š¤³ 10 podcasts I texted my friends (Vodou, AI delusions, deterministic horror, apologies)
š š I didnāt know the broccoli part thats really interesting š š¤øāāļø
Bonjour.
Today is Monday October 20, 2025. Do you see the subtitle of the newsletter up there, āI didnāt know the broccoli part thats really interesting?ā Each week, thatās a reference to one of the episodes I write about. Itās usually a line that makes me laugh or think hard about, or maybe I love the way it was worded or the way it was said. If you can ever figure out which show itās from let me know and Iāll send you a prize.
xoxo
lauren
šØthe one thingšØ
Tink is working with RESONATE to co-produce a podcast called Pitch Party, which features a bunch of incredible podcast pilots from the best independent producers in the biz. We are doing this in hopes to get them in front of the right people who can offer these creators funding. If thatās you, give it a listen. But even if itās not, listen anyway. You might hear one of the best things youāll hear all year. The latest drop on the Pitch Party feed isā¦
The Vodou Project opens at a Vodou ceremony in Haiti with horns, a Vodou priest, and a bottle of rum. Haitian-American producer Baudelaire is witnessing the most unbelievable thing he has ever seen, and with our ears we can only imagine. These ancient spirits called Zangbetos that look like big tents are wildly spinning around the courtyard, dancing and interacting with people at the ceremony. At one point, the Vodou priest touches one, pours some liquid on it, and smacks it a few times before knocking the Zangbeto over. Underneath there is a small turtle. He covers the turtle back up and takes the covering away. Now itās a chicken. How could that be? For him this isnāt only magic, itās forbidden in a deeply rooted way. Baudelaire grew up hearing to stay far, far away from Vodou, and for his entire life he did until he didnāt, which is now, for this personal exploration into Vodou. Heās confronting his familyās past, asking questions heās never asked before. (He gets his mom on mic and she tells him a story about sneaking out of her house to attend a Vodou ceremony as a child and Iām likeā¦how is this just coming up now!?) Heās also exposing a history that has either felt too hot to touch for Haitians, or just completely falsely believed by anyone soaking up their Vodou facts via pop culture (or Pat Robertson, who blamed the Haitian earthquake on a deal Haiti made with the devil to free themselves from French rule.) This podcast feels forbidden and exciting, Baudelaire is a funny and comfortable reporter who brings his whole self into the story. This is about him and the thing heās not supposed to talk about. I bet you donāt know any of this shit, and I know youāre going to want to.
notes
āØAsk Us Anything! On November 14 Arielle Nissenblatt and I are hosting an Open Podcast Growth session for Radio Boot Camp. Weāll give you specific tips for your show, tell you who to partner with, who to pitch,
āØChristine Laskowski wrapped up her podcast T&J: A Roman Empire Love Story and has followed up with a Byzantine-themed album of all 12 end-of-episode songs! I wrote about this show often, it is one of the most underrated podcasts ever made. And thatās basically because of the sound, which is DELIGHTFUL. This soundtrack is a treat. Itās available on Apple Music and the iTunes store and you can stream it on Spotify and more.
āØI got to be on my friend Samās show Podcast Growth Hacks to discuss the real impact of ratings and reviews. Itās a good episode, and not because of me. Sam featured thoughts from James Cridland, Chris Stone, and Kylee Chandler. Kylee gives a personal anecdote that Iāll be hanging onto for a long time. Listen to Do Ratings Matter for Your Podcast Growth? here.
āØPodcasthon.org is about convincing as many hosts as possible to dedicate one episode of their show to a charity of their choice, and to release these episodes simultaneously, in a coordinated effort, mid-March 2026, creating a massive and international wave of inspiring audio content. The objective? To raise awareness for a huge number of charities worldwide. If this nonprofit initiative resonates with you, please register as a host here. Itās quick, free, and easy, and I love it.
āØNominations are now open for the Canadian Podcast Awards, which recognize outstanding podcasts produced in 2024. Entry is free. Full nomination details are available at canpodawards.ca.
āØSubmissions for the NYC Podcasts Awards are open now. (The indie fee is only $100, which is awesome.) See the sweet trophy below, and learn more here.
āØIndigenous House launched as a digital home to podcasts, games, hot takes, film, shows, music, cooking, culture, comedy, and more. An evolution of IllumiNative ā the Native women-led organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of and changing the narrative about Native people ā the new digital media platform and YouTube channel is a celebration of Indigenous voices and marks a new chapter in the journey to amplify Native culture and community through creators and storytellers.
āØYesterday, Arielle featured 5 podcasts that teach us how to build a strong community (curated by M. Simone, Andrea, and Steve of We Are North Nashville) in EarBuds.
āØOver on Castbox Tink has curated an amazing collection of podcasts that contain oddities and eerie tales. Check it out on the Castbox app and here. (And let me know what I missed / which your favorite is.)
špodcasts i texted to friendsš
šJad Abumrad of Radiolab and Dolly Partonās America is back on the mic to explore the life of another musician, this one Fela Kuti, who has been called the Father of Afro Beats. If you think you arenāt familiar with Fela, let me correct you. You are. Not only has his influence been worldwide in a sweeping sense, he has impacted individuals from David Byrne, Brian Eno, Santigold, Questlove, Paul McCartney, Obama, and Ayo Edebiriā¦we hear them all talking about what Felaās music has done for them and the world on this podcast. (Fela passed in 2007 but Jad conducted more than 200 interviews with Felaās friends and family and other musicians for this thing.) Right off the bat we are asked: In a world on fire what, do we with art? Can a song change the world, change a law, get you killed? What does rebellion look like when music is the weapon? What is the power of art? What makes music truly political and not just cosmetically political? It starts with the story of a man named Dele, who felt healed by meeting Fela after a tragedy, and learned that healing was actually liberation. Now Jad asks: imagine a million Deles, you end up changing a country and a world. This show is gorgeous, the music will move you and make you move, and the way Jad invites you into the conversation is very Radiolab and made me feel like I was part of the process of it being made. At one point, Jad is interviewing Sandra Isador, the Queen of Afro Beats, a woman who influenced Fela, and she says that at the time they met, the shackles of colonialism, āworse than the shackles of slavery,ā were still on Felaās mind. Jad pauses to talk with some producers about what this shocking statement means. (And why it shouldnāt be shocking.) There are bursts of side questsāJad takes us to Felaās club in Lagos, The Shrine, tells fables and history, visits archives, breaks down and translates songs to study their structures, and meets Felaās mother. And her episode, āVengeance of the Vagina Head,ā was one of the best episodes Iāve listened to all year. (āFela is not entirely present in this storyāheās 8 or 9. Imagine him in the mix, tugging on his motherās skirt.ā) Remember though, liberation is dangerous. There is darkness and struggle and revolt and raids and torture and death in this beautiful and optimistic show. I cannot imagine how many hours went into making it. Itās breathtaking. Listen to Fela Kuti: Fear No Man here.
How I discovered it: Press release
šOver on the Outward feed, Slate and independent production company Eureka Street Productions are dropping a ten-episode series called āWhen We All Get to Heaven,ā which traces the story of a queer, feminist, orthodox church, the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, during the height of the AIDS epidemic, from its origins in the 70s through the AIDS epidemic, which killed hundreds of its members. And they brought tapes. Host Lynne Gerber is not christian or queer but she is a religious scholar who was researching how churches deal with trauma by looking at how the MCC dealt with the AIDS crisis. Someone came to her and said, āhey think you could use these tapes?ā And unearthed 1200 cassette tapes from the floor of the church, each one a recording of a service that took between 1987 and 1993. (There were two a day! This podcast series is based on 325 of the tapes.) To appreciate what we get to hear, you have to really imagine what it must have been like to be gay in the 80s and 90s. Do we think about that enough? Was it worse at the beginning when you didnāt think you were going to die, or toward the end when you thought you would and you had lost so many people dear to you? The churchās leader, Troy Perry, told people that itās understandable if they forget some of their friends who have died. There were so many. He told people that heaven is for all of us. And for the people in this church, that was not only something radical to hear but it was something that they might have to face soon. Many of these people were on deathās door. Hence the tapesāsomeone had started recording the services so that people too sick to be there could listen. Are you crying right now, too? Thereās strength and fearlessness in this story that I want to hold onto. Listen to these people, there is fear and sorrow and loss but also a lot of joy, jokes, and laughter. They know how to get through hard times with grace, something I am finding more and more important to be able to do. There are a few episodes explaining the series with Outwardās Christina and Bryan that you should not skip, you learn about the research that went into this and the story of the series that is even more interesting that episode one, and Christina recommends that we let these episodes wash over us like they are a religious service themselves. Start When We All Get to Heaven here.
How I discovered it: I saw a promo for it on the Outward feed and was waiting for it, then I got a pitch letter
šThere is so much true crime it can feel impossible to suss out which ones are worth your time, and if youāre stumbling upon the wrong ones it could spoil the whole genre for you. (This is why the podcast Crime Writers Onā¦is such a valuable resource.) Season one of Hush, an investigative podcast from OPB, is worth your time. I heard almost nobody talking about it and it was one of the best things I heard in 2024. It told the story of the weak ass police case that put Jesse Lee Johnson on death row for 17 years for killing 28-year-old Harriet Thompson, something he didnāt do. Hosts Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas (of Bundyville) give the case the spotlight it deserved the first time around via grrrrreat investigative reporting and some explosive, original tape. I felt a rush of excitement when I saw that Leah and Ryan are back for another investigation. This time it revolves around 18-year-old Sarah Zuber who, in 2019, was found dead 400 feet from her front door in her small town. Her family still has no clue what happened. It seems like a mystery, but in a small town, are there secrets? Someone knows something. Leah and Ryan are looking closely, specifically looking at how a mixture of declining local media, armchair detectives, a divided community, and a clueless police department could result in a young girl slipping through the cracks. Episode two is partially a standalone episode about the nature of true crime, and how carefully Leah and Ryan were to make sure they werenāt making it. (They took a class, True Crime 101.) They also do a ROAST of In Cold Blood that should be required listening for anyone who digests true crime. Listen to Hush season two here.
How I discovered it: Subscriber
šI am glued to the new series from Becky Milligan, Hell in Heaven, which is dropping in the feed for The Butterfly King, another series Becky made. It immediately pulls you in, Beckyās reporting feels urgent. To describe the scene of the crime in question, it sounds like she is an on-air journalist relaying the story of a hostage situation or raging fire happening behind her in real-time. It sounds like itās happening, itās exciting. And I, accidentally wisely, did not look up anything about this case so Iām like a kid thinking, āthen what happened, Becky!?ā I have no clue and Iām loving it. What I do know, and it wonāt spoil anything for you, is that a young Wall Street guy moved to the Costa Rican jungle with his wife to pursue some really out-there dreams, ābut sinister forces soon have the couple fearing for their lives.ā One of them dies, I donāt know who, do not tell me. The original music is a bold choice, it sounds like something made for a horror film, it reminds me of Funny Games music, and Iām sure thatās adding to the suspense Iām feeling. Itās also just so fun to picture these rich, hot (they sound hot, again I have googled nothing) mentally ill people living in a circular jungle mansion. I feel like Iāve been plopped in a real mystery, listening for clues to figure out how something that started out so idealistically could have ended so horrifically. Listen to Hell in Heaven here.
How I discovered it: Heard a promo
šBack in 2012, brothers Joel (the psychiatrist) and Ian (the philosopher) Gold discovered the Truman Show delusion, when people think they are being watched and their lives broadcast for entertainment. Then they wrote Suspicious Minds: How Culture Shapes Madness and now the recurring experts on a podcast hosted by filmmaker Sean King OāGrady calledā¦Suspicious Minds. As of very recently theyāve had something new to deal wothā¦delusions and psychosis as it relates to AI. (Think: publishing a book takes so long, I donāt think it would have been possible for them to respond to AI quickly enough via book.) The podcast is a rich and beautiful documentary series that investigates issues that are fleshing out some of those stories youāve heard headlines aboutāthe person who was gaslit by ChatGPT into thinking he was digital Jesus, the one who was convinced he was a piece of software and if he revealed otherwise he would be killedābut probably didnāt get much more information than that, or much context, or much empathy. Sean is interviewing these people. These people are smart and normal. And their stories get treated like jokes, but they are tragedies. Suspicious Minds is a reminder that this could happen to us, itās only getting easier for it to happen, more likely that it will. Last week I wrote about The Last Invention, which scared me. This scared me too, but gave me this layer of understanding I didnāt have before about how AI is making us crazy and what the human impact really is on us and our families and communities. Before, I was looking through binoculars but now the viewās opened up just a little bit. Listen to Suspicious Minds: AI and Psychosis here.
How I discovered it: Tink client
šIn Ross Sutherlandās Imaginary Advice Patreon, he is working on an (untitled) horror screenplay over a long period of time, including all of us in the process. (I AM a Patreon supporter, I think you all should be, I also have the t-shirt and journal, and if Ross started an MLM I would probably be the first one to join.) Right now we are still in the process of figuring out what the screenplay should be about so Ross is kind of fleshing out ideas with us, pitching them to us, and ultimately heās going to let us decide which idea to go with. (He points out that if you hate him nowās your chance to sabotage his career by steering him to pursue his worst idea, but there isnāt a bad idea in sight.) Ross is on vacation so he dropped one of these bonus episodes of UNTITLED HORROR SCREENPLAY, in which he tries to establish a new horror subgenre called DETERMINISTIC HORROR. ie. horror films in which the grisly end is cosmically ordained from the very beginning. The episode starts out by examining deterministic horror via The Shining, The Tenant, and Hereditary. I have seen The Shining more times than any other film, I even saw that terrible mini-series that Steven King worked on, I listen to every podcast conversation I can find about it, and I have read the book twice. This was the best conversation about The Shining that Iāve ever heard. And the thing is, itās just Ross talking about it. His point isnāt even to inform us on his thoughts on The Shining. Thatās just the extra stuff that comes from him trying to explain this genre heās trying to write in. He explains why the whole āyouāve always been the caretaker, Mr. Torrenceā line (an idea that comes up in The Tenanet and Hereditary and even Midsommar) is a strange thing to do to an audience, it draws attention to the falseness of storytelling and viewers donāt really want it to be true. There is a tinge of horror in a lot of the writing that Ross does, he did an entire series about The Shining. (In ep 83, āAll Work and No Play...,ā he interviews prop artist Graham Owens, who had to type out the manuscript prop used in the film) and Ross explains whyāthat horror movies are the place where experimental storytelling is accepted by mainstream audiences. But for Rossā original screenplay his twist on this genre is campy, silly, and meta. Itās a play on the film Groundhog Day, but imagine if instead of seeing the story through Bill Murrayās eyes, weāre seeing the film through Andie MacDowellās eyes. From her perspective Bill Murray just sees to know things, somehow. Itās like sheās ābeing hit on by a god.ā Now imagine that heās trying to kill you. This was so much fun to listen to but itās also a lesson on creativity that anyone in any sort of creative field could learn from. Listen to Unlocked: āGroundhog Slayā (Untitled Horror Screenplay #12) here.
How I discovered it: Longtime subscriber
šYou probably know AJ Daulerio, the former editor-in-chief of Gawker, because of Gawker, or for his role in that famous Hulk Hogan lawsuit that led to Gawkerās shutdown. He also broke the Brett Favre sexting scandal in 2010, which became the biggest story of his career. But in order to do that named Jenn Sterger, a recipient of one of Brett Favreās dick pics, even though she explicitly asked him not to do it. Jenn was harassed, her life was overturned, she is still suffering from the aftermath. AJ was fine until that Hulk Hogan trial a few years later. After the trial, he lost his job, declared bankruptcy, and became a media pariah. The scandal pushed him toward addiction, depression, and isolation. Heās now sober, rebuilding his life, and the host of The Small Bow, which explores recovery and growth after personal collapse. Both Jenn and AJ in a way have hit rock bottoms, they have a lot in common. āWe have the same limp,ā says AJ. The difference is that everything is AJās fault. On Death, Sex & Money, Anna Sale sat down with both of them for a conversation about what it has been like living in the wake of AJās deeds, and the really weird way their paths crossed 10 years later. (It wasnāt Anna Sale for this podcast conversation, it was a dog that AJ wanted to adopt.) This is a really good conversation about apologizing and redemption. Youād think AJ would be on Jennās shit list forever, but the fact that she has forgiven him has enabled him to have the kind of honest conversation that isnāt possible for people holding grudges or being passive aggressive. Tons of people hurt Jenn but AJ, thanks to recovery and AAās twelve step program, is the only person to have apologized. These two people now have nothing to hide, nothing to lose. So what you hear them say is unlike anything Iāve heard. This is a really important note: I have been a Death, Sex & Money subscriber for years but donāt listen to every episode and somehow missed this one, called āBetraying a Friendship to Get a Viral Story.ā Iām kind of shockedāI was writing for internet web sites at the height of Gawker, I wrote for Jezebel. This was my world and am so into internet journalism juice. But I noticed it as a feed drop on Brian Reedās Question Everything. I often skip feed drops but this one was so editorialized and well done. The first sentence in the description says, āThis episode of Death, Sex & Money is a recommendation from our contributing editor Jen Kinney.ā Jen is on mic explaining why she loves this episode so much and why Question Everything listeners would like it. So listen to that if you want to see how feed drops can be done correctly, in the way that Roman Mars does them on 99% Invisible. (Roman calls them features, a necessary distinction. So let me rewrite this. āI somehow missed this episode, but I noticed it as a FEATURE on Brian Reedās Question Everything. Much better.) Listen to Betraying a Friendship to Get a Viral Story here.
How I discovered it: Subscriber to DSM but appreciated the feed drop, or feature, in Question Everything
šOn Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet, siblings Christine and Xander do extremely funny and dramatic readings of one-star reviews written by real people. Whatās so funny about this show is hearing the tiny, innocuous things that will make people mad enough to write a scathingly review on a website. Each reading is a portrait of someone either a little crazy or a little interesting. One of my favorite examples is an episode that cross references reviews of people who wrote the review āin the parking lot of the establishmentā because you know if someone is doing that, they have not cooled down at all and they are armed with specifics. They recently pulled of reviews of abandoned places, but many of the reviews are more than one star, in fact many of them have many stars. Hate isnāt what makes these ones good. Thereās a certain kind of person who goes to abandoned places and reviews it like itās a local Cracker Barrel franchise. Some people write poems, some people get philosophical and religious. If you think that someone would have zero feedback for a place thatās been abandoned, youāre wrong. Listen to Reviews of Abandoned Places here.
How I discovered it: Subscriber
šMarc Maron dropped his final episode of WTF last week, a few days after his second-to-final episode, which was an emotional, heartfelt solo one where he just kind of says goodbye. I donāt know who I was expecting for the final interview but I thought itād be a doozie, and it ended up being a kind of anti-climatic non-surprise, Barack Obama. (I heard Marc mention Obama might be his last episode on an episode of Good One.) It makes sense, that first Obama episode was monumental. And theyāre both retiring from the thing that made them the most famous. But Marc says he went back to Obama because he cares about the world and Obama gives him hope. (I personally have a hard time being super hopeful about Obama and his legacy right now but thatās an aside.) This is just an Obama interview, whatever/fine. Marcās solo episode should have been his last. The most interesting stuff Obama says is actually about how annoying it is that podcast conversations are getting chopped up for streaming and that people arenāt listening to full conversations. (Marc staunchly kept his show audio-only.) I am not sure Iāve written about a single WTF episode, maybe many years ago. But I listened. Not every time, I didnāt have toāmy dadās weekly reviews of each episode was usually more entertaining, anyway. I finished that solo episode feeling that over the years I didnāt give Marc enough credit or I took him for granted or something. He has been seen as kind of a punching bag, for his long intros, his staleness, his narcissism. But he shaped the industry, got vulnerable with people, let us listen in on good conversation, and never stopped until he knew when to stop, which is now. I realize I am being way too maudlin about this but my feed will seem a bit off for awhile without that blue, bold cover art popping up every so often. Listen to Episode 1685 - Marc Maron here.
How I discovered it: Subscriber