Hey Poddy People,
Website Updates: We made some backend updates to speed up the website. Images should be loading faster.
Newsletter Updates: Shhhhh…don’t tell Substack (we’ve already told them), but making the newsletter posts available as blog posts on the Great Pods website has been an ordeal. User testing has shown us that when people click on our Newsletter tab, they expect to see past posts and not just a sign-up form. As easy as Substack has been for an email newsletter, we need to switch to something that has the additional tool of embedding on our website. If you use an email & blogging product that’s easy to use, please let me know!
Industry News: Mailchimp is in the process to be acquired for $10 billion+ by TurboTax parent, Intuit. Why does that matter? Well, if you ever listened to the True Crime podcast staple, Serial season one, you would know Mailchimp. #Mailkimp
Twitter News: We are working on our first Twitter Spaces conversation! Stay tuned at https://twitter.com/greatpods for the update!
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Hello, Nature
Genre: Nature, History
Publisher: Dustlight Productions, REI Co-op Studios
Fresh! Coming out tomorrow, Friday, September 17th, is a new podcast from Misha Euceph. Earlier this year, we recommended her other excellent podcast, Tell Them, I Am. With Hello, Nature she’s partnered with REI to explore the great outdoors!
We got a sneak peek of episode one of Hello, Nature thanks to the REI team and Misha. If there is one thing I appreciate in Misha’s storytelling is the introduction, introspections, and lessons to wrap up the episode. It’s pretty darn good.
Misha seeing South Asian women in shalwar kameezes and her reaction is honest and something I’ve felt myself while growing up.
PodcAsteroid
“This very quickly becomes a boots on the ground audio documentary that is tackling more than mountain hikes, but also history, perceptions, and fears. A blend of background audio, descriptive commentary, and snippets of interviews make you feel that you are taking the journey, too.”
Podcast: Snatching Sinatra
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Spoke Media, Wondery
Uncle Jesse, errr John Stamos, produces and hosts this true-crime podcast based on the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra’s son, Frank Sinatra Jr. Read about that here. John gained the rights to the kidnapper’s side of the story from singers Dean and Jan (Surf City fame), who were friends with the kidnapper himself, Barry Keenan.
John does a good job with his interviews with Barry (now 81 years old) throughout. What’s crazy is that Barry only asked for $240k when the Feds said they had $1 million to give. Listen to find out why.
Side note: I perked up when I learned that Dean Torrence attended my alma mater, USC, in episode two and mentioned meeting Barry at Tommy Trojan for part of the story. Dean had nothing to do with the kidnapping.
James Marriot - The Times UK
“Wonderfully gravelly, noirish narration…”
I agree James. I agree.
Podcast: This Land
Genre: Society, History
Publisher: Crooked Media
Perspective. I believe the world would be a better place with a lot more perspective. This Land not only sheds light on court cases of the past and uncovering new court cases, but gives us a deeper peek into the struggle of Indigenous people's rights within the U.S.
About Season Two of This Land: Host Rebecca Nagle reports on how the far right is using Native children to attack American Indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda.
A few episodes in, it’s quite an eye-opener of how laws are being chipped away from different angles and what implication they may have on even bigger laws.
Lars Odland - PodcastReview.org
“This Land is worth listening to not just for its legal analysis of the Murphy case, but because of Nagle’s detailed and caring exploration of Native American history, the indignities Native Americans have suffered, and their resilience in spite of them.”
Honorable mentions:
These were our Top 5 Google Searched Podcasts for Great Pods in the month of August 2021.
https://greatpods.co/podcast/the-turning-the-sisters-who-left
https://greatpods.co/podcast/i-am-all-in-with-scott-patterson
It’s no surprise to me that these podcasts, mostly from iHeart, were able to get critical reviews by their launch weekends, some with our assistance.
Stay safe, get vaxxed, and wear a mask!
XOXO
Captain Ron
Great Pods is a website that uses podcast critic reviews and ratings to help you find and decide your next podcast listen.