💌Podcast The Newsletter💌

Bonjour.

I'd like to take this space to highlight a swap I'm doing with Paul Kondo of Podcast Gumbo. Each week we're getting a podcast recommendation from one of our pals at Bello Collective. Paul and I will then listen on our own, and answer the same four questions about our experiences listening. My notes are below, but if you want to read Paul's, you should read them here and subscribe to Podcast Gumbo here.

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDER: Elena Fernandez-Collins (podcast critic, Bello Collective, ) recommended “Surfacing,” The Big Loop.

My review: I didn't know anything about this episode going in, which I highly recommend. (Thanks for that suggestion, Paul!) So once again, I felt like I was dropped into a world (the sea?) without knowing where I was. But the narrator, who is telling the story of her mother, a deaf Japanese pearl diver, holds your hand and pulls you in very close, whispers, kind of, to tell you the story of her heartbreak and the loss of her mother's true love. This episode felt quiet, tapping into the mother's deafness, but loud, if that makes sense. The narrator was very quiet but I felt like she was inside my head. I felt like I was underwater with her mom. The music took me to another place. Listen to this if you just want an example of what great audio sounds like, how great storytelling is done. I think I will revisit this one, it's that good.

What stood out to you the most?
The sound, music, and narrator's voice. All beautiful. I almost cannot believe this is a fiction podcast—the voice actor was so emotional, seemed almost on the edge of tears. I felt like someone was telling me a beautiful, true story. Also, the narrator's relationship with sound and how that plays into the podcast. The narrator is telling her deaf mother's story, and she taps into this to tell the story in a different way. I was also taken aback by the uniqueness of the story. A deaf Japanese pearl diver telling her daughter the story of her true love. Not the story of the love she fostered physically. Her true love. Which is different. And it blew my mind. Do we all have someone like this?

How was this different or similar to what you usually listen to?
I've just been getting into fiction shows, and have only started really looking for high-quality audio. This is just the kind of thing I've been searching for. But I'm worried it will spoil me. I have never heard better sound or production on a podcast.

Who would you recommend this show to?
People who like to listen to podcasts doing nothing else, people who love literary fiction or stories, people who love music and are interested in high-quality audio.

Are you adding this show to your listening library?
HELL YES. I feel lucky that I have a whole back-log to listen to. Thanks, Ely!

Again, listen to Surfacing here. Seriously, listen to it.

xoxo lp
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Lizard People's Katelyn Hempstead

Katelyn Hempstead is the host of Lizard People, a comedy show where Katelyn invites her brilliant, funny friends to try to convince her of their favorite conspiracy theories. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Lizard People on Twitter here.

What's something that all conspiracy theories have in common?
The thing they all have in common is the same thing that gives conspiracy theories so much power and keeps us hooked on them, which is that if you believe there’s a conspiracy you’ve automatically chosen the side of wisdom and light in a cosmic battle of good and evil. Like, if everyone else believes that JFK was shot by a lone gunman, but you put the evidence together and ‘discover’ that he was actually killed as a result of a plot by an evil cabal of the CIA/the Mafia/Fidel Castro/aliens, that means you GET it. Your eyes are open, you’re chosen, you’re one of the clever few who see the world for what it really is. And that goes for the wackiest celebrity baby conspiracy theory too. If you believe, that makes you special. Frankly, I think it’s the same thing our weird brains love about religion!

Are there too many podcasts?
Are there too many tv shows? Are there too many stars in the sky? Is there too much love in the eyes of a child??? I feel like there’s a pretty endless market for podcasts, once we all teach our parents how to use the podcast app.

Female podcasters are often criticized for the voices. What is your relationship with yours?
I’m gonna answer that question with a true story. Once, before I had a podcast, I was visiting a friend who lived in upstate New York. I called my mom as I was waiting for a train in Penn Station. As I talked to her I noticed that this older, extremely New York-y lady in a fur coat kept looking over at me, which as a lifelong Californian was terrifying. After I hung up, she walked over to me and said ‘are you in radio’? I was like ‘n-n-no ma’am’. Then she told me that I had a beautiful ‘bell-like’ voice and I should go into radio and stop wasting my gifts. So whenever I see some doingus on Twitter or Apple Podcast reviews complaining about my voice or my laugh, it truly does not bother me at all. I know my speaking voice is beautiful because a lady in Manhattan told me so, and that’s all I need to be confident for the rest of my life.

How do you know so much about religion? I studied religion in college, I love the Bible. Those are my favorite episodes and I am so impressed with all that you know!
I’m so honored that you - an actual scholar of religion - think I know a lot! I definitely do tons of googling to make sure I don’t say anything ignorant before each religion episode (actually I use Bing, I love Bing). But I also took some bible classes in college, and I grew up Unitarian - they put a lot of emphasis on learning about other religions and their history. And it’s just fun to read about that stuff, religion is fascinating!

What podcasts do you enjoy? Can you give us some recommendations?
My Dad Wrote A Porno makes me absolutely sob with laughter, You Must Remember This is so so fascinating and well-researched, and Hollow Public Radio (which I also write for and do voices on) is a scripted sci-fi podcast that we are very proud of. Had to sneak in an extra little plug there, sorry sorry.

💎BTW:💎

🎙️Oooo, another show that I feel was created just for me. Mockery Manor is set in the summer of 1989 when Mockery Manor amusement park is gearing up for its grand re-opening. New manager Victor of Wizzzard Entertainment is determined to make the park the UK's answer to Disneyland, burying its disturbing history. But "the past doesn't go away just because you want it to, and the dead don't always stay buried." I love Disney, and find this concept hilarious. And Mockery Manor nails it. I'm on the edge of my seat.

🎙️Lots of fiction podcasts have a fantasy or horror slant. But Margaritas and Donuts is a romcom. Josephine, a pediatrician, is pretty unlucky romantically. Her best friend Katrina urges Josephine to start a relationship with Malik, an opthamologist who works in the office across the hall from hers. Malik is exactly what Josephine needs, but she doesn't quite realize it...yet. I can't wait to find out what happens. (Unfortunately, I'm all caught up and will have to wait...) I think this is the kind of show that will get a lot of people listening to audio drama who weren't already hooked.

🎙️Cautionary Tales "weaves stories of human error, of tragic catastrophes and hilarious fiascos." It mixes drama with morality to explore psychology, economics, even design. Each episode is entertaining, thoughtful, and sets my brain on fire. My favorite episode La La Land: Galileo's Warning ties together a lesson from Galileo and the error made in announcing La La Land as best film at the Oscars. It's a story about design and UX. I'm always pleasantly surprised to find what I learn in Cautionary Tales, and what fun connections are made between history and present.

🎙️Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library is a narrative podcast about Brooklynites, superhero librarians and tales from neighborhood branches. Season one focused on how libraries help during natural disasters, what it's like to be a teen in Brooklyn in the 80s and today, intellectual freedom at the public library and a lot more. The episode I just listened to talks about how homelessness is connected to the library, and how libraries (and public institutions) aid in social service. Libraries are rich places for stories, and Borrowed proves it. Virginia, Borrowed's writer and producer, told me she "hopes it brings folks a little closer to each other, challenges the notion that people may have that libraries are just for books (they're not!) and brings a little warmth to people's ears."

🎙️The Beef and Dairy Network, a fictional industry podcast for the beef and dairy industries, is one of the funniest, most creative shows in my library. Inside are fictional interviews (that feel so real,) fictional letters from listeners, and documentary features. But it's the funny fake ads that have me cracking up every time. (On episode 53, Lesley Clocks, the ad for the podcast Juman-maniacs had an arc so masterful it deserves its own spinoff series.)

🎙️I listened to one episode of Vulnerable City and felt like I had just left a meditation session. The episodes start out instructing us to breathe and to remember to be grateful. All podcasts should start with this instruction!!! I actually did it!!! It made me feel better!!!! What would the world be like if everyone took 4 deep breaths and thought about gratitude before they listened to a single podcast!!?!??!?! I also liked when the host, Ketty Jo, told me, "you are enough, you have done enough today." I need to hear that every day. Maybe I should start and end my day with this podcast. Ketty Jo, can you start doing some bite-sized releases every morning and night? Just a suggestion! The show asks guests to get vulnerable and honest about things in their lives, so I think Ketty Jo is doing a service for the world. We all need to talk about our vulnerabilities, and yp listen to those of others. But I would listen to this show for the breathing exercises and affirmations alone.

🎙️Zero Hours is an anthology series, where every story is a different take on the end of the world, or at least something that feels like the end of the world. Each episode is organized around a kind of apocalypse, whether the cataclysm is planetary or personal. The stories are also set in succeeding centuries, with 99-year intervals separating each episode. The show begins in the past, catches up to the present, and eventually overtakes it. This show is a treasure trove of funny content, thinkey content, and content that challenges my brain, all in one. Each episode attempts to answer the question: how do we keep going when the world is crashing down around us? The production is fantastic, the premise unique.

🎙️Beyoncé is one of those people impossible not to love, so for the record, I love her. But maybe not as much as everyone else? I just don't trust famous people, or feel like I know them. And Beyoncé is the most famous. She is talented but has built such a machine around her, I don't know how I could possibly *love* her. The new show Making Beyoncé pulls back the curtain a bit. It starts with Beyonce's childhood and includes interviews with her father, Matthew, and Ashley Davis, a girl who kind of got stomped out of the limelight by Beyoncé in GIRL'S TYME. (Oh my god, I love it.) Surely this coincides with the news that Matthew, who used to manage GIRL'S TYME (I'm sorry I love it so much I must go all caps) is releasing a GIRL'S TYME album in December. The first episode has real-ass audio of Beyoncé as a little girl, playing and accepting awards, plus insight into the music scene at the time of GIRL'S TYME—how difficult it was to sign the girls. The second episode looks at GIRL'S TYME's appearance on Star Search, and how the girls's (spoiler alert) loss caused the group to pivot. I'm excited about the chance to try to get to know Beyoncé better so I can (maybe) love her as much as everyone else.

🎙️I read Howard Zinn's A People’s History of the United States, 1492 - Present long ago, and although I could use a refresher, I probably won't read it again any time soon. There are too many great books I want to read that I haven't already. And while Jacobin's People's History Pod is unrelated, it's doing a similar thing, presenting struggles in the United States, history from the view of the underdogs, documentary-style. Each six-episode season covers one local story, told from the viewpoint of working-class people. Episode one, Placement, which explores rebellion and resistance in Boston public housing, was excellent. I listened once, and realized I was not quite in the right mood so I listened again. It's not fluffy stuff. Can't wait for more.

🎙️MOONFACE + Codeswitch = magic. On Sex, Lies & Audiotape, Shereen and Gene interview James Kim about his podcast MOONFACE. The interview satisfied my need to hear MORE after I listened to MOONFACE. But if you haven't listened to MOONFACE, check out this interview, anyway. If it doesn't convince you to listen to MOON FACE I'll be a monkey's uncle.

🎙️It was always clear to me that Macmillan publishing appreciated the exciting opportunity podcasting presented to publishers. They have their own studio and have churned out some creative shows—not book club shows, or interview-with-author shows, but creative shows based on the wonderful content their books arm them with. I read (and loved) Dave Itzkoff's book Robin, and now I can love Knowing: Robin Williams, where Itzkoff and co-host Kristy Westgared unpack the Robin Williams story. Robin Williams's career and work have impacted so many of us, and he has one of the most fascinating and tragic stories of any celebrity I can think of. I'm excited to see what this show can do, especially for people who haven't read the book. This is my favorite thing Macmillan has done!

🎙️The latest episode of The View From Somewhere talks about objectivity in journalism, and how when corporations tell journalists not to express their opinions, it's a mode of social control, designed to keep journalists from organizing together for better wages and work conditions, and to keep them from standing in solidarity with oppressed groups of people. This show makes me think about media and reporting and the world in new ways, every time I listen.

🎙️I must keep reminding you to listen to Radio Rental. It's real stories, produced with good narration and sound. Because the stories are true, told by the people who experienced them, they aren't always shit-your-pants scary (although I do think that "Laura of the Woods" was) but just-incredibly-eerie scary, which is more scary, if you ask me.

🎙️To gear up for Thanksgiving, listen to Dope Labs's episode Truth Pie, where Titi and Zakiya discuss the impact of European colonialism in North America, from the severe depopulation of Indigenous peoples to the relationships they cultivated with the plants, animals, and the environment. The older I get, the grosser I feel about celebrating Thanksgiving. (And the further I get from its traditions. This year I'm going to a gnocchi restaurant with my family.) But I think if you can spend Thanksgiving reflecting on how fucked up it is, well then it's a holiday worth celebrating.

🎙️Zeitgang, this bullet point is for you and only for you. Miles Gray has launched his show with Sofiya Alexandra, 420 Day Fiance, where the two get high and talk about 90 Day Fiance. I don't religiously watch the show, so in episode one of 420 Day Fiance I felt out of the loop, but I love Miles and Sofiya so I'll probably be a listener.

🎙️If you're listening to Dolly Parton's America, you will appreciate the roundtable discussion about it on Pop Culture Happy Hour. It reveals much about the show's production, providing an explanation of some of the show's faults. (Like why there isn't more audio of Dolly talking.) It gives me new appreciation for Dolly Parton's America, which I am enjoying. But I must confess when I found out there were still five episodes left, I felt overwhelmed, and it made me wonder if I will have the stamina to complete the series. Hopefully we get to hear more from Dolly in upcoming episodes. (As they point out on Pop Culture Happy Hour, what's really needed is just the uncut audio of Dolly talking. Apparently, Jad has hours of it, but we only get tiny bits paired with heavy production and lots of storytelling.) I love Pop Culture Happy Hour, especially when they talk about podcasts. I wish there were more podcasts unpacking podcasts. (It's why I had a show with my friend Eric called PodcastPodcast, for years.)

🎙️ Scattered, the show where comedian Chris Garcia examine's his late father's life and his dad's wish to have his ashes scattered in Cuba, wrapped up, and I recommend listening to the whole thing. I laughed and cried. With excellent storytelling and production, audio clips, and interviews, it's a unique story well-told.

🎙️Podnews mentioned Lasso Audio in its news updates, which was a happy surprise. Kate and I really want to support podcasters and change the audio space. The audio community is wonderful and it's been thrilling to hear from so many people that Lasso is needed and appreciated.

🎙️I love you!

Forbes wrote about Tink! Check it out.
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