Hey Poddy People!
I hope you are having a splendid Thanksgiving week! Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your feedback. Thank you for visiting the website. Thank you for believing.
Letβs go!
Startup update: I just finished the video and submitted the application to the TechStars LA Accelerator. Now we wait for a call or email interview and continue to apply elsewhere.
Analytics update: We hit the max sessions on one of our freemium analytics platforms eight days before the monthly reset. Thatβs a great sign that listeners are coming to find more information on podcasts. If the current trend keeps up even with the holiday, we may reach our highest unique visitors count by the end of November.
Industry News: Spotify buys Findaway, the audiobooks distributor. My hot take: Spotify is pushing to be what Tune In couldnβt back in my day, and with a lot more cash on hand too. The Tune In and Findaway partnership was for unlimited audiobooks consumption that ended up bleeding money on the Tune In side and ultimately was taken out of the premium subscription. Audiobooks is an expensive proposition because of the publisherβs pricing. Spotify has a lot of leverage. This will be an interesting watch.
We have an action-packed long weekend list! On to my picks this weekβ¦
Podcast: Immigrantly
Genre: Society - Educational
Publisher: Saadia Khan (Indie)
We have a lot to be thankful for and listening to immigrant stories is one of them. Host and creator of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan reached out with Critic reviews to add on the Great Pods site. As part of my newsletter homework and being South Asian myself, I had to listen. The two episodes I listened to was with actor Abubakr Ali who is the first Muslim-Arab lead in a Netflix US show. He was smart, empathetic, and understanding. The second episode was with the author Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner). He not only dropped knowledge on writing but perspective on his immigrant story from Afghanistan.
Hana Saad - The Collegian (Tulsa)
βThese conversations break down barriers and offer new perspectives of recent immigrants from countries outside of the United States. βImmigrantlyβ strives to create a space where new stories can be told.β
Podcast: Milk Street Radio & Home Cooking
Genre: FOOD!
Publisher: PRX | Radiotopia
Speaking of being thankful. Food. Another piece of the listening pie (pun intended) is also changing up some traditional foods. I tend to catch up with Milk Street Radio episodes around the holidays because there are always helpful tips and Thanksgiving stories.
Home Cooking on the other hand just released a Thanksgiving episode, where they had singer Camila Cabello call in for some vegan dish assistance. It doesnβt hurt that she is a fan of the podcast too. Sheβs like one of us!
What did I learn from both podcast Thanksgiving episodes: Thanksgiving is about warm spices. What do they have to do with South Asians? They both gave recipes using garam masala! Iβll be cooking up the yogurt roasted carrots with garam masala.
Host Christopher Kimble (Milk Street Radio) ended the episode with a quote I really loved.
βSo despite the headlines, despite what some people claim as a grim future, I look at the kitchen as a place of reconciliation, of goodwill, even as redemptionβ¦please remember to count your blessings, one plate at a time.β
Totally stealing that.
Milk Street Radio Review
Nicholas Quah - Vulture
ββ¦something enormously comforting about letting the show run and wash over youβ¦β
Home Cooking Review
Teddy Nykiel - Taste Of Home
"With witty, pun-filled banter, Home Cooking is as entertaining as it is useful."
Podcast: Nice Try!
Genre: Society - History
Publisher: Curbed - Vox Media
Bidets. This episode had me. It understood me. Stick with me on this international/South Asian episode connection. Iβm laughing even as Iβm writing this. Mainly for those ex-colleagues and friends that always wondered why I had a blue cup under my desk or a watering can in the bathroom. Consider yourself educated. Save the trees people!
Well-known podcaster, Avery Trufelman, 99% Invisible & Articles of Interest, hosts this amusing and educational podcast.
About: βAll about the lifestyle products that have been sold to us over and over, and the promises of domestic self-improvement they have made, kept and broken.β
Alex Shultz - GQ
ββ¦they make for great content."
Honorable mention:
Podcast: Wastelanders: Hawkeye
Genre: Comic Fiction
Publisher: Marvel, Sirius XM
Iβll keep this short since Iβve already recommended a few Marvel podcasts. Hawkeye, the Disney+ show just released this weekend. In the podcast universe, there is Old Man Hawkeye. No South Asian connection here, for now.
About: Forty years ago, the villains of the world rose up and killed all the heroes. Well, all the heroes that mattered. The sole survivor of the Avengers, Hawkeye (Stephen Lang) is now a sideshow freak, re-living the worst day of his life for paying audiences. He's surly, broken, and losing his sight, but there's still that fire in him to be a hero, to avenge his friends.
Danielle Broadway - Black Girl Nerds
βThis dystopian story immerses listenersβ¦β
You made it this far! Here are some podcasts/reviews added in the past week:
Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian (Gen-Z Media, Wondery)
Treat (C13Features, Cadence13)
See You In Your Nightmares (Einhorn's Epic Productions, iHeartRadio)
How It Happened - Season 2 (Axios)
Fallen Angel (Cadence13, Campside Media)
Busted Open (Sirius XM)
Toxic: The Britney Spears Story (Witness Docs)
As always, stay safe, wear a mask, get vaxxed, and be kind!
XOXO
Captain Ron
Great PodsΒ is a website that uses podcast critic reviews and ratings to help you find & decide your next podcast listen.
If you have a podcast that has been reviewed by a Critic and not on the website, please feel free to email hello@greatpods.co with a link to the review. Iβll add it to the site right away.