🔮 A podcaster's life is in your hands 🎙 cake sitting 🎂 balloon release gone-wrong 🎈revenge for the one-star podcast review ⭐️
🍭 👂 You're in for a treat! 🌈 🤸♀️
Bonjour!
Today is Monday, March 28. There are 40 days until I go on my next Disney cruise. In case this email is too long, a hilarious choose-your-own-adventure is here, an on-brand Cleveland story here, K-pop meets internet disinformation here.
This week we’re getting to peek into the listening life of Sojourner Ahebee (she/her,) a multimedia journalist and audio producer based in Philadelphia. As the Health Equity Fellow at WHYY News ( NPR Member Station), she writes and produces audio stories about institutional and interpersonal patient experiences with racism within and beyond the American healthcare system, and the countless communities of color who are on the forefront of advocacy and research. A graduate of Stanford University, Sojourner has produced print and audio stories for The Atlantic, NPR, Poynter, Roxane Gay and Tressie McMillan Cottom’s podcast "Hear to Slay," & others. When she's not reporting, she enjoys writing poems and taking long nature walks.
The app you use to listen: I mostly use Apple Podcasts. As an iPhone user, it's very convenient and I enjoy being able to download new episodes I can save for later when I'm on a run or away from my home and don't have access to wifi. More recently, I've been trying to make more of an effort to use Spotify because their algorithm for suggested podcasts always feels aligned with my listening interests. And there's also the incentive of having your listening habits summarized at the end of the year through the Spotify Wrapped feature, which is always a fun way to reflect on where your listening took you in a given year.
Listening time per week: 10-12 hours per week
When you listen: I always go for a morning walk or run, which is when the majority of my podcast listening gets done. Recently I've been enjoying history podcasts like Revolutions, which takes listeners on a deep dive of major political revolutions in world history(I've been living for the season about the Hatian Revolution!). I love listening to chatty/interview-based podcasts (Back Issue, For All Nerds, All My Relations, How to Survive the End of the World, The Stoop) while doing other restful activities like cooking and cleaning. Lately, around breakfast time, I've been loving OnWriting, a screenwriting podcast that invites writers from film and tv to come and discuss their creative process.
How you discover: Word of mouth from friends and colleagues, recommended podcasts from algorithm in app, podcast hosts who mention other shows, writers/artists I follow on Instagram.
Anything else you want to say? On average, Black Americans informally adopt at higher rates compared to other racial groups. And Black grandparents specifically are more likely to be a primary caregiver of their grandchildren than the general population. In the Black tradition, care, not blood, is the currency here. For my latest WHYY/The Pulse audio story, I looked into the history of Black informal adoptions, & the social/economic capital they often make possible. Listen here.
xoxo lp
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Emmy Olea
Emmy Olea is the host of Sonoro Media’s Crumbs, an audio memoir about the things we settle for and the bits of ourselves that make us who we are. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Sonoro on social media here.
How would you describe Crumbs in 10 words or less?
Crumbs is raw, relatable, and empowering.
Why did you decide to turn your story into a podcast? Why a podcast?
Haha.. I didn’t know what I was getting into. I wrote a book. The book was written to help others struggling with identity, non-traditional family dynamics, addiction, child traumas, sexual abuse, etc. When getting testimonials, my friend Utkarsh Ambudkar asked if he could pass along my proposal to someone who’d be riveted to read my story. I said, “sure why not”. A few days later, Alex Fumero called and proposed the podcast idea. At the time, I didn’t have a literary agent, we were in the middle of the pandemic, so I thought it could be a fun project to do with all my downtime. When I started recording, I realized that I was pretty much baring my soul to the world.
How did the show change from the moment you dreamed of it to the moment episode one launched?
What started as an idea to have something fun and flirty turned out to be something so deep and much more meaningful than I expected. To be completely honest, I had no idea the show was going in the direction that it did. I’m glad that it did, the end result was something so beautiful.
You share a lot of personal details. What was the most difficult for you?
It was important to me to keep it real, no mask. With that came the good, the sad, the ugly. One of the most difficult things during the recording was reliving a lot of painful memories. There were times when I thought I couldn’t do it, or felt nervous to share certain details. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am quite reserved and I tend to keep my guard up. I had to remember what the primary purpose of the show was, to help others. That kept me going.
What, for you, is the part of your story that you are most excited to share?
I’m mostly excited to share the internal growth from episode to episode. As a kid, I never thought I could escape the lifestyle that I had. I didn’t know that my experience, the pain and darkness I had lived through was going to be my biggest asset to help others.
How did you feel when you were done recording the final episode? Was a weight lifted off or were you nervous?
I finished recording the dating stories last summer. I was so nervous, I thought, “oh my goodness it's all out there. I can’t undo it.” But I did feel lighter, like I had taken a huge weight off my shoulders by putting it out there. I felt freer.
Was there anything left on the cutting room floor that you can tell us about?
Well, there are a handful of stories I wish we could have recorded, like the time I dated a trans man, an gnarly experience I had with a baseball player, a guy I dated when the world suddenly shut down, the time I dated a marine who had no idea what transgender meant, and a few others. Maybe in a future project.
What did you learn about yourself making the podcast?
In hearing the podcast, I learned that my entire life I’ve been pretty hard on myself. That I need to give myself a break because at the end of the day I didn’t turn out so bad.
hey.
✨Adela Mizrachi (of Podcast Brunch Club) and I are starting a podcast, Feed the Queue, which will be a feed drop show, featuring episodes of our favorite indies that aren’t getting enough attention. You can hear the trailer here, we’d love for you to leave a rating and review about HOW EXCITED YOU ARE!!! Get pumped to hear our absolute favorite things, things you’ve probably never heard before. We’re hand delivering you the best. Hear the trailer.
✨The most recent issue of Podcast Marking Magic was all about a word I heard buzzing around at Podcast Movement a lot—partnerships. (And if you listened to this episode of Tom Webster’s I Hear Things, you are as convinced as I am that in order for indies to thrive they need to work together.) I talk about the four things most podcasters want to do first when it comes to marketing, and why those cause spikes and not constant, steady growth. And why if you want constant, steady growth, you need to work with others. Read it here.
✨Thank you to everyone who said hi or came to one of my presentations at Podcast Movement Evolutions in LA last week. This gathering of my favorite people in the world is always a highlight of my year. I’m tired, sore (for some reason,) I’ve lost my voice, and I’m so excited for what’s coming up in podcasting. See you all next time?
✨Arielle Nissenblatt spotlighted the podcast Climate Cuisine in her newsletter and podcast.
🚨If u only have time for 1 thing🚨
In Your Hands is a new “choose your own adventure podcast” from Starburns Audio, but it’s more a choose comedian/host Lizzy Cooperman’s adventure podcast. Each episode, she proposes two life paths, and listeners have 24 hours to listen and vote (in her IG stories) which path she should take, then she’ll do it and report back. The first episode leaves listeners with two choices: should Lizzie hire a life coach or buy a Coach wallet? It ended up being a heavier decision than I thought it’d be. Lizzie brings on funny guests to help listeners make the best decisions, but I can’t tell what the listeners want. Are they making the decisions that are best for Lizzie? Or the ones they want to watch play out? (In one episode, Lizzie actually tries—and fails—to get a job at Coldstone Creamery.) This podcast is a mix of fun elements—guests, audio footage of phone calls, comedy, real-time audience engagement, and personal diary—that I’ve never seen in one place. In Your Hands has pioneered a new weird genre that I love.
⚡️News from Sounds Profitable⚡️
It seems hard to believe that Sounds Profitable (check out the newsletter and podcast) is only a year old—I have learned more than a decade’s worth of precious information from Bryan. In a recent issue, Bryan breaks down what he’s accomplished this year, what he’s learned, and where we go from here. If you aren’t signed up for this party, you’re missing out and I have no idea how you’ll ever catch up. Read/subscribe here.
💎BTW💎
🎙️A little treat sprung up in the Radiotopia Presents feed—A Hit Dog Will Holler is an audio drama starring Gina, a podcaster with a political-yet-entertaining podcast called Accounts Receivable where she does a lot of talking about Black empowerment (that sounds really nice) but isn’t walking the walk or doing any true activism. She is crippled by intense agoraphobia and cannot drown out a roar she hears every time the door of her studio is open. This is juxtaposed with another character Dru, who is out on the frontlines of the war against racial injustice. I’ve listened to two episodes and Gina and Dru have just met. The voice acting is amazing and I feel like I’m reading a novel that I do not want to put down. Listen here.
🎙️One of my favorite comedy podcasts of last year, Truth Hounds, is back for a new season, but for their first episode instead of investigating something like Anna Seregina and Kyle Mizono usually do (probably should have put “investigating” in quotations) they obsess over a terrible Apple Podcasts review they got for season one. Perhaps you can relate to this, but perhaps you have not gone to the lengths they did to get to the root of the “problem.” Their solution is to go sky diving, and to get podcast advice from the guys behind another funny show, Podcast But Outside. The result is a wacky discussion about criticism. Listen here.
🎙️Vice and iHeartRadio are collaborating for a 10-episode podcast about Epik High’s Tablo, Authentic: The Story of Tablo (aka Daniel Kim.) Hosted by Vice News reporter Dexter Thomas, Jr., Authentic explores how the internet forum Tajinyo (“Tell The Truth” planted a mass hate movement against Tablo which left him fearing for his life and the safety of his family. It’s not just about the K-pop scene, which I’m into, but about internet disinformation and the price of being a star. Listen here.
🎙️I know Miwa Messer personally when I worked with her at Barnes & Noble (one of the best jobs I’ve ever had,) but that’s not why I’ve been absolutely pounding episodes of Poured Over, the podcast from Barnes & Noble, hosted by Miwa. Miwa has read everything and cares so deeply about good writing and is so in sync with these authors, the interviews are fantastic. She’s not an interviewer asking questions, she’s furthering bookish discussion with her wealth of book knowledge. My *favorite* part is when Miwa asks writers what they are reading these days, and you’ll find passionate answers about things you’ve never heard about, new appreciation for writers like Rachel Cusk, and author affinities for Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anna Karenina, and more. It’s a book love fest that has made me spend less time listening to podcasts and more time reading. Listen here.
🎙️I feel shame for not knowing that a comedic moment from American history involves Disneyland, my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and an enormous balloon release, but Cautionary Tales lies it all out (and does a great attempt in trying to explain why anyone would think this balloon release was a good idea and outlining what mistakes were made.) In 1986 and in an attempt to outdo Disneyland’s Guinness world record balloon release of 1M balloons for its 30th year anniversary (and in an attempt to…draw tourists to Cleveland instead of Disneyland???,) United Way mapped out a plan to release two million balloons, but eventually stopped at over 1.4 million. The inflated balloons collided with a storm, clogged the land and waterways, then washed ashore of Lake Erie. The balloons scared horses, caused car accidents, stopped airplanes, and made it impossible to the coastguard to find two fisherman on Lake Erie, who might not have died were it not for the balloons, but did. This story feels like an episode of The Simpsons, and a that’s-so-Cleveland story. Poor Cleveland. (In case your first thought was to try to outdo Cleveland’s 1.4M balloons, please note: Guinness no longer measures environmentally unsound events like balloon releases.) Listen here.
🎙️The Alarmist gets to the bottom of who’s to blame for the disastrous 1955 opening of Disneyland. (Women’s heels were sinking into the too-newly planted asphalt, there was a gas leak, rides were breaking down, the refreshment stands ran out of drinks, etc.) The more and more I make public my love for Disney World, the more of you podcast nerds are coming out of the woodwork to divulge to me that you are also Disney nuts—there must be some huge overlap. So podcast/Disney nerds, this one is for you. I love all episodes of The Alarmist, but it’s always nice when every once in awhile, there’s one where nobody dies. Listen here.
🎙️I cackled my way through another episode of Femanism (“the podcast for men, by men, for women”) where comedians Sam Martin and Jamie Hoggart instruct us on ways to support woman soccer players, pitching a show for “an amazing and helpful” TV show for women’s safety, and…Sam is still tracking his wife’s menstrual cycle, because allyship. The awareness Sam and Jamie have about the lack of self awareness of the the characters they play is brilliant. (On women ageing: “I’m never gonna sleep with you if you’re not hot but you have options.”) Listen here.
🎙️Who do you wish you could hear interview Anna Delvey? Certainly it’s not Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper, but that’s who did it. In an incredibly soft-ball interview, Delvey says “I don’t know” a lot and paints herself as an aloof diva with zero regrets who is pretty much nailing it in prison. (“If you have money at Rikers, anybody will do anything for you.” She continues to work the system.) Alex asks questions like, “If you could invite any three people to the opening of your foundation party, who would it be?” (and before Delvey gets to three, Alex interrupts with “do you care about the Kardashians?” and “when you asked people for money, was your vibe just like chill?” Anna “never complains and never explains.” Still, I suggest you listen, or watch. It’s only available on Spotify where there is a video element. It may not be the Anna Delvey interview I wanted, but it’s…something. Listen/watch here.
🎙️An episode of The War on Truth tells the full story of Marianna Vyshemirska, the pregnant Ukrainian woman who was wounded in the bombing of a Mariupol hospital. Host Marianna Spring explains how Russia seized upon this opportunity to create a disinformation campaign, claiming that Marianna was an actor, leading pro-Russian trolls to spread the message online. The War on Truth is letting the first online war play out in our earbuds with great journalism, interviews, and sound bites, and is documenting Russian disinformation spread that is both fascinating now and will be interesting to study later. Listen now.
🎙️We’re all familiar with The Amityville Murders, which took place on a November night in 1974. An entire family, the DeFeos, were found dead and face down in their beds. Well almost. There was one family member that survived, Ron, the oldest son. This story is famous for the house, known as one of the most haunted places in America. But on Very Scary People, hosted by Donnie Wahlberg (yes that Donnie Wahlberg,) is looking past the ghosts and into the DeFeos family, to find sibling rivalry, domestic abuse, and mafia ties, to try to get to the bottom of the mysterious murders. There’s a lot we know about the house, but not so much about the family. This story is much scarier. Listen here.
🎙️Jessica McDonald was a teen runaway, single mom, and soccer star who rose to the pinnacle of sports in Lyon, France, when she and her teammates won the U.S. Women’s soccer World Cup. Payback, a Longshot production, is telling the story of how she is battling systemic inequalities in soccer. Alex Andrejev talks to legends like Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers and Joy Fawcett to look back at the early days of the USWNT, and the decades-long fight for equality. It’s an important story about women in sports, but also a great dive into Jessica’s remarkable story. (I must add I though it was strange that in a 30-minute podcast episode about women in sports, I was served 4 CoolSculpting commercials. I’m not going to not listen, but that felt off.) Listen here.
🎙️Criminal tells the the bizarre a story of an imposter named Mary Baker who in 1817, appeared in Gloucestershire, England, claiming she was a princess (Princess Caraboo) from the island of Javasu in the Indian Ocean, who had been captured by pirates before jumping overboard in the Bristol Channel and swimming ashore. (I know I said last week I said I’d stop talking about Wild Boys, but it seems like Kyle and Roen were taking notes when they entered the town of Vernon, British Columbia, claiming they were off-the-grid runaways.) The townspeople were so fascinated by Mary they took her in (just like in Wild Boys) and she reached a certain stardom, getting the attention of local dignitaries and the press. Mary had created this princess character she was certainly dedicated to—she used a bow and arrow, fenced, swam naked, and prayed to a god nobody had ever heard of. Eventually she was caught, but the path of her rise and fall is super entertaining and her hoax deserves some sort of creativity award. If alive today, she could be working with Borat. Listen here.
🎙️I have been a fan of PRETEND for years—Javier Leiva has been making the show since the age of the podcasting dinosaurs. (2017.) If you have not listened to his series The Cousins (here and here,) stop what you’re doing and binge it now, you will thank me. For Javier’s 100th episode, he invited me on to interview him about the 100 mini documentaries he’s produced, how he got to and what goes into making them, and some jaw-dropping stories about what’s happened along the way. I was so thrilled to be asked to do this! Podcasters, consider this an open invitation if you think I did a good job! Listen here.
🎙️A food storytelling podcast about South Asian cuisine recently dropped from Whetstone Radio that unravels monolithic notions of Indian food by bringing us to Indian restaurants, neighborhoods, streets and communities. It’s deconstructing stereotypes and getting to the core of what South Asian food actually is, what it means to the people who do and don’t understand it, how partition changed Indian food, and how Indian food became “frustratingly hip.” Hosted by Delhi-based anthropologist Meher Varma, Bad Table Manners brings us smart conversations about why some Indian food is sought-after by the Western World, while we turn our noses up at others. Listen here.
🎙️On Newcomers, Lauren Lapkus and Nicole Byer are watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time with funny friends (Iron Man 2 with Carl Tart and Lamar Woods, Thor with Eugene Cordero) and not inspiring me to watch the movies, but it’s making me grateful for MCU if only so I can hear funny people talk about it. There are enough film podcasts covered by people who understand the genre and understand or even just like what is going on. Their conversations are refreshing. Listen here.
🎙️D is for Desire is a podcast that explores sex, sexuality, relationships and love from niche angles. Host Noah Michelson talked to cam room artist Lindsay Dye, who sits on cakes on camera to to get people off. By the end of the episode I found myself completely impressed with Lindsay’s business acumen. As Lindsay describes, it’s an artistic performance (and a culinary one…her fans like to see her make the cakes) that requires a certain elegance. You learn a lot about the internet, what people will pay money for, and how creative entrepreneurs are making it in their own way. (h/t Podyssey) Listen here.
🎙️I’m a New Yorker vegetarian and can remember eating at the East Village’s Pure Food & Wine, and wondering where the hell it went when it shuttered. Swindled tells the story of founder Sarma Melngailis, and it’s a doozy. I missed the day that staff walked out over unpaid wages, and then again the day in 2017 when Sarma was arrested and convicted of fraud. She wasn’t alone, it seems she fell for (and married) a bad man, Anthony Strangis. The two were arrested in Sevierville, Tennessee, after Anthony ordered a pizza from Domino's Pizza. This is a gross, complicated, New Yorkey story with a bizarre ending, and it made me want to watch Netflix’s Bad Vegan. (h/t Podyssey) Listen here.
🎙️I listen to Unhappy Hour with Matt Bellassai every weekend with Justin at 1x speed (I reserve a special place for shows to listen to at 1x speed with Justin) and it always makes us laugh. Matt and Bari Finkel are friends set on talking about the worst news and giving us space to complain about all the things we hate. Each episode, Matt does a rant deep dive of the week, which is always funny and nearly poetic, and his chemistry with Bari will have you talking to them like they’re friends sitting in the room. It’s a joke a minute. Your favorite call-in girl lp submitted a rant of her own and it was featured on this week’s episode. Hear why I hate hand dryers! (Plus more hysterical rants!) Listen here.
🎙️I love you!