The Pod Piper

THE (SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT) LIST This week, The Pod Piper shakes things up a bit with a rundown of the various year-end shows released as 2017 draws to a close. If you've only got time for one thing, The Daily 's minimalistically brilliant rundown of the year in audio headlines ("Special Episode: The Year in Sound") really puts the year in perspective. Yearly Review Taking stock in the classic "what happened?" mode, these shows each framed a look back at 2017 through their unique editorial lenses. The Daily  -  "Special Episode: The Year in Sound" It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders  -  "A Special Year-End Edition" All Songs Considered  -  "Poll Results: Listeners Pick The Best Albums of 2017" Code Switch  -  "Before We Give 2017 The Middle Finger" Check-in episodes  The art of the follow-up is catching on in podcasting, and these shows did a great job of tracking down interviewees to see wh...

Merry Christmas! The old Pod Piper was not about to skimp on delivering a special holiday edition of the newsletter, although admittedly it's a bit shorter than usual. If you're about to travel and need something seasonally appropriate to fill your ears, read on! THE CHRISTMAS LIST 1.  Code Switch  -  "Black Atheists, White Santas, And A Feast For The Deceased" If the holidays are a little less woke than you'd prefer, this is the perfect way to celebrate. It's a good way to remember the breadth of human experience wrapped up into the holiday season. Repeat after me: "My reality is not universal reality." 2.  Switched on Pop  -  "All I Want For Xmas is a Year in Review Episode" Mariah Carey's Christmas classic gets more attention than has likely ever been paid to it, thanks to the Switched on Pop  crew. Stick around afterwards and listen as the co-hosts extol the virtues of their favorite music from 2017. (and if that ...

THE LIST 1.  This American Life  -  "Our Town" "Seek first to understand, then be understood" is the fifth habit in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . It's also an apt tag-line for this episode about the intersection of immigration and labor in small-town America. This may just be the podcast the country desperately needs right now. Talk less, listen more, try and be kinder to everyone. 2.  Reply All  -  "The Prophet" With endless cryptic intrigue, the source material for this Reply All episode could have been Season 3 of Serial . Each plot thread unravels and begets a new mystery until the truth is found. Compelling and chilling, this story touches on aspects of celebrity, journalism, cyber bullying and political propaganda in the internet age. And, plot twist, it is set in Mexico! Turns out there are some pretty familiar stories playing out amongst our neighbors to the south. 3.  Harry Potter and the Sacred Text ...

THE LIST 1.  The Cracked Podcast  -  "9 Secretly Necessary Life Lessons For Modern America" Equal parts listicle, pep talk, and state-of-the-union, this insightful and comedic episode   encapsulates the swatch of the internet content market  Cracked has conquered. It's hopeful, funny, informative, and a great stabilizing device for anyone facing the utterly American swirl of volatile opportunity. 2.  Scene on Radio  -  "How Race Was Made (Seeing White, Part 2)" It isn't news that race is a societal construct meant to subjugate the down-trodden. But who specifically invented race? The second episode in this mini-series from  Scene on Radio  found the person credited to this onerous achievement, and brilliantly contextualizes the history of race as it began to evolve. 3. Slate's Culture Gabfest  -  "Fractal Badness Edition" There's a temptation to dismiss notorious cinematic flop The Room as just that - simply ...

THE LIST 1.  The Dollop  -  "Donald Trump (Part One and Two)" With the acknowledgement that people everywhere are likely sick of reading or listening to anything about Donald Trump, this two-parter approaches a level of mastery. The Dollop lays out an epic (over 3 hours total) recounting of the biographical exploits that shaped our president's warped world view. Maddening, entertaining, and essential for contextualizing current rhetoric, this episode reinforces the disbelief that many Americans feel every day waking up in a country inexplicably fronted by this twisted individual. 2.  30 for 30  -  "The Lights Of Wrigleyville" Fans of baseball, history, community organizing, and deep-rooted traditions will find themselves at home in the friendly confines of this installment of  30 for 30 . "The Lights Of Wrigleyville" reflects on the peculiarities of baseball and the fickle absolutes that plague all pro sports whilst endearing them to horde...

THE LIST 1.  Planet Money  -  "Walmart's Pickle" Despite criticism for their aggressive approach of scorched earth capitalism, Walmart is an undeniable juggernaut in the US economy. Arguably the originator of the one-stop-shop approach to commerce, the company now finds itself in a race with Amazon to be the physical and digital home for the American consumer. When Amazon buys Whole Foods, Walmart doesn't sit idly by. The intersection of bioengineering and mass consumption is the cue for  Planet Money to step in and unravel this tale of competition at the highest level of the market for cheap goods. 2.  Love and Radio  -  " WWCD? " While the juncture of money and food may belong to Planet Money , the literal synthesis of humanity and finance falls to Love and Radio . This episode unearths the resulting weirdness when a specific person seeks to integrate himself into the marketplace of tradable public commodities. "WWCD?" provides ...

THE LIST 1.  Flash Forward  -  "Deceptible Me" What if humans could elect to rid themselves of self-deception? The world would be a more honest and just place, right? But wait, isn't it sometimes helpful to abide by an autobiographical white-lie? What would the ramifications be if only a portion of the population opted for this world-shattering change of perception? "Deceptible Me" left a long-lasting impression generating more self-reflexion than maybe any podcast this year.  The incomparable Rose Eveleth has done it again! 2. The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson  -  "A Nondescript Building in Montreal" This show has been hyped for a while, and after premiering exclusively on Audible in July it is now available to the masses. Yes, it is centered around the rise and dispersion of the porn industry. But don't let that scare you! At least after one episode, this show is about so much more. Jon Ronson expertly unravels this investigative j...

THE LIST 1. Tomorrow's World - "Electric Sheep" Taking a page from the genre-innovating  Flash Forward , Tomorrow's World pushes the boundaries of cross-pollinating forms in this stunning piece of audio. The team stitches together a provocative meditation on the abilities and rights of artificial intelligence by intermixing a fictional story with real-world research and interviews. It is worth noting for its ambitious scope alone, but the episode converges into a meaningful and entertaining piece. 2. Radiolab - "Match Made in Marrow" There are not a lot of favorable examples of large media outlets engaging with religion in a deep manor, and understandably so. Broad brushes are quicker to produce, and concise headlines more easily garner clicks. Podcasting is a medium that lends itself to merging intimacy and scale, and a show like Radiolab  is absolutely primed to deliver nuanced stories integrating faith and culture. It seems highly unlikely that ...

THE LIST 1. Flash Forward   - "Easy Bake Organs" This edition of the speculative non-fiction show takes on artificially grown organs. It's one of the more feasible futures from Flash Forward , and as host Rose Eveleth mentions, has much less of a downside than other possible futures. A great meditation on the power of science and a reminder that organ donation is pretty dang important. 2 . The Turnaround  - " Terry Gross" Terry Gross is known for her semi-reclusive status when it comes to being interviewed. This rare look behind the mic of one of the most prolific appraisers of human experience in the country is filled with candor and glee. Jesse Thorn aptly conveys the awe at being in the presence of greatness while also executing a great interview on this, the final installment of The Turnaround . Find a deeper probe of the series here , and visit the archives to check out the whole roster of quality episodes. 3 . More Perfect - " Citizens Unit...

THE LIST 1. More Perfect -   "Enemy of Mankind" Typically we don't think about the US Supreme Court (or any national legislative body, for that matter) as commanding power over the international community. Symbolically, sure, the country portends a kind of metaphorical freedom for oppressed people of the world. And there certainly are policies that affect how companies based in the US may alter how they do business outside the country. Yet there are a number of times throughout history when US courts have sought to adjudicate crimes that transpired on foreign soil. This episode of  More Perfect  details how this doling out of punishment came about and the extent to which it is still at play today, breaking down preconceptions of what a sovereign government means in the modern world. 2. 99% Invisible  - "La Sagrada Familia" Antonin Gaudi's famed Sagrada Familia cathedral towers over the skyline of Barcelona. The ambitious and ongoing architectural project i...

Before we get to the usual rundown, I wanted to take a brief moment to promote my inaugural podcast as a podcaster. It's called Tournament of Blank , and can be found on iTunes and most anywhere else podcasts are found. Each week two friends and I debate to decide the best thing from a given subset. Our first episode focused on toys , and the follow-up episode is a multi-episode exercise in taking stock of Disney villains from different eras. Leading up to the episode release on Monday, October 23rd, we've put out a challenge for listeners to get in on the fun. Fill out your own bracket to determine which villain is the fairest of them all. Then, follow along with the show as we roll out our picks in the coming weeks through our multi-part breakdown of each batch of baddies. The bracket closes at 11:59 PM Eastern time tonight, October 22nd.  Now, on to the best podcasts from the past week! THE LIST 1.  American Suburb - "Chapter 1: The Tipping Point" Everything ol...

THE LIST 1. Off-Book: The Improvised Musical - "Attorney At Love (w/Nicole Parker)" The immensely talented Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino have captivated me since Off-Book  launched this past summer. From consistently providing the best podcast advertising spots out there to delivering zany storylines and earworms that regularly stick in my brain throughout the week, the show has ushered in a weird niche in the medium. "Attorney At Love" is worth a listen for the Amtrak subplot alone, but it also benefits from the guest appearance of "a legit musical person, one that actually knows what they're doing" Nicole Parker ( Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Wicked ). Parker showed little hesitation inserting herself into the action quite ably, and showing off her vocal chops. McKenna & Reino have lovely voices, but Parker illuminated how a professional vocalist can expand the scope of a show that's already doing a lot. 2. Hidden Brain - "The ...

In honor of the holiday that affords some of us a day off work in honor of a person who an increasing number of people are coming to despise, and mostly in honor of the time spent with my family that ate up my normal writing block, I give you a tweet-sized edition of the normal Pod Piper (with special 280 character section for It's Been A Minute With Sam Sanders ). 1. The Cracked Podcast  - "Donald Trump's Lies Are Trying To Break Your Brain" After countless attacks of inane BS, the president's infuriating response to Puerto Rico broke me. Incisively funny and dead on. 2. Embedded - "Trump Stories: The Apprentice" DT again, but finally from the retrospective lens of his origins as a reality clown. It's Embedded so of course it is 1st-rate journalism. 3. All Songs Considered - "Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains How He Made His New Benefit Song For Puerto Rico" The charity single that amassed hoards of PR-types talent, dissected. It doesn't...

THE LIST 1. Rough Translation  - "The Refugee's Dating Coach" An initial look at Rough Translation as it debuted back at the start of the season struck a note of skepticism surrounding how much translating was actually happening in the show. Throwing aside the perilous literalism that can plague even the most well-meaning critic, the new NPR show has delivered a steady stream of episodes covering any number of far-flung topics. "The Refugee's Dating Coach" meditates on a lighter theme, effectively evincing a common humanity on the other side of the world. There is an undercurrent of tragic circumstance, but the team does a great job of balancing the tension of despair and hope in this brilliant season-ending episode. 2. Strangers -  "The Continental Divide" Like many podcasts, Strangers leverages their feed to promote the work of other producers creating content with values aligned with the parent show. This exposes a new audience to a skille...