AudioDramaReviews.com Guest Picks!
+round up, and top 5 this past week!
Hey Poddy People,
Now and then I’ll have professional critics take over the newsletter and give their recs. The last one was with Sam and The Audiophile. Read that previous newsletter here. Today’s edition is being guest curated by Michael Bergonzi from AudioDramaReviews.com with his reviews starting back in 2011!
Let’s GOOOO!!
The Round-Up:
Previously on Coming Soon: Here I’ll list some of the newly launched pods that passed their launch date from the coming soon section regardless of reviews.
Paul Giamatti’s Chinwag is having a live show in LA on May 14th at Dynasty Typewriter. Let’s go. I’ve seen a couple of live podcasts there and it’s turning out to be the go-to for podcasts.
The Podcast Show in London is taking shape as announcements come through. One of them is SiriusXM bringing former late-night host James Corden as a featured speaker. James’ show This Life of Mine live radio show put on-demand after appears to be only available on the SXM app and not on podcasting platforms.
In the next newsletter, I’ll be dropping in the RSVP for our Podcast Show Meetup for anyone interested in that part of town!
An interesting one for the kids and music. Wondery and Tinkercast (Wow In The World) released Once Upon A Beat. Trailer is catchy? Yes. Possible earworms? Probably. The kid’s listening on repeat? Most likely. Trailer here.
Ratings Note:
Before we get to Mike’s picks, he has a rating system out of 10 and would like to share how he breaks it down in comparison to GP’s 5-point system:
Mike: I decided to make a different rating system for Great Pods. I’ve also added a middle ground for X.5+ and X.5- with… wait for it… X.5. No plus or minus sign. This only applies to 7.5 Stars and below. See table for exact numbers. I decided to alter the rating system I use when submitting new reviews to Great Pods. Like all rating systems, at the end of the day, the numbers are arbitrarily chosen then carefully selected down to the decimal point. The maths aren’t going to math, so don’t even try for this rating system conversion table. Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter and my recommendations for three audio dramas you should check out. Most are recent, but with technology advancing so rapidly and shows coming out all the time, what does “recent" mean in the podcast space?
You can follow Mike here.
On to Mike’s picks this week…
Podcast: Hobo Code
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Hammer Canyon Productions
About: Hop a freight train with two hobos, a little girl, and her best friend who lives in a coffee can. Hobo Code is an epic journey spanning from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, all the way to the Great Recession of 2008. Starring Becky Poole, Corey Rieger, and Jake Robertson, with Susan Ruttan and Bill Pullman.
It gives K-12/college-level English class book vibes. A blend of “As I Lay Dying” and its non-linear narrative, and “Grapes of Wrath” with its setting of the Great Depression. Being only four-parts long, you can finish it in an afternoon. When it’s done you’ll want to listen again to catch what you missed the first time around.
Podcast: Fleur de la Solitude
Genre: Drama, Fiction
Publisher: Freeda Nera Immortelle
About: The art therapy that will inspire you to start your own journey of Solitude towards Authenticity. It's the beginning of 2022. Pandemic still has its impact on our lives. Mental health is the topic number 1, loneliness is the biggest danger and Authenticity is the only remedy. In a time when artists are most likely to reach it, their biggest source of inspiration, the town of Paris, makes the place where a Balkan artist consciously takes her path of Solitude. Will she survive? Is she going to be completely alone on her healing path? 12 episodes, 12 sessions and 12 original songs!
A French Bright Sessions, focusing solely on the therapy portion of that audio drama staple. It’s a story most artists and those struggling with their mental health can relate to. Episodes can be a bit long, but the gems of wisdom and thoughtfulness made me feel like I wasn’t alone in the world. For those wondering, The primary spoken language is English with singing in French.
Podcast: Superhuman Public Radio
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Superhuman Public Radio
About: Superhuman Public Radio is an award-winning audio drama telling the surprisingly human stories in a superpowered world. These are the stories that fall between the panels of comic books.
The Boys from Amazon meets public radio in a spoof of National Public Radio. How's that for a pitch? in SPR, Superheroes are real and dealing with issues analogous to our own. Its AM radio sound and line delivery timing are spot on with what one might hear on NPR. Having once worked in public broadcasting for 10 years, the only thing that doesn't add to the verisimilitude of the show is the lack of donation messaging and the occasional advertisement that technically shouldn't be there. Jump in at any point and backtrack to mimic the news cycle from the audience's perspective is my preferred way to listen.
This past week on 'Top of the #Pods'
The Price of Paradise - Wondery
Status: Untraced - Tenderfoot.TV
Pretty Sure I Can Fly w/ Johnny Knoxville & Elna Baker- Wondery, Campside Media, Smartless Media
Miss Me? - BBC Sounds
Wiser Than Me w/ Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Lemonada Media
Stay safe, be kind, and donate to a worthy cause! Thanks Mike for the guest post!
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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