Dying For Conspiracies💀
It's my birthday weekend with action packed updates! +Just Added
Hey Poddy People!
Great Pods hit a milestone in email subscriptions a couple of months ago and for my birthday this weekend, I’d like to re-introduce myself.
My name is Imran aka karaoke name, Captain Ron. I started Great Pods (September 2020) with my buddy Seb, who is now my tech advisor, as a personal pain point. Why should listen to a particular podcast?
The Resume:
Radio/Podcast Bollywood DJ at KUCI in 2010
Worked at TuneIn from 2011 to 2019 in customer/broadcaster support, operations, marketing
Worked at Himalaya Podcast App partially through 2020 on retention right before starting GP
On our almost 3-year anniversary, this is the growth GreatPods.co has seen (analytics was added in January 2021) :
5,000 visitors in 2021
108,000 visitors in 2022
Estimates show we will beat 2022 this year!
In this journey, I’m thankful to all of you Poddy People for seeing the vision. I’ve been hearing this quote a lot recently, “The goal is the journey.” I guess it really is. Will I be working on my birthday? Probably, even if it’s 5 minutes.
The Round-Up:
A new Young Adult podcast from Wondery, Academy, is launching on July 20th. Trailer here.
The Flash movie may be crashing at the theaters, but DC podcasts are doing pretty great. The Flash: Escape The Midnight Circus starring New Girls’ Max Greenfield just released a trailer. Listen here.
AI and Deepfakes? NPR’s Life Kit has a nice primer episode on this. Listen here.
Because of the writer’s strike, no new TV episodes of Late Night with Seth Meyers. However, he and his brother Josh released a podcast called Family Trips that’s out now.
The Anna Delvey Show is picking up some more “meh” reviews. Podcast Critic, Fiona Sturges (Financial Times), said of The Anna Delvey Podcast, “By now, we have surely reached the bottom of the celebrity podcast barrel.” Yikes.
Spotify, amidst consolidation in their podcast divisions (the nice way of saying it), signed Trevor Noah for a podcast. So that means the Luminary deal with Trevor is over.
Luminary, launched a new podcast with comedian Mo Amer, Joking Not Joking. Trailer here.
Maybe
has some reporting on this. =)
Sirius XM is shutting down the Stitcher App, but leaving Stitcher Studios and Earwolf alone. Pour one out for one of the original podcast apps. Read here.
The Ten News has a Pride episode that’s easy to listen to and learn from. “Let your light shine every day.” Listen here.
Crooked Media/Rebecca Nagle's podcast on Native American rights, This Land season 2 was all about the recent battle between Indigenous tribes adopting their own kids against right-wing fanatics to try to strike down ICWA (Indian Children Welfare Act). That season ended in 2021. Well, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Indigenous peoples and This Land in a special episode with a recap. Listen here.
Serial’s The Retrievals, episode 1 was released this morning. No reviews just yet, but judging from all of Serial’s releases, there will be by next week. Trailer and listen.
An unofficial Mission Impossible podcast, Light The Fuse, has now become an Official podcast with Paramount. I find that to be really flipping cool story of unofficial to the official. Trailer here.
SoCalPodcast Meetup #3 was awesome. Thanks to the podcast industry folks that came out. Shoutout to Kasa Media, The Podcast Academy, APM Studios, and co-partner Stephanie for the support. We are planning a Summer Vibes edition for August. Stay tuned.
I started playing Wordle a couple of weeks ago. So when I listened to the latest episode on Wiser Than Me w/ JLD and heard living legend Carol Burnett and Julia Louis-Dreyfus play the game, it was perfect timing. If anything, they upped my game with starter words. Imagine being in a texting group with Charlize Theron with Wordle!
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Non-Podcast Request: It was the second Eid for the Muslim community. I was celebrating yesterday with the family and definitely had a lot of homemade biryani. Outside of LA and SF, do you have a favorite Indo-Pak restaurant with great biryani? Comment and let me know so I can check out if I’m in your city.
Only two recommendations this week because of the religious holiday and video editing.
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Near Death
Genre: Society, Personal
Publisher: Dying For Media, Wondery
About: If you were expecting a sad, depressing podcast about death... this isn't it! Nikki Boyer created the podcast Dying For Sex, which was named Podcast of the Year by the Ambies. Now, she's introducing us to Reverend Peggy, who has been present for the final moments of nearly 2,000 people. A lead chaplain at one of the world’s most renowned hospitals, Peggy shares with Nikki the most riveting end-of-life stories from her 20-year career in spiritual care, with one goal in mind: to help everyone be a little less afraid of death.
You know what I’m going to say judging from the picture. Yes, I met Nikki and her bubbly personality at The Ambies red carpet this year. I loved the funny and truly heartfelt Dying For Sex, so meeting her was very cool.
While I was listening to her new podcast, Near Death, I can’t help having an internal conversation with myself and evaluating my end of life. It wasn’t depressing AT ALL. It’s life. Nikki’s sometimes choked-up emotion is nothing short of real with Reverend Peggy.
I guess this type of personal thinking happens when your birthday comes around. Hah!
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter
“Peggy’s sharing moving, tear-jerking end-of-life stories from her career in spiritual care in a way that will have you laughing as much as crying. Peggy is walking these people home. It means something. And it can be funny, too.“
See also: Dying For Sex
Podcast: Marianna in Conspiracyland
Genre: Conspiracy
Publisher: BBC
About: What happened to the people who fell down the rabbit hole into a world of conspiracy theories during the pandemic?
The premise is easy. Marianna goes into a local town in the United Kingdom to see why it’s been wrapped up in far-fetched conspiracies. She was even invited to join a conspiracy rally by the leader of the group. You’ve heard about grassroots campaigns to make changes in policy around equality etc. This is a captivating listen on localized grassroots campaigns with conspiracies.
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian
“Spring’s careful, reasonable reporting in this fascinating series, which features a good cross section of believers and sceptics and ends with Spring, lightly, wondering about her own safety.”
See also: Death By Conspiracy with Marianna
Just Added This Week:
Summer Camp: The Case of the Phantom Pooper - The Sonar Network
Time to Say Goodbye - Time To Say Goodbye
Tower 4 - BloodyFM
Big Sugar - iHeartPodcast Network
Shiny Bob: The Devil’s Advocate - BBC
Gateway: Cocaine, Murder & Dirty Money in Europe - Project Brazen Originals, PRX
Into The Dirt - Tortoise Media
The News Agents USA - Global Media & Entertainment
Everybody in the Pool - Molly Wood
Chain of Being - Cai Gwilym Pritchard
Reign of Error - Smartless Media, Wondery, Campside Media
Spellcaster: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried - Wondery
Top 5 Podcasts This Past Week: June 19th-25th:
5. People Who Knew Me
4. The Witch Trials of JK Rowling
3. Under Cover of Knight
2. Archetypes
1. Scamanda
Stay safe, take a deep breath, and help each other out!
In the U.S., happy belated Juneteenth and happy Fourth of July!
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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Happy birthday!!