A Thief After My Own Heart or Wallet 👤💰
Aftershocking and Panicking +Just Added & charts
Hey Poddy People!
And new subscribers, WELCOME! This month is the 3rd anniversary of the Great Pods newsletter and the creation of the GP website! I believe it was 3 subscribers including myself and 1 visitor a day for 3 months on the website…including myself.
3 Years Later:
Over 200,000 visitors
Over 1,500 newsletter subscribers
Over 4,000 reviews added
Let’s GO!
The Round-Up
Are you a podcaster? Have you been reviewed by a publication big or small? I am testing out a submission form here to add reviews to the site. Let me know if you have feedback.
Are you releasing a new podcast? Or a new season? I am testing out this submission form here. Just like the other one, let me know if you have feedback.
FYI, I review all the entries before they go live.
If you aren’t following GP on Instagram you’re starting to miss out. I’ve been posting some more collages and photos from the podcast conferences this year. Check them out.
The Afros & Audio Podcast Festival is happening in October in Baltimore. More info here.
The Ambies submission is live. The Podcast Academy’s prestigious event will be happening in March 2024 in L.A. More info here.
The British Podcast Awards is happening end of September in London. More info here.
If you’re in London, the long-running podcast industry newsletter, PodNews will be doing a live show. More info.
This is cool if you’re into College Football. (Fight on Trojans!) For ESPN’s College Gameday, where they go to a different college campus each Saturday, sponsor Mercedes has produced a Gameday Sprinter van podcast studio. Check it out. H/T PodNews
I’ve been watching a lot of Craig Ferguson (Joy, a Podcast) clips on YouTube lately. HILARIOUS. His quips are so fast and great. Anyway, there the show visited Paris for a couple of episodes and it reminded me of a podcast that films outside. Podcast But Outside. Craig has a little more budget for music and characters, but definitely not his desk. Check that out. I hope to find a review on his podcast soon!
Spotted: Comedian Bert Kreischer gives Great Pods a shoutout. Check it out here.
Okay, it may have just been his choice of words and not a shout-out. But I’m still going to use it!
Mark this on the interested list: A Race Around the World: Based on the True Adventures of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland is launching on October 3rd. Trailer here.
Stitcher is launching, what I would call, an Esther Perel competitor marriage-relationships podcast, This Keeps Happening with Vienna Pharaon. Launching at the end of September. Trailer here.
Paramount Podcasts announced a couple of upcoming new seasons and podcasts. Read more here. I’ll update the listings on GP as more information becomes available!
Theo Von (This Past Weekend) has a viral video on getting defrauded by KAST media & Colin Thomson. Watch his video here. It’s been picked up from The Verge and Bloomberg, Amrita, and Ashley from their respective publications are asking the questions! Read the Verge article here. Read the Bloomberg article here.
NPR All Songs Considered/Tiny Desk’s Bob Boilen is retiring after 35 years. Read his message here.
Storytime: I briefly met Bob at SXSW in 2016. He was on stage and introducing the next act, which I believe was Mitski. In between a song, Mitski was thanking NPR and Bob for the opportunity. In a moment of silence, I shouted “BOB BOILEENNNNN!!!!” and guess who turned around in the audience right in front of me? It’s Bob. I light-heartedly apologize, but it was a sincere shoutout, and he did mention he never had a shoutout like that. Embarrassing for me, but cool dude. #Legend
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Outlaws: The Good Thief
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Kaleidoscope
About: Vassilis Paleokostas, aka “Greece’s Robin Hood,” has been on the lam for 14 years. In his absence, legends of his generosity have grown. But no one knows where he is, or if the stories are even true.
Join host Miles Gray and our team of Greek reporters as we follow Vassilis’ trail from Athens to tiny islands to remote mountain hideouts. Along the way, we’ll meet Vassilis’s inner circle, chat with police chiefs and prime ministers, and work to understand how this thief managed to steal the country’s heart.
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times
"...wildly entertaining...it is refreshing to find a true-crime podcast about a criminal who goes out of his way to avoid causing distress...
As Fiona mentioned, it is refreshing to have a non-murderous true crime. Miles and the team really put you in the position of understanding the context around the Greek Robin Hood and why he did it. Each episode goes through his path to thievery and the struggle to get an interview with him. We know of such difficulties in getting a subject to talk on other podcasts like The Trojan Horse Affair. Still, it’s a story of someone you might want to root for.
Podcast: Don't Panic with Anthony Atamanuik
Genre: Improv, Comedy
Publisher: Wondery
About: Staying alive in the most ridiculous situations keeps comedian Anthony Atamanuik up at night. If you’re attacked by a swarm of killer bees, do you lay on the ground and play dead? On Don’t Panic, Wondery’s new weekly comedy show, super-worrier Anthony Atamanuik brings to life our most irrational fears and anxieties with some of the funniest people on the planet, from how to escape from a submerged vehicle to how to avoid sinking in quicksand. Along the way, guests will also share what keeps them doomscrolling on their phones, and learn what to do in every worst-case scenario that couldn’t possibly happen in real life. Or could it?
Starting off the program is the improvised sketch of the episode titles. Hilariously, I would not want to be stranded on a deserted island with comedian-actor Adam Pally. After that, it’s conversations on how or Wikihow to get out of a situation. At that point, you start to learn more about the guest. Comedian Actor, Rob Huebel as seen in this gif,
loves bees and follows several bee-keeping Instagram handles. Who would’ve thought? Not me. He guested on the episode surviving a swarm of killer bees.
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter
"...it feels kind of like an audio comic book...The whole thing is buoyed by a funny conversation about what keeps us up at night that feels like two people cracking each other up at a bar"
Podcast: Aftershock Season 2
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: iHeartPodcast Network
About: Aftershock is a fast-paced thriller about a massive earthquake that destroys the West Coast, causing a mysterious island to rise up from the Pacific - with Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), David Harbour (Stranger Things), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead), and Tati Gabrielle (The 100).
One of the first PR emails I got for Great Pods was for season 1 of Aftershock. It was my first favorite fiction podcast with it being immersive and all. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any alerts for season 2 until Kev (Tea In The Sahara) wrote a review on it with the full season already out! Regardless, the entire season is out now and it’s still amazing with the audio immersion. Just like in season 1, I’m looking over my shoulder or in the sky for sirens and helicopters. Sarah’s character already getting into trouble post-season 1’s adventure.
Kev • Tea In The Sahara
“The suspenseful storytelling is still fully intact with the show heading into a different narrative arc as the podcast expands on the recent chain of events. From my POV being from the UK the short window into the complexities of Hawaiian culture within America was the highlight of the show.”
Side note: I better not miss any alerts for Oscar Isaac’s Case 63 season 2.
Just Added This Week:
Two Girls One Ghost - Two Girls One Ghost
American Hauntings Podcast - Cody Beck, Troy Taylor
Dark House - House Beautiful
The Guilty Feminist - Deborah Frances-White
From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge podcast (Series 3) - Audible UK
Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon - iHeartPodcast Network, Warner Bros.
The Commune - Stuff.NZ
Unravel | Firebomb - ABC Podcasts (Australia)
Spoltight 814 - Brenna Thummler, Ryan Dawley
Re: Dracula - Bloody FM
Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe - Apostrophe Podcast Network
If This Food Could Talk - APT Podcast Studios
Sports Explains the World - Wondery
Chameleon: Gallery of Lies - Campside Media
Orbital - Sandy Multi-Media
Conference Call - Paradiso Media
Incubation - iHeartPodcast Network, Pushkin Industries
Fiasco: Vigilante - Luminary
5. The Diary of a CEO (Steven Bartlett)
4. Scamanda (Lionsgate Sound)
3. Dear Alana (TenderfootTV)
2. From The Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast (Audible UK)
1. Strike Force Five (Strike Force Five) (2nd wk at #1)
Stay safe, drink water, and remember, you’re doing great!
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!
Two things:
1. AFTERSHOCK Season 2, let's GO!!!!
2. Happy anniversary!