Narcos Corridos w/ a dash of Trojan Horses🐎

Science Vs. Joe, Olympics Scam?, Vday, figure skating, +Just Added

Feb 10, 2022

Hey Poddy People,

I don’t know if anyone has told you this, but Google SEO is hard. Not just implementing SEO, but understanding what it indexes. Moving on…

Podcast Conference News:

I’ll be moderating a panel with these podcast buddies at Podcast Movement’s Evolutions conference in March. You’ll recognize the two pod friends on the right from my east coast visit. Gregg Cunis, on the very left, whom I met at the last Podcast Movement conference, is the host and creator of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes. If you are in LA or planning on going, say hi! Look at us. Who would’ve thought?

See the source image — Paul Rudd is coming. Are you? (He’s not)

Podcast Twitter Space: I’ll be joining some more cool people Friday, 2/11, at 4 PM PT, to discuss why podcast criticism and newsletters are necessary. Set your reminders here.

Podcast News: The popular, Last Podcast On The Left, is now back on all platforms after being exclusive to Spotify for about a year and some change.

Podcast to TV news: The trailer to The Dropout podcast live dramatization is out. Not going to lie, it looks juicy.

The great Stephen Fry makes his appearance as the Chief Scientist of Theranos. I added a review from his new Audible exclusive podcast from Critic James Marriot. I love the Brits and their honesty. Read it here.

On to my picks this week…

Podcast: Science Vs.
Genre: Science
Publisher: Gimlet

Juicy. The drama continues! Science Vs., a Gimlet/Spotify science podcast, decided not to publish any more episodes, well after this last one, until the Rogan misinformation is taken seriously. In the latest episode, they decide to fact-check the podcast episode that started this mess on JRE, “Dr.” Malone. Science Vs. covered at least four claims that were made.

The TL;DR: The Doctor on JRE cherry-picked a lot to fit his narrative, you think he owned a cherry farm. Have a listen!

Aaron Tannenbaum - Yale Scientific
“Science Vs” is a terrific choice for all who are curious about the world and who would like to train their minds not to believe everything they hear.”

Yes, that Yale.

Fact Check

These two podcast recommendations dropped all their episodes last week. As mentioned then, I would be looking out for Critic reviews. It happened and this time instead of an honorable mention, they get upgraded to the regular treatment.

Podcast: Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez
Genre: Music History
Publisher: Sonoro, Futuro Studios

They said on the podcast Chalino was like the Tupac for regional Mexican music. Five episodes in, between the Narcos trade and going into music, while carrying a strap, it might be. I just finished the episode where some disgruntled fan with a gun didn’t get his song played and there was a shootout. Wow. Quite the story of this gangster.

Javier Cabral - LA Taco
“The podcast is broken down with each conspiracy theory regarding the end of Chalino’s life converted into a complete episode, making it nearly a challenge for the listener not to binge it all.”

Cali-Mex Music

Podcast: The Trojan Horse Affair
Genre: News, Society
Publisher: Serial, The New York Times

Serial and NYT probably don’t need the promotion, but it’s good. It’s about how one hoax of a letter changed the treatment of one specific group of people, British Muslims, and everything surrounding it. There is quite a bit of parallel when the bible-belt south was going through the whole “Sharia Law” is taking over our country conspiracy.

It’s great to listen to Brian, host of S-Town, take Hamza Syed (fresh out of journalism school), to investigate the letter. The journey of Hamza’s growth and emotions throughout the podcast is a refreshing path that reminds me of some of Sarah Koenig’s growth in season one of Serial. Albeit, Hamza is a bit more novice.

Oh, and as a Muslim in the States, I’m glad non-POC get to listen and actually digest what is happening in this podcast on a mainstream level.

Patricia Nicol - The Times UK
“Where they do succeed, however, is in creating the most thought-provoking podcast since Sweet Bobby."

Sweet Bobby just came out a few months ago!

Sweet Hamza

Podcast: The Cut
Episode: Why Try?
Genre: Society
Publisher: Vox Media

Ok. So get this…

oatmeal influencer @acechhh

do u guys remember this rich harvard lady who scammed her way into the olympics. her performance still sends me

After seeing this on my timeline, I tweeted that this story needed to be a podcast episode. I promptly got a reply pointing me to an episode from The Cut in 2021. Was it a scam? Was it a loophole?

In the episode, host, B.A. Parker explains the who, what, when, where, and how of this crazy story, as well as an interview with that Olympic skier. The episode transitioned to another story with a family member being on a Food Network competitive show. Ultimately with the same theme: Keep Trying.

I love it when an episode’s learnings come together.

Olympic Bronze

Episode: Why Try?

Honorable Mentions:

The great Blind Landing podcast just came out with Season Two for the winter Olympics. If you recall, season one was on the gymnastics issue from the 2000 Olympics vault being two inches off, which is massive in that sport.

About: Season Two is a thought-provoking deep dive into the world of figure skating. Behind the scenes, behind the jumps and spins and sequins is a shocking culture of exclusion, discrimination, and prejudice.

Lauren Passell - Podcast The Newsletter
"(Season 2) It has everything but not too much, and I simply enjoyed the experience of listening to it.”

Quad Spin Jump

For Valentine’s Day, single or not, why not have a go at our “Relationships” genre! This Is Dating, 51 First Dates, Forever Is A Long Time, and more! I’m not celebrating it, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t!