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 Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air) makes a rich return
The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air)
“Naughty Till New Years: Firstly, the Janitor”
Runtime: 40 minutes
Transcript not available
Arguably the most underrated Night Vale Presents podcast (other than maybe It Makes a Sound), The Orbiting Human Circus (of the air) returned for its second season this week, diving back into the story of the janitor Julian working at the radio station at the top of the Eiffel Tower. This podcast is whimsical, strange, and sometimes uncomfortably intimate, moving between music, narration, scripted dialogue, and stream-of-consciousness personal narrative–but everything comes together in a gorgeous, transportive, cohesive package.
Updates
Manoush Zomorodi named new host of the TED Radio Hour
Via twitter, Manoush Zomorodi of Note to Self and ZigZag announced her role as the new host of the TED Radio Hour. Zomorodi will be taking over for longtime host Guy Raz. Episodes with Zomorodi as host will begin this upcoming Spring.
Atypical Artists producing new musical fiction podcast
As reported by Deadline Hollywood, Atypical Artists (The Bright Sessions, The AM Archives, ARCS) will be producing a full musical podcast with musical theater creators Brett Ryback, Jeff Luppino-Esposito, and Matt Sav: In Strange Woods.
In Strange Woods tells the coming-of-age story of Peregrine Wells, an 18-year-old girl in Minnesota’s north woods, reeling from the death of her older brother. Ryback, who also acts as narrator, spins a fictional mystery that weaves together investigation and taped interview with a folk-pop score.
Deadline Hollywood
The pilot for the series featured voices like Patrick Page of Hadestown and Donna Lynne Champlin of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; however, the podcast series’s full cast is yet to be announced.
Campfire Media announces Sean Watkins liner notes podcast This Is Who We Are
On November 13th, 2019, Campfire Media launches This Is Who We Are, a liner notes style podcast with Sean Watkins ( Nickel Creek, Watkins Family Hour). Each episode will feature a song from Watkins’s upcoming album and an interview with the person who inspired that song.
One to Grow On discusses food sovereignty with Navajo activists and farmers
This month, agriculture podcast One to Grow On features discussions with Navajo Nation farmers and activists to discuss food sovereignty and food production impacts on the Arizona portion of the Navajo reservation, which spans into New Mexico and Utah as well. The first episode of the two-part series features an interview with permaculturists Nate Etsitty and Felix Earle.
Campaigns
Brimstone Valley Mall crowdfunding its first season
Upcoming fiction podcast by The Whisperforge (ars PARADOXICA, The Far Meridian, CARAVAN, StarTripper!!), Brimstone Valley Mall is crowdfunding its first season via IndieGogo. The campaign has a flexible goal of $8,000 USD and will be running until November 21st, 2019:
Brimstone Valley Mall is a fast-paced fiction comedy podcast about four demons from Hell who work in a shopping mall in the 90s. This 9-episode first season will be chock full of quippy dialogue, 90s references, dark humor, and of course, a goth garage band (whose lead singer goes mysteriously missing). To sum it up, Brimstone Valley Mall is a nostalgic love letter to suburban mediocrity and trashy mall culture – and that love letter comes dressed in black from head to toe (from Hot Topic, of course).
This campaign is currently at 40% funded at time of publication.
Wil Williams Writes 