💎13 shows to binge right now 👻 Stories with Sapphire's Sapphire Sandalo🔮
💌Podcast The Newsletter is your weekly love letter to podcasts and the people who make them.💌
Bonjour!
There are a lot of upsetting things going on right now, and it’s been really hard to stop from mind-spiraling into complete desperation. But we have all had hard times before. I was living on Avenue A in Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy, when my husband, cat and I were the only residents not to evacuate. (It was scary.) I broke my hip and was unable to move for 6 weeks, was on work disability for months. (It was frustrating.) So now, as I find myself stuck indoors, unable to go to my gym or restaurants or movies or museums or to see friends, I think about how lucky I am that I’m healthy and have light and power. I’m in relative comfort. Every time I wash my hands, which is a lot, I think how lucky I am to have water. (I also do 5 squats while I wash my hands, so hopefully I’m getting a chiseled ass.)
I told my husband I wanted to think of something every night to look forward to the next day. And one of the things I look forward to is a daily walk with a podcast. I feel so lucky that I can go outside and move my legs and escape to another world. My podcasts take me to one hundred different places, where there are comedians talking about food or movies or astrology or makeup, weird histories being examined, myths being debunked, mysteries being solved, or often other dystopian situations.
I know it is a privilege to be able to take time for myself outdoors, just me and my podcast. But I’m going to keep doing it while I can. Right now a lot of people are finding solace and feeling less alone listening to podcasts. They can bring us light in these strange times.
There are plenty of NEW shows coming out, but here are 13 of my favorite completed series from the past, if you are looking for something to binge right now:
My Year in Mensa: Jamie Loftus takes you through her year in the high-IQ Mensa society, from taking the test as a joke to spending the Fourth of July with 2000 angry Mensans in Phoenix. Chaos reigns, but at least it tests well.
Deadly Manners: A 10 episode, dark comedy murder-mystery series set in the winter of 1954. It follows the events during the night of the affluent Billings family annual dinner party with their distinguished, eccentric guests. However, all is not fun and games as shortly after the party starts, a snowstorm begins to rage outside, trapping all the partygoers inside their host’s mansion. When a murderer starts killing off those in attendance, the guests must figure out who is responsible, or at least how to stay alive -- lest they be next.
Dreamboy: Someone is changing all the streetlights in Pepper Heights, Cleveland. The color of nighttime is shifting. Everyone thinks they know what happened at the Pepper Heights Zoo… But do they, really?
Fake Heiress: The rise and fall of Anna Delvey, who conned New York high society into believing that she was a multi-millionaire heiress. Vicky Baker and Chloe Moss dig deeper into the scandal.
Scattered: One dead dad. A box of ashes. And a mysterious past.
Finding Fred: 10-part series about the life, thinking and work of Fred Rogers, and asks what the cardigan wearing host of a decades-old children's show can tell us about how to get by in today's chaotic world.
Gaslight: Everyone thought Danny had gone missing. Towards the end of senior year she vanished, leaving family and friends devastated and confused including her closest friend in the world, Becca. Gaslight picks up years later when Becca and her new husband receive an unexpected visitor during breakfast.
Margaritas and Donuts: Josephine, a pediatrician, is pretty unlucky romantically. With a little coaxing from her best friend Katrina, Josephine starts a relationship with Malik, an ophthalmologist that works in the office across the hall from hers. Malik is exactly what Josephine needs, but she doesn't quite realize it...yet.
Moonface: A fiction show about a Korean American son (Joel Kim Booster) who wants to come out to his mom (Esther Moon), but can't because they don't speak the same language.
The Realness: The rapper Prodigy may have been the voice of New York, but he couldn’t escape a single recessive gene.
Gay Future: The year is 2062 and everyone is gay. A totalitarian government rules over what's left of North America to spread its insidious gay agenda. Humanity's only hope for a rebellion rests on the shoulders of a precocious teenage boy who harbors a dark secret: He's straight.
The Last Days of August: Jon Ronson delves into the pornography industry again as he unravels the never-before-told story of what caused a beloved 23-year-old actress’s untimely death.
Mija: This fiction podcast is narrated by Mija, a young latina from New York City who tells the story of her family’s immigration across generations to paint a picture of what home really means.
AND OH…I am so thrilled that my Beanie Weenies recipe is featured in the first issue of Arielle Nissenblatt and Miriam Tinberg's Community Curated Kitchen Newsletter! Quarantine recipes to save our souls! Read and subscribe here.
xoxo lp
ps If you are pleased with Podcast The Newsletter, please spread the word!
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Stories with Sapphire’s Sapphire Sandalo
Sapphire Sandalo is a podcaster, artist, and paranormal expert in Los Angeles. She created Something Scary and went off on her own to make Stories with Sapphire. Follow her on Twitter here. If you have a supernatural experience you'd like to share, email Sapphire at StoriesWithSapphire@gmail.com.
How does your family and your family's history play an important role in the show?
Stories With Sapphire is a celebration of supernatural experiences from all around the world, particularly in the Philippines, where my family is from. The stories that my grandpa told me when I was younger were what started my obsession with the paranormal. He had encountered manananggals, kapres, aswangs, and more. And when I learned that other members of my family had similar encounters, I became hooked. These stories are part of my family history and culture. I feel like every family has their own set of unexplainable stories that gets passed down, and that’s the spirit I like to capture with the stories I tell.
You are also an animator. How does your artwork play into your podcast work? Do you think other visual artists could have podcasts?
The first podcast I created was Something Scary, which was a spinoff of a web series I was making with the same name, where I told ghost stories and added animation. The network my show was a part of wanted to get into podcasts, and at the time I was hesitant about it because I didn’t see how it translated – the animation was the main appeal of the show, and a podcast would eliminate that. But I ended up falling in love with audio storytelling! So when I left the show back in October 2019, I decided that my next project would be a podcast to start, and then eventually I’d like to incorporate animation into the show in the future. But for now, I include my artwork in the show by creating unique thumbnails for each episode.
I absolutely believe visual artists should make podcasts! A lot of animators like to listen to them while working, so artists should make shows that they themselves would like to listen to.
What have you learned about yourself making Stories with Sapphire? What have you learned about people?
I haven’t been doing Stories With Sapphire for that long, and I don’t want to sound dramatic…but it’s changed my life. One of my goals with this show was to feature plenty of Filipino guests, and that has included some healers and mediums. These women are the real deal. Their connection to the spirit world is so inspiring, and makes me proud to be a Filipino American, knowing that these practices and traditions run in my blood. I actually talk about my experience with one of the healers, Lyn Pacificar, in my 6th episode titled The Spirits Of Our Ancestors.
Another nice side effect from doing this show is that I’ve grown closer to my mom, and subsequently Filipino culture. I usually text her when I need something translated to or from Filipino in my show, and she always asks relatives for their stories to see if they want to be on the podcast, it’s pretty cute. I’ve also learned Baybayin, the pre-colonial Filipino written language, and include it in my episode thumbnails. This podcast is documenting my own spiritual and cultural explorations in real-time, and I’m enjoying every second of it.
Women are constantly being criticized for their voices on podcasts. What is your relationship to yours?
What a great question. Back in college was the first time I was introduced to vocal fry and tone, from a voice development class I took on a whim. Before that, it hadn’t really occurred to me that there was a “proper” way to speak. And ever since that class, I have become hyper aware of my voice. And I do get a lot of compliments on my voice when I do podcasts or voiceover, but that’s because I am actively trying not to sound like myself, if that makes sense. In everyday life I am very much a Californian; I say “like” every two seconds, my pitch is very high, and my sentences come up at the end like a question. But in the sound booth, my voice is much deeper and smoother. I hate this belief that women should change the way they speak to be taken more seriously, and it makes me feel conflicted knowing that doing so has worked out beneficially for me.
What is your biggest goal for Stories with Sapphire? Why did you make it?
From podcasts to TV to movies, paranormal content is endless. But even then, rarely are they hosted or led by women, let alone women of color. And on top of that, they tend to regurgitate the same stories and ideas. Representation in media is incredibly important to me, in fact I teach a college course about it. Of course I’m super biased about this, but the Philippines has some of the most incredible folklore, mythology, and traditions, and so I’ve made it my mission to put a spotlight on these stories, and hopefully one day create an animated TV series or film featuring them. I created Stories With Sapphire because I not only want more cultural diversity in the paranormal community, but also more thoughtful paranormal content, not just creepy monsters and jump scares.
What do you say to people who don't believe in ghosts?
Plenty of people will go their whole lives without a single supernatural experience, and a lot of supernatural experiences can be debunked, so I don’t expect everyone to become a believer. But because I was raised in a home where the paranormal was normalized, it was never questioned whether or not the spirit world is real. And this is part of why I share the stories that I do, because when people think of ghosts they usually think of the transparent apparitions dressed in white like we see in movies, but the spirit world is a lot more complex than that. Spirits can interact with us in many different ways like dreams, synchronicities, or our intuition. So for me, the question isn’t really about believing in ghosts or not. The question is, would you even know a spirit is communicating with you if it did?
💎BTW💎
This is not podcast-related, but please enjoy Arnold Schwarzenegger’s adorable Instagram posts with his ponies Whiskey and Lulu. They’re all about urging people stay indoors, be entertained, and eat good food together. If Coronavirus doesn’t kill me, this will. (Of cuteness.)
🎙️Sapphire Sandalo (from above) created Something Scary but left to do her own thing, Stories With Sapphire, where she celebrates supernatural experiences from around the world, creating more cultural diversity within the paranormal community. I have been enjoying slipping into scary stories lately (they are able to take my focus away from real world horror) and Sapphire is a master. She’s actually an animator, and has found a way to bring her art to audio. She acts as both a storyteller and a helper to those with supernatural questions. I love her as a host and there is something comforting and nostalgic about her storytelling style.
🎙️If you are looking for something comforting, look no further than The Oprah Winfrey Show podcast, audio of the aha moments, the ugly cries, the breakthroughs and connections from The Oprah Winfrey Show vault. Listening to this podcast makes me feel like I’m watching TV on my couch in the 90s. I listened to the episode with Truddi Chase, a woman whose childhood sexual abuse led to her to create 92 multiple personalities. NOT EXACTLY COMFORTING but there is something that is escapist about this show, anyway.
🎙️The new episode of Invisibilia was surely planned long before anyone was thinking about Coronavirus, but it offers a hopeful message to us all. On An Unlikely Superpower, Elise Spiegel talks to Joy Milne, who can smell when people have serious diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer. If Joy has told you that you are sick (we get to hear from one of these people,) how do you live each day when the future is uncertain, or dire? You live each day, one day at a time. Trying to make every day worthwhile. This episode talks about Joy’s gift, the ethical situation her gift puts her in, and what it means when we can see into the future. And whether or not we want that. I had an interesting conversation with my husband about this episode and Joy’s gift–Justin seems to share this gift, too. He identifies people by their smells in a way that I do not. (And I have a very sharp sense of smell.) It was during this conversation that I learned he thinks white people, including me, smell “like someone coming inside on a warm fall day.” Joy can’t be the only person who can identify illness through smell, there are probably others who can do it with less precision. This episode made me think that my husband could be one of them.
🎙️On How To Fail, Elizabeth Day interviewed Mo Gawdat (former Chief Business Officer for Google X, author of SOLVE FOR HAPPY) about dealing with Coronavirus anxiety. One could argue that Mo is not worried enough, he’s incredibly positive. He encourages us to embrace the challenges the pandemic presents us and says it is these dark moments is what life is all about. Mo does three things every day, and I think in times when we are living one day at a time, his schedule is one we should copy: Every day he meets himself, finds a way to be productive, and looks for ways to be happy. If everything you’ve been hearing has been bringing you down, this is the anecdote.
🎙️Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us is here, and while the first episode isn’t a good representation of what’s to come (there will be interviews, and this is Brené kind of sitting on the floor with us from her son’s dirty laundry pile and explaining the show and her vulnerabilities about starting a podcast and the pandemic,) I liked what I heard. In fact, I recommend you turn it on with a pen and paper so you can take notes on Brené’s wisdom. She focuses on FFT, or Fucking First Time, the fear that comes when you do something for the first time. You are allowed to be bad at it, she says. That is when the magic happens, she says. So when you are afraid of something, ask yourself: am I afraid because this is FFT? And if yes, then ride through the fear. Brené apologizes for using old-timey words like “pocket book” and mentions she needs a microphone filter that modernizes her terminology, but I think that’s what’s part of the show’s charm. I hope she doesn’t change. (I do, however, wish she would stop saying she will “drop a podcast” every week! You drop an episode every week, not a podcast! That is the podcast nerd in me talking.)
🎙️My client Barry Sonnenfeld (he directed The Addams Family, Wild Wild West, Chasing Arizona, and more) was on Who Shot Ya? discussing his book, CALL YOUR MOTHER, his career in film, and the movie Dr. Strangelove. I love Who Shot Ya?, listening always make me feel like I’m part of a fun group hangout. (I always find myself wanting to chime in.) And it’s so much fun to listen to Barry’s instant chemistry with the hosts. I also recommend you buy Barry’s book…it’s hilarious, deeply personal, and offers some unexpected life lessons that I truly appreciated.
🎙️Remember Reading? is the podcast I have been waiting for. HarperCollins’ podcast talks about classic children’s books with authors of today, remembering why we love these classic books, and uncovering the unique stories behind the stories. The most recent episode was wonderful, Meg Cabot and Herman Parish talking about Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia. I LOVED THESE BOOKS (I dressed as Amelia Bedelia for Halloween when I was in preschool, see below) and thinking about them again, I am reminded how truly funny they are. Amelia Bedelia is the Maria Bamford of children’s books, a true comic. And I realize the reason I loved the stories so much is because I have always loved language and words, and sillyness. Amelia Bedelia’s confusion about being instructed to “draw the drapes” and “dust the furniture” highlights how wild and wonderful and confusing the English language is. I also loved the episode on Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books, featuring Julie Murphy, Rita Williams-Garcia, & Dan Yaccarino. Of course I remember loving the Ramona books, but this episode made me want to go read them all over again. It reminded me why I love Ramona, how Beverly Cleary was a revolutionary for children’s book authors. She respected kids and created a character unlike any others, she feels so modern. Her problems feel adult. Hearing intelligent writers talk about these kids books is eye-opening and reignites my love for the books I have loved for my entire life. Also, because the Coronavirus is on my mind I am incredibly worried about Beverly Cleary. She is almost 104! I hope she is taking care of herself!
🎙️When my gym closed, I felt panicked. Not just for my physical health, but for my mental health. Going to the gym had been keeping me sane. Fortunately my husband is a gym bro, and has basically set up a gym in our small apartment. (When instructing me how to use his equipment, he uses phrases like “crush it” and I’m like…who are you?) Then I started to worry how shallow it feels to worry about my fitness at a time like this. But I did start to notice that other people are worried about the same thing. (A friend texted me: I am going to gain 200 pounds because of Coronavirus.) My mom has been doing old Jane Fonda workouts (we used to do these together when I was a kid and they were a blast…I occasionally watch this just for fun.) And then I listened to Brought To You By…an episode about Judi Sheppard Missett, the founder of Jazzercise. It’s a truly incredible story, how Judi was able to franchise Jazzercise before franchising was really a thing (other than Dominos pizza), and how she was able to share her workouts with franchise owners before there were video tapes. The jazzercise workouts sound HARD and I think I might start doing them.
🎙️We’re all some form of quarantine right now, but Ear Hustle gently reminds us that it isn’t that bad, relatively speaking. They re-ran a great episode about what it’s like to be on lock-down at San Quentin. It will make you appreciate your shower, your meals, your books, and your ability to move. There is also a long (hilarious) description of back-end fishing, a way that prisoners move food through the toilets. I don’t want to hear you bitching about not being able to go to SXSW if you don’t have to pull your food through a toilet system. Stick with this episode through the end, there’s a beautiful, sad song by Gregg Sayers and Maserati E. called Losing Time, about being on lock-down. It’s so emotional you can really get a feel what being on lock-down is like. (I promise if you listen to it while you are moping around your house feeling sorry for yourself, you will laugh at yourself and feel ridiculous.)
🎙️WE ARE IN STRANGE TIMES and Laurie Santos of The Happiness Lab has rushed in to help. She’ll be running a few bonus episodes before the next season launches about how we can stay happy and sane during social isolation and mass hysteria. On this episode Laurie interviews Stanford Professor Jamil Zaki about how we can remain connected even though we can’t physically be together, specifically the creative ways people are using technology to fight isolation. (My birthday was on Saturday, and my friends threw me a virtual birthday party at 7:01pm, the time of my birth. They sang to me and we all caught up 💖.) There are constructive tips, and I promise it will make you feel better. “We have more in common with more people than we usually do.” Let’s cultivate more social connection. I love to see how podcasters are stepping in to come up with creative ways to help their audiences.
🎙️I think that the producers of Everything Is Alive have sprinkled in magic, somehow. The premise is simple: Ian Chillag hosts conversations with inanimate objects, like a pillow, a lamp post, and a jack-o-lantern. It’s creative, provocative, sweet, peaceful, and funny. Immediately, when one of the objects start talking, I begin to picture them, think about who they are and their life stories. The show encourages your imagination to run wild. These objects truly come to life in sound. It is an incredible show, and it’s back with a new season, Tami and Ed, Sharpie. There is also a preview of a future episode, which sounds like Josh Gondelman as a chainsaw? *Exciting.*
🎙️Listening to Everything Is Alive reminded me to relisten to my favorite episode of The Shadows, Kaitlin Prest’s brilliant series that portrays two people who form a relationship. The Shadows, in true Prest-style, is beautiful, uncomfortable, and like nothing else. It feels true. It’s also experimental. And in the episode I love, Sweater, Prest switches perspectives to that of a sweater that comes between the two lovers. The sweater becomes a character with feeling and emotion, much like the objects in Everything Is Alive. I love the turns The Shadows takes, especially with Sweater.
🎙️Science Diction is a) a show that has such a perfect name, I love it for that reason and that reason alone, and b) the show for people who love science, or language, or both. It’s a bite-sized podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Each episode digs into the origin of a single word or phrase, and, with the help of historians, authors, etymologists, and scientists, reveals a surprising science connection. When I first discovered it, I was overwhelmed with all the episodes I wanted to hear. I wanted to listen to all of them at once. I started with Dinosaur, and learned something new about one of my favorite topics. This show is relaxing and a true escape.
🎙️If you need something to binge on Hulu, might I recommend the TV adaptation of Celeste Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere. And then, might I recommend you rush to listen to The Adaptables, a new show from Penguin Random House that reviews shows and movies that have been adapted from books. The first season focuses on Little Fires Everywhere, and boasts interviews with Celeste, and other incredible writers, like the first episode with R. Eric Thomas. (Full disclosure: I assisted in developing this show, and am so proud and excited about it!)
🎙️Last week I incorrectly stated that Cat People was a Lit Hub podcast. It is brought to us from Long Reads. I finished it up this week and was blown away. It’s perfectly edited (I have been thinking about this a lot thanks to the Writers On Crime episode above), the stories are well-told, and I simply want more of them. The Carole Gun episode is an unbelievable story about Joe Exotic, the “gay, gun-carrying redneck with a mullet” who hired a hit man to murder Carole Baskin, who was trying to shut Joe’s tiger business down. It’s a great way to end the series, but the earlier, less outrageous episodes are equally compelling.
🎙️I have been enjoying my cat Monty lately, even more than usual. With my husband and me indoors, he is living his best life. And every time I get stressed I look over at him to find him rolling around in a sun spot or working on his scratching post and I admire his fortitude amidst the chaos. We should all be embracing pet vibes right now. And I found comfort in Dog Save the People, a show that sets to prove that dogs make our lives better. Guests share vital, moving and hilarious stories about the positive impact dogs have made on their life perspective, mental health, physical activity, and community. Binge if you need something uplifting right now. (The latest guest was Simon Doonan, who shares an interesting story about how dogs were introduced into his life, and the love he has for his dogs now made me want to cry.)
🎙️Do you want to hear an entire podcast of Helen Zaltzman reading a long list of comforting words in alphabetical order? So do I! The Allusionist ran an episode of just that, and I have been playing it on repeat when I need to calm down and chill out. It was especially exciting to hear Helen’s lulling voice say a word that I recommended she use, cucchiaio. (Spoon in Italian.)
🎙️I mentioned I have been disappearing into spooky stories lately–Stories with Sapphire, Ghosts in the Burbs back with a new season we do not deserve, and now Spooked is back for season 3! On Isabelle, a woman starts seeing things at night that are truly horrifying (like something you’d see in The Grudge!) and it takes years for her to realize who, or what, it is. And then it all makes sense.
🎙️I love you!