The Pod Piper

1. Reply All -  "Man of the People" This may be the most timely podcast release I've ever encountered.  Dropped on the heels of the Trump inauguration, "Man of the People" delivers a story with an unbelievable analog to the new leader of the United States.  In addition to expertly painting a picture of a megalomaniac, the episode serves as a great reminder that human fallibility cannot be erased by any amount of democratizing technology.  Populism isn't new, and while an increasingly open media landscape may lead us to assume truth will win out we should be wary of any such conclusion in our current climate. Absolutely essential listening that also happens to be incredibly entertaining. 2. Strangers - "Wouldn't It Be Nice" As a fairly long-tenured listener to Strangers and narrative storytelling podcasts in general, I should not be surprised by the potential for profound emotional impact such things hold.  Nevertheless, I was taken aback by...

1. Hidden Brain - "Getting Unstuck" "Getting Unstuck" is the perfect episode if you find yourself frustrated with a lack of resolve regarding promises made at the start of the new year.  It's also more broadly applicable to anyone who has struggled to find a direction in life, or who has set out on one path only to be stymied somewhere along the way.  By no means does this offer a one-size-fits-all solution to such a quandary, but it does present a helpful perspective from which to take stock of ones present circumstances. 2. Love and Radio - "No Bad News" In a post-9/11 world, it can be difficult to empathize with the 'other' - particularly if that 'other' is someone widely considered to be a malicious dictator with little regard for humanity.  I always strive to humble myself and assume everyone has some inherent amount of redeeming goodness, and this episode somewhat confirms that assumption.  At the same time, however, it chall...

1. The Cracked Podcast - "The 80s: Our Most Bizarre Decade (Is Happening Again)" This episode that dropped in the wee morning hours of 2017 reminded me what endeared me to The Cracked Podcast - comedic, insightful commentary on familiar cultural entity.  The target on this episode is 1980's culture, with a large amount of time dedicated to a wild take on the TV show Saved By The Bell.  There is also a lot of political and broader societal critique wrapped into the episode amidst whispers of regression on the eve of a new administration in the US. 2. Happier with Gretchen Rubin - "The One Minute Rule" I passed on this show after briefly sampling it last spring, but just this week I binge-listened to seven episodes.  The 20-minute installments make the show very palatable and the content of each episode moves briskly enough to convey valuable information concisely. Rubin has recently announced a new imprint of shows on Panoply (so far just two in addition...

With 2016 in the books, it's time to look back at the year of podcasts. I started this blog at the end of February, and so please note that all the stats that follow largely do not include shows released in January and February. Let's start with the big picture.  This year I documented listening to 724 podcast episodes.  This does not include the short podcasts Merriam Webster's Word of the Day  or The Writer's Almanac , both of which are fantastic but very stable in format and thus quite difficult to critique.  The quintuple-weekly podcasts PTI   and  The Gist  are excluded for the same reason (in addition,  PTI is essentially just the audio stripped from a TV show and The Gist is so dense it's hard to parse five episodes a week [that's on me, and I fully intend to craft a longer piece on Mike Pesca's brilliant work on the show]).   Now for the network breakdown.  Here are my top 10 most listened-to podcast networks in 2016 (with a ...

1. The Room Where It's Happening - "Alex Lacamoire: Musical Mastermind (#14)" This may be where The Room Where It's Happening peaks.  I will listen to the rest of the episodes as they march on in their quest to get Obama on the show, but I doubt any will surpass this ebullient vessel of insidery musical joy.  Lacamoire expounds on the music he helped orchestrate and guide from mixtape concept to off-Broadway to game-changing Broadway smash, in a way that can be as pleasing to people who are singularly obsessed with Hamilton as it is to straight-up music nerds with no knowledge of the musical. 2. All Songs Considered - "The Year In Music 2016" NPR puts out one of the perennially must-read year-end music lists, and 2016 is no exception.  After carefully and crafting my own list , I am always eager to check out the things I inevitably missed.  Reading is definitely effective, though I always enjoy hearing the All Songs crew hold court over their domain.  P...