This Week in Podcasts is a weekly roundup of the goings-on in podcasting, from highlights to pitfalls to updates and more. Have updates or crowdfunding campaigns you want listed? Check here for directions on how to get in touch.
Highlights
The Allusionist
“101. Two Or More”
Release date: 7/26/19
Runtime: 30 minutes
Transcript
Sometimes, I’m very easy to please. Usually, I’m very hard to please–but sometimes, all you need is the discussion of wonderful “bisexual” oysters. In this episode, The Allusionist goes into the fascinating history of the word “bisexual,” which used to mean something very, very different.
A RadioPublic embed of the episode, which can also be found here
Pitfalls
Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet
“31: Breweries in Little Rock, AR”
Release date: 6/26/19
Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet typically has issues with mouth noises, but this week, the hosts eat chips and a popsicle while recording. Those foods aren’t relevant to the podcast. They’re just eating them while recording. I had to turn the episode off less than 15 minutes into its hour-long run–unfortunate, given this is one of the podcasts I look forward to the most each week.
Updates
Wondery Raises $10 Million for Podcast Globalization
This Is 42 Announces Dilemma
Event network This Is 42 announces their new nonfiction podcast, Dilemma. “Each episode is based on a real or imagined moral dilemma, where our hosts challenge their guests – who are some of the best minds in the fields of psychology, philosophy, science and entertainment – to navigate impossible questions, and to make a concrete choice by the end of the episode. Dilemma’s featured guests include: Jonathan Haidt, Steven Pinker, Susan Wolf, Eric Kaplan, Sean Carroll, Joshua Greene, Lisa Tessman, Matthew Crawford and more.”
Podcast network EARIOS Launches with Three Podcasts
New podcast network EARIOS, founded by three women and funded via Kickstarter, launches with three podcasts. EARIOS “started out as a kickstarter project last year (received $25K in funding) and since then Priyanka, Amanda, and Maria have busted their butts to make some truly incredible podcasts. The first 3 that are launching include:
- Filling the Void hosted by Lesley Arfin Lesley Arfin, the creator of the hit Netflix series LOVE, talks to her circle of writers, comedians and artists about the things they do for pure, simple joy. Did you know Diablo Cody is a roller coaster fanatic? Or that Kerrey ? You might call these hobbies – Lesley calls them filling the void.
- Foxy Browns hosted by Camilla Blackett and Priyanka Mattoo Writers Priyanka Mattoo (vulture.com) and Camilla Blackett (New Girl) will explore what beauty and wellness means from their perspectives as women of color and immigrants. Some days they’re ranking eye creams, others they’re deconstructing Western beauty standards.
- Web Crawlers hosted by Melissa Stetten & Ali Segel Social Media stars Melissa Stetten and Ali Segel go down an internet rabbit hole to explore the strange and mysterious world of the dark web. From hauntings to murders to unexplainable disappearances, these internet sleuths will leave no message board unread.”
Jeffrey Nils Gardner Launches Fiction Miniseries The Museum at Tomorrow
Jeffrey Nils Gardner of Our Fair City and Unwell launches The Museum at Tomorrow. On the podcast, Gardner writes, “Here’s the thing: my narrative for the miniseries is the least important element here. With this piece, I’m way more interested in what narratives the listener creates while listening [. . .] A central narrative was outlined, then improvised and recorded. This provided the skeleton form the piece- a guide to build from. This replaced the traditional script of an audio fiction story. From there, I went through and replaced each beat of the monologue with another compositional element- a cut from an interview, a description of an artifact or piece of art from a museum, a sound, or a piece of music. Multiple voices are allowed to overlap to create a contrapuntal soundscape-
complicating the listening experience.” You can listen via Gardner’s site.
Campaigns
PodTales Crowdfunding its First Festival
Upcoming fiction podcast festival PodTales is crowdfunding its first event via IndieGogo. The event will be based in Cambridge, MA, and held on October 20th, 2019. The campaign has a flexible goal of $4000 USD and will be running until July 15th, 2019. The event hopes to spotlight indie fiction creators: “Independent podcasting has put the tools of broadcast media into the hands of more people than ever before, tapping into the power of sound and voice as storytelling media; contemporary story podcasts span the full gamut of fiction genres, from fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, to romance, psychological drama, and thriller, to the literary and experimental. This growing form incorporates a variety of powerful artistic elements—writing, voice acting, and sound design and production—to create a unique and immersive story experience.”
International Podcast Month Crowdfunding its 2019 Event
Annual event International Podcast Month is crowdfunding for 2019 via IndieGogo. The campaign has a flexible goal of $3500 USD and will be running until July 31st, 2019. The event hopes to “to cross-promote, celebrate each other, and share the love of podcasting with the world. In its inaugural year (2018), [International Podcast Month] crossed 10,000 Downloads and had over 70 different podcasts represented. This year [they are] aiming for larger content variety and even more representation of marginalized creators. For 2019, there will be Audio Drama/Fiction Minisodes, Creator Conversations, Non-Fiction Minisodes, RPG Actual-Play One-Shots, and the month-long blog.”
Catch-Ups
Catch-ups are podcasts that aren’t new, but ones I caught up with during the week.
Yoga Is Dead
Yoga is Dead is a revolutionary podcast that explores power, privilege, fair pay, harassment, race, cultural appropriation and capitalism in the yoga and wellness worlds. Join Indian-American hosts Tejal + Jesal as they exposes all the monsters lurking under the yoga mat.
Listen: Spotify | Google | Apple | PlayerFM | Stitcher| Website
Wil Williams Writes 