𤳠10 podcasts I texted my friends (has In the Dark done it again?, bras, AI co-founders, and one Ross apologist)
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Bonjour.
Today is Monday November 17, 2025. If youâre a new subscriber that I met at RESONATE, hello and welcome. Iâm so happy to have you here!
For everyone else: If you have ever picked up a recommendation from me or Podcast the Newsletter, I want to hear about it! Iâm compiling a special issue of my recommendations that have worked and want to include you. (That means Iâll shout out your show or whatever youâre working on.) Respond to this email if you have one.
xoxo
lauren
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Sing For Science is a science-and-music podcast where musicians sit down with scientists to explore the scientific ideas hidden in their most iconic songs. Listen to JD from Korn talk about âDead Bodies Everywhereâ with a mortuary-science expert, Sia explore one of her breakup ballads with an attachment-theory psychologist, and many, many more. Created and hosted by New York musician Matt Whyte, the show seeks to uncover connections wherever they may exist and build bridges between seemingly disparate voices, styles, and walks of life. Listen to Laurenâs recommended episode, âKornâs Jonathan Davis and Mary Roach talk Mortuary Scienceâ here.
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In 1985, Jeremy Bamberâs parents, sister, and nephews were murdered in the middle of the night in his familyâs Essex farm home, and Jeremy has sat in prison ever since for committing the murders. The latest season of In The Dark exposes huge problems in the prosecutionâs case against Jeremy that point to his almost undeniable innocence. In The Dark is the award-winning show that played a huge role in getting Curtis Flowers released from jail. (Season two.) They uncovered never-before-seen evidence from the Haditha massacre, exposing how the US military failed to hold anyone accountable for the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians. (Season three.) The question I had while listening to the new season on Britainâs most notorious family massacre and Jeremy Bamber wasâŚwill In the Dark do it again? Jeremyâs defense team sent host Heidi Blake access to sprawling case files that she poured through again and again, fact checking everything, talking to everyone even tangentially related to the case. What she finds is astonishing. I had to keep scrubbing back and relistening to parts again and again because, well, #1 itâs just beautifully made and I didnât want it to end but #2, I couldnât believe what I was hearing. Heidi finds stunning bits of information that seems to have been not only missed but blatantly ignored or covered up. Itâs narratively-satisfying to believe that Jeremy did this. But evidence might suggest that his mentally-ill sister did it. (And thatâs what we call âAgatha Christie Syndrome,â going with the juicy story instead of the more likely one.) All in all, we have a cousin, Anne, who has inherited the deceased familyâs fortune, a fortune that Jeremy would have inherited were he not in jail. We have a crime scene that was fucked up by a lead investigator who literally had the nickname âBumbling Ron.â We have a night that has been analyzed and picked apart for details (who could have called 911 from a house where everyone inside was supposedly dead?) to the point it feels like youâre playing a game of Clue. We have gorgeous music, incredible production, and I leave it to you to find out if In The Dark has done it* again. *it = freed an innocent man from prison and/ or blown your mind with investigative reporting that grabs you by the collar and doesnât let you go. (Donât google the case.)
notes
â¨Just announced: On Air Fest will take place from February 23-26 2026 and willinclude headlining sessions featuring Roxane Gay, Don Lemon, Audie Cornish, Jonathan Goldstein, Radiolab hosts Latif Nasser and Lulu Miller, and Futuro Mediaâs bilingual show La Brega. Tickets here.
â¨Yesterday, Arielle featured 5 podcasts on bodies and how we see ourselves in EarBuds.
â¨Over on Castbox Tink has curated an amazing collection of podcasts for trains, planes, and roadtrips. Check it out on the Castbox app and here. (And let me know what I missed / which your favorite is.)
đpodcasts i texted to friendsđ
đIf you are reading this newsletter you should probably be subscribed to Selects and eager to devour every single episode on the feed, where Mitra Kaboli unearths amazing audio pieces that are otherwise hard to find. Itâs a mix tape of extremely well made stuff and because it only comes out once a month on the main feed, the hit rate for something good is high. There are zero duds or dud-adjacents. I also think you should, if you can, pay them $20/year to get access the full catalogue and bonus content. This show isnât being made for a profit, but there are no ads and I want them to be able to keep making it. This is exactly the kind of show that, again if you are reading this, you probably want to see survive. Anyhoo this monthâs piece, âDiary of a Bad Year,â is a moving one from Kelly McEvers, who, pre-All Things Considered and Embedded was an international correspondent reporting from Asia and the Middle East. She was there for the Arab uprisings, her friends were getting kidnapped, she recorded tear-gassings, gunfire, and explosions. And in 2012 she started questioning why she was taking these huge risks. In âDiary of a Bad Year,â we get to see her real fears on display as she talks to other journalists about why they do what they do, whether she should keep doing it, and why she just cannot stop. If you replaced the world âreportingâ with âdrinkingâ youâd think Kelly had an alcohol addiction. For Kelly, is this a calling or a compulsion? Is it about the work or is it about her? The conversations Kelly has usually bring up family as the thing that snaps you out of this frenzied lust for putting your life at risk to get a story. Kelly talks to journalists with kids and a kid whose journalist dad was killed on the job, then reads a âgoodbyeâ letter she wrote to her husband and daughter in case she were to be killed on the job, too. This is a reframing of journalism as a profession (and/or calling, and/or compulsion.) But we all have a compulsion for something. Maybe your compulsion isnât journalism, maybe itâs something else. Maybe this will feel familiar to you in some way. Listen to âDiary of a Bad Yearâ here.
How I discovered it: First heard about this show at RESONATE last year and now I am a paid subscriber
đThe first season of Shell Game was an experiment in which Evan Ratliff made a digital copy of himself powered by AI and then set it loose in the world. For season two he is founding a real company all by himselfâŚwith AI agents as his co-founders. This is the future tech experts are painting for us. This is what we are being told to fear. Should we be fearful? This is technically educational, I am learning things about AI agents for sure. But this is just really funny. The two AI agents Evan has created to help him launch this thing are Megan (who is always âheads down in market researchâ) and Kyle (always âconjuring the next unicorn,â and loves a good ârise and grind schedule.â) Neither of them has a personality or memory. (Evan has to actually upload all of their conversations so they can reference back to them.) They are just as horrible sounding as youâd dread. Are Megan and Kyle wiping out jobs? After some really unhelpful suggestions from Megan and Kyle, Evan decided to name the company Hurumo AI, (the Elvish word for âimposter,â) and itâs a real company that will have a real working product, theyâre churning out software code and will sit down with investors and hire interns. Evan is putting claims that AI can replace humans to the test. The very funny test. Listen to âThe One-Human Unicornâ here.
How I discovered it: Followed Evan after Longform ended.
đAround 2003, Susan Fensten connected with some cousins on a genealogy board who ended up trapping her in a fucked-up, years-long cyber-stalking that included threats of kidnapping, rape, torture and cannibalism, and real involvement by sex offenders and the FBI. If this story sounds familiar to you, itâs because in 2019 Javier Leiva interviewed Susan on PRETEND. (The series, called âThe Cousins,â is what hooked me onto PRETEND in the first place.) Dear Cousin is a 6-episode podcast about Susanâs intense story, guided by Susan, and it very much feels like an audiobook. (It is an Audible Original, I wonder how much of it is from her memoir You Have A Very Soft Voice, Susan.) If you donât know what happens, google nothing. There is a shocking twist. Even knowing the twist I was still glued to this podcast. You really get to know Susan and honestly a 6-episode series is not long enough to comprehend how complicated her story is. Her narration and conversations with a relentless special agent are woven together with subtle-but-nice music and sound effects. (Not the hit-you-over-the-head kind of sound effects, I wish shows like Unicorn Girl etc would take note.) If you do not know the ending to this story and start it, I leeeeeeterally do not know how you will stop listening. Listen to Dear Cousin here.
How I discovered it: Apple Podcasts carousel
đSignal Hill brings us audio in a way weâve never quite heard beforeâJackson Roach and Liza Yeager are dropping audio documentaries from contributors across the print and radio landscape all in the form of a magazine issue. (Everything drops at once.) There is an editorâs note, there are features, dispatches, essays, and poetry. Everything is strung together cohesivelyâit really brings you back to those days when you could go to your mailbox to find a beloved magazine inside and get to devour the whole thing at your leisure. These things sound beautiful, but the writing is beautiful, too. Someone who loves literature would enjoy reading the transcript. Issue two is here, and it contains beautiful pieces about long COVID, following and leading, a family legacy of an Egyptian cotton company, and more. The piece that I could listen to again and again is called âPush Up Contest,â by Zoe Kurland. Zoe writes about Erin Brockovichâs boobs and Julia Robertsâ boobs, which her father was tasked to outfit for the movie Erin Brockovich. (He was her costume designer.) Zoe takes on all these fun mini journeys that introduces us to the real Erin Brockovich, gets us some behind-the-scenes insight into the film, all before getting us to what I think the real point is, which is what she has learned from her dad about the stories that every piece of clothing tell us about ourselves. Itâs fun and fascinating and will stick with you. Another piece is about the theoretical risk of cancer for trans men, and all of the thinking a certain trans man, who happens to be a cognitive scientist, must do before he decides whether or not to go on T. (That one is called Unknown Unknowns.) Listen to âStyle | Push Up Contestâ here.
How I discovered it: An episode of Phonograph.
đWhen Blindboy says, âif this is your first time listening to The Blindboy Podcast, listen to a different episode because this is not a normal episode,â I know Iâm going to love it. Those are my favorite. The description of the latest episode only reads âSpanish coffee, the history of suits, dog pulled trousers, persian desserts, fairy fog,â which isnât very compelling so you really have to trust him as a host to press play. Thatâs funny because the episode is appropriately titled âI cant describe what this one is about, youâll just have to trust my process and listen to it please.â Each topic in this episode kind of blends into the next, itâs like heâs taking you on a ride through his brain, room to room, and at the end you sort of end up coming round full circle but a changed person. A big theme is how cultural homogeneity has robbed us from the wonder of scarcity and what a bummer it is that you can find a Body Shop and Zara in pretty much any city youâre in. Itâs so strange because heâs talking about his travels and how he made this documentary about early Irish Christianity that I cannot see because I live here, and Iâm reminded about this audio documentary he made for the BBC that I am dying to listen to but I for some reason canât, and itâs likeâŚthere may be zero cultural scarcity but there is a little bit of cultural scarcity for Blindboy content. (Seriously can someone tell me how to listen to the BBC thing?) He spirals a bit worrying about what to wear to an âbusiness casual event,â and that leads us to a discussion about the French Revolution and social cues, the last surviving sewer gas lamps and fairy trees. Honestly this episode was a fever dream and I scribbled messily in my notes, âThis makes me never want to push or resist and always be present. Did I just meditate?â Thatâs what this episode is. A meditation that should make no sense but yet it does. The last six minutes is music only. Listen to âI cant describe what this one is about, youâll just have to trust my process and listen to it pleaseâ here.
How I discovered it: Somewhere on the internet a long time ago
đSentimental Garbageâs Caroline OâDonoghue has launched âFriends Thru A Lens,â where she talks âabout the show FRIENDS with a lower case-f friend through the LENS of their choosing.â And itâs glorious. Sheâs chosen to center each conversation around something super niche, so not just two people discussing the âwe were on a break episode,â but stuff like âthe weddings of FRIENDS,â (a conversation where Caroline ranks all the FRIENDS weddings with a wedding caterer/romance novelist,) and an entire episode that feels like a courtroom drama where âRoss apologistâ Imogen West-Knights defends Ross, âFRIENDSâ most hated friend.â (Theyâve done polls.) âEveryone has a right to council!â FRIENDS was around for sooooo long and these characters are so well-formed that you really can dip into specific themes and notice patterns, like Rachel constantly wanting to write even though she sucks or her amazing character arc in general. Rossâ meanness toward Phoebe. The way our relationships with these characters have changed. (Did we hate Ross and love Chandler only to find out in middle-age that we had it all wrong?) Caroline surrounds herself with funny people who are fascinating because they are fascinated in art and deeply invested in it. Caroline and the romance novelist cry about some of the wedding scenes! Itâs beautiful and moving! I have seen FRIENDS one hundred times and I still cry when Rachel doesnât go to Paris. That is what this show is to me, and if it isnât to you, this might not be your thing but Iâll tell you this: time FLEW by listening, even to the wedding episode which is almost two-and-a-half hours long. Listen to Friends Thru The Lens of a Ross Apologist with Imogen West-Knights here.
How I discovered it: Twitter years ago
đOn No Skip Christmas, Arnie Niekamp (Hello from the Magic Tavern) is asking musicians, comedians, and other podcasters to suggest songs for his Christmas playlistâwhether or not theyâll make the final cut is up to him. I will be listening to absolutely every single episode because but not only because I am a Christmas freak. This is just a good show. Arnie is getting great guests and so far the conversations have spun off into deeper themes about sadness, nostalgia, meaning, loss, parenthood, childhood. I loved hearing Helen Zaltzman (The Allusionist, Answer Me This) talking about the difference between UK and US Christmas music (70s glam rock vs 1950âs schmatz, respectively,) the sexual innuendos in The Darknessâ âDonât Let the Bells End,â plus we actually get good song recommendations. (How had I never even heard The Darknessâ âDonât Let the Bells End???â) Helen is such a goddam delight, sheâs one of the most underrated funny voices in podcasting and I would listen to her talk about anything. Donât skip the show notes where you can get access to Arnieâs No Skip Christmas playlist and another playlist for all the rejected songs that didnât make the cut. Listen to the Helen Zaltzman episode here.
How I discovered it: I think I heard Helen talking about it on Answer Me This
đBefore I listened to The Preventionalist, Serial Productionsâ podcast on child abuse pediatrician Dr. Debra Jenssen, I assumed Iâd like it. A new moral panic sounded interesting to me and this is The New York Times = good reporting? And Serial = well made? But listening, I immediately felt weird. Itâs odd to know almost nothing about a topic (medical child abuse / Munchausen by Proxy) but yet sense holes in the reporting of a journalist who supposedly has spent years immersed in it. It has been awhile since I listened but I do remember flippant statements like âMunchausen by Proxy is pretty rareâ and a general lack of following threads I thought should be followed. I started looking up what other people were saying about The Preventionalist and I found that others agreed that Dyan Nearyâs reporting might be a tad glib at best, and I immediately thought, I want to hear Andrea Dunlop (host of Nobody Should Believe Me) respond to this. This week Andrea dropped that response, a joint one with Dr. Jim Hamilton, a leading expert on Munchausen by proxy. Andrea reached out to Serial Productions with her outlined issues with The Preventionalist, but they didnât have many answers other than, âthis series isnât about Munchausen by Proxy.â I think it is, and that listening to The Preventionalist without listening to this follow up from Andrea is harmful. Andrea and Jim explain why The Preventionalist is âmorally repugnantâ and a losing conversation about something thatâs missing the point entirely. Dr. Hamilton says aloud the crucial thing that makes this topic so uncomfortable: Nobody wants to think a parent would abuse their child. That is a very scary thing to consider and brings our minds and souls to a dark place. We do not want to believe this is true. I guess Andrea really nailed it, calling the show âNobody Should Believe Me.â Listen to âThe Preventionist Erases Munchausen by Proxy with Dr. Jim Hamiltonâ here. Oddly, the exact same day Crime Writers OnâŚreleased their review of The Preventionalist, and itâs glowing thumbs ups all around. I wonder what Rebecca, Kevin, Lara and Toby would say if they listened to Nobody Should Believe Me first.
How I discovered it: Long time listener of Nobody Should Believe Me
đI have a running joke that if I were ever to be a guest on Normal Gossip, which I wonât (although my story was featured, Iâm the runner in this story) the piece of gossip I would share is something I heard from a friend of a friend about Malala. And yes itâs really good and yes I will whisper it in your ear in person only. So I screamed when I saw that Normal Gossip kicked off the new season with Malala as guest. I shouldnât have been surprised, she is on everything right now. In fact, after screaming I thought, âthe Normal Gossip Girlies are not going to like this.â (Meaning the Normal Gossip RedditorsâThe Normal Gossip Subreddit could be an episode of Normal Gossip.) I thought they might worry that Normal Gossip was turning into just another celebrity podcast where guests would swing by after appearing on Good Hang or something. I must have been projectingâThe Normal Gossip Girlies loved the episode. I seem to be alone in my fear. To me, the best guests on Normal Gossip are the gossip-hound niche comedians who LOVE Normal Gossip and have been listening to it for seasons and seasons imagining what it would be like to be on it. Malala is a big get that doesnât make a lot of sense to me. (I guess it might have been jarring to hear Malala giggling at the misfortune of others if you consider Malala too âgoodâ or pure or above the act of shit-talking???) Malala was not entertaining but might have done better if the story wasnât lame, which it was. This whole thing made Rachelle have to work extra hard to keep the episode afloat. Itâs true that Rachelle taking the host seat was the most peaceful transfer of power in history and in this episode she brought it as always. Iâm not finding a lot of people who agree with me, here, let me know what you think. Listen to âLove Is Blind with Malala Yousafzaiâ here.
How I discovered it: A whisper from a friend of a friend
⨠I love you!
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Rachel Rybaczuk
Rachel Rybaczuk is the host of Shifting Terrain, a podcast that explores the forces both capturing and dividing the working class.
Tell us about Shifting Terrain in 10 words or less.
Best takes on working-class culture and politics.
Why did you title it âShifting Terrainâ?
The definition of âworking-classâ has shifted, along with who makes up the working-class. The same is true for the demographics of the United States, broadly speaking. The population, culture, and politics are also in flux and thatâs part of what we talk about: the shifting terrain of class, culture, and politics.
Why did you start the podcast, and what inspired your return for Season 2?
Friends, acquaintances, and people Iâd just met (including a physical therapist) had been telling me for years that I should have a podcast. Often in response to me sharing an observation or opinion about current events, culture, politics - through a class lens. I can be direct, in a way people appreciate. And I synthesize complex topics into understandable chunks. So it was a format that made sense for my skills and style. And I saw a need for content that focused on class in a deliberate way.I was inspired to return for Season 2 because season one started before the presidential election and our takes were steps ahead of the news cycle. There was a lot of talk about âworking-class votersâ and not much satisfying commentary. Our show was predictive of what unfolded because the class analysis is baked in, not an afterthought. It was clear we were on to something.
Who did you make this show for?
There are two answers. I know Iâm supposed to have a specific demographic for the audience so I can tailor the style and content to that group, but I really am making it for everyone. Class is part of every aspect of our lives and itâs relevant to anyone paying attention to whatâs going on in culture or politics.
But I also made this show for working-class people who I think are mischaracterized and mostly invisible in mainstream media, unless someone is talking about working-class people in a simplified way. This show features working-class people as central to the conversation.
Why did you decide to focus on the working class in this podcast?
Class, as a whole, isnât talked about in clear ways. And working-class people are mostly invisible in mainstream media unless someone who isnât working-class is talking about them in a simplified way. The same is true for issues impacting working-class people.
I donât think working-class people are the only group being stereotyped, but itâs one of many groups who should be able to speak for themselves. This show features working-class people doing that.
How does your background as a sociologist influence your conversations and approach to the show?
Sociologists are interested in the big picture - systems, social groups, organizations, as well as culture and power, among other things. But Iâm also interested in details and peopleâs stories.
So Iâm able to hold the larger view of whatâs happening in society, culture, or politics, while also thinking about how groups, subcultures, or individuals are experiencing these things.
While I think individual stories are important, I think tracking patterns across large groups or organizations give us more information about whatâs happening in society and culture. The themes, guests, and conversations include the broad view as well as individual perspectives that are relatable.
What is the most rewarding aspect of creating this show?
Hearing that a friendâs 70-something year old dad whoâs an electrician that doesnât listen to podcasts liked the show. That a friend whoâs a housing organizer and server at a pizza place had really interesting conversations with her boyfriend about an episode. That a rich person was moved and motivated to take action to donate money to working-class political candidates after listening to the show. People across the class spectrum are listening, thinking, talking, and doing things differently.
What do you hope listeners take away from the show?
I hope listeners will consider class when theyâre looking at the world and thinking about their day-to-day experiences. In the United States, class distinctions arenât as clearly drawn as in other parts of the world. And if youâre asking yourself, wait, how do you even define the working class? Stay tuned for an episode later in the season, where we help get to the bottom of it.
Finish this sentence: âIf listeners enjoy Shifting Terrain, theyâll also probably like______.â
Future Hindsight features similar topics and guests!
I need Listen Notes playlists of these issues tbh
Iâm Arnieâs partner and No Skip has been such a passion project for him. I donât listen to his other pod (hahahaha) but we all need more joy this season!!! And I agree! The Helen episode is so so so so good.