Gobble Gobble These Podcasts🦃
Candy, Mottos, and Music +Top 5
Hey Poddy People!
It’s 7 AM East Coast time as I finalize this newsletter edition. I’m back in Syracuse with my brother and his Thanksgiving dinner. LA vs. Syracuse. Which one do you think I immediately missed when walking out in some 30-degree weather? At the moment it’s clear skies, but a snowstorm is brewing when we leave. There is a lot of physical labor to be done this weekend. There goes my “time off”.
Let’s GOOOO!!!
The Round-Up
Leaving the Coming Soon section: Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire, Generation Barney, 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & The Kid Mero (New Season), Post Run High, Arts Educators Save the World, Terms of Service with Clare Duffy, 16 Sunsets, Faraway, Views on First, Lords of Death, The Rest Is Classified, SmartLess Presents ClueLess, REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana
Friends of Great Pods attended the Signal Awards Winner’s Party last week in Brooklyn since I couldn’t fly over. Thanks, Quinn and Jenn for the write-up. Read more here. Pictures included.
This weekend Acast in collaboration with Amazon Music is opening a podcast studio in London. One of the studios will have Amazon Music naming rights and will be for Indie and underrepresented creators. Nice. There’s an opening party and I won’t be there, but I have boots on the ground to give us a writeup.
On Air Fest 2025 tickets are on sale for the Brooklyn festival and intimate events. The first round of guests has been announced and discounted tickets before prices rise. Get Tickets.
London Podcast Show 2025, tickets are in pre-sale and live for the next 48 hours. Check it out here.
On Great Pods' LinkedIn page, we shared the top 10 podcasts from the previous month. Here’s October’s Top 10 Pods.
Professional Reviewer,
from Ear Worthy, posted his Thanksgiving list. Good people to follow on it, *cough cough*. Read it here.What’s on the Coming Soon…
Fellow USC Incubator company, SecretMovieClub.com invited me to see Pakistan’s animation submission to the Oscars called The Glassworker. I was lucky to attend because it was pretty darn good for an original and from the first hand-drawn animation studio made in Pakistan. I asked the CEO of the animation studio, Mano Studios, Khizer Riaz what podcasts he listens to.
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Candyman: The True Story Behind The Bathroom Mirror Murder
Genre: True Crime, Society
Publisher: 48 Hours
About: On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 to report that someone was trying to enter her Chicago housing project apartment through the bathroom medicine cabinet. Police thought she was imagining things, but when authorities finally checked on McCoy two days later, they found her dead with four gunshot wounds. Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder, revisits the real-life account of McCoy's strange death – one of the inspirations for the Candyman horror film. Hosted by journalist and Chicago native Dometi Pongo, this 6-episode limited series – produced by 48 Hours and CBS News – explores why McCoy's desperate calls for help were ignored…
Tony Todd, the original Candyman star passed away a couple of weeks ago. So the timing of me listening to this recent podcast is strange to me. True Crime, Housing inequality, apartment bathroom mirror designs, and Hollywood. Dometi and the 48 Hours team manage to weave a tragic story and a Hollywood script into a podcast on heartbreak, empathy, and giving us listeners an education. Thankfully, there are transcripts and interviews with the original Candyman writer/director, Bernard Rose who adapted the original Clive Barker story which was based in the UK. Bernard added the Chicago elements during his revisions of the script.
Bernard says the only thing he took from the real-life murder story was how the killers came through the medicine cabinet. I never saw the 1991 movie, but after finishing this podcast, I actually might watch it, even though I can’t stomach horror movies.
I’ve gotten through 4 episodes so far and I can emphatically say, we as a society need to care more about each other. It’s not a scary podcast, but it can be if you think about housing inequality.
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Italian - Quello del diritto all’abitare è un tema più attuale che mai e Dometi Pongo e collaboratori fanno un ottimo lavoro di ricostruzione di una realtà locale che riflette a livello globale molte delle tematiche ancora irrisolte dagli anni ottanta ad oggi in diverse parti del mondo…oltre ad essere un prodotto ben fatto e costruito su solide fonti.
English - The right to housing is a more topical issue than ever and Dometi Pongo and collaborators do an excellent job of reconstructing a local reality that reflects globally many of the issues still unresolved from the eighties to today in different parts of the world…a well-made product built on solid sources.
Podcast: The Energy Curfew Music Hour
Genre: Music
Publisher: Audible
About: It’s time to unplug with the Grammy-winning Punch Brothers, fronted by singer-mandolinist Chris Thile, as they bring you a multi-episode musical variety show with dazzling musical guests, like Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Jon Batiste, Norah Jones, James Taylor and many more.
We join them in the near future when diminishing resources and extreme weather have ushered in a worldwide effort to ration electricity. America has instituted a weekly “energy curfew” where the power grid goes down completely and we all live electricity-free for 24 hours.
Recorded live in front of an audience, revel in the wild and wonderful joy unleashed in these one-night-only performances. Chris Thile and Punch Brothers help you wind down before you power down. Happy Dark Day, y’all.
Ahhhh. Kacey Musgraves on Energy Music Hour? I’m in. If you’re a fan of Prarie Home Companion or Chris Thile’s follow-up Live From Here, then this is the perfect companion. Kacey has been on Live From Here before including a lot of the artists. I got this weekend warmth feeling that sounds like someone is saying “Welcome Home”. Folksy fun, original music, and comedy. Enjoy it this weekend. I’m saving one episode for each week to give me that NPR weekend feel.
I am enjoying the Norah Jones and Sylvan Esso episodes too!
Keelin • Mentally? A Magpie.
"Part satire, part comedy, but mostly a showing of musical prowess, this is a podcast where the listener is a part of this future. After a few episodes you find the rhythm of segments, bantering bits that take this from good, to breathtaking. This podcast reaches back to the idea of live music over the radio."
Podcast: E Pluribus Motto
Genre: Comedy, Educationaal
Publisher: Maximum Fun, Janet Varney, John Hodgman
About: Listening to E Pluribus Motto is like taking a road trip with friends Janet Varney and John Hodgman. In each episode, they spotlight one state and chat about its motto, bird, beverages, songs, and–occasionally–muffins. Plus, you'll hear from residents and guests whose lives or work have been inspired by that state. This podcast is a celebration of regional culture and an homage to the love we all seem to have for the place we call home. Pack your snacks and jump on in!
Yet another fun and educational listen. Judge John Hodgman and Janet Varney banter about the facts and funny around state mottos. It’s a nice car ride listen especially since the US is going to have record-breaking travelers this weekend. I do enjoy a podcast that has some kind of connection with the guest.
…whose lives or work have been inspired by that state…
It gives it a nice rounded-out listen. I don’t know about Connecticut, but I’d like to go to Rhode Island. Hah! Or the official state muffins in Massachusetts. Knowing what I know about lobbying and politics these days, the fact that Massachusetts politicians were banning muffin lobbying, but allowing so much dark money through via PACs…Ok, this took a dark turn. It’s a great podcast and enjoy it this weekend.
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter
"It’s a study of America we’ve never had before. Everything about this show is thoughtful, unique, silly, genuine, and just really sweet."
‘Top of the Pods’ chart from greatpods.co in the past week.
Fail Better w/ David Duchovny - Lemonada Media
Kill List - Novel, Wondery
Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast - Stitcher Studios
The Good Whale - Serial
Redacted: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana - Wondery, BallenStudios
Stay safe, be kind, and feed the needy.
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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Love the podcast recs!