🍕 The Last Mojo, Saw, Bad Bridgets, Make Josh's Day 😎 Cristela Alonzo 👮🏽♀️
💌Podcast The Newsletter is your weekly love letter to podcasts and the people who make them.💌
Bonjour!
This week we’re getting to peek into the podcast app and listening life of Megan Larson, an obsessive podcast listener and publicist. She’s worked on shows from networks including Pushkin Industries, Night Vale Presents, Gimlet, Critical Frequency, and more.
App I use: Apple Podcasts
Listening time per week: Probably more than 15 hours a week
When I listen: I listen to podcasts for work, research, and for pleasure. If it’s a weekday, chances are, I have something on. I start my day with a few of my podcasts of choice (The Daily, This American Life, Radiolab, to name a few). During my day, I’m listening to advanced episodes of shows I’m working on but also others that might fit for a client interview or research. I’m also constantly listening to shows that help me understand and become more informed about the world (Politically Re-Active, Code Switch, Drilled/Hot Take, are a few staples). At the end of the day or on weekends, I usually love a little true crime but lately, I’ve been busy listening to nearly every episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, particularly the Experts on Expert ones. I can’t get enough.
How I discover: Lucky for me, part of my job is keeping up with podcast coverage, whether it’s on social media or in digital/print/radio/TV, so I get a lot of my recommendations from journalists and podcasters.
xoxo lp
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👋q & a & q & a & q & a👋
Cristela Alonzo
Cristela Alonzo is the host of Vox Media’s new show Chicano Squad. Follow her on Twitter here and Instagram here.
Kindly introduce yourself and tell us what you do!
I’m Cristela Alonzo and I am a stand-up comic, writer and activist born and raised in a border town in south Texas.
I'm so excited about Chicano Squad and loved the first episode. Why this story?
The story we tell in Chicano Squad is necessary to share because as a Latina that loves history, I’ve always felt that there was a lack of historical representation of the Latino community’s contributions to this country. We can learn from history, whether it’s good or bad events that happen. I’m also part of a group that is working on getting the Smithsonian American Latino Museum opened. The legislation to establish it just passed in December, so when I saw this story, I knew it was stories like these that the museum should feature.
Another important reason to also tell this story is that despite the fact that it happened in the 70s’, it is still so relevant to today. Before we even get to the story of Chicano Squad, we take time to tell why the squad got started. We talk about the brutal homicide of a Latino veteran at the hands of the Houston Police Department. Houston broke out into protests about police brutality and race. Sound familiar? Personally, I wanted to show how time can change the particulars of deep-rooted social issues, but sometimes problems remain the same. I think it’s interesting to show that the group itself, the Chicano Squad, started because the Houston Police Department Chief was trying to fix the problem of racism and accessibility they had between themselves and the Latino community.
It seems to me that podcasting is a pretty welcoming space to diverse voices but that's because I seek out shows hosted by women, POC, and LGBTQ people, and it's almost exclusively what I listen to. But in reality, how is this industry doing? How has it changed?
I think the world of podcasts is fantastic because we live in a time where the stories that need to be shared don’t need to be deemed “worthy” by gatekeepers. It’s also changed because with time, the evolution of technology makes it easier for people to access them. The allure of podcasts for me is about learning. I like to learn about people’s experiences that may not be my own. One thing I will always say that every industry can do better is making sure that diverse voices get the attention and marketing that they deserve so that others can find their stories. Too many times I feel like listeners have to go on a scavenger hunt to find a piece of gold. It shouldn’t be like that. Having said that, I do want to acknowledge Vox Media for the awesome job of making sure people hear about this story. It’s important.
What have you learned making the show?
I’ve learned a lot, ranging from the accuracy needed to make sure the truth is told through the work of our fact checkers all the way to the number of people required to make a great podcast; It takes a village. I have the privilege of being the voice of the podcast, but there are people tied to it behind the scenes that make sure it all comes together.
From the story itself, I’ve learned that when you tell a story, even if you come to a topic that might be uncomfortable, you still have to talk about it… because it’s the truth. People deserve to know the truth.
What do you hope the show does for people?
I want people to hear this story and be reminded that Latinos have always been part of this country. We have contributed so much to get this country to the point we are at now and this is just one example of how.
Is there anything I didn’t ask you that you’d like to talk about?
I have a podcast I host as well about myself, the projects I’m working on and what’s on my mind. I had to take a break from doing it because I was working as a surrogate for the Biden/Harris campaign, but I’m back. The podcast is called To Be Continued with Cristela Alonzo available wherever you listen to podcasts.
🚨If u only have time for 1 thing🚨
I listen to Josh Gondelman’s Make My Day with my husband every weekend but I always forget to write about it. It’s a comedy/news gameshow with one contestant who tries to win, via a somewhat nebulous point system (they always win) by making Josh’s day by getting him to laugh. I think it might be the single most joyous place in the podcast universe, and you’re doing a disservice if you miss even one episode. I would listen to Josh host anything and I sort of just wish he did (I don’t want to be associated with anyone who would NOT prefer him to Michael Barbaro for The Daily.) But this show suits Josh, an eternal optimist, perfectly. Two recent episodes had me literally…literally!!! slapping my knees—a conversation with Negin Farsad (of Fake the Nation) and one with Emily Yoshida (of a now retired show I used to love, Night Call.) On the one with Emily, Emily and Josh dream up a fictional (maybe) film that’d be a shoe-in for winning an Oscar. The scenario gets increasingly funny and comes together so perfectly into one of the funniest exchanges I’ve heard on a podcast in awhile.
💎BTW💎
🎙️Thanks to all who filled out my survey. You will be receiving a gift in the mail from me soon. Only one person said that this newsletter is too long, and it was my dad.
🎙️A reminder that a) you can download the Hark app before everyone else if you email me to get the code. (It’s so beautiful and wonderful and was built for people like you!!!) And b) if you want to get a sense of what Hark is, listen to the list I made of my favorite podcast moments of 2020. The experience is much better on the app, but you can still listen without an account, on your desktop.
🎙️Switched on Pop just finished an entertaining and instructive mini-series on anthems, and followed up with an episode about what makes a ballad a ballad, specifically why Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is one, and why it’s something we all need right now. There is a story behind this song about how listeners have continued its narrative, one that makes not just a ballad, but a ballad of our time. Listen to a clip here.
🎙️Bad Bridget is the eye-opening, dark, historical true-crime-ish storytelling podcast I’ve been waiting for. From from Queen's University Belfast & Ulster University, it brings to life the stories of the young Irish girls and women (some as young as 11 or 12) who fled poverty and starvation in Ireland, and came to America, only to be faced with new nightmares to write home about. It’s an immigration story that makes you feel like you’re walking through a museum, but it also feels current—our attitude toward immigrants has not exactly improved. I was reminded of the difference between a podcast that reads you stuff off a web page and one that really invites you into a story with real knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject. Bad Briget is so much the later.
🎙️Episodes of Maintenance Phase often remind me of my favorite You’re Wrong About episodes (Michael Hobbes is host on both) but the episode on The Biggest Loser pretty much confirms that we are right about The Biggest Loser, if we think The Biggest Loser is a problematic, destructive show that makes other reality TV shows seem super ethical. Hearing Michael and Aubrey review the franchise’s lows and low-lows is that kind of horrifying that makes you throw your hands on your face. (And because of Covid, I have trained myself to never do that.) When the show is exposed for what it is (extreme bullying and fat-shaming, unhealthy practices, blatantly icky product placements,) the results are actually disgraceful. Fuck Jillian Michaels, but thank you Aubrey and Michael for making me laugh but also lose all faith in humanity, as the show has not yet been cancelled.
🎙️Richard’s Famous Foods Podcast can always turn a semi-normal story into a zany, madcap trip that makes you feel like you’re a character in The Midnight Gospel. At first glance The Last Mojo is a Heavyweight-ish audio journey to track down a long-lost pizzeria commercial from the 1990s, but the journey Richard takes you on is incomparable to anything else. I was sort of waiting for Wolfgang Puck to pop up from the back seat. Spoiler alert: Richard cracks the case, but it obviously doesn’t matter. I sort of wish the journey had never ended.
🎙️For its series finale, Trump Inc., along with ProPublica, created a Trump time capsule at Donald J. Trump State Park, to be stored until 2031 with WNYC's archives department. Inside they included a birth certificate, a bar receipt, a newspaper ad, a board game, a Ziploc bag of shredded paper, a pair of museum tickets, some checks, and a USB drive. Behind each of these items lies a symbol of Trump’s unprecedented presidency, and a (fantastical-sounding) story that revels why these items made it into the box. The episode itself is a time capsule, and if I only have an hour to explain the Trump presidency to my grandkids, I will simply press play on And Now, The End is Near, and watch their little eyes bug out of their heads. Hear a clip here.
🎙️I don’t know why it took me so long to listen to Heaven’s Gate. Glynn Washington is the perfect host (he has his own cult story,) to tell the story of the UFO religious cult that led to the suicides of 39 members in 1997. Glynn, with his own unique perspective, talks to people who lost loved ones to Heaven’s Gate and people still believe in it to try to answer the question: why? It’s a bizarre story, perfectly told.
🎙️Armie Hammer has been in the news lately, and I hadn’t taken the time to dive into why, it seemed like a lot of made-up bullshit that was incorrectly blown up by the media. If you’re wondering what the fuck is going on, Anna Hossnieh breaks it down on The Daily Zeitgeist, focusing what’s actually important (actual abuse and trauma experienced by the women connected with Armie) and what’s been overblown (the cannibalism thing.) Anna actually did the research and has been listening to the stories of the women, so if you want to hear the truth about this scandal, start listening around the one-hour mark.
🎙️God I love podcasts. Where else can you hear a 1+hour intelligent conversation about the Saw series with Jamelle Bouie? On Why Are Dads, Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed talk to Jamelle about the movie’s surprising (to me) merits, how it opens us up to a story of a broken dad and the way children try to please him. There is often a tinge of You’re Wrong About (where Sarah Marshall is co-host) in these episodes, and here we get to see how Saw isn’t just gore-porn, but a complicated, human story, that has been overlooked by almost everyone who has watched it.
🎙️I’m hooked on American Coyote, the story of a man named Elden Kidd who supported his family of five as a coyote. The stories feel like tall tales, (doesn’t Elden Kidd just sound like the name of a character in a tall tale?) and Elden emerges as an anti-hero who often reminds me of Walter White. Or probably because I am bingeing Better Caul Saul, he sort of reminds me of Saul Goodman, aka Slippin’ Jimmy. But it’s also probably because this podcast has a great sense of environment. It takes you to the American South West, with music and sounds of the desert. Elden could be a character on Better Call Saul. But Elden’s stories are (allegedly) real.
🎙️The Post Reports is turning into one of my favorite news shows. Enough podcasts will tell you the news, but The Post Reports invites you to the stories behind the headlines you’re reading somewhere else. Four Hours of Insurrection takes you inside the Capitol riots, with audio from lawmakers, journalists and law enforcement officials who were there. I was hanging onto every minute. h/t Cory Zechmann! Happy birthday, Cory! Listen to a great clip here.
🎙️If you, like the rest of the country, are in awe of Amanda Gormon, the inaugural poet who blew everybody’s minds last week with her poem “The Hill We Climb.” I urge you to listen to her on a 2018 episode of The Story Collider, where she talks about using poetry to eliminate her speech impediment. You don’t hear her read “The Hill We Climb,” but you really get to know her…how funny she is! It’s an amazing story about language and poetry and overcoming obstacles, and it made me like her so much more. Also h/t Cory! Listen to a clip here.
🎙️Ashley Lusk wrote about The Log Books in the Bello Collective newsletter, and I’m so glad she shouted it out. The Log Books offers notes taken from The Switchboard, an LGBT+ helpline in the UK. Since 1974 volunteers have been writing about the calls in the charity's log books. Hosts Tash Walker and Adam Smith read from these log books, which directly invite you inside UK’s queer history.
🎙️Pardon me for being a broken record, but I love Zack to the Future so much—Mark-Paul Gosselaar (aka Zack Morris) is rewatching the entire TV series with Dashiell Driscoll, who is currently writing for the series reboot. Zack and Dashiell don’t just recap the episodes, they take them apart and look at their context to explore how they happened and their context. On the episode House Party, we get to hear Mark’s memories of the filming and he and Dashiell talk to Tracey Wigfield, the show runner of the Saved By the Bell reboot. If you haven’t watched the reboot, how dare you, it is fantastic. (I have never seen an episode of the original.) The conversation brings a light-hearted seriousness to both the old and the new versions, which solidifies Saved By the Bell, in my mind, as a treasure of our pop culture and TV history.
🎙️On Anything for Selena, Maria Garcia is telling the story of Selena in relation to America, Mexico, and herself. (It’s being released in both English and Spanish.) On Birth of a Symbol, Maria looks at the different ways we mourned Selena when she died in 1995. Some were absolutely despondent—Selena was a celebrity who spoke so personally to some that her death felt like a loss of a family member. But some were less affected (like the entire Eastern part of America, which was delivered a completely Selena-less version of People magazine, unlike the Western half) or even downright jovial (fuck you, Howard Stern.) Maria brings us back to Selena’s death in a way that makes us appreciate her impact, and the way the aftermath of her murder tells its own story about America. Listen to this Hark clip that explains Howard Stern’s hurtful involvement in this story.
🎙️Rebel Eaters Club is a well-produced storytelling and interview show that is sticking it to diet culture, which yes sounds boring but what have we learned from Maintenance Phase? This shit can be fun. Rebel Eaters Club isn’t just a collection of dorky public service announcements about the dangers of dieting, and it’s not a fluffy reminder that we should all love ourselves no matter what size we are, even though most of those messages can be heard through the stories. It really just focuses on food and loving it and loving loving it, which is maybe the best, hardest way to get people to fix their unhealthy relationships with food. On Food is a Bridge, The Splendid Table’s Francis Lam talks about something my dad has always said to me…food is love. There is no space for shame in that love, and Francis talks about the special relationship between immigrants and food, and how the Chinese Exclusion Act had an impact on how we look at Chinese food today and its impact on how America eats. It’s one of the most unique discussions about immigrants and food I’ve heard. Click here to hear a Hark clip from the episode.
🎙️On Twitter, producer Amelia Chappelow pointed me toward a podcast she’s working on with Linda Marigliano called Tough Love. I don’t really know where it’s taking me but Iiiiiii like it. It opens with Linda living in Australia with her parents, separated from her fiance because of Covid travel restrictions. And she perfectly invites you into her life. Within seconds you feel like she’s sitting right next to you, with her parents and friends. It feels very much an audio diary of a woman you really want to have in your friends circle.
🎙️I love you!