We Didn't Start The Fire🔥
Silent Twins, Award Shows, New Reviewer + Just Added and Top 5
Hey Poddy People,
I caught the flu last weekend and I’m fine now, but I feel energized. I’m officially fundraising for Great Pods with Family & Friends for this little startup. If you’re interested in investing, send me a note! I used to have updates around the Great Pods as a startup, is that something you are interested in me bringing back occasionally?
Let’s GOOOO!!!
The Round-Up
The subject of Lemonada’s Believe Her podcast (2021), Nikki Addimando, has been released from jail after a reduced sentence via the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. One can hope there is a bonus episode soon. Read more here.
The first week of the new year was a bit of an off week, however, new podcasts and new seasons have come back in full force. The Coming Soon section is already stacked with new podcasts launched this week and launching very soon. Check them out.
CHINWAG Host, Paul Giamatti won his third Golden Globe this past weekend for The Holdovers. He went viral for a photo of him eating at In-N-Out with his award.
I would do the same, to be honest. I may be giving too much space for all that is the Vanderpump-Scandoval drama in reality TV, but if you need a break from Rachel goes Rogue or American Scandoval, my pod-friend Lo, launched her podcast about Bravo Reality TV, called Bravo Therapy. Trailer here.
YouTube RSS feed is officially out of beta and you can drop your podcast feed in. Here are the play-by-play instructions.
Great NEWS: Death, Sex, and Money which was canned by WNYC was acquired by Slate.com. Read more here. Now we wait for Spotify’s Stolen and Heavyweight to get picked up.
Black Podcasters! Want to get reviewed and don’t know where? Friends at
is starting to add reviews. Of course, I’ll be indexing them on GP. Start submitting your podcasts here.Audacy filed for bankruptcy and says it will not affect its podcast operations. Read more here.
iHeart announced their iHeart Podcast Awards is now going to be at SXSW in Austin this March 11th. I think this will be the first time it’ll have an in-person audience(?). Unsure if I’ll be there since Ramadan starts on March 10th. More info.
Podcast Evolutions and The Ambie Awards are in LA and will be March 26th. I’ll be around for that since it’s local for me. More info.
The Top Critics of 2023 post is out. Read it here.
On to my picks this week…
Podcast: June: Voice of a Silent Twin
Genre: Society
Publisher: BBC
About: June Gibbons tells the tragic story of her and her sister Jennifer, twins cut off from the world. After a brief crime spree, they become the youngest women in Broadmoor.
Another deep dive into a podcast’s subject. Taking ourselves to the UK, where this fascinating story takes place.
Jennifer and June Gibbons were the only Black girls in the town of Haverfordwest, Wales. Thus, leading to bullying along with their speech impediment. In addition, their parents couldn’t understand them and with all these forces on them, decided to go silent. They were sent to psychologists, separate boarding schools, and mental institutes that housed killers. Jennifer died in 1993 on a transfer to a more lenient hospital.
In the podcast, we get to hear from June in particular events that were documented, but from the source herself. It’s quite heart-wrenching. Stories of the twins fighting each other, but longed for each other when they were separated, writing novels, vying for their brother’s affection, and their crime spree.
You can find a bunch of videos on the twins here on YouTube as well as the trailer to the feature-length film starring Letitia Wright (Black Panther) once you’re done listening.
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times
“This unsettling, immersive series comes with a swirling soundtrack that expertly mirrors the intensity and claustrophobia of the twins’ relationship, as well as the bafflement of those they kept determinedly at arm’s length.”
Podcast: Who Killed JFK?
Genre: True Crime, Investigation
Publisher: iHeartPodcast Network
About: Who Killed JFK? For 60 years, we are still asking that question. In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's tragic assassination, legendary filmmaker Rob Reiner teams up with award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien to tell the history of America’s greatest murder mystery. They interview CIA officials, medical experts, Pulitzer-prize winning journalists, eyewitnesses and a former Secret Service agent who, in 2023, came forward with groundbreaking new evidence. They dig deep into the layers of the 60-year-old question ‘Who Killed JFK?’, how that question has shaped America, and why it matters that we’re still asking it today.
This is an interesting one. On the surface, it’s great. One of our great filmmakers and storytellers with one of the great journalists tackles this “conspiracy” that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t a lone gunman. Rob Reiner sets the premise for his start in distrusting the government when he was a teenager and Kennedy was assassinated. I wish I was good at writing like David Hoffman is in this podcast.
However, like anything else in this type of investigation, have a healthy bit of skepticism. It can be intriguing as was the last episode and wrapping it all up with a proposal of who did it.
Keelin • Mentally? A Magpie.
"This podcast is a very pretty house of cards. The show sounds great, a “studio quality” if you will. The ambiance is set as a solid audio noir- the mystery and the conspiracy set against the tapping beats of an old spy movie.
Just Added This Week:
Truth and Lies: Epstein - ABC Audio
Time Between Times Storytelling with Owen Staton - Owen Staton
White Devil - Campside Media
Ripple - APM Studios, Western Sound
An American Scandoval - The Ringer
Trauma Town - Amanda Mustard
Stories from the Village of Nothing Much - iHeartPodcast Network
DRIVE with Jim Farley - Magnificent Noise
The Queen's Reading Room Podcast - The Queen's Reading Room Podcast
Marked for Life - Alabama Astronaut
Blindspot: Various Seasons - History Channel, WNYC
Catching the Kingpins - BBC
'Top of the Pods' time on GP. JFK remains up top!
5. Intrigue: Million Dollar Lover - BBC
4. Who shat on the floor at my wedding?
3. Ghost Story - Wondery, Pineapple Street
2. Amy and TJ Podcast - 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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Great job.
Will definitely check out the Silent Twin podcast. I had watched the movie but I felt like I was missing context.