Get Out of your bubble!
Mercenary or journalist? Climate 1.5, New Zealand, & Jordan Peele. +Just added and October's charts
Hey Poddy People!
See what I did there with the subject line? Get Out, Jordan Peele... never mind.
New subscribers! Welcome to the journey of finding a podcast via critic reviews and some of our podcast startup growth. I am always listening for feedback, so drop a note in the comments or reply back to this email. Don’t forget to share share share.
In this week’s newsletter:
3 pod recs and an honorable mention
Thanksgiving update
Podcast Startup updates with demo days
Top ten podcasts from October
Just added this week: 9
Updates:
I will be sending a Thanksgiving (U.S. Holiday) email next Wednesday/Thursday because we do have international subscribers here! Love to see it.
I’ll be pitching Great Pods for the FoundersBoostLA demo day in December. Friends (you all), Family, and Investors are all welcome. It’s online. Sign up here.
Now, it’s week 1 of 16 of another “university” we’ve joined called Founder University led by Silicon Valley VC Jason Calacanis (This Week In Startups, All-In). You can also follow along with Founder University’s weekly podcast here even if you starting a small business, a podcast, or anything really.
Kumail Nanjiani’s Welcome to Chippendale’s Hulu TV Drama comes out next week with mixed reviews. It’s more optimistic about Kumail’s acting than the actual true crime. I do recommend listening to the Welcome To Your Fantasy podcast which was well-reviewed and great.
Popular Brit Pods!
Men In Blazers (Football-Soccer) podcast is on a live U.S. tour and a frequent guest of the pod, Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver joined them this week in NYC. That episode is on the feed. Tour dates and tickets are here.
My Dad Wrote A Porno is ending its 7-year run. Read more here.
Gen Z’s Emma Chamberlain is going exclusive to Spotify with her podcast, Anything Goes. Read more here. Has anyone tried her coffee brand yet?
And last but not least, we had a great turnout last week for our SoCalPodcastMeetup.com event. Shoutout to Stephanie and Apollo Podcasts for being great partners. People who worked in business development, creators, audio engineers, and those that were interested in starting a podcast showed up. We can’t wait for the next one in February 2023. You can see pics here.
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Threshold
Genre: Climate, Society
Publisher: Auricle Productions
About: Threshold is a Peabody Award-winning podcast that tells captivating stories about people and the planet. Each season, we do a deep dive into one pressing environmental story, exploring it through the intersections of science, politics, culture, and environmental justice. We aim to make space for thoughtful, honest, and intersectional conversations about human relationships with the natural world. Season 4: "Time to 1.5" documents this profound moment in human history, when the window for keeping global heating to 1.5ºC is still open—just barely.
COP27 is this week so climate news is top of mind. Journalist Amy Martin is an effective communicator in this podcast on climate conversations. She has a calming voice and goes through some topics we may not have even realized would exist. This includes the second to the last episode in Season: 1.5, about an overlooked cousin of humans, bonobos, instead of chimpanzees. Learning about their environment and social interactions, while dealing with climate. We need to “think together” and “do it together.” Which is ultimately hard, but we can do it.
Holly Kirkpatrick • Rise Collaborative
“...we often hear from individuals from indigenous communities whose voices have been systematically suppressed. If it’s all sounding a bit serious, be assured that it’s not all doom and gloom. As with any story that is told in-depth, it has light and shade.”
Podcast: Pig Iron
Genre: News, Investigative
Publisher: Tortoise Media
About: Christopher Allen was trying to make it as a war reporter when, aged just 26, he was shot and killed on the frontline in South Sudan. But as news of his death began to spread, suspicion grew. Some claimed he was really there as a mercenary, a fighter. Others said he was a reckless freelancer, in over his head. And there was another question: was he killed on purpose, or was this another accident of war?
Tortoise (Sweet Bobby, Hoaxed) is making great podcasts. Slow news and in-depth investigations. The first two episodes make me think about questions, but as soon as that happens, journalist Basia Cummings answers them. Thanks for reading my mind.
Fiona McCann • Irish Times
“Much of the success of Pig Iron is its nuanced and meticulous approach to a story with an ending at once clearly defined and shrouded in mystery. Pig Iron does best: shows how lines get blurred and sometimes erased, how even Cummings’s own impulses to help Allen’s parents must be admitted and interrogated, how difficult it is to ever claim objectivity or cling to cardinal rules of reporting.”
It reminds me of Hamza in The Trojan Horse Affair where he broke the rules of reporting and objectivity with his emotions.
Podcast: The Aotearoa History Show
Genre: History
Publisher: RNZ
About: The story of New Zealand and its people from its geological origins to modern day, hosted by William Ray & Leigh-Marama McLachlan.
One of the major complaints about Americans is that we live in our own bubble. We don’t know about the rest of the world. I, for one, don’t subscribe to that because I actually like the world’s history. New Zealand or Aotearoa is one I don’t know more about except Lord of the Rings. Shameful I know. But, The Aotearoa History Show, shines a fascinating light on the area’s history starting with season 1’s earth movements. I love geology. Luckily, the narrators let you know where Aotearoa came from and what it means in episode 2. Enjoying a bit of history other than our own is pretty fun.
The audio is clean and professional, it is Radio NZ after all and the subtle sound effects had me looking over my shoulder on my walk.
Special shoutout to our new critic writer friend from Stuff.NZ, Ximena Smith, for surfacing it!
Ximena Smith • Stuff NZ
"(Season 2) My only critique of this new season would be that, in parts, it seems to have lost a bit of the neutrality that made the first season so effective – I remember recommending the show to friends and family of all political persuasions when it first came out in 2019 – and they all loved it – but I’m not sure if this second season will have quite the same broad appeal."
Honorable Mention:
Podcast: Quiet Part Loud
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Publisher: Gimlet, Spotify, Monkeypaw Productions
About: Disgraced radio host Rick Egan has finally found his chance at reinventing himself: by chronicling the cold-case disappearance of several Muslim teens from Staten Island—a group he himself disparaged—in the wake of 9/11. But Rick soon discovers this is no ordinary hate crime, as his ill-considered investigations bring him face-to-face with an ancient American evil that's ready to offer him a monstrous bargain. Executive produced by Jordan Peele.
It’s in the honorable mention because I’ve already given Gimlet/Spotify some features last week with the great Case 63, but Quiet Part Loud is a mixed bag for me. It builds, gets a couple of frights, then there’s a lot going on to keep straight. I am 7 episodes in, thus far. The sound design is great.
I am also mixed about the Muslim backdrop, but I get it. It upsets me, but it also paints the picture of what was posted on 9/11 that was real to me. I was surprised to hear that MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council) was an advisor, whom I am familiar with in the LA area. That was a positive.
All episodes are out.
Shannon S. • Nerds and Beyond
It’s a haunting parable of monsters both human and otherworldly and a fictional but unflinching examination of the current animosity, fear, and divisiveness in America.
Side Note: If you want to learn about dJinn’s in Islamic culture in a fictionalized entertaining show, I recommend watching Ms. Marvel on Disney+. They do a great job with that.
Just Added:
Acid Dream: The Great LSD Plot
Sweeney Talks
Unlicensed
Unladylike
American Scandal (Season: Iran-Contra)
Obscene: The Dublin Scandal
Family Secrets
Witches Anonymous
The Mirror
October’s Top 10 Most Visited Podcast Pages:
Archetypes
Rachel Maddow Ultra
Surviving El Chapo
We Were Three
Kim Kardashians The System: The Case of Kevin Keith
What The Hell Navya?
Hoaxed
The Prince
All There Is With Anderson Cooper
Smartless (Yes…this podcast is still in the top 10!)
Stay safe, stay hydrated, sing a song, 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!