The Pod Piper

We’re on the verge of playoff basketball season, and for the first time in a long time I have a rooting interest. My team, the Phoenix Suns, has clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2010, and I couldn’t be more anxious about it. Thankfully there are TONS of podcasts that allow me to stew in my existential fan angst, several of which are noted here. I neglected to touch on staples such as HORSE , The Bill Simmons Podcast (particularly the weekly Sunday night playoff pop-up pods he started with Ryen Rusillo last week), and the entire Ringer NBA Show family, all of which are required listening around these parts. But I’m guessing you are not really here to read about my long-dormant-but-always-present basketball fandom. You are here to read about my always-present-but-never-dormant-even-when-it-maybe-should-be podcast fandom. It’s just a matter of time before my daughter does irreparable ear damage when trying to imitate my near constant state of earbudness. Until then... TH

THE LIST 1. Still Processing  - "The N-Word" I’d love to hear a Still Processing episode on the cultural significance of any word, but after starting with this word I’m not sure anything could top it. Jenna and Wesley are so thoughtful, always, but this one gets pretty personal in a way I am sure I don’t fully understand. I’d also love to hear Wesley in conversation with Mike Pesca about the reasons behind Pesca’s (seemingly open-ended?) dismissal , though with each passing day of silence it feel like some sort of NDA may prevent such a thing from ever happening.  2. Time Sensitive  - "Peter Sarsgaard" For years I confused Peter Sarsgaard for Alan Tudyk. I’m not sure exactly why, but I remember it having something to do with Tudyk’s iconic turn as Steve the Pirate in Dodgeball. None of that has anything to do with this episode, though, which paints Sarsgaard as a contemplative polymath who vacillates seamlessly between acting in movies and experiencing al