A December to Remember 2022
November's Native Heritage Month, Mandela, and Tech Stuff + Just Added
Hey Poddy People,
We’re back. Thanks for bearing with me during an emotional week. It was a long one. New subscribers welcome! Share with your friends!
In this email:
3 Recommendations
Just Added: 14
Top 5
Top November
Another website high
Demo Day
Analytics Recap: In November we great another 20% in website traffic!
To the moon! On that note, just a reminder I’ll be pitching Great Pods for early-stage investment at the FoundersBoost Demo Day next Wednesday, virtually. Sign up here. You don’t need to invest if you want to just watch. You can fake the question on investing and just pick $1,000.
Host Wendy Williams is working on a new podcast since leaving her daytime talk show. Read it here.
Erin Lee Carr (Murdaugh Murders) signed with signed a first-look deal UCP (Universal Content Productions), an NBCUniversal subsidiary. Murdaugh Murders is being adapted for Hulu. More here.
iHeart’s Metaverse, iHeartLand is streaming two podcasts in their Winter Wonderland. Glee podcast And That’s What You REALLY Missed, and Science podcast, BrainStuff will be on hand in the metaverse. Read more here. Someone tell me how it goes.
Stephanie and I will be sending out a monthly newsletter starting this December with the SoCalPodcast Meetup event we started. The next one is in February 2023. Sign up for the substack here:
Does anyone want to sponsor the next event?
Well, Twitter is still hanging on, I’ve been posting the top 5 pod pages each week. Archetypes podcast has been #1 since its release in late August, but the fanbase really picked up on the tweet this week. It’s been wild. It was a nice reminder that Twitter’s click-through engagement to the websites isn’t very good. Out of the 1400 engagements and 24k impressions, there was only a 6% click-through to the website. Oh, Case 63 saw a pre-Thanksgiving spike last Wednesday. The tweet below:
Shoutout to Podcast Hall of Famer Evo Terra for adding us in his LinkedIn post on where to find Audio Fiction podcasts. Check out the list here.
Next week I’ll be dishing out the top podcast pages from the year! Stay tuned.
Not podcast news: I am just excited. Indiana Jones 5 Trailer was released just now. WATCH IT!
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Operation Morning Light
Genre: Documentary, History
Publisher: Imperative Entertainment, Vespucci Group
About: On a January night in 1978, a white light burned through the sub-Arctic sky. It was Cosmos 954, a nuclear-powered Soviet espionage satellite that had malfunctioned and fallen to earth. As the satellite disintegrated, it scattered dangerously radioactive debris across the vast traditional lands of the Dene, Métis, and Inuit in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Operation Morning Light tells the story of the Cosmos 954 disaster, its impact on the land, and the resilience of the communities in the debris field.
With Indigenous/Native American Month in November, I’m recommending this Native Canadian, yes, I know. The storytelling is great. It’s paced wonderfully so far in the three episodes I've listened to. From background on the location, the indigenous people, to the US Military heading find the satellite. Hosted by Dëneze Nakehk'o, a Denesuline and Dehcho Dene father from Denendeh, makes it more connective.
James Marriot • The Times UK
“I like this sort of podcast. No real point — no murder or anything, I mean — just a pleasant way to gather interesting interviews, archive footage and historical speculation around one dramatic event. (Deneze)He brings us awestruck eyewitness testimony...It’s eerie, atmospheric and occasionally rather beautiful.”
Taking a break from True Crime for this.
Podcast: TechStuff
Genre: Technology
Publisher: iHeart
About: TechStuff is a show about technology. And it’s not just how technology works. Join host Jonathan Strickland as he explores the people behind the tech, the companies that market it and how technology affects our lives and culture.
The two episodes were based on recent news. The Volkswagon chip scandal and the history of social networks have worked their way into Twitter’s trending cuz of you know who.
Listening to the VW episode, I did learn something. Electric vehicles were being built before the internal combustion engine back in the day. It’s just that Henry Ford was able to get mass production for internal combustion and thus won out. Fascinating.
The social networks episode was just a blast in the past lesson for me.
David Beren • History-Computer
“The host, Jonathan Strickland, does a superb job of making big tech topics easily digestible for the average listener, including those who might not be super passionate about tech. Most episodes are under an hour, so they are perfect for listening in one sitting, and Jonathan’s delivery is very engaging.”
Podcast: Mandela: The Lost Tapes
Genre: History, Documentary
Publisher: Audible
About: In 1993, after 27 years of imprisonment, Nelson Mandela sat down with ghostwriter Richard Stengel to begin working on Long Walk to Freedom, a critically acclaimed memoir that would become a best seller around the globe. Mandela: The Lost Tapes reveals never-before-heard audio from Stengel’s interviews with the Nobel Prize winner, freedom fighter, and former South African president. Hours of rare recordings detail the turning points of Mandela’s life, key moments that shaped a revolution and the man who was to bring freedom to his nation.
Not much to add additionally to the description. It’s really nice to hear his voice again and the unheard tapes. It’s a breeze to get through the episodes. Learning to some interesting tidbits like South African history and episode 3’s CIA involvement. Why am I not surprised?
The podcast is not behind the Audible subscription and is free to listen to via the app. Get after it.
Alexis Soloski • New York Times
““Mandela: The Lost Tapes” doesn’t function as an exposé or critique. Revelations are few. The goal is not to knock Mandela off any pedestal, but to render his statue just a bit more human. And the podcast is a record of Stengel learning to open up as well.”
Just Added:
Pod of Wonder - Pod of Wonder
Football Ramble Presents - Stak
How to Win a World Cup - Audible
Away From Home - The Athletic
Canción Exploder - Adonde Media, Radiotopia
Understand: The Economy - BBC
Crush Hour - Audible
Radiolingo - Crooked Media, Duolingo
Infamous - Campside Media, Sony Music Entertainment
Where There’s a Will: Finding Shakespeare - Pushkin Industries
Spark Hunter - Realm
Skyline Drive - iHeartPodcast Network, Kaleidoscope
TechStuff - iHeartPodcast Network
Pale Blue Pod - Multitude
Top 5 Podcast Pages from 11/22/2022 - 11/29/2022 and Top 5 Podcast Pages from November are the same. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Archetypes
Rachel Maddow’s Ultra
Case 63
Quiet Part Loud
We Were Three
Stay safe, call that friend, have no regrets, 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!
Also, I forgot to add the line that I promoted a Native Canadian podcast for Native American month. Cuz I know. =)