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Broadway Crime Fiction, Sweet Betty, Sweet Bobby, & Just Added Reviews
Happy New Year’s Poddy People!
It’s a busy start as we plan and implement our goals for ‘22. Let’s get to it.
Industry News: In a recent survey from Acast and Nielsen shows that 40% of listeners would like a new show from a Youtuber or influencer. Do you think that the movie/tv personality podcast experiment is waning? Read it here.
Newsletter Update: I’m looking to improve the speed of creating the newsletter. I may test to shorten my hot takes to see if that helps. If you have any tips for efficiency, please share them!
Analytics Update: Our goal is always between 10-20% month over month. I was predicting maybe a modest 7% growth of the website’s unique views because Thanksgiving Day gave us a big dip. It turns out that in December 2021 we hit 45% growth.
Twitter Update: Podcast Critic, Keelin did another live-tweeting of a Broadway podcast called Twits in Love.
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Clear+Vivid Episode: Betty White
Genre: Conversation
Publisher: Alan Alda
TV Legend that is Betty White passed away just 17 days shy from her 100th. This episode was released in March 2020 on TV legend Alan Alda’s podcast. It was just nice to hear Betty’s voice, comedy, sass, and much more. One of my favorite things from the episode is the story of Betty always crushing on Robert Redford, but she never met him!
I could not find any articles that she finally met him, but Robert made comments this week that he crushed on her too. 😭😭😭
Jenna Spinelle - Bello Collective
“Alan Alda is a very empathetic interviewer”
Podcast: In Strange Woods: A Musical Podcast
Genre: Musical Crime Fiction
Publisher: Atypical Artists
The iHeart Podcast Awards are now virtual in February due to rising COVID cases. I’m still rolling through the nominated categories. This week is the Best Fiction Podcast, In Strange Woods.
I’m not a Broadway buff like Keelin, but it was a nice change of pace for an audio fiction podcast. I did have to adjust myself that in any moment a character could break out in a song at any moment in the first episode.
Phoebe Lett - New York Times
“...the vocal performances are beautiful; the songs add drama in a way that manages not to be annoying”
Podcast: Sweet Bobby
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Tortoise
This was not the expected podcast to start the new year. However, when I saw not one but three writers from the Guardian have this podcast as their recommendation throughout the year, I perked up.
Three episodes in and we already know who is responsible which is great. I don’t think I could go the full season of build-up. Now we get into the how and why this person did it and it’s getting juicy.
Fiona Sturges - Financial Times
“This is an extraordinary story that is made even more powerful by Mostrous’s empathetic and wide-ranging reporting.”
New Reviews Added:
Mini Weekly Charts 12/27/21-1/2/22 on GP via Google Analytics:
1. Ghostwriter (4th week at #1) - C13Features
2. Frog of the Week (new!) - Frog of the Week
3. Storytime w/ Seth - Earwolf
4. Harsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera - Wondery
Stay safe, wear a mask, get vaxxed, and be kind!
XOXO
Captain Ron
Great Pods is a website that uses podcast critic reviews and ratings to help you find & decide your next podcast listen.