The Ripple Effect🛢️
Wondery event +top 5 and just added!
Hey Poddy People,
Hope you’re week is as fresh as mine. I just came back from a Wondery event, more on that later in the post. This week is a stacked and packed newsletter.
Let’s GOOOO!!!
The Round-Up
Meetups: While our SocalPodcastMeetup.com is on hiatus, Podcast Movement has set up three meetups in Southern California in February leading up to Podcast Evolutions conference. I’ll be there. Check out the dates and RSVP here.
Amy Poehler has been added as a keynote to Podcast Evolutions LA. More info and tickets here.
ITV-Monumental TV in Europe secured the TV rights for Global’s hit Filthy Ritual, made by the true crime Redhanded hosts, Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala. Read more here.
Personal: Did I say this already? Since The Daily Show won an Emmy, it was worth revisiting Trevor Noah’s podcast What Now? It’s got better with his guests and insight into those conversations.
NPR hired a tech executive as their new CEO. Read more here.
Apple announced adding transcripts to their podcast platform. Read more here.
SmartLess Media, you know, created by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes added D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), to host a new podcast, WikiHole. Launching March 4th everywhere. Read more here. I’ll drop the podcast link when more information becomes available.
Controversial? Was the latest season of Normal Gossip a hit or miss for you? I went to catch up and didn’t find it as fun, shocking, funny as the first season. I would love to hear your thoughts on what I’m missing. It was less gossip and more new stories like the town that elects pets.
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: Ripple
Genre: News, Investigation, True Crime
Publisher: APM Studios, Western Sound
About: The largest oil spill in American history captivated the public's attention for the entire summer of 2010. Authorities told a story of a herculean response effort that made shorelines safe and avoided a worst case scenario. Was that really the whole picture? From Western Sound and APM Studios, Ripple is a new series investigating the stories we were told were over. In Season One, we travel hundreds of miles across the Gulf Coast to learn the ongoing effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - which are still impacting many coastal residents more than a decade later.
This investigative podcast is compelling as any reporting should be. Listening in, we have archived audio, interviews on the ground, fishermen affected, offshore rig workers, and how companies like BP covered up the cleanup and aftermath.
It’s what good journalists do. Asking the hard questions and getting out there to get answers and not just watching Mark Wahlberg in a movie and is pretty straightforward to understand.
PR Staff • PodcastReview.org
"In an age of recurring man-made disasters, Ripple provides essential insights into the environmental consequences of our thirst for endless energy."
Podcast: Dr. Death - Bad Magic - Season 4
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Wondery
About: When a charismatic young doctor announces revolutionary treatments for cancer and HIV, patients from around the world turn to him for their last chance. As medical experts praise Serhat Gumrukcu’s genius, the company he co-founded rockets in value to over half a billion dollars. But when a team of researchers makes a startling discovery, they begin to suspect the brilliant doctor is hiding a secret. From Wondery, the new season of Dr. Death: Bad Magic is a story of miraculous cures, magic and murder. Hosted by Laura Beil.
For me, I love magic and the Magic Castle here in LA. So, in episode two of Bad Magic, subject Serhat dabbled in magic and wanted to take it beyond entertainment, that’s when I got the popcorn out.
Then you have the story of who started to expose Serhat. A company that shorts stocks of companies when they publish reports about a company’s wrongdoings. Hindenburg Research. So much so, that I had to look up the report and if it did exist. It did! Read that here. Coming up is the murder-for-hire plot. Host Laura Biel(Sympathy Pains) is a professional at what she does.
Going back to episode one for a second. It starts dramatically with a documentary of the filming HIV-positive, Jeffrey Drew, going to trials from Serhat’s company. It garnered so much attention that Octavia Spencer ended up producing it and taking it on a road show to be sold for streaming. Eventually, Peacock picked up the rights to stream it. As of today, I could not find the documentary on Peacock.
Serhat, is awaiting trial and still has his Instagram up.
Hannah Verdier • The Guardian
“Beil slowly uncovers, his credentials didn’t quite match up to the multimillion dollar value of his bioscience company...”
The entire season is available to binge on Wondery+, and the non-premium-wide release version is releasing episodes weekly. To be honest, I agree with Gregg from The Podcast Geek that with a heavy subject like this spacing out the listening vs. binging is good for me.
Wondery’s Dr. Death - Bad Magic Event
Now about last night: Thursday evening, Wondery held a private event that I had the opportunity to go to for the release of this season held at the Penthouse of The London Hotel in West Hollywood.
It was a classy event, just like the steak they served at dinner. It also made me proud of what the industry can achieve. I met some new colleagues and friends like journalists Amrita Khalid from The Verge and Matt Schimkowitz from The AV Club!
Jason Daley Kennedy, who hosted Exhibit C for Wondery in New York, was back again last night. Aaron Hart, Wondery’s Head of TV and Film, was on hand for the Q&A and to chat about the Podcast to TV pipeline. Long-time readers know I’m always interested in the Pod-to-TV stuff. The Q&A was just the right amount of chat without getting overly talkative. And then you had a nicely curated dinner with entertainment from Magician/Mentalist, RMAX Goodwin who rounded out the evening.
Overall, a great intimate event. My hot take: I wish more podcast companies had the budget and teams to pull something like this off. It brings another level of experience for particular podcasts like Dr. Death.
Thanks to the Wondery - Sunshine Sachs team for the invite and for putting it together. Stay tuned on Great Pods Instagram, YouTube, or blog for more picture and video drops as I increase posts on those fronts. The newsletter was getting too big.
Podcast: Pave it Black
Genre: Business, Science
Publisher: National Asphalt Pavement Association
About: Pave It Black is the official podcast of the National Asphalt Pavement Association. Since 2020, NAPA's Richard Willis and Brett Williams have sparked conversations about the people, issues, and technologies that drive the asphalt pavement industry forward.
This was a podcast that came across my inbox that normally isn’t on my radar. However, podcasts can open us up to industries that the algorithm may not introduce us to—especially a product of our daily lives. I grew a little more educated on the evolution, the science, companies, and particularly, Auburn University being the main testing ground of new mixtures of asphalt.
I was especially intrigued, since I am an EV driver now, about the state taxes collected at the gas pumps to repair and build roads, and how that will affect us since those taxes are levied on electric charging, or at least not yet. Some episodes were a little too niche for me, but there were plenty of episodes to gain insight. The new season around politics/the Capitol is launching next week.
Elizabeth Sholes • Trux Now
"We particularly like that they cover topics we didn’t see on any of the other podcasts to help you stand out from the competition”
Just Added This Week:
Murder in Boston Podcast - HBO, The Boston Globe
Wrong Station - The Wrong Station
Hypnogoria - Hypnogoria
Well, Now - Slate
The Chris Chatman Do-Over - Amy Poehler, Audacy, Paper Kite Podcasts
Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic - Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD
Big Game Hunger - Multitude
Episode One - Episode One
The Raven - Audacy, Tenderfoot TV
L'invasione - Il Post
'Top of the Pods' time on GP. 4 out of the 5 are iHeart podcasts with only one True Crime in JFK.
5. Rachel Goes Rogue - iHeart
4. Amy and T.J. Podcast - iHeart
3. Things Fell Apart - BBC
2. Native Land Pod - iHeart
1. Who Killed JFK? - iHeart
Stay Safe, be kind, and do something nice for your neighbor…if you have one.
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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