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Bonjour.
Today is Monday, February 3, 2025. My next Disney Cruise is in 46 days. In case this newsletter is too long, why Amy Adams is always in the bathtub here, your next favorite investigative show is here, hear Jamie Loftus talk about her NeoPets here.
xoxo
lauren
P.S - If youāre interested in placing an ad in Podcast The Newsletter or Podcast Marketing Magic, fill out this form
šq & a & q & a & q & aš
Frank Racioppi
Frank Racioppi is a South Jersey-based author who publishes his daily podcast e-publication āEar Worthy ā on several platforms, including Blogger, Substack, ManyStories, Medium, Tumblr, and Vocal.
Tell us about Ear Worthy in 10 words or less.
Ear Worthy delivers podcast reviews, recommendations, and trends to podcast fans.
What are the best 5 things youāve listened to this year?
Lauren, seriously, just five. Youāre killing me. Here goes:
Why Wars Happened?
Conspiracy, She Wrote
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever
5 Random Questions
Even If It Kills Me
Who is your favorite creator?
My favorite creators are independent podcasters. Whenever possible, I try to review and support indie podcasts. I love Next Chapter Podcasts with their Shakespearean plays. They make Shakespeare accessible to all, and the acting, music, and sound design are always at such a high level.
If you were going to make a podcast, what would it be? Donāt worry about any of the logistics (time/space travel is fine), whether or not anyone would like it (only you have to like it), or the budget (you have $1M.)
Of course, Spotify discovered that you canāt buy your way to podcast dominance. Ironically, the best podcasts are often the cheapest to produce because they are indie podcasts. So, if I could make any podcast with a large budget, hereās what I would do. First, Iād like to develop an Ear Worthy podcast. Iād hire Rose Rimler, the senior producer from Science Vs, to produce the show. Then, Iād hire Arielle Nissenblatt and Ned Donovan from Arielle & Nedās Daily Tipsā¦ podcast to be co-hosts.
Iād have Wil Williams, Devin Andrade, and Samantha Hodder on the writing staff. Mathew Passy from the Podcasting Tech podcast would be our sound and I.T. expert, and weād have Bridget Todd from the Beef podcast doing opinion pieces every other week.
Who do you wish would start a podcast?
Andreea Coscai. In 2022, she released a podcastāWho Holds Up Half The Skyāthat I thought was inspired. The title comes from Influential activist figures in Chinaās history, from the Qing dynasty to the Maoist era, with the famous quote: āWomen Hold up Half the Sky.ā
What I love about this podcast is that it reveals feminism as more than a socioeconomic movement in highly developed countries. Coscai portrays feminism as a potentially powerful force against a Communist government like China. Sheās talented. Iād like to hear more from her.
What do you wish that I had asked you but didnāt?
Who are the best writers in the podcast review space?
The answer is Wil Williams and Devin Andrade, hands down. They both write with such lyrical flair and narrative excellence. Hats off to two Substack writers: Samantha Hodder from Bingeworthy and Kattie Laur from Pod The North.
šØIf u only have time for 1 thingšØ
Have you ever noticed that Amy Adams seems to do a lot of bathtub/shower scenes? You wonāt be able to unnotice it. Itās something that Brandon R. Reynolds and Gabby Lombardo noticed and spun into a bit of a conspiracy theory and a podcast, Why Is Amy In the Bath? In six episodes theyāre asking: Is Amy, who has never won an Oscar, doing all these bathtub scenes because they offer the opportunity for the kind of dramatic acting that earns the biggest, goldest prizes? I love weird conspiracy theories, or explorations that seem to dumb to be real explorations, and I love funny, but this isnāt just all of that, itās also data-driven. Brandon and Gabby went through 1,500 movies, including all the Best Actress Oscar nominees, to see if there was a correlation to tubs and the data has shaped the series. But we also get the secret history of bathtubs in cinema and why writers use these scenes to load up on cinematic importance. (You see a tub? Something is important is about to happen!!!) Like many conspiracy theories, this starts in a bathtub and ends up in much murkier watersāwellness, 9/11, nostalgia, Gillian Flynn, and porn. Lather up, tubbercups (that would be a great name for the listeners.)
How I discovered it: Email from Janet Varney
notes
āØ Fan of How I Met Your Mother? Be part of the new rewatch podcast! Josh Radnor (who played āTed Mosbyā) has teamed up with series co-creator Craig Thomas for How We Made Your Mother, which will explore how the show changed them, how it changed its fans, and how it changed the culture. They launched a special teaser a month before the first episode for one reason - they want to hear from you. Fans will be featured in every episode and can submit messages now. Read about it in PEOPLE.
āØRead about the 7 podcasts every Canadian should subscribe to in 2025 here, via Pod the North!
āØTinkās Andreea Coscai talked to Sam Sethi on Podnews Weekly Review about Eurowavesā¦listen here, subscribe to EuroWaves here!
āØArielle spotlighted Rebel on Main in EarBuds.
špodcasts i texted to friendsš
šļøI was hanging on every word during the opening of We Came to the Forest, which introduces us to Vienna Forrest, an activist remembering her life living in the forest with a bunch of activists to protest the construction of Atlantaās Cop City, one of the biggest police training facilities in the country. Sheās speaking intimately about her partner Tortuguita (Manuel Esteban Paez TerĆ”n,) another protester or āforest defenderā who was shot and killed by Atlanta law enforcement (allegedly???) while sitting in his tent. We Came to the Forest revolves around Tortuguitaās murder and everything that led up to it, but the conversations with Vienna are the parts that are sticking with me. She speaks uncomfortably, her wounds are raw and the story is ongoing. (Viennaās troubles arenāt overāsheās currently fighting charges of domestic terrorism for allegedly throwing rocks during a protest.) Campside doesnāt shy away from telling dangerous stories (like White Devil, The Michigan Plot, Long Shadow, and two of my favorites Wild Boys and Devil in the Ditch) and they do a great job. Host Matthew Shaer and his team make it down to Atlanta to witness some of the protests and access documents that had previously been locked up, all to try to demystify the circumstances surrounding Tortuguitaās death. What seems obvious (Tortuguita was shot by the police) is tough to prove. A cop was shot, but who shot him? There were no body cams to prove it was Tortuguita but captured audio lets us hear one cop saying āMan, you fucked your own officer up.ā I got an advanced listen of this and binged it in a morning. I rarely say this but I think it could have been longerāit gets deep into the story with a few main characters, but I would have liked to hear from more. We Came to the Forestās storytelling and interviews are so compelling and I think it will be remembered for making you think about how fast things can go from good to bad when it comes to dealing with the cops, how thin the line between safety and danger can be. And what people are willing to give up, how tough and loving they can be. I think it will be remembered for a lot. Listen here.
How I discovered it: Press release.
šļøIan Coss is back on The Big Dig feed with Scratch and Win, a show that traces gambling from an illegal backroom operation to a state-run, multibillion dollar industry. Ian was driven to make the show because as a Massachusettsian he was startled to hear that an average of $1,037 is spent per adult on gambling in Massachusetts every year. So weāre here becauseā¦why Massachusetts? The answer is fascinating, Ian takes us on side trails from Catholicism to Vaudeville. And it all starts to make senseāhow this Protestant state turned to Catholicism, a religion of churches built by BINGO games. (Wait, isnāt it kind of weird that Catholics allow BINGO?) While Ian is presenting us with staggering facts about how much money we spend on scratch tickets or how quickly America took the leap to instant gambling, heās also bringing in so much emotional investigating. Multiple times I had to rewind because one moment he captured or one quote from someone he was interviewing or one vivid detail from one of his stories would send my mind on an entire other path, wondering about the people behind it all. I would listen to episode two just to hear the story of how scratch tickets were invented. Listen here.
How I discovered it: Saw it on The Digās feed.
šļøCollege scandal stories are addictive because they expose a grimy side about something that is supposed to be so prestigious and shiny and rich. And I guess if your college experience was miserable like mine was, it makes you feel better to know you wasnāt missing out on anything by not pledging Phi Sig Delta or whatever. I have bad college stories but Iām lucky, it can get so much darker than being depressed and friendless. Thereās hazing, plagiarism, rigged admissions, rape, deathā¦these stories are not harmless. Campus Files is a new show thatās exploring college scandals big and small, old and new. The first one is in two parts and was so good I emailed the team requesting to hear part two. (Youāll be able to hear it on Wednesday.) Itās about how UNC protected its athletic dominance with fake classes (āpaper classesā) and a shadow curriculum to keep athletes eligible. At first is seems just shocking and sort of funny, but the more you think about it is just heartbreakingāathletes coming to college for an education and being denied that education in lieu of making money for their college with their bodies, then sent home after graduation, probably still with a fourth grade education level and without a contract with the NBA because thatās, like, impossible. Each of these stories is a tiny life tragedy. Laura Bricker of Crime Writers Onā¦always talks about shows that set her on rage walks. I wonder if sheāll be rage walking to this. Maybe that explains why at least this story is so addictiveāyou really want this to end, you want it to be fixed, you really want justice to be served. But just like Whack-a-mole there will be another fucked up college story next week, because this is a weekly show. (Coming up: a drug-peddling professor and dean, a tragic hazing death, Columbia Universityās āUS News & World Reportā ranking scandal.) Listen here.
How I discovered it: Email from Audacy
šļøFans of this newsletter will want to know that Jamie Loftus (Sixteenth Minute of Fame and so many other glorious things) was on Sleeping with Celebrities, John Moeās interview podcast that talks to celebrities about things that are interesting enough to draw your attention away from gripping anxieties that keep you up all night but not interesting enough to keep you awake. Episodes are conversational lullabies. Jamie chooses to give a rundown and history of NeoPets (virtual pets that you can care for and play with that are still kicking it but theyāre very 1999.) Jamie played with NeoPets as a kid, has returned to them as an adult, and explains how they taught her about everything from the stock market to war preparation and are a course in capitalism that goes more in depth than most public educational systems. Every single thing Jamie said about NeoPets brought along seven more questions from me. But to answer one of yours: no they cannot die, even if they are starving and depressed, which is really something. This conversation was a delight please do not fall asleep when listening to it. Listen here.
How I discovered it: Subscriber to Sleeping with Celebrities
šļøWhen I heard that Sam Mullins was hosting a podcast I went straight there, I did not pass Go. His podcast Wild Boys was one of my favorite things made in 2022. His new project, Sea of Lies (from Uncover) is about Albert Walker, one of Canadaās most prolific swindlers. (His list of swindles includes stealing identities, frauding people of millions of dollars, and he was involved in a murder.) Swindle stories have been done before but donāt miss this one. It starts with a huge splash (more specifically a dead body in an ocean) and takes you on this zig zagging path that will keep you guessing. I donāt want to reveal too much. Sam and his team have decided to frame the entire storytelling around luck and chance. What are the chances that Albert Walker could pull this off, and what are the even crazier chances that someone would get to the bottom of it? The path to the bottom is wild. Listen here.
How I discovered it: I heard a promo for it on On Drugs, which I discovered from an Apple Podcasts promotion and wrote about last week.
šļøFeMANism, the podcast āfor men by men for womenā (ābecause feminism isnāt just for annoying gals after allā) is back for a new season. Hosts Jamie and Sam are ātwo strong men powerfully thrusting themselves into the center of the feminist cause.ā Listen, this show is so funny, every line makes me giggle, so I could just quote them all day long but thenā¦what am I even doing here? In case youāre new to this one, FeMANism is a fiction podcast acted by two very smart women playing he roles of idiotic men mansplaining feminism. I love entering the world of Jamie and Sam, as grimy as it is, and in the new season we learn that Sam and Jamie practice recording each episode every single night of the week, a podcast tip Iāve never heard before, that Sam has become a counselor so that he can diagnose his own wife with a personality disorder she doesnāt have, and that Jamie is trying to back out of his engagement with a woman who he says āis a 4,ā because he was only hoping to bang her sister and still is. Do you see why all I want to do is quote these women and their well-sculpted characters all day long? Iām absolutely positive there are people out there just like Jamie and Sam, and that is terrifying. Listen here.
How I discovered it: Pretty sure Adrian Sherling of Hark told me about it years ago!
šļøAnswer Me This, the beloved question and answer podcast hosted by Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann, is probably coming back, depending on how many people are able to support their Patreon. (By the sound of it, theyāre going to be able to get enough to make the show sustainableā¦on the last episode Helen, Ollie, and Martin play a collection of listeners celebrating the Answer Me This Return.) For lots of people this is a comfort show (Helen and Ollie were doing weekly episodes for almost fifteen years starting in 2007.) But even if you are new, I think you will find that listening is a delight. Time stops when I listen. Recently Helen and Ollie cover listener questions like: whatās the best museum gift shop? How do I succinctly descsribe tall ships without mentioning pirate ships? How do authors make money on library books? Must a book be dedicated to a person? Are dogs particular to bagpipe sounds? It doesnāt matter if Helen and Ollie are answering something tiny and seemingly dumb (the pirate ship one) or big and philosophical, you end up realizing that the questions are all about people, theyāre individual peeks into windows in different homes. And the answers are always amusing even when you donāt agree with Helen and Ollie. (I think you should totally send a Bat Mitzvah Thank You note years late, even if the kid is like eighteenā¦I think thatās funny.) Listen here.
How I discovered it: I met Helen in Bello Collective years ago and started following her work.
šļøThere are so many mental health podcasts out there, and I know so many people seeking them. Itās a category that comes up a lot when I ask people I meet āwhat kind of podcasts do you like to listen to?ā Most mental health podcasts offer knock-off drug store remedies at very best, if theyāre not totally destructive. The best one, Basket Case, is beautifully made and would be worth a listen just because of that. But it also addresses metal health issues from the roots, the systems, and the structures that cause them. Itās goddam beautiful and fucking heavy. More than once I have had to rewind and relisten to things from host NKās mouth on repeat and let them sit in my brain in silence before starting to wonder what it must be like to BE NK, the one putting this all together. What Iām trying to say is I think making this podcast must be an emotionally taxing job and NK I thank you for your service. A recent episode used mushrooms to help us thinking about fighting loneliness and isolation. NK explains that we share genetic material with mushrooms, our relationship to mushrooms is ancestral and intergenerational. The mushroom world is totally interconnected, and to be in community with mushrooms means to return to our previous symbiotic state. I wrote this in my notes with many, many explanation points: we were never meant to be alone!!!!!! Making our lives more like the mushroom world and less like the heteronormative hierarchy is possible. Getting back to your mushroom roots is possible. Other podcasters are telling you ten bullshit mantras to tell yourself in the morning to embrace your inner girlboss or what supplement to take to fight depression, and NK is explaining how it actually all goes back to the mushrooms, the dirt. And that the answers might be there. Listen here.
How I discovered it: Jazmine Green
šļøOn December 2, 2024, I wrote about how blown away I was by The Telepathy Tapes. I had read about it on Reddit and binged it in November. The Telepathy Tapes explores the āprofound abilitiesā of non-speakers with autism that range from telepathy to otherworldly perceptions. It is a podcast that promises to āchallenge the limits of what we believe to be real.ā And I completely fell for it. If youāve listened to the show you know it is emotional, set to beautiful music, and at first seems like a very nice thing to believe in. If you do even the slightest amount of fact-checking (I had not) you will see that itās complete bullshit. I am not the only one who has fallen for this showāI have gushed about it with some of the smartest people I know and I have three friends who said it made them believe in god. I am not kidding. If you saw the show trending at #1 in early January it is because Joe Rogan had the host of The Telepathy Tapes on his show. He loves The Telepathy Tapes! Yikes. The best thing that happened was getting an email from Lauren Ober, who among other things, hosted The Loudest Girl in the World. Lauren said:
As an autistic person, I've been disappointed to see this autistic pseudoscience get promulgated across the podcast universe. There are so many things wrong about this show. For one, there was not one autistic person interviewed for it. There are plenty of non-verbal autistic people who use augmented and alternative communication who the host could have interviewed about non-verbal communication. But they didn't fit into her "magical autist" thesis. In the disability community there is an adage ā "nothing about us, without us." Meaning, don't make work about a marginalized group without consulting/including that group. It's depressing to see that in 2025, this is still happening.
Also, the show's main scientific "expert" is a quack. There are so many legitimate concerns and critiques about her (and the show) online. She hasn't worked at Harvard since 2008 and she lost her medical license in 2010. Not because the medical establishment didn't like her research into ESP as she claimed, but because of "poor management of therapeutic boundaries, incomplete chart notes [ā¦], a disorganized approach to treatment, a failure to respond to significant patient symptoms, and concerns over her management of patient medications." To buttress an entire documentary project with a woman who has been discredited repeatedly by her peers is irresponsible.
For many parents of non-verbal autistic children, that diagnosis is devastating. They will never truly know or understand their child's interior life. They will never hear their child say "I love you." And they will spend their lives trying to find a way to end-run to a speech-less existence. I am fully willing to believe there are mysteries in the universe that we cannot possibly understand. But this "telepathy" is not a mystery. It has been present in (mostly) mothers of autistic children forever ā a deep desire to communicate with children who seem to live on their own astral plane. These parents can believe what they like about their children, but promoting a fantastical and pseudoscientific claim seems dangerous. Not least of all to the autistic children themselves.
I am deeply troubled by the fact that 1) a show that passes off wishful thinking as science and 2) frames autistic children as supernatural beings, is being treated as legitimate documentary work. Autistic people are breathtakingly misunderstood in this country and shows like this advance a way of thinking about neurodivergent folks that does not comport with the reality of our lives and does nothing to help counter the lack of real services and resources to support us.
So now I am doing my own research. Skeptical Inquirer called it āa veritable cornucopia of pseudoscientific beliefs,ā Conspirituality did a solid job of poking holes in literally everything about it. The Telepathy Tapes isnāt just harmful to disability justice, itās spiritualizes a rejection of intellectual work and honesty.
I feel so silly and irresponsible for being swept away and really wanting to believe this, and for unleashing this onto you. Chelsey Weber-Smith (of American Hysteria) made me feel a little better. They shared a quote with me from Ralph Rugoff in Eye of the Needle:
Moving forward before I fall for something claiming to be science Iāll consider the community its impacting and be more discerning in what Iām willing to believe. Whatās next? Believing that Amy Adams is doing tub scenes just to get an Oscar? Pizzagate? Listen to the episode of Conspirituality here.
How I discovered it: Research.
šļøI love you!
Podcast Tink Loves
The new season of Black Healing Remixed just launched with a conversation featuring Antonia Hylton, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning author, who unpacks the troubling history of Crownsville State Hospital and its reflection on modern mental health and prison systems. Antonia's research reveals how many of the major scandals of mistreatment were not actually outliers, but part of a pattern for how Black people were treated in the medical field. These patterns left lasting impacts of mistrust, fear, and skepticism towards the medical system that are still felt today. This episode covers what it means to heal from that now. Black Healing Remixed truly is the front porch, the kitchen island, and that perfect seat on the couch where honest and transformative talks about healing and wellness unfold. Each episode celebrates Black healing in all its formsābeautiful, messy, imperfect, and joyousāwhile giving listeners the language and practical resources to embrace their own healing journeys. What does it mean to thoughtfully and honestly heal mental health within the modern complexities of todayās society? Hosts Yolo Akili Robinson and Natalie Patterson are the perfect guides for answering this question. They explore it through ancestral wisdom, their own expertise and experience, and that of healers, advocates, artists, therapists and activists.
Also, Telepathy Tapes, while early reviews like yours were positive, a couple of critics most recently have come to your updated conclusion as well.
FRANK the Tank!