I Finally Listened! 🎧
Afghanistan withdrawal anniversary, book drama, & acclaimed pod from the past. +Just Added!
Hey Poddy People,
Back from the Bay and now #LATechWeek is going on. A lot of networking and pitching. My only issue is driving around LA traffic.
Updates:
Bay Area meetups:
I met with the podcast industry writer, Skye Pillsbury, to catch up on all things podcasting. She has a newsletter you can subscribe to for some industry-deep dives.
Write it up! Right after that, I met with pod buddy and fellow panelist for next week’s Podcast Movement conference, Maya Chupkov, and her pup, Stu.
We did an IG/Tok dance when we first met at Podcast Evolutions conference here in LA. Watch that mess here.
I am on another panel next week, “Where are the Critics?” with Lauren Passell, Arielle Nissenblatt, Galen Beebe, and Rebecca Lavoie. Excited to share our Great Pods learnings. Come say hi!
#LATechWeek is this week and I’ve been to two events so far. Coffee meetup at Slauson & Co. They are revitalizing startups that traditionally get overlooked by minority founders. Will.I.Am showed up too. Did I talk to him? Nope. I would be a mess and no one wants to see that.
Let’s get it started Later that day, I went to a live podcast recording for Worklife’s podcast Dear Twentysomething.
A conversation about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Radiotopia partnered up with Goldhawk to add last year’s Mumbai Crime podcast to their network. In doing so, they have wiped the old feed clean (trust me, I went looking), to re-release it and promote it. I did ask PRX what learnings they have in this strategy of re-releases because Realm also did this with an older podcast, Hothouse Bruiser. I did not receive a reply back from PRX before the newsletter release.
If you know someone that is interested in investing in our business, hit reply!
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Kabul Falling
Genre: News
Publisher: PRX, Project Brazen
If Malala is recommending your podcast, I listen.
It’s the one-year anniversary of Afghanistan pull back from the US government. This podcast has first-hand narration from the Afghans that lived through the last 20+ years and some that are actually still there trying to get out. Reporter Nelufar Hedayat guides us through each story in portions. I can’t imagine just getting to an airfield with your family through knee-high smelly sludge just to be free. It can be emotional, but it must be heard.
Ximena Smith • Stuff NZ
“The stories are vivid and visceral...The show also has a cinematic feel to it, with extensive use of atmospheric sound and an evocative soundtrack.”
Related: Out of Afghanistan
Podcast: Missing Pages
Genre: Books, True Crime
Publisher: The Podglomerate
Who would’ve thought I would be recommending more book-themed podcasts? But, here we are. Missing Pages, however, is more about the juicy drama in the book publishing world.
I remember hearing about the first episode’s subject, Kaavya Viswanathan, who was accused of plagiarism from her school paper, the Harvard Crimson back in the 2000s, and the Katie Couric interview. Harvard cleared here from plagiarism.
Nicholas Quah • Vulture
“It’s plenty fun, almost trashy fun, and definitely interesting if you’re into the material.”
It almost sounds like Nick describes Missing Pages as a guilty pleasure for book lovers.
Podcast: Floodlines
Genre: Society, History
Publisher: The Atlantic
If you are a consistent podcast listener, you definitely have listened to this. Our 2020 master list of top podcasts had Floodlines at #1 with the most mentions. I’m late, but I FINALLY LISTENED on my SF to LA drive.
About: Some call it Hurricane Katrina. Some call it the Federal Flood. Others call it the day the levees broke. On August 29, 2005, the city of New Orleans was submerged. A story of rumors, betrayal, and one of the most misunderstood events in American history.
With Hurricane Katrina being the baseline, it’s really about the aftermath. Government failures, systemic racial inequality, misinformation. The general frustration is palpable throughout. Ugh.
Galen Beebe • Bello Collective
“an important story, beautiful writing, powerful characters, and rich sound design.”
You might remember this Kanye classic during a telethon for Katrina relief:
Just Added:
ROGUEMAKER: A Science Fiction Podcast
Stay safe, be empathetic, save electricity, and be kind!
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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