Election Profit Makers was a pretty awesome ride. But yeah, that last episode hurt. I honestly thought about those guys all election night long…
You Must Remember This reminds us that nothing ever changes really:
In what may be the coastal elite-iest, hipster-est sentence i’ll ever write: does anybody know of a good food/cooking podcast that isn’t dripping with white privilege?
I listen to America’s Test Kitchen, which is mostly fine, but is occasionally insufferably white middle-class (their wine segments, any time Adam Gopnik is on), and occasionally I get tired of them talking about how “exotic” the food I cook every day for dinner is.
There’s also The Sporkful, which is fine, but is again pretty white. They did a couple of sets on cultural appropriation and minority food experiences, whoch were interesting, but I just wanted the host to go away and let the guests talk more.
The Doughboys?
I just got to the end of the current season of You Must Remember This, and wow. It’s pretty apparent that episode 145 is going to be the last one.
Man. That show was like a staple to me. I’d hoard episodes for a couple of weeks and binge.
I guess in a few months I’ll go back to the beginning and maybe re-listen. Hopefully Karina does something else cool and educational and compulsively consumable as YMRT.
Damn, that’s sad to hear, but at least it never dipped in quality. I’m wrapping up the MGM series, and the balance she strikes between detailing the industry, history, and individual players involved in Louis B. Mayer being outmaneuvered during his final days at the studio has really made me appreciate what a brilliant job Karina does. Gonna miss it. :(
That’s too bad. I usually save up a full series and listen at the end so I’m not anywhere near caught up.
I’m not really surprised though. Her podcasts seem like a ton of work, and podcasting is still barely a business.
Yeah, just reading between the lines, but I think she’s pretty happy with how her just-released book went, and that may be the thing she’s looking forward to focusing on for a while now.
If I can dream, it’d be that a curated streaming movie service has snapped her up to do introductions and after-movie commentary. That would be awesome.
Thanks for the reminder…I’ve been meaning to buy her book, so I went over to Amazon and picked up the ebook. I have to say, I’m only mildly interested in Howard Hughes, but I feel like I owe her one for all the hours of effort she put in on the podcast.
I’m maybe only a third of the way through, and it feels like she’s just sort of using Hughes as a framing device to get to a lot of history with the actresses and studio stuff he was involved with. Not super huge on Hughes myself, but the book is definitely interesting so far.
I’d love to see her do a mega-book like this on the blacklist…that was my absolute favorite series of the show and it’s such a fascinating period of American history. I suppose she may have wrung the topic dry on the 20+ episodes of the podcast, but there must be more stuff to tell.
While her vocal mannerisms are a bit off-putting to me, we love YMRT podcasts. We’re old film buffs anyway, so this is old movie nirvana for us. Haven’t listened to 145 yet but I really hope she doesn’t stop.
Interesting tidbit about The Ringer in an article about Spotify moving into podcasting. The Ringer is bringing in $15m a year mostly from podcasts. Maybe podcasting is a business after all.
I do listen to a bunch of Ringer pods. Apparently they’re pulling in some numbers.
That being said, podcasts are also proving effective business in a media landscape where written content and video have proved tricky to monetise in the age of the Google/Facebook digital advertising duopoly. In the US, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bill Simmon’s young media company The Ringer is bringing in the majority of its revenue via podcasts, $15 million in 2018 to be exact.
https://www.techworld.com/startups/spotify-stakes-its-claim-for-podcast-supremacy-3691811/
I just got started on podcast since I retired and listen while trying to walk 5 miles/day. I love three things - history, crime, and financial scams) so here are the ones I’ve listened to or am currently listening to:
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History (everything from the Apache to World War 1 to the East Front of World War 2 to the Persian Emperors)
History of Rome (Mike Duncan does a great job here, this is considered by many the definitive history podcast and a model for all others)
History of Byzantium (this is just about as good as the History of Rome, the author does a fantastic job)
Criminal (NPR) (this is a great podcast about crimes, police, the law, etc - everything from horse thieves to forensic science to murder mysteries, etc - very eclectic)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (another great job, very interesting information of the Roman economy of the time)
History on Fire (wide selection of topics - from biographies of Crazy Horse and Teddy Roosevelt to the various Roman slave rebellions to the ronin of Japan to the life of Caravaggio)
History of Alexander Remastered (good podcast about the Macedonian conqueror)
Monster (podcast about serial killers, started with the Atlanta Child killings and is now on the Zodiac killer)
The Dropout (story of the Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos fraud about fake blood testing)
Ponzi Supernova (story of the Bernie Madoff financial scam)
I’ve got a lot of others on my list but I haven’t heard any of the others yet so I can’t comment on them yet.
I think I have a new favorite podcast. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, though, so fair warning.
But…imagine you’re at a party and you hear two people having a conversation about how one of them somehow ended up with a custom-built fish tank with two neon tetras she’s named Declan and Tripp. And hidden snails, apparently. All of which she’s named Brianna. And then they segue into talking about the New Orleans axe murderer case of 1918. And they can discuss it humorously (very) but also incredibly knowledgeably.
That’s the podcast Mystery Team Inc. It features two best friends who I guess also do acting and production work in Los Angeles. And they are whip-smart, funny, profane, and turn those powers to bear on subject matter that’s kind of overdone for a podcast subject: unsolved mysteries.
But they do it really well. And they’re witty. And the whole time I’m listening, I’m thinking “These are the kind of people I’d hang out with.” They’re skeptical when they should be, and absurd when that fits.
Fair warning: one of their favorite rhetorical punching bags is white men. (Typically fairly tongue-in-cheek, and when pointing out in some unsolved thing where women or people of color are ignored by authority figures.) I have no issue with it, since most of the business they’re giving white men is frankly pretty deserved. ;) And again, it’s usually tongue in cheek. And often makes me laugh out loud. (They also do a drinking game where you drink every time the police opt to do nothing.)
There’s no fancy production values here. They didn’t even get an opening theme until episode 15 or 20 or so out of 30 available. But damn this show is a good time. Recommended if you like Last Podcast on the Left.
Sounds interesting - I will give it a shot.
I really can’t recommend Dolly Parton’s America highly enough. It’s a series of interviews that were done with Dolly by Jad Abumrad of Radiolab, and so far (there’s only 2 released of a planned 9 episodes) it’s great stuff. The subtitle of the podcast is “the story of a legend at the crossroads of America’s culture wars” and that’s pretty much what it is so far. Dolly is such a great interview, and then Jad ties it in to other stories of people within and outside of her circle.
Really cool so far, and exactly the kind of thing I want from podcasting.
Thanks for the recommendation! I have to admit, the topic was interesting but the fact that it is a limited series pushed it over the top.
Good thread. Here are a few of my favorites and why.
Friendly Fire - a war movie podcast that is just… great. It in many ways a dual history podcast as it covers the subject of the movie and the historical context of the time of the movie release. It’s also funny and the three hosts complement each other well.
Cycling Tips - if you’re a cyclist it’s good coverage of the sport, the tech, and the people. I appreciate that they care about women’s cycling too.
Financial Post down to business - for Canadians, but this is a good business podcast hosted by a female and covers really interesting subjects. A recent topic was the state of Canada’s wireless market.
Espionage - a podcast of historical spies and how they worked, got caught, or didn’t get caught. They dramatize it through narration and storytelling format, which mostly works.