❤️Podcast The Newsletter❤️

Bonjour.

When I was running for class president in 4th grade, my campaign slogan was “I have a big mouth, let’s put it to use!” Oh my god, I know. I did not win. Fucking popularity contest.

But I do have a big mouth and have spent my entire life writing and blogging and having podcasts and tweeting and newsletter-ing and social media-ing because I’ve somehow felt that I had so much to say. This has really made me start to feel uncomfortable lately. I have been talking for centuries. Sometimes at the end of the day, after tweeting and posting and writing, I think to myself, "what on earth did I just say today? What did I put out there? Am I even listening to myself? Who am I? Where are my pants?" (To quote Ethnically Ambiguous.) My own voice and story are exhausting me, I'm not even sure I have one, anymore. Or at least, I think it's time for me to sit back and listen to others a little more. I shouldn’t have a blog or a podcast or a newsletter. Why are you even reading this?!

One of the reasons I started Tink was because I wanted other people to get their words out and tell their stories. I am so sick of mine, and ones just like it. I want to hear from POC and non-binary people and anyone living a story I haven’t heard before. Ugh, Lauren. Sit down.

(I technically do have a podcast, but I am not the show’s host. And on it, my partner Kate and I are trying to talk to ambitious women—of all kinds—about how they take care of themselves.)

It was a huge honor to get to go to LA this week and bring Sophia Chang to be on Ethnically Ambiguous, a show I have loved since day one. (I reminded Anna, after I hugged her and introduced myself, that after the first few episodes of EA I emailed her and asked if I could be her intern. Thank goodness she didn’t say yes! I had a job and a fiancé and a life in NYC! This idea made no sense at the time, I just LOVED what Anna and Shereen were doing and wanted to be a part of it.)

Sitting in the recording session with Sophia, Anna, and Shereen—all first-generation, children of immigrants, all WOC, I was actually really psyched that for the first time ever I wasn’t talking, I was listening. And that’s all I kind of want to do right now. When they were talking about fearlessness I actually wrote down something Shereen said. Anna mentioned that she does not think she is fearless and Shereen said, “Please give yourself credit. The fact that you are here telling your story doing your podcast, that is fearless. And if nobody is going to speak up for us, we have to do it ourselves.” That is why Sophia wrote her memoir, THE BADDEST BITCH IN THE ROOM. I have heard her say several times: “I am a woman in my 50s, I have a samurai haircut, I have two children, I am an Asian Canadian. The fact that someone like me is jumping up on the table and pounding my fists down and demanding to be heard, is radical in itself.”

This newsletter intro was supposed to be about other people but it ended up be a lot about me. See? I can’t stop. But hopefully I’m getting better. I’m excited about podcasts because they allow unheard voices to fearlessly tell their stories, and they allow me to sit back and finally just listen.

xoxo lp
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The Gist's Mike Pesca

Mike Pesca is the host of The Gist. Follow him on Twitter here. Follow The Gist on Twitter here.

You listen to a LOT of podcasts. How has your list changed over the years?
As new ones are invented, old ones fade, but sometimes it’s more oversight than choice. Lately, I have rediscovered some old podcasts that used to be go-to’s. Left, Right & Center on a Friday after some political news has come out on a Thursday or Friday morning is a great listen. And I got back into The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show. I got away from The Adam Carolla Show for two years, but now I never miss one.

What is a show you listen to that you love that nobody knows about?
Oh, lots. One that I stumbled across in the strangest way is called Settling the Score. The hosts are two music experts, real, (degreed and such, ) who take a film score and break it down highlighting influences and nuances. Jaws is great. American Beauty, also stellar. It’s so good.

What is the most surprising show you listen to?
Not one show but I don’t know how many people are inside the Venn Diagram of Live from the Brookings Cafeteria / The Adam Ferrara Podcast / Arms Control Wonk / The Bulwark and Everything Is Alive. I might be the only listener to the National Review Editor’s Roundtable and Chapo Trap House disagreeing with them both in equal measure.

You got your start on podcasts before they were cool. How did you explain podcasts to people before they knew what they were?
Aha. I did have the first podcast on NPR by an NPR employee. It was called “On Gambling.” It was good. I think all episodes are lost to history because recently I wanted to find a segment I did about risk and amniocentesis. Since my oldest son is 12 1/2, this must have been done 13 years ago. I interviewed the economist and writer Emily Oster about her book that touched on risks and odds and babies but alas the episode is gone.

But the answer to the question is for many years I had the podcast as a kind of labor of love and also my full-time job as an NPR reporter. I always found time to do both. I wasn’t dependent on anyone actually aligning to my podcast though many did. Then I joined Slate's Hang Up And Listen about 11 years ago. That was also a side gig. I got paid $200 a week to talk about sports, it was fun and, once again, just a bit of bonus effort- for which I was compensated! Then, when I started working full time for Slate 5 years ago—well, podcasting was cool by then right? Or I helped make it so. And by help, I mean it was all me and some Sarah Koenig.

Are there too many podcasts?
There aren’t too many podcasts. But discovery is a real problem. People I know and am a fan of sometimes have podcasts—and have had them for months, without my knowing about it. That’s wrong. Also celebrity interviewers relying on their Rolodex isn’t a great trend. If podcasting were the only form of interview shows, would a Terry Gross even be able to breakthrough? I do think some of these celebrity interviewers really are good (Dax Sheppard ). But others are very much not.

💎BTW:💎

🎙️On Wednesday I brought Sophia to The Daily Zeitgeist, which means I got to sit in on an episode of The Daily Zeitgeist (Miles even gave me an on-air shoutout!), which was an incredible experience for me. Sophia killed it (I especially loved listening to her talk about authenticity in hip hop.) When I got there, I was *so* excited but Jack and Miles were so chill because of course they were! They do this every day! I loved Sophia's over/unders. Listen here.

🎙️Sophia also did recordings for Ethnically Ambiguous and Jemele Hill's Unbothered. Those were fantastic interviews for different reasons. I can't wait to share them with you!

🎙️My entire LA trip was a dream. I was so happy the whole time, I think people assumed I was an unhinged person. "Are you having a good day?" The Starbucks barista would ask me, not caring about the answer. "YES I'm having a GREAT day thank you for asking, I'm here from New York City for my new company, Tink and I'm here with an amazing client to be on cool shows and I love that this is my job now CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I'm on a business trip BABY'S FIRST BUSINESS TRIP!!!" I am not worn down yet, clearly. I hope I never become worn down.

🎙️Caroline Crampton (!!) interviewed me about Tink for Hot Pod. It was a great experience for me because Caroline has written and published a book, and she really gets what I'm trying to do with my company. Not everyone does! Read the piece here.

🎙️If you haven't listened to Nick Quah (of Hot Pod) on Longform, listen here. It's a great conversation about Nick's history with podcast reporting, newsletters, and the incredible business Nick's built. I love what he says about working with the podcast community.

🎙️If you have an interview podcast, go directly to Linda Holmes's interview with Terry Gross on Pop Culture Happy Hour and do not pass go. Terry gives great advice on giving a good interview and addresses some of the pushback she received interviewing Lizzo. I love Terry, and I especially love listening to someone turning the tables on her. It's an important interview for anyone interested in podcasting. (Especially for someone like me who thinks authors make great podcast guests.)

🎙️I wish someone would do an entire podcast talking about the podcast Dolly Parton's America. The first episode, Sad Ass Songs, talks about how Dolly has become a feminist icon, someone able to pull together different types of people from all over the world, despite the fact she loathes the feminist label. (This Twitter thread does a GREAT job unpacking THAT, and it's even something Terry addresses in the interview above.) The episode goes into Dolly's songwriting and frames very well why her music is so revolutionary. This show is a gem. I love what it's trying to do and is succeeding in doing.

🎙️I started a Spotify playlist of my favorite podcast episodes of all time. I'm not including entire series that I enjoy, just single episodes I have found myself passing to others or listening to multiples times. I think occasionally I will pull episodes from that list and mention them here. This week, I'd like to point you to the final episode of Pop Rocket, one of the first shows I listened to, and one that I was so sad to see end. For the last episode, Guy, Margaret, Wynter, and Karen don't hide their sadness for ending the show. It's proof that podcasting can really have a huge impact on your life and become a part of who you are. I cried along with the hosts, listening. I still miss this show. I'm glad they were honest in this final episode.

🎙️The Shelf-Care Podcast, the show I produce with my partner Kate, dropped episode two and it's soooo good, if I do say so myself. We talked to FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE's Ingrid Rojas Contreras about her self-care rituals, and you all should take NOTES. This woman winds down in a hammock, loves CBD pear gummies, stargazes, uses a waterproof notebook in the bathtub, and has mastered matcha. Listen here! Subscribe here! Sign up for our newsletter here!

🎙️. So excited to be able to write for this great organization!

🎙️I listened to The Bechdel Cast's episode about The Addams Family, and was immediately reminded why this movie was so fantastic, and pretty feminist considering the time it was released. Feminist icon Morticia Adams! Feminist icon Gomez Adams! Creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky!

🎙️I also recently listened to an older episode of The Bechdel Cast about There's Something About Mary and loved it because it highlights what a great actress Cameron Diaz is, despite the weak roles we have given her to work with. This movie is a sexist, ableist train-wreck, and looking back at it is more frightening than The Addams Family. The Farrelly Brothers should be ashamed. But why weren't enough of us ashamed when the movie was released? (Also, Jamie and Caitlin get to the bottom of the mystery...what exactly it is about Mary. The answer: she's hot.)

🎙️Parklandia's episode Abe Lincoln is the Beyoncé of Gettysburg National Military Park is a reminder why this show is so great and unique. Brad and Matt bring so much humor to the places they visit on their travels, but also with a lot of reverence. I have said this before and I'll say it again, Parklandia is true escapism for me.

🎙️The Cut's episode about a Lyft ride gone wrong reads like a horrifying Halloween story. (It even has an ominous title—Your Driver Is Here.) After a night out, Alison passed out in her Lyft car and was driven across state lines, to a park—and the next morning, she woke up with no memory of what had happened there. She tells the story in horrifying detail

🎙️Ooo! A new show to be excited about. The View From Somewhere: A Podcast About Journalism With A Purpose goes through the history, evolution, and importance of journalism. Episode one sets to prove that journalistic objectivity is dead, and entertains the terrifying possibility that journalists should not express their personal opinions. I think listening to this podcast will make me a better listener to everything and everyone else, and it will help me read the news with a more critical eye.

🎙️Slate's Outward consistently puts out phenomenal episodes, partially, I think, because they only drop episodes once a month. This month's episode, Dolls and Democrats, talks about the problems Mayor Pete faces being a gay presidential candidate and offers fresh perspectives on Kamala and Elizabeth Warren's LGBTQ stances. Christina, Bryan, and writer/drag performer Pretty Rik E. also have fun unwrapping Mattel’s new Creatable World dolls and discussing what it’s like to play with a gender-neutral doll.

🎙️I finally listened to Gimlet's The Habitat, "the true story of six volunteers picked to live on a fake planet." I know this was an expensive show for Gimlet to make, and it shows. The production and storytelling are amazing, the premise itself is admirable. (It reads like fiction!) I enjoyed the entire experience of listening, and thought that I might have even enjoyed it more if I had been charged for it. Would I have listened more thoughtfully? Would I have valued my listening time even more? Gimlet lost money on this show (I'm guessing) and I wonder what would have happened if it had been behind a paywall or something. This is the kind of show I would be more than willing to pay for.

🎙️James Kim's MOONFACE is a fiction show about a Korean American son (played by Joel Kim Booster) who wants to come out to his mom, but can't because they don't speak the same language. I was excited to listen, my expectations were high, and I wasn't disappointed. The acting is fantastic (Joel Kim Booster made me feel like it was really happening,) it was beautiful and absorbing, the music and sound are thoughtfully done. It was too short! I didn't want it to end. It felt like listening to an indie movie. The show has set a new, high bar for what a podcast can be. It wasn't the story, so much, that got me. (I think I could have guessed the ending.) But I hope other shows follow suit with the quality.

🎙️I have not listened to Katie Couric's podcast, but it looks like the whole scare-tactic style that Oprah used to make midwestern moms all over the world fear their kids were throwing rainbow parties in the 90s is back in podcast format. "Does CBD deserve the hype?" "Is violent porn changing us?" These are episode titles I'm not sure we need. Who are they serving? I hope I am wrong about this. Somebody please email me and tell me I'm wrong and that this show is great and that I should listen, and I will.

🎙️iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell are partnering to launch a new podcast company, Big Money Players Network, that will focus on comedy podcasts. I LOVE comedy podcasts, and am glad to see money going toward making them. I hope Will will do the unexpected, highlight upcoming comics and break the mold for what a comedy podcast can be. Do you think he will?

🎙️I HAVE OTHER INTERESTS I saw Parasite and was FLOORED it was so good (and I, like, hate movies) and I'm listening to Ghetto Lenny's Love Songs on repeat. And though I say I hate movies, I watched Misery on the flight from LAX—>NYC and loved it so much, because it was so deliciously awful in all the right ways, and I looked around the plane and pitied anyone not watching it like I was. Have you seen it?

🎙️I love you!

💎If you binge one thing this week...💎

Meat + Three is a zesty, 15-minute weekly update on food stories and commentary, modeled after the Southern meat-and-three-sides concept: a deep dive and three shorts. With a rotation of contributors, it covers the latest food trends, the political economy and societal impact of food, health news, and more. It's always a fun addition to my weekly mix of listening. (Like, in a stressful week of listening to shows about the impeachment, it's wonderful to hear an entire podcast episode on the Bacon, Egg and Cheese, despite the fact that I'm a vegetarian. My brain just needs it.)

Meat + Three is the voice of Heritage Radio Network, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit food media mecca with over 35 weekly food shows and a mission to make the world more equitable, sustainable, and delicious.

Kat Johnson of Heritage Radio Network told me they started Meat + Three as a way for listeners to discover and explore all of the content on their network. "We have 35+ weekly shows and over 13,000 episodes covering every corner of the food world – farming, policy, beverages, chef profiles, home cooking, global cuisines, business, design, and much more," she said. "Our hope is that Meat + Three is an easily-digestible (no pun intended!) podcast for everyone who eats that engages listeners through original reporting, storytelling, and excerpts from our other shows."

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