4. Dangerous Memories - Tortoise

3. You Probably Think This Story's About You - Larj Media

2. Hysterical - Wondery, Pineapple Street

1. Maddow presents: Ultra - MSNBC

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

Sidequest alert: My friends and I launched a rewatch podcast! It’s centered around South Asian stories in the media and entertainment space as we see it. We’re starting with Indian Matchmaking from Netflix, Season 1 Episode 1! Of course, I’m nervous about it. Aren’t we all when we hit publish? I dropped the links in the Round-Up and the current podcast tech stack at the end of the newsletter for those interested!

Next week it’s DC time for Podcast Movement! Get your tickets with our code “GP50”. I will report right back here. So… LET’S GOOOOO!

The Round-Up

• Actress Emma Roberts shared that she was listening to Dan Taberski’s Hysterical the other day. H/T

• One of my new pod buddies I met at The Podcast Show - London, Lara Adekoya, will be a guest on a live podcast for Building Black Podcast, on August 20th in LA. Sign up here. It’s Free!

• Podcast Movement in DC is around the corner! You know me now if you’re still thinking about it or won’t know anyone! Discount code: GP50.

• Some friends were visiting LA and we spent time in the neighborhood of Silver Lake. Little did I know podcast studio, Headgum (Doughboys, We're Here to Help, Newcomers) is right there.

  

• Personal podcast: As mentioned above, I launched a South Asian centered rewatch/recap podcast with my friends called . 1st episode is out and it’s light with comedy and commentary. We’re learning how we vibe with each other and are having a good time doing it. Hopefully, it translates to your ears. Trailer and listen here. Tech stack at the end.

• Podcast critic Nick Quah from Vulture.com will no longer have a weekly critic column. The writing has been on the wall as I have not seen a consistent review from him in the last two months. The last one was in July. Sad. I would link to it, but it was in the email and they haven’t posted on the website yet.

  From the email: An announcement! After four years, I’m winding down the weekly podcast column here in 1.5x Speed. The reason for this is perfectly banal: While I’d like to tell you it’s because I’m getting older (true) and my hearing is not what it used to be (also true), the reality is more boring than that. Your boy just needs a change in scenery!

• What left the Coming Soon section: Play On Podcasts (Season: As You Like It), Conspiracy, She Wrote, Dream Sequence, Flashpoint, Violence Week

• What is currently on the Coming Soon section: Chai After Dark Podcast (wink wink), Dungeon Masters, Game Plan: The Wendell Brown Story, Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams, Didn't I Just Feed You?, Law & Order: Criminal Justice System

• On Jeopardy’s Tourney of Champions this week:

• On To My Picks This Week…

Podcast: Extreme: Muscle Men
Genre: Fitness, History
Publisher: BBC

About: 1980s Los Angeles. A young, amateur bodybuilder named William Dillon comes to California in search of the supersized American dream - to get absolutely jacked. But beneath the smell of sweat, pulsing disco beats, and the rhythmic clank of weights, there's a secret. Many of the bodybuilders and gym rats he meets are using steroids to achieve their pumped up physique. And if that's what it takes to make it big, Dillon's willing to do it too. Historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, presenter of hit podcast Welcome To Your Fantasy, reveals how the rise of America's fitness and gym-culture through the 20th century collided with the unregulated availability of steroids in the 1980s, transforming the way we see our bodies, and the lengths to which we'll go to in the pursuit of perfection.

Hans and Frans won’t pump you up in this podcast, as the subject line hinted at. Natalia is just too good on Welcome To Your Fantasy which the critics agreed is a great podcast. And the Muscle Men podcast structure, between music, interviews, and narration feels like a Welcome To Your Fantasy sequel. Where one discussed the 80s heartthrob dancers and the murder of the Chippendale’s founder, this one takes the 80s steroid craze of the gym bros. She knows her strengths and we’re better listeners for it. I’m always gravitating to entertaining history. Natalia does it justice as Miranda Sawyer writes below. It’s a minor but interesting note for me, that Gold’s Gym started in Santa Monica. I didn’t know that before. Next Tuesday’s Trivia night I’ll win those wings if they ask that question.

Something that Dillon said I would use on my entrepreneurial journey now. I already printed it.

“If I’m going to work hard, I wanna make money” - Dillon

I didn’t print it. I tattooed it.

Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian

"...a couple of episodes in and it’s certainly pumping iron....it’s a fun, campy listen...Petrzela knows how to entertain – her interviews are wry without being mean-spirited – and there are some hilarious moments..."

We Will Pump You Up

Podcast: You Probably Think This Story’s About You
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Larj Media

About: "You Probably Think This Story's About You" is an exploration of love, betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of one man's deceit, told through the eyes of the women whose lives were irrevocably changed by it.  Brittani Ard is on a quest for the truth. She wants to understand how Kanon — the man she once believed to be her soulmate — could have deceived her so deeply. As the devastating revelations unfold, exposing the depths of his lies, Brittani embarks on a journey to uncover the truth. The road to understanding is paved with Brittani’s complex childhood, marked by addiction, sisterhood, and the deep family ties that shaped her. But there’s one question left: who is this story really about?   One thing's for sure – it's not him anymore.

It’s not really True Crime, but a story of manipulation and contextual family history which I appreciated. This reminded me a little of Sweet Bobby because you go through the first 3 episodes of the catfishing and we find out who it is. In YPTTSAY, a similar journey takes place, because after the manipulation of the ex-boyfriend, Kanon, the rest of the series dives into the family and its deeper meaning. Brittani isn’t sugarcoating it, and we are better off for it. Here you have Brittani build a richer history of her family and upbringing, that is pre and post-Kanon.

The full season is out to binge with some bonus Q&A episodes.

• Ear Worthy

"Ard's powerful storytelling weaves a tapestry of resilience, empowerment, and the unwavering strength of the human spirit”

Get The Full Story

'Top of the Pods' the week before Podcast Movement on greatpods.co with Ed Helms seemingly coming out of nowhere.

5. Dangerous Memories - Tortoise

4. To Die For - Tenderfoot TV

3. You Probably Think This Story's About You - Larj Media

2. SNAFU w/ Ed Helms - FilmNation, iHeart

1. Maddow presents: Ultra - MSNBC

CHAI AFTER DARK TECH STACK!

What are we using to create Chai After Dark?

I wanted to take you through the journey of creating this new podcast and what we are using so you know how an amateur podcast can be started. Even you can do it!

Here’s the current podcast tech stack we are using:

Trello - Managing all the tasks board (Free)
Descript with Squadcast for recording and easy editing via the transcript (Paid Yearly)
*My only issue is Squadcast doesn’t allow sound to be played via screen sharing when recording. (They just Announced an integration with ZOOM!! I’m going to test it out on the next recording.)
Microphones - Ranging from Shure MV7 (Mine) to FiFine (Friends)
Canva - Logo, Social Media artwork, Audiograms (Free Trial, but now paid since we all can work on it together)
Additional audio editing, Sound Forge (Paid) I’m using an old version a long time ago that I bought which still works on Windows for simple level audio and cuts.
Substack - Homepage, Subscriptions, Newsletter, Podcast hosting (Free - Substack does give instructions on how to add the RSS feed to popular podcast apps)
Headliner - Static image audiograms for YouTube and socials (Free)

In addition to all that, we set up an LLC because we never know what the future holds, and even as friends we want to be protected.

We are not publishing video versions of ourselves yet. It’s an added layer of editing we don’t want to do just yet. However, we will publish the audio on YouTube after we release a couple of episodes.

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

Feedback from a friend who liked last week’s edition but it was a tad too long. Good feedback as I don’t want it to be too long either, but there was a lot to get to. With this edition, I’m going to be quick about it. Cross your fingers and Let’s GOOOO!

(Edit: I failed. LOL)

The Round-Up

• Deadpool & Wolverine opened this past weekend and the marketing for the only Marvel movie in theatres this year has gone on overdrive. Podcasts, Influencers, Youtube, Traditional media…everywhere. With that, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in character did a Spotify teaser for the movie’s soundtrack, by doing a podcast commercial. It looks like the Spotify LA studio where they record music, I could be wrong. Deadpool and the Honey Badger podcast…

• Another LOL moment was Tosh Show talking subscribing and unsubscribing from his show. Clipped here.

  

• In the last edition, I mentioned Shannen Doherty and Richard Simmons passing with respective podcast placements. Two more updates there:

  • 90210MG rewatch podcast with former castmates Tori Spelling and Jenny Garth had a special episode. Listen here.

  • Missing Richard Simmons provided a short new episode from Dan Taberski. Listen here.

• Voice actor, Jon Hamm (The Big Lie, American Hostage) is set to star in a new QCode production, “Dungeon Masters” based on Dungeons & Dragons set in 1979. Read here.

• Karen - a new Wondery+ podcast produced by Law&Crime is out now. I bring it up only because I was listening to the first episode and I could not get the narration of Paula Barra out of my head for one thing. She reminded me of the House Hunters narration on HGTV. Listen and let me know if I’m crazy.

• Comedian Lauren Lapkus (Threedom, Newcomers) is leading a new scripted/unscripted paranormal podcast called Haunting (iHeart, Glass Podcasts). Listen here.

• Lemonada Media (Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is launching books, they have a book club, based on their podcasts. First up is David Duchovny’s Fail Better. Read more here.

• Our pod buddies over at Tink celebrated their 5th anniversary. Here’s their founder Lauren giving us her quick “Behind The Mic” sesh on who she is.

• Podcast Movement, probably the big podcast conference, is happening in DC in August. I’ve been going for the last four years, and am continuously surprised by the amount of networking, pod friends, and lessons I’ve learned along the way. They announced their keynote lineup here.

  • And guess what? We got our first promo code! Use code: GP50 to get $50 off the registration ticket. I’ll be there working media/press. See you there!

• Just released and leaving the Coming Soon section of GP:

  • Where’s Dia?, Sportly, WHAT IS GOING ON? with Matt Buechele, Hindsight

• Currently on Coming Soon

  • Dream Sequence, Violence Week, Flashpoint, StoryCorps (New season)

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: The Deposition
Genre: News, Comedy
Publisher: Hug House Productions

About: On March 27th, 2024, Elon Musk was deposed in a libel lawsuit filed by Ben Brody, a 22-year old Jewish political science major at the University of California. When Elon Musk twote that Ben Brody could be a neo-nazi undercover federal agent in a “false flag” situation, Ben Brody was faced with so much harassment he and his family had to leave their homes. Welcome to The Deposition, a dramatic reading of the public record transcript of Elon Musk’s deposition in full. We promise: this is really real, a real thing that happened in a real lawsuit that exists in real life, word for word – with the addition of some actor editorialization.

This is ridiculous. The situation, the people (Elon and his lawyer), and the written word. I can’t stop thinking of just that word, ridiculous. It encapsulates the situation. The Hug House team or voice actors do a wonderful job recreating the deposition that you might find it annoying. However, to break that annoyance, they include those natural moments of pausing with organic laughter because, dang, there’s some stupid crap that Elon and his lawyer said.

If you’ve seen Elon speak, tweet, and interview, this podcast is not far off at all.

Said of the prosecution lawyer from the Hug House team:

“This man has the patience of a gd saint”

Facts. Listen for the ridiculousness and stay for the countless OBJECTIONS!

•

“Part reenactment, part reaction...The Deposition keeps in all the character breaks, laughs, and incredulity the actors experience while reading – while also making sure the audience knows what this case is about and what was actually said.”

Tesla Recall

BTW, Elon did admit to being a troll and having a troll account. It still exists here: BabySmoke9000.

Podcast: Backed Up
Genre: Government, Society
Publisher: Cincinnati Public Radio

About: There's something wrong with the plumbing in Cincinnati. Sewage is bubbling up in our basements and pouring into our waterways. Climate change is making it worse, and the powers that be can't seem to agree on how to fix it.Backed Up is a podcast that demystifies one of the most complex systems of public infrastructure — our sewers — and tells the stories of the people suffering under decades of mismanagement.

I didn’t think this would be as educational with the touch of entertainment value in a podcast about city sewage as I thought it was going to be. Go figure. However, it is engaging with the intricacies of explaining local government fighting, innovation, and improving our pipes. Especially with the amount of storms increasing, are our local cities prepared? The team walks through the terms and acronyms, because ya, we don’t know what they are.

Excellent public infrastructure podcast and it doesn’t matter if it’s in Cincy and you don’t even have to be an engineer or public servant. You and I should know about this.

•

"Not only does their name and so much of the language around their show include many delightful puns, their production absolutely delivers on that fun style. The production quality perfectly balances being fun and informative and they make it really easy to keep up with any lingo or unfamiliar concepts."

Lower The Toilet Seat!

Podcast: This is Propaganda
Genre: Society, Marketing, History
Publisher: Brink

About: In this Webby Award-winning narrative podcast, co-hosts Josh & Malcolm from BRINK media group challenge the marketing profession’s delusions about the origins, techniques and cultural impact of the work we do.

If you think propaganda is in everything, well you are probably right. This podcast from a creative agency, BRINK, is a history in the field of propaganda and marketing and how they molded each other. Elon Musk probably should listen to this podcast. How a product makes one feel is a key aspect of changing people’s minds. “No detail overlooked”, including guerilla marketing. This Is Propaganda gets into the creation of modern marketing over 100 years ago to Post-War cigarette smoking. From boomers to Disney to boycotts. I’ll be listening all the way through. Did they convince me with their marketing propaganda? I think it did. Fascinating.

“In its simplest terms, this is the power of what we do.”

“Find a desire that’s already governing the publics behavior.”

“Create an association between the product and its desire.”

“If you do it well enough, the public should arrive at its own conclusions. Never knowing the belief was planted by someone else.” - Episode 1

“The only problem is, the longer you look in the mirror, the harder it is to see where you end and where the propaganda begins.” - Episode 2

There are great gems at the end of each episode.

“When the world is this complex, overwhelming and fast moving, there’s no time for nuance and metric analysis.

So we rationalize the irrational and rely on the symbols to make our decisions.

We have to.

How else are you are you going to choose seven kinds of deodorant when you have a rally to get to.” - Episode 3

• Mentally? A Magpie.

“This is Propaganda has given me not a perspective of empathy, like most of the podcasts I listen to, but a new way of thinking that is making me reconsider and move forward in a way that is not about me.”

More Than Mad Men

‘Top of the Pods’ this past week on GreatPods.co:

5. Green Wing: Resuscitated - Novel, Audible

4. Politickin’ - iHeart

3. Hysterical - Wondery, Pineapple Street

2. Rachel Maddow presents: Ultra (Season 2) - MSNBC

1. You Probably Think This Story’s About You - Larj Media

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice for your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!

I’m starting a podcast with some friends. I can’t tell you what it is just yet because we are recording a couple of episodes before starting our pre-marketing to launch, but it’s a niche genre, and I will need to figure out the right balance between Great Pods and the co-producing and pushing out the podcast. I know from my peers in the industry, it can be done. From what I've learned, we’ll be doing our best to start our launch on the best footing possible. Let’s see if I have it in me. Until then…

LET’S GOOOO!

The Round-Up

As I was prepping this edition with some background videos playing, this gem of a clip from 9 years ago had a nice little foreshadowing. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog guesting on Conan’s TBS talk show collaborator making a podcast via Conan’s late-night show. Little did we know…

• To Catch A Scorpion added a new episode after finishing the series. Authorities caught Barzan Majeed in Northern Iraq. Listen here.

• iHeartRadio continues to grow its strong lineup of rewatch podcasts with actors from the series. Now we get Charmed and Melrose Place (Still The Place).

  • However, in sad news, Shannen Doherty (Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed) passed away from cancer last week. She did record 4 episodes for the rewatch podcast, The House of Halliwell: A Charmed Rewatch Podcast. A special intro was released filled with emotion. Listen here.

  • In addition to Shannen, celebrity fitness instructor and the subject of the Missing Richard Simmons podcast, Richard Simmons passed away as well. Listen to it here.

    • One of my favorite guest spots of Richard was on the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?

• Award Winning Podcaster, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons), has a new podcast called Hysterical. I met him for the first time at On Air Fest Brooklyn back in March for a brief Behind the Podcast content I was capturing. He briefly mentions a project he was working on, but could not talk about, which it turns out, was Hysterical. It’s out now on Wondery+ and everywhere else July 22nd. Click on the Instagram video and show GP some love! I’ll be sharing more as they present themselves. Hysterical trailer here.

• After recommending Untold: The Retreat last edition, I wanted to get some hot takes from friends who did Vipassana and their experience. Here are just some of her thoughts.

  • My friend Ritu thought the story lacked closure. It was abrupt with no changes. Vipassana is 100% volunteer-driven and a pay-it-forward type of donation. Applications explicitly ask you about your past and if you have been a victim of abuse because that would act as a filter that this meditation would not be right for you and ultimately cause you more harm.

  • It’s good if you’re building up to something. Going to the extreme in anything is not good for your health. Balance is key. This sounds like a similar experience to The Guardian author who went through the meditation.

  • You know when you accidentally hyper-fixate on an object or word. Well, this is happening for me and Vipassana. Another friend over the week casually dropped that she did Vipassana and I sprang into action with the pod rec. Similarly, I landed on an Instagram reel with Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking star, Aparna, talking about Vipassana. Normally, I would ignore it, but because of these discussions, it piqued my interest.

• Pod buddy, Salad With A Side of Fries is going live for their first ever live podcast show in NYC on July 25th. It will be a fun, educational, and inspirational event for both podcast enthusiasts and those who understand the importance of their health. Tickets can be purchased here.

• Actor Owen Wilson (wow) is starring in a fiction mystery podcast based on true events, Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter launching July 18th. Trailer here.

• A New Season of Movement with Meklit Hadero, stories of global migration through music, launched this week. Listen here.

• Narrated by actor Mandy Patinkin, Exile, Jewish lives under the shadow of fascism, launched season 3 this week. I can so probably hear-learn a lot of parallels to today. Going to give this a listen. Listen here.

• I mentioned last week that Scamanda was getting a TV adaption. ABC announced their fall release and this scamming true crime is set to air October 9th at 10 PM. Save the date!

• LAist & Southern California Public Radio hired a new CEO, Alejandra Santamaria, who hails from Univision L.A. Read more here.

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Even If It Kills Me
Genre: Music, History
Publisher: FANG Workshop

About: This is the story of the band that almost was. You won’t hear what this band sounds like. You won’t even learn their name. But you know this band, even if you don’t.  Even If It Kills Me is a narrative documentary podcast, chronicling the lives of Jon, Ryan, Mac and Pete as they set out across the country and try to make it as rockstars in the bygone era of the ‘00s.

While I’m sad that I won’t be able to hear what the band sounded like, this is an easy-going podcast with archived audio from their beginnings. Aaron Joy pulls out archival audio (I’m assuming it was grabbed from a handheld camera) from behind the scenes and early tours, building the foundation of a band, but just not making it. Imagine how many great bands didn’t make it because of the tech revolution of the 2000s? As episodes get released, I am interested in how the band coped with not making it. What do they do now? I think there are some lessons for everyone encoded in something like this. So far so good.

Frank Racioppi • Ear Worthy

“Aaron Joy is an excellent scriptwriter and an engrossing narrator. Joy reminds us that the line between success in the music business and failure is not a straight one, but an ellipsis that can transform strengths into weaknesses in a blink of an eye.”

You're Killin Me Smalls

Podcast: Handsome
Genre: Comedy
Publisher: Headgum

About: "Handsome" is a podcast from comedians Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin. Every week, the handsome hosts field a question from a friend and attempt to answer it together, covering every subject you could think of. Along the way, Tig, Fortune and Mae tell plenty of stories and just generally have a ridiculous time.

This comedy podcast between comedian friends has been out for a minute. While there are buddy comedy podcasts that exist, Tig, Fortune, and Mae make up for a lighter affair than the male counterparts with hilarious takes. I don’t know much about Mae, but listening to a couple of episodes, they are just as aloof in a fun way about the outside world as Tig used to be. Fortune, to me, is the grounded one. A couple of months ago, a group of comedians were invited via Jim Gaffigan to visit The Pope at the Vatican and Tig went. Mae recalls her family visit to Rome as a kid and what made me lightly cackle was Tig and Fortune’s comments The Creation of Adam painting.

“You know the famous painting…” - Mae

“Finger to Finger” - Tig

“Who’s getting fingered?” - Fortune

A tad juvenile, probably. Funny to me. Yes.

Fiona McCann • Irish Times

“Handsome is as bright and jaunty as its barbershop-quartet jingle and as pleasing to the ear as the rattle of ice that ends it.”

Get Handsome

Buried: (Season) The Last Witness
Genre: True Crime, Health, Society
Publisher: BBC

About: In a new investigation, reporters Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor team up with the film star Michael Sheen to dig up a chemical secret. They inherit a box of evidence from a witness, with a warning.

From a deathbed tape to a witness in protection, Buried is the award-winning true-crime series digging into some of the most disturbing environmental stories in history.

I believe we know about forever plastics, right? But, do you know adjacently about forever chemicals like PCBs? Buckle up and get educated on how a whistleblower, Douglas Gowan, decided to tell on Monsanto and how Wales has been affected by the toxic dumping. We know Monsanto in the States because of two things. Buying up swaths of farmland and bio-engineering crops. Evil corpos.

The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many US farms, internal documents seen by the Guardian show. - The Guardian, 2020

This 2020 article stated that Monsanto would profit off of the losses the farmers would have with their crops because they would buy Monsanto seeds to save their fields. Evil.

We are also taken to a small town in Alabama that was also affected by the PCBs manufacturing. While the investigation finds that Douglas exaggerated some of his accounts, it was done to gain exposure to the underlying problem as it grew. We are being poisoned. The podcast also stars actor Michael Sheen who pops in and out of the series and was affected by these chemicals. Michael is from Wales.

Like other great podcasts, if I go google more information, it’s worth it to educate myself further. Turns out PCBs are still being produced although being banned as stated in this Guardian article from March 2024. Read here.

Now that the Supreme Court has dealt the American public with the overturning of Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, get ready for more poison in our systems. An important listen.

Fiona Sturges • Financial Times

“Sheen’s connection to the area, and to Gowan, providing some emotional heft. There is much here that will make you gasp, not just at the human and environmental impact of PCBs but at the brazenness of those responsible.”

PCB's In The Breeze

‘Top of the Pods’ in the past week on Great Pods

5. Beyond Recognition: The Ruxton Murders - Audio 99

4. You Probably Think This Story’s About You - Larj Media

3. Scamanda - Lionsgate Sound

2. Rachel Maddow presents: Ultra - MSNBC

1. Dangerous Memories - Tortoise Media

Just Added:

Dangerous Memories - Tortoise Media
Fingers On Buzzers - Fingers On Buzzers
Hysterical - Wondery, Pineapple Street Studios
Pack One Bag - Lemonada Media
Pull the Thread: The Wild Life - Luminary, DreamCrew Entertainment
How We Fix This - Spotify
George Orwell’s 1984 - Audible
Relojeros - Onda Cero Podcast
Murder on Music Row - The Tennessean
The Unmistakable Creative Podcast - Srinivas Rao
State of Play: Summer Games - Global Reporting Centre
Peer Review - Jonathan Marland
Shell Game - Evan Ratliff
Harry Hill's 'Are We There Yet?' - Keep It Light Media
Harry and Paul Are Devious - Stak
Make Me A Mixtape - BBC
The British Food History Podcast - Neil Buttery
Los Guardianes de La Espada - Del Viento Films

One Link To Rule To Them All

Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice for your neighbor…if you have one.

Listening with you,
Captain Ron

Great Pods is your best friend in podcast discovery. Get immersed in engaging critic reviews and ratings to help you decide on your next podcast listen. Tell a friend!