🚽 Skibidi Toilet 🐈 cat fan fic ✏️ Nickelodeon 📺 what Arielle listens to in a day☀️

🍭 👂He looked like a little angel 🌈 🤸‍♀️

Bonjour.

Today is Monday, October 14. In case this newsletter is too long, this is one of the best investigative podcasts I’ve ever heard, I listened to this three times, and this story started wild and gets wilder (but it’s also beautifully made.)

Have a nice weekend.

xoxo lp

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A Day In The Life of Listening with Arielle Nissenblatt

Arielle has been working in the podcast space since early 2017 when she started a podcast recommendation newsletter, EarBuds Podcast Collective. Since then, she’s managed podcast studios, worked as an in-app curator, gone to school for audio production, produced several podcasts, run successful marketing and PR campaigns for dozens of shows, organized podcast communities on Twitter, Discord, and Slack, and more.

What follows is a look into my listening habits for *one day. The idea is to share with you, dear readers, some podcast recommendations, some suggestions for fitting more storytime into your day, and more. Hopefully this essay will help explain why my brain is completely filled with random facts that do not help in any way other than giving me a tidbit or two to pull out at a party. 

But to reel it back a bit, listening to podcasts changed my life. 

I started really listening to podcasts in 2014 when I started my first post-college job. I drove a lot for work and found that I was instantly captivated by the stories I was hearing – hours in the car would go by in a flash. 

I’d never been that great of a reader. Sure, I read books here and there. But sitting down with a book and getting cozy doesn’t hit for me the way some folks describe it. And I was always jealous of that. Until I sunk my ears into the waveforms of podcasts. 

People ask me all the time why I’m so bullish on podcasts (listening and creating). And for a while I struggled to explain — or even understand it for myself. But now I know that it’s because discovering podcasts, specifically the act of listening to gain knowledge and entertainment, allowed me totally immerse myself in the world — to be exposed to stories, people, and concepts I’d never heard of or took the time to get to know. And if I can help more people find THE podcast that does that for them, that’s what I want to do.

That’s the background on why we are where we are today, writing this listening log. And with that, let’s dive into my Day in The Life…

*Please note: most days, I am not THIS tapped into my podcast queue. This represents an ideal listening day. And, of course, there are shows left off this list. If you want my full list of recommendations (AKA what I’m currently subscribed to, email me).

Day in The Listening Life of Arielle

I finally wake up after snoozing my alarm a few times. While still in bed, I navigate to the Pocket Casts app and go to my News folder. I only recently created this news folder when Pocket Casts gave a free year of their pro features via James Cridland’s Podnews newsletter. I’m enjoying it so far. The grouping of like podcasts is clutch. I hit play on The Daily Zeitgeist. That show is, by far, the show that I listen to the most in terms of hours. Every single morning, Jack O’Brien and Miles Gray discuss what’s going on in the world, usually with a comedian friend, in the style of a parody morning zoo type radio environment. I’ve been listening since 2019. I listen to it twice a day. I’ll explain that later on in this piece.

While listening to TDZ, I usually text Lauren, because I know she also listens to the show, about that day’s guest, a joke they made that I loved, or gripes we have with their coverage (just because it’s my favorite show doesn’t mean it’s perfect). As I get up out of bed, I’ve got TDZ blaring on speaker (no AirPods yet) at about 1.8x speed. And I head off to the kitchen to make my coffee. TDZ usually lasts me through coffee, breakfast, and my getting ready routine.

I should note that if it’s a Monday, I also then navigate over to the Apple Podcasts app to see what’s been selected on the homepage for the week. I love to keep up with what’s trending and getting attention. If it’s a Wednesday, I do that but for Spotify.

I then go for a walk around the park, at which point I hit play on the rest of my news shows: Up First, The Daily (sometimes – really really depends on the day), NYC Now, and The 7 from The Washington Post. It might sound like a lot, but most of these are quick-hits and give me just enough info to start my day feeling informed about the local and wider world.

While I’m working, regrettably, I cannot listen to podcasts. Womp womp.

I know some people can. I can barely listen to music without getting distracted. So, between meetings, or if I find that I have enough time for a quick breath of fresh air during the day, I hit play on The Brian Lehrer Show. Yes, this is a radio show, but I listen to it as a podcast. They break it up into segments so it’s digestible and I don’t have to deal with radio commercials – just podcast ads, which I don’t mind. 

During lunch, I listen to another daily show called The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs in order to bend my brain a bit. I also like to listen to TBOY for a little dose of what’s going on in the pop culture and business worlds.

Back at work and between meetings, I usually put on a show that drops weekly. On any given day that could be Scam Goddess, ICYMI, Go Touch Grass, Talk Easy, Vibe Check, Savage Lovecast, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating, Who? Weekly, American History Tellers, American Filth, or more. 

After work, while getting ready to do an activity with some actual other people, I listen to my afternoon daily shows: Today, Explained, Pop Culture Happy Hour, NYC Now (again), The Daily Zeitgeist (again), The Journal, and sometimes Consider This, Podnews, and What a Day. 

When the day is done and I’m making my way back from the night’s activities, I try to listen to a limited series podcast. Lately, I’ve enjoyed Inconceivable Truth, Weight For It, Search Engine, The Worst Podcast, Shell Game, and Hysterical. 

As I ready myself for bed, and if there’s still space in my brain for more, I’ll rotate between funny and thought-provoking. Lately, I’ve been listening to Tiny Dinos, Unexplainable, On The Media, and WTF with Marc Maron.

I then whisper goodnight to my podcast heroes framed on my wall (kidding, but am I?) and drift off to dream about getting more people to listen to podcasts.

Thank you to Lauren for giving me the opportunity to share my listening log with you readers. In pursuit of my mission to get more people to listen to podcasts, I want to share how I find podcasts to listen to myself. Here are the big ones: Podcast The Newsletter, EarBuds (my own newsletter but it’s curated by someone new each week), browsing the listening apps’ homepages, recommendations for shows on other podcasts, and a bunch of other really great newsletters. 

I’m curious about your listening log! Let me know if we have any overlaps and/or what patterns you notice from my queue.

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🚨If u only have time for 1 thing🚨

Chess Piece opens beautifully, with investigative journalist Peniley Ramirez taking you to the deadly stretch of sea in the Atlantic Ocean between Cuba and Florida. She’s going back to a specific storm 25 years ago, when 6 year old Elián González was found strapped to an inner tube, alone. If you remember, Elián’s mother and a few other refugees had died on that voyage to America, and Elián’s father was still in Cuba. This set off a battle of where Elián belonged, people on both sides were so invested in the fate of this little boy. Elián became a symbol of failed communism and the hope of capitalism and the American story. It became a hot topic because the system allowed for it to be a hot topic. On Chess Piece, we’re getting all of that but it’s also all framed by Peniley’s own story. When she was a little girl living in Cuba, she was separated from her own father, who went to the United States. She knows what it’s like to live in a divided family. There’s a lot going on in this podcast but Peniley sets us up so that we are reminded of the political storm and are also able to think about the human one that was also brewing. I was hesitant to press play on this one, I waited until there were three episodes out. I thought, oof. I am not sure I am ready for this one. But once I started I couldn’t stop. I think I like it for the same reason I love Bible stories. It’s a tiny beautiful moment packed with symbolism, so ripe with meaning that it goes on to become so much bigger than this angel faced boy, Elián or even Jesus. The story you find can be as simple as life and death or as complicated as immigration and politics. It’s about everything. I didn’t come to that conclusion on my own, Chess Piece got me there, and it will take you to places, too.

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notes

✨Tink partnered with Signal Awards to create a resource for finalists. Won a Signal? (Or something else?) Here’s what to do to make the most of it. We wanted to make this because we get asked ALL the time… “I won an award, what do I do now?” Here it is.

✨Kattie Laur published The 10 Best Canadian Podcasts of 2024 in Pod the North and it features a recommendation from Tink’s own Devin Andrade. (She recommended Big Lash Energy.)

✨Forever35 got a facelift with new co-host Elise Hu (you may have seen her on such podcasts as TED Talks Daily) who will be joining Doree Shafrir. New brand, new website /website facelift —check it out on ACast recommends this week and celebrate the new Doree+Elise era.

✨Read 🗡️The Worst Pitches Wil Williams Has Ever Received🗡️ in Podcast Marketing Magic.

✨Arielle Nissenblatt spotlighted Sliding Doors in her newsletter and podcast.

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💎podcasts i texted to friends💎

🎙In 1998, 28-year-old Harriet Thompson was brutally murdered in her home, and thanks to a really shitty investigation, a racist jury, and an inhumane death penalty policy, Jesse Lee Johnson sat on death row for 17 years for killing her, even though he didn’t do it. Hush is Jesse’s story and it’s about the weak case the state had against him, why he never for a moment considered a plea deal, and how it felt to get out of jail when the state decided he never should have been there in the first place. Reporters Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas (of Bundyville and more) give the case justice, doing better reporting than was done the first time around. And Hush is one of the best investigative podcasts I’ve ever heard. Nothing seems rushed, every step seems covered. They get some things on tape that are truly shocking (cops being openly and defiantly racist) and track down people that are crucial to the truth of this story, people who were never tracked down before, both on the witness and the possible-murderer side, including one guy called Machine Gun Bill, who sounds like an absolute violent psychopath. Jesse sat on death row for 17 years because he is Black, Hush proves that it’s really that straight-forward. But the show is fantastic. Leah and Ryan are personable, their style isn’t stale, and the storytelling is impactful. (Like at the beginning when we learn that as a kid, Jesse risked his life to rescue a friend from being run over by a train, something that seems like an important detail and a good way to introduce Jesse to us.) This podcast is also about the racism in Oregon, which is at odds with the liberal way a place like Portland sees itself. And, in fact, Leah discovers that this case is eerily similar to the case of another Black man put on death row for something he didn’t do, except he was executed in 1945. His name was Robert E. Lee Folkes. Things have not changed in Oregon. Listen here.

How I discovered it: The podcast Crime Writers On…

🎙️Sam Dingman’s Family Ghosts hasn’t been around for awhile (Sam has been up to other things) and it felt really good to dip back into those old episodes. It made me feel like I had time traveled back to this golden era of podcasting we’ve all been nostalgic for. I’m not trying to sound 1,000 years old and cranky but, they don’t make things like they used to. (If you know me you know I’m only half-serious, or maybe 1/4.) It was also fun to hear that the podcast was made by Panoply and had a bunch of cool people working on it. (Mia Lobel, Stephanie Foo.) The episode No Brown Spots is a shocking story narrated by a girl who is trying to make sense of her own family tragedy. When she was twenty-two, her house burned down, and there are multiple theories about who did it. To hear her family members admit on mic they think it was their own brother is shocking, but to hear what the narrator really thinks happen is shocking even more. This episode isn’t just good because it’s shocking, it’s good because it’s thoughtfully made. The writing is specific and packed with detail that makes everyone in the story feel like someone you’ve spent time with. Listen here.

How I discovered it: It’s an oldie but a goodie (although I do remember that it was written up in the New York Times)

🎙️Why does Chappell Roan’s political statement seem like the biggest story about the election? It’s because of drastic way media and the way we get our news has changed in the last few years. I’ve been enjoying Panic World, the new podcast about the internet from Ryan Broderick of Garbage Day. The episode about Chappell Roan and the Pop Crave Election with Akilah Hughes was so good I listened three times. They talk about the way legacy media has changed. According to a tweet they reference, Pop Crave is basically like the modern day AP, Deuxmoi is NPR, Pop Base is Washington Post, Pop Tings is Huff Po. If you have no idea what these sites are, well you should. They have replaced newsrooms, and they aren’t even sites. They’re social media accounts. Ryan and Akilah explain how we got here, what happened to the internet. This is the kind of thing I have absorbed and am aware of, but this breakdown dropped my damn jaw. I think this episode is necessary listening to understand why a social media account started by a Home Depot worker on their bathroom break is in some ways more influential than the New York Times, which is about to put all of their audio behind a paywall, by the way. Listen here.

How I discovered it: Garbage Day newsletter

🎙Chelsey Weber Smith of American Hysteria created an episode about Skibidi Toilet that both explains this cultural phenomenon to people who think they are too old to understand it, and convinces us that we aren’t. And, in fact, that surrealism and humor is nothing new, that every generation has had their own version of Skibidi Toilet. And, in fact, that it is part of a great artistic movement. Chelsey tells a bit of a personal story about their relationship with Skibidi Toilet, how they went from confused and horrified to fascinated to appreciative. They go back to similar weird humor bops from the early 2000s, the 90s, back further to the forgotten generation, and further back still to the plague of the 16th century, introducing us to Jheronimus Bosch, the father of the surrealist movement, and perhaps the great great grandfather of Skibidi Toilet. Listen here.

How I discovered it: 1,000 years ago I heard an episode of American Hysteria on Scene On Radio and reached out to Chelsey as a fan and we’ve been friends ever since.

🎙️Let me tell you a secret. When I ask podcasters, like the ones who listen to good things and care about craft, to tell me what they’re listening to they often say Diss and Tell, Sydney Battle and Matt Bellassai’s show about celebrity feuds. I really missed Matt when he left Unhappy Hour, and when Diss and Tell launched I didn’t think he was back yet, it didn’t sound like the Matt I knew and loved. Maybe I was salty about Unhappy Hour ending. I do think it took him a bit to warm up to this new show and now Sydney and Matt are comfy and the show is really funny, entertaining and actually informative. Like for the Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn (Call Her Daddy) episode from awhile ago that I just re-listened to. Alex Cooper has been in the news a lot for signing like a $60M deal with Spotify and interviewing Kamala Harris (and then being surprised she has listeners that do not stan Kamala Harris?) Anyway, I had been ignoring this woman for so long, actively, but she’s important now, like it or not. This episode of Diss and Tell gave me everything I wanted and more. It was fact filled and nuance filled, too, giving me a sense of not just went down on paper, but behind the scenes.  Listen here.  

How I discovered it: Press release a long time ago.

🎙️Normal Gossip episodes are best when they tell stories of insular nerdy communities, and it’s back with the perfect example of that, a story of the fan fic community. And Ashley Reese is the perfect guest to help tell a story of the young adult series Warriors—Ashley is a fan fic girlie, something that seems important when you’re discussing the fan fic community. There is a bit of interesting history about the Warriors books in here, plus there are all the cats (so many cats in this episode!) and we get to hear all about this Warriors fan fic group that is so wonderful and strange and ambitious and detailed. The gossip is eye-opening, the characters are sharply drawn, the story is cute, the guest is great. (Her piece of goss at the beginning is good, too, and I know from Reddit that people like to skip this part but don’t skip it this time!) We’re off to a great start. If you’re invested in the new season, check out this Normal Gossip BINGO card the Redditors made. Listen here. 

How I discovered it: Listener since episode one, and in fact my story is featured on the Josh Gondelman episode in season one.

🎙️There’s a new sheriff in Pop Culture Debate Club town, and his name is Ronald Young Jr. (Weight For It.) I loved Pop Culture Debate Club before, I recently wrote about the Worst American Abroad episode. It was one of the funniest episodes of anything I’ve listened to in a long time, but it wasn’t much of a debate. Even David Gborie, who was there to debate that Deuce Bigalow Male Gigalo was the worst American abroad, couldn’t stick to that argument. So the conversations were fun but without much debating. Ronald’s Debate Club is more debate-y. Ronald wants there to be a winner. I loved the Disney Channel vs. Nickelodeon episode with Evan Mills taking the side of Disney Channel and Hoja Lopez Nickelodeon. You might think I’d be on the Disney Channel side, but I was a Nick kid for exactly the reasons Hoja outlines in her argument. I felt very hell yeah listening to it. Listen here. 

How I discovered it: Press release.

🎙️On Caribbean Mystics, hosts Paulina Creque and Gabrielle Querrard tell supernatural stories that take place in the Caribbean region. A storyteller tells about their own spooky experience and then Paulina and Gabrielle come on mic to supply us with the lore, cultural and historical aspects, and how they relate to the story themselves. There are podcasts that tell spooky stories, there are spooky chat shows, and there are podcasts that hand the mic off to storytellers to tell their own stories. (I’ve mentioned this before, this style is harder to accomplish than it seems.) But Caribbean Mystics offers highly produced stories told by the people who experienced them but also offers us this fun hangout listen between friends. Their lives are part of this show, we hear about why an episode is late, a baby crying in the background. (On some of the episodes, you can hear the third co-host, a rooster.) A show like this is important. The Caribbean is rich with legends and folklore that was not being represented in the podcast space. Listen here.

How I discovered it: Arielle’s EarBuds

🎙️An episode of Blue Sky features the uber-inspiring Theodore Johnson, popular columnist for the Washington Post and NY Times, retired Navy Commander, and former speechwriter during the Obama administration. In it, Ted describes his pragmatic optimism and belief that the United States has in its founding ideals. He also shares how his family’s long struggle against racism has shaped his hope for a better future. It was a really powerful episode about race and democracy in America. Listen here.

How I discovered it: Kelly Corrigan introduced it to me

🎙️On Attach Your Résumé, Multitude’s Eric Silver and Amanda McLoughlin are interviewing creators about how their jobs work and how they got there. It’s not just personal stories, it’s also a look at digital media in general, and these conversations seem to be working through how to build a sustainable media landscape, something that seems to be coming up a lot these days. It’s for people who think about making stuff, obsess about how to do it right. Look out for amazing guests: Yowei Shaw, Josh Gondelman, Rowan Zeoli, Akilah Hughes, Gita Jackson, David Roth, Jack Conte, and more. I just listened to the Yowei episode and she puts to words what a lot of people are thinking but are afraid to say aloud right now. Not sure when that one’s coming out so stay tuned and listen to the show here. 

How I discovered it: Press release.

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📦 From the Archives 📦

[From the August 31, 2020 issue] Judge John Hodgman bursts into my life each week, and for one hour, I forget all of my problems and marinate in the show’s joy. On the show, John Hodgman acts as judge to help settle disputes between partners and friends. He’s not just a judge and comedian, he’s a sort of therapist, too. By digging into these seemingly trivial disputes, we get to know the couples and connect with them. The participants are always sweet (and usually nerdy,) their problems are sweet (and usually nerdy.) On Neverlandmark Case, Ryan’s ex-girlfriend made him a Peter Pan themed painting and he still has it. His wife, Jessie, wants to get rid of the painting.