Don't Hang Up on Me!
things are falling apart, vampires +just added and top 5!
Hey Poddy People!
Wow. It’s been a wet and wild week in California. I hope wherever you are you are safe. Had a good time at the Podcast Movement (PM) meetup this week. Meeting up with some old pod friends and made some new ones. I'm looking forward to Podcast Evolution - LA in March. If you make it to any of the meetups that the PM folks put on throughout the country, organizers may hand you a special ticket offer. It’s a good offer to be honest. This isn’t an ad.
Let’s GOOOO!
The Round-Up
PodSummit is a conference for our Canadian counterparts. It’s being held in Calgary from September 21-22. More info podsummit.com
On Air Fest - Brooklyn is at the end of the month.
Podcast Evolutions - LA is mid-March.
Podcast Show - London is in May. Tickets for that just went on sale.
An article circulating poddy-town is Tech Entrepreneurs write up why “Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical statement. It’s pretty good because of how an open system with not one company controlling it has thrived for all of us.
…what we can take away from hearing "wherever you find podcasts" at the end of every episode we listen to is that, sometimes without us knowing, radical systems can survive and even thrive in the modern world of tech and media.
-Anil DashMcCartney (iHeart, Pushkin) Season 2 just released with a lot more Beatles songs starting with Love Me Do. Why am I posting it? February 9th was the 60th anniversary of when the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time. Listen to the pod here. By the way, I Wanna Hold Your Hand was my very first favorite Beatles song.
Baby, This is Keke Palmer (Amazon Music) interviewed Bobbi Altihoff on her podcast without Bobbi playing her character.
On the flip side, Rainn Wilson (Dwight from the Office, Terry Incarnation from Radio Rental podcast) is on Bobbi’s podcast.
Black History Month is on us as a reminder of the cool and important changes they have helped achieve. The Godmother is getting good. For the Black perspective in podcasting check out my friends at the
. They’ll be adding podcast reviews soon, so be on the lookout.Have a podcast to add to the database? New Season? New Release?
Have a professional review that needs to be added?
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A refreshed Coming Soon section is live. Check them out!
Paramount Audio and Backyard Ventures partner up to access influencers, YouTube, and newsletters. Read more here.
Last week I mentioned the Ayo Edebiri episode of Scam Goddess from 2020 calling out J.Lo resurfacing. Well, Tina Fey hilariously had some advice for Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers on their podcast, Las Culturistas, now that they are more famous. Ayo commented. #podcastsareforever
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Things Fell Apart
Genre: Society
Publisher: BBC
About: Since Jon Ronson’s first series, new battle lines in the culture wars have been drawn. And many of them are linked by one extraordinary thing: they all snowballed within days of each other, in May 2020, six weeks into lockdown. Millions of us spent our days locked at home with only the internet for company. People lost their jobs. Politicians told us what to do. We lived in fear of an invisible enemy nobody understood. This bizarre experience changed people psychologically. People and institutions fell apart. The pandemic – and lockdown – were to become dangerously fertile ground for conspiratorial thinking, and for new frontlines in the culture wars. And so in Season Two of Things Fell Apart, Jon Ronson again uncovers intriguing and wholly unexpected origin stories, but this time of the culture wars that ignited during lockdown, and now dominate society. Written and presented by Jon Ronson Produced by Sarah Shebbeare Original music by Phil Channell
Cancel culture is Jon Ronson’s investigative forte. What’s fascinating about Jon’s storytelling is the suspense if you’ve forgotten a topic from the news cycles. The episodes start with interviews and a buildup, all the while, you’re probably thinking about what current event they are even talking about! Then it all starts to make sense and halfway through the episode you find out, it’s George Floyd, or Dr. Judy Mankowitz and plandemic saga. It’s a great way to jog your memory.
In any case, it’s another great season of face-palming.
James Marriot • The Times UK
“(Season 2) Ronson navigates these hidden complexities brilliantly. As an interviewer he is sympathetic, wise and funny. Plus he’s combative when he needs to be. Things Fell Apart is exhilarating proof that nothing is more interesting than the complicated truth.”
Side note: If you like Louis Theroux then you probably know Jon. If you don’t, get to know these two exceptional Brits. Engaging and empathetic.
Podcast: Hang Up
Genre: Reality Gameshow, Relationships
Publisher: Caitlin Pierce, Radiotopia
About: Love reality dating shows but tired of the obsession with marriage? Welcome to Hang Up, a reality dating show with no rings attached. In each season, one person is matched with six prospective love interests. They go on dates over the phone and never see each other. After the dates, the Star chooses one person to “hang up” on and eliminate from the show. And there’s a twist— in the end, the final, winning caller makes their own choice: to either choose the Star back and take an all-expenses-paid vacation together or hang up on the Star and take a cash prize instead.
I mean Valentine’s Day is next week, and I am going to the Good Tape Party. So why not get into the spirit of it all? This was one of those podcasts for me, while vicariously listening in, was, by the end, an introspection on what society tells us to be vs. what we individually feel when it comes to finding a significant other. The last episode summary and interviews from the winners of the gameshow spill some hardships and moments we can empathize with.
Would you take $1000 cash or an all-expense paid vacation with your date? I would figure the vacation would be worth more than $1000. No?
Chelsea Daniel • Vogue
"Hosted by the witty Zakiya Gibbons, it is basically a blind dating game—think Love Is Blind minus the marriage component. This is one of the most entertaining podcasts..."
Side note: FYI, not for kiddos.
Podcast: The Lesser Dead
Genre: Fiction, Drama
Publisher: Wondery, Echoverse
About: THE LESSER DEAD is an 8 x 30-minute immersive audio drama about a disparate group of vampires living in the wild-and-wooly world of 1978 New York City. Our narrator Joey Peacock (Jack Kilmer) — an irreverent, eternally-young 19-year-old — introduces us to his unconventional family and its formidable leader, Margaret McMannis (Minnie Driver), who has built a home for all of them under the subways of the city. Margaret’s strict rules have kept them safe and secure for decades... Until one night when Joey's discovery of three little kid vampires turns their world upside-down forever. The Lesser Dead also stars Danny Huston and Saul Rubinek. It is written by Christopher Buehlman who is also an Executive Producer with Mark Stern, Joshua D Maurer, Minnie Driver and Jack Kilmer. Dan Blank is the director.
Another podcast not for the kiddos. I kept thinking about how Robert Pattinson would have acted in this series because Jack Kilmer killed it. Takes an episode or two to get our ducks in a row and by episodes seven and eight you’re in for the twist.
Minnie Driver’s character from regular human to vampire was amazing to hear. Sound design, voice acting, and narration. That transformation scene stood out for me.
Adi Tantimedh • Bleeding Cool News
“Minnie Driver has an equally complex character to play, fierce, equally flawed, and wounded by past tragedy and loss...atmospheric and gritty recreation of 1970s New York City”
Just Added:
Blindspot: In The Plague of Shadows - The HISTORY® Channel, WNYC
Untold: The Retreat - Financial Times
Runaway Joe - RTÉ
Why Do You Hate Me? - BBC
Time Crisis - Apple
Consumed - Aaron Mahnke, Grim & Mild, iHeartPodcast Network
In The Dark: The Runaway Princesses - The New Yorker
Chameleon: The Michigan Plot - Campside Media
Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything (Not All Propaganda is Art) - Benjamen Walker, Radiotopia
Your Mama’s Kitchen - Audible
Law and Disorder - Podot
Goodnight, World! - Headspace, Sesame Workshop
Patient 11 - Sky News
Unf*cking the Future - iHeartPodcast Network, Imagine Audio
Gun and Wand: The Official Companion Podcast - Alfie Packham, Caroline McEvoy
Chart Music: the Top Of The Pops Podcast - Chart Music
Dansplaining: The Danny Lomas Podcast - Dansplaining
A Piece of Cake with Gregg Wallace - Global Media & Entertainment
World of Secrets - BBC
Avatar: Braving the Elements - Nickelodeon
The Nightingale of Iran - Danielle Dardashti, Galeet Dardashti
You Had to Be There - Hi Barr
The Rainy Day Horror Show - Dusty Mcballs
The Gatekeepers - BBC
Black History, For Real - Wondery
The History Of Curb Your Enthusiasm With Jeff Garlin & Susie Essman - HBO, iHeartPodcast Network
Weekly Charts: 'Top of the Pods'!
5. Diary of a CEO - Steven Bartlett
4. The Rest is Entertainment - Goalhanger Pods
3. Who Killed JFK? - iHeart
2. Things Fell Apart - BBC
1. Dr. Death - Bad Magic - Wondery Media
Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice for your neighbor…if you have one.
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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