Podster November 2016

Behind the Theme Music with

MARK HADLEY

GUY RAZ

LOVE + RADIO I CAN’T EVEN NOSH

NOVEMBER 2016

Are you curious about... books? self-improvement? sports? cars? music?

Have we got a podcast for you.

HOSTED BY PEPSI

www.CollisionsMedia.com

Podcasts for curious people 10

JANUARY 2016

O OU U R ORUS ST RTA A SF FF T F A FF MARGARET BROWN PUBLISHER/EDITOR CHRISTINA DAVIDSON CREATIVE DIRECTOR COLIN MILLER CONTRIBUTING EDITOR GEMMA KING CONTRIBUTING EDITOR BEN MINTON CIRCULATION MANAGER

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: (214) 704.4182 margaret@shelfmediagroup.com

PATRICIA MCCLAIN COPY EDITOR

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES:

MORGAN SIEM CONSULTANT, SOCIAL MEDIA

Shelf Unbound PO Box 852321 Richardson, TX 75085

KASIA PIASECKA SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

margaret@shelfmediagroup.com

JANE MILLER ACCOUNTING MANAGER

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www.truecrimehistorian.com truecrimehistorian@outlook.com

Podcasting “Yesterday’s News” every Thursday and Sunday True crime author and former journalist Richard O Jones tells stories of the world’s famous and forgotten scandals, scoundrels, and scourges compiled from historic newspaper accounts in the golden age of yellow journalism.

“A wonderful blog on historical true crime. Laid out like a newspaper, Richard O Jones takes you on a journey through case after case...

Featuring enthralling podcasts alongside short stories and newspaper clippings, this site will keep you entertained for hours.”

—CrimeTraveller.org “Richard O Jones, a seasoned journalist who claims to have found evidence in the archives that one of his ancestors was a murderer, started a delightful series of historical true crime short stories called Two-Dollar Terrors... Jones’s stories are worth reading for his exquisite writing.”

—Author Ann Marie Ackermann, “Death of an Assassin.”

ABOUT

richard o jones After ending a 25 year career in arts and community journalism in the fall of 2013, Richard O Jones turned to a life of true crime.

Author of two books on History Press:

Cincinnati’s Savage Seamstress: The Shocking Edythe Klumpp Murder Scandal The First Celebrity Serial Killer: Confessions of the Strangler Alfred Knapp Ten titles in the TWO-DOLLAR TERROR series of ebook novellas.

All available at major ebooksellers.

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WWW.UNDISCLOSED-PODCAST.COM

The Undisclosed Podcast is a listening experience that reframes, enhances, or otherwise shifts everything you’ve come to know about the State of Maryland’s case against Adnan Syed, especially as you’ve come to know it through listening to Serial.

Season 1

(available now) The State vs. Adnan Syed

Season 2

Coming in 2016

HOSTED BY

RABIA CHAUDRY, COLIN MILLER, AND SUSAN SIMPSON. 4

JANUARY 2016

INN IIN T TTRRR O OO W

hew! After months of obsessively listening to political podcasts such as FiveThirtyEight, The Run-Up, and Keepin it 1600, I think we’re all ready to get back to our regular shows and discover some new ones.

You probably know Guy Raz from NPR and as host of the TED Radio Hour. He’s got a new podcast, How I Built This, in which he talks to innovators and entrepreneurs about their paths to success, from the woman who invented Spanx to the guy who created the Clif Bar. “The news business is filled with folks who are cynical and sometimes even negative and I loved how different and positive the tech and business world was—it was all about ‘yes’ and ‘let’s do it’ instead of ‘impossible’ and ‘can’t be done,’” says Raz in our interview with him.

We also talk to Nick van der Kolk, creator and host of the popular Love + Radio podcast and learn how he creates his intimate portraits of the human condition, especially delving into a recent episode that is both his and my favor-

Photo by Debra Pandak

Click HERE to sign up for for FREE.

ite from Love + Radio, “A Girl of Ivory.” It starts with a young couple in love, unexpectedly adds another partner, and then the real twist unfolds. Give it a listen.

And to provide you all with some postelection levity, our column Episode 17 spotlights the Mousetalgia podcast, which provides secrets and travel tips for visiting Disneyland. And on that note, I’ll close this out with a song from the Magic Kingdom.

“It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears.

It’s a world of hope and a world of fears.

There’s so much that we share that it’s time we’re aware it’s a small world after all.”

Enjoy the issue.

MARGARET BROWN PUBLISHER/EDITOR 5

interview nterview interview

Guy Raz: I Built This

npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this

NPR’s Guy Raz talks to innovators and entrepreneurs about the highs and lows of their journeys to success.

LISTEN

:

You’re well known as a longtime NPR reporter and the former host of All Things Considered and currently as the host and editorial director of the TED Radio Hour. What interested you in starting a podcast about entrepreneurs?

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GUY RAZ: It really came out of my experience hosting TED Radio Hour and moving out of the world of news reporting into the world of ideas. I was able to spend more time with people who are focused on building solutions and making the world a better place rather than people who were focused on conflict and scoring political points. The news business is filled with folks who are cynical and sometimes even negative and I loved how different and positive the tech and business world was—it was all about “yes” and “let’s do it” instead of “impossible” and “can’t be done.”

PODSTER: All of the entrepreneurs in your first four episodes began with an idea (Spanx, Clif Bar, Radio One, Instagram) rather than just a desire to get rich. Is that part of why you selected them?

PODSTER: You asked the founders of Instagram how much of their success was luck, and Kevin Systrom answered, “50 percent.” Do you agree that luck is a necessary ingredient in successful entrepreneurship?

GUY: I think luck is a huge factor but I also think you can help shape your luck. Part of that is doing research, working through different models and learning from competitors.

PODSTER: Much has been written about Millennials becoming entrepreneurs at earlier ages than the Boomers did. What do you make of this trend?

GUY: I think it’s only half true or maybe not as true as we think. In fact, historically, the number of new entrepreneurs is relatively flat. The difference I think today is that we have a much more developed culture of failure and so I think there is a willingness among younger people to take risks in ways that Boomers did not have.

Also, Boomers lived at a time when jobs were jobs-for-life. That world doesn’t exist and so it seems that, increasingly, the best job security is to be your own boss.

PODSTER: Your website says you are an “avid cyclist.” What kind of bike do you ride and what’s your favorite route?

GUY: I ride a Priority Eight. It’s an 8-speed bike with an internal hub, gates carbon belt drive and hydraulic disc brakes … all for under $799! It’s an amazing bike and I ride it to work everyday. Sometimes I’ll go by the White House just because … but I usually take L Street all the way past the convention center and then K Street to North Capitol and on to NPR.

GUY LISTENS TO

GUY: Yes. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with wanting to become rich. But I was—and am—primarily interested in the problem someone was trying to solve and how it connected to their own personal experience.

PODSTER: What have you learned about achieving success in work or life from the entrepreneurs you have interviewed?

GUY: Persistence and a long view are super important. It’s really easy to get distracted by minor setbacks which may appear big at the time. But in the long run, the only thing that matters is whether you believe in your idea enough to stay with it.

Hidden Brain “The Hidden Brain helps curious people understand the world—and themselves. Using science and storytelling, Hidden Brain’s host Shankar Vedantam reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships.”

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GUY LISTENS TO

well as mainstays like Cousin Sal, Joe House and other friends and family members who always happen to be suspiciously available.”

Planet Money “The economy, explained, with stories and surprises. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, “Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.”

Now imagine that’s actually a fun evening.

That’s what we’re going for at Planet Money.

People seem to like it.”

The Bill Simmons Podcast “HBO’s Bill Simmons relaunches the most downloaded sports podcast of all-time with a rotating crew of celebrities, athletes and media members, as 8

NOVEMBER 2016

Radiolab “Radiolab, with Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, is a radio show and podcast weaving stories and science into sound and music-rich documentaries.”

Do you like to learn about

random, wild stuff?

You know, the things you didn’t think you needed to know about, then realize you should?

Then check out NOTHING OFF LIMITS, the podcast that gives you one place to go for something different. Join Michelle Ann Owens and her guests from all of the world as they discuss topics across society and culture, health, business, relationships and, of course, sex. It’s the stuff your momma never taught you! Sometimes serious, usually fun, and always leaving you with a new, unusual body of knowledge that you can actually use in your life. Subscribe and listen now!

Nothing Off Limits is produced by Ladyfox Entertainment in Los Angeles, CA.

WWW.LADYFOXENTERTAINMENT.COM

interview nterview interview

Nick van der Kolk: loveandradio.org

Love + Radio

Through intimate interviews, brilliant storytelling, and carefully constructed sound, Love + Radio gracefully explores the human condition.

LISTEN

radio station and that would have been my place to do a show like Love + Radio. It was really just sort of a sandbox for myself.

:

You launched Love + Radio in 2005. How did the idea come about?

NICK VAN DER KOLK: I don’t know if there was a very solid idea behind doing the podcast other than it was an outlet for me to make radio and try new things and not have to go through a normal pitch process.

Had it been 10 years prior I probably would have gotten a shift at some community 10

NOVEMBER 2016

PODSTER: What was your background?

NICK: I had just graduated college and was working in an editorial position with PRX (which now runs Radiotopia). I helped curate stuff for the homepage, worked with radio stations on finding programming, and worked with people on getting their programs on the air. It was a great first job but I wasn’t creating content or anything like that.

PODSTER: What made you want to get into radio?

NICK: I was involved in a college radio station at Bard and I started out as a DJ there. It was one of these 5-watt AM transmitter student stations that had started in the 1950s, but at a small college it

got something like 200 listeners, which for us was like, “Oh my God! 200 listeners!”

wasn’t well supported. So, the history of that radio station was that a bunch of nerdy, enterprising students would come together and get things going and then it would have its heyday for two or three years and then the people running it would graduate and everything would fall apart.

I came into that station during one of those more fallow periods where only a quarter of the DJ’s even showed up for their sessions. And, I don’t know, I just caught the bug. I started out as a DJ there and then kind of became obsessed with turning the station around. I was mostly on the management side of things, creating a sense of community. It wasn’t until the last couple of semesters when things were kind of in place and we had something of an audience—and by that I mean 15 people— that I started getting more into the content side of things. I did a show that was a precursor to Love + Radio that was probably more like a direct rip-off of This American Life. It was basically me interviewing my friends and having them tell stories.

PODSTER: Did you get anything interesting?

NICK: Mildly interesting. About halfway through producing about nine episodes, a friend of mine who had his finger on the pulse of technology asked me if I knew what a podcast was, and I was like, “no.”

So he told me and I decided to put out our show as a podcast, and right off the bat we

PODSTER: What was the first episode of Love + Radio?

NICK: In the beginning, we would take a topic and then have a bunch of stories around that topic. Our first episode was about guns. We had a bunch of stories around guns and then my friend Adriane and I went up to a shooting range in New Hampshire and shot some guns together.

PODSTER: I was particularly interested in a new episode, “Girl of Ivory.” I can’t get that one out of my head. As a host, you’re present but you really let your guests go and you are more in the background. Is that your personality or just how you wanted the podcast to be?

NICK: It’s primarily how I wanted the podcast to be. In person I can sometimes dominate a conversation a little too much.

For me, so much radio is about explaining to people and for the reporter or host to hand hold people through things, which can be a valuable thing, but I think it can also be valuable to approach it from a different angle, where you have a more intimate relationship with the subject as a listener. That’s part of the reason I try to keep questions off mic, and if we’re interviewing someone over the phone, those questions will be over the phone. I want the listener’s intimate feeling to be closer to the subject and not the host.

PODSTER: Have you learned anything about people in doing Love + Radio?

NICK: It has really hit home for me that people desperately don’t want to be judged and find it incredibly refreshing when 11

NICK LISTENS TO

“Well, certainly the Radiotopia podcasts.

I’m especially fond of Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything, which was actually a big influence on my own work and I would also give a shout out to Here Be Monsters, which comes out of KCRW. And Everything is Stories.”

they’re not. It’s almost like judging someone is a kind of violence you can do against someone. That’s not to say that violence is not sometimes justified, but it is a violent act. I think people need to understand that.

So it needs to be done judiciously.

PODSTER: Do you have a favorite episode?

NICK: I really liked putting together “A Girl of Ivory.”

PODSTER: That’s one of my favorites.

Here’s your description from the show 12

NOVEMBER 2016

notes: “Davecat and Sidore had a blissful marriage together in the suburbs of Detroit. One day, a Russian woman showed up unexpectedly at their doorstep, declared her love for both of them, and asked to move in. It was a complicated situation, but that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of this unusual threesome.” What was the starting point for that episode?

NICK: It started with Davecat. I was forwarded an article from a friend of mine about him. I didn’t really read it; I just sort of glanced at the headline and I was like, this sounds kind of sad and weird and I didn’t really think about it very much. Then more recently I looked at it again, and in reading his words, it came clear to me that Davecat was pretty self aware, that he had these quite insightful things to say about relationships, so I wanted to explore it. He had been in the media a lot already, and I assumed he’d been burned a couple of times and might be suspicious of me going to him, so I got on Twitter and I messaged his wife on Twitter. I said, would your husband be interested?

PODSTER: This is his wife who is really a doll?

NICK: Yes, so it’s really him. The wife said, “I’ll check with him,” and then he emailed me. I don’t know if that’s what made a difference, but I thought it was a good way to get in his good graces rather quickly.

PODSTER: He was very open.

NICK: I’m always hesitant to do a story that’s been covered a bunch of times as his has, but I think we’re in a unique place where we can oftentimes come at things from a different angle. It sounds cheesy, but it is the power of radio that you can pull that kind of thing off. Because there is no visual element you are not pre-judging people based on how they look or what the situation is, and you can really enter their world.

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interview nterview interview

Ali Hanford and Margaret Verghese: I Can’t Even theicantevenshow.com

Two millennial women take on the challenges of “adulting” at home and in the workplace.

LISTEN

:

Your podcast tagline is: “I came. I saw. I adulted. And I can’t even.” As millennial women, what are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your adulthood?

ALI HANFORD: I think in my very early twenties, my biggest challenge was finding 14

NOVEMBER 2016

Photo by Anne Bailey

a job in my field. After college, I interned for various TV shows and networks for nearly a year while waitressing, and I have very clear memories of feeling exhausted and defeated. If not for some of the wonderfully encouraging women I worked with, who not only kept my spirits up but also helped me find work, I probably would have given up on myself. Now in my thirties, I think the hardest thing is finding the balance not between working and parenting but between parenting and being a person. I love my job and I love my daughter but I also used to love seeing my friends, going to the gym, spending time with my husband, and exploring side projects—but a lot of those things now happen rarely if at all.

MARGARET VERGHESE: The biggest challenge I’ve faced is being a young female executive at a mostly older, male-

run company (in a largely male-dominated industry). As an old millennial I’m lucky enough to have lived a bit of that old media world as well as this new, quickly changing media world. That experience has made me want to act as a change agent inside my organization, but one of the harder things for me has been trying to grow personally in this new world while also understanding the wishes and needs of a traditional media company.

PODSTER: Why did you decide to do a podcast about these topics?

ALI: We both spend a lot of time combing through various types of media, and for the most part, everything targeting millennials is for the younger members of our generation—finding a first job, moving out of your parents’ house, internet dating, etc. None of that really speaks to us, so we started putting together episodes about the things we generally talk about. We also tackle some topics that we know our friends are dealing with but that we totally missed out on—like unsolicited “dick pics.” We both started dating our husbands when flip phones were still a thing so we never had to deal with that and we don’t understand why anyone currently does.

PODSTER: In your first episode, you cover

workplace issues, beginning with two young women calling in about their struggles at the start of their careers. With many millennials struggling to even get that first job, how can they feel empowered to negotiate for equal pay and family-friendly flexibility?

ALI: First of all, I think just knowing that you’re supposed to negotiate is helpful. It never occurred to me when I was offered my first job. I was just so grateful not to be interning anymore that I practically wept with joy when I was offered a salary and health benefits. However, I think once you get that first job it’s important that you don’t get comfortable. Give yourself a year to learn and grow and see what your future is at that company. If you don’t see one you like, start looking for a new job ASAP. You’ll be amazed at how much more confident you are about negotiating when you already have a steady paycheck.

PODSTER: You interview Inside Edition’s Megan Alexander about her career, and one of her recommendations is for young women to find mentors. Do you see yourselves as mentors with your podcast?

MARGARET: I don’t think either of us has thought of the podcast as a possible way to mentor people. However, after reading Megan’s book we learned a bit about casual mentoring and how you can find mentors in the most unlikely of places. For us, just reading about her experiences was almost like getting coached by a real-life mentor! So if even one person was helped by anything we talked about during our show, we’d be honored and happy to have provided that sort of casual mentorship experience.

PODSTER: One of the topics you’ll be covering is sexism. Have you experienced 15

sexism in your careers thus far?

MARGARET: I’ll be honest that it’s sometimes hard to know if someone’s behavior towards you is sexist, and I’ll be the first to admit that I am extremely uncomfortable with the idea of saying, “I’m only being treated a certain way because I’m a woman.” Like many of my peers, I want to get ahead based on my experience, merit, initiative and vision. As naive as it sounds, I’d like to leave gender, race and age out of the equation and so sometimes I think we trick ourselves into believing those things don’t matter.

PODSTER: What other topics will you be exploring in future episodes and how have you gone about selecting these topics?

ALI: Megan Alexander will be featured on our “celebrity” episode as well. She had a really interesting perspective as someone who is both on camera and behind the mic during red carpets. We’ll also be discussing parenting and adult friendships. Right

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now, I’m most excited about our episode on friendship. I think that for many of us, our world revolves around our friendships in our twenties and then that takes a backseat to relationships, family, and career when we hit our thirties. I hope that show, in particular, helps anyone going through that transition to feel a little less lonely and disconnected.

PODSTER: How do you think millennials will shape the future?

ALI: I think that we’re already shaping the future in the way that we approach our careers. Even though most of the professionals I know are passionate about their work, there’s a really big desire to pull away from the traditional nine to five job. I think that as we get further away from the idea that employees need to be tied to a desk for eight hours a day, work-life flexibility will increase, workers will be happier and more productive, and dual-income families will have an easier time juggling childcare and employment.

RADIOTOPIA, FROM PRX, IS A CURATED NETWORK OF 13 EXTRAORDINARY, STORY-DRIVEN SHOWS.

LISTEN TO ALL YOUR FAVORITES AT

RADIOTOPIA.FM. @RADIOTOPIA

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interview nterview interview

Marvo:

thenoshshow.com

The Nosh Show

Engaging banter from guys obsessed with junk food. Pairs perfectly with your Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme.

LISTEN

:

So you are four guys who had food-related blogs and joined together to do The Nosh Show. How did the podcast come about?

MARVO: I was a podcast listener years before starting The Nosh Show. At some point, I wanted to do a podcast because I wanted to something different than just writing my blog. I tried video, and that was 18

NOVEMBER 2016

fun, but editing and preparation were way too time consuming. I also wanted to have conversations about junk food because it’s not a topic you can talk to anyone about. It’s not like sports, television, or movies. So I wanted other bloggers who were as passionate as I am about junk food and would bring something different to the table. So Ryan from Grub Grade focuses on fast food, Dubba from On Second Scoop covers ice cream, and Eric from Junk Food Guy writes about snacks in general. I picked them and gauged their personalities based on what I read from their blogs. After that, I sent them emails and, fortunately, they all quickly said yes to some stranger on the internet they’d never met. But I think it happened so quickly because we all read each others’ blogs.

PODSTER: What makes for great fast food, in your opinion?

MARVO: I think there’s cheap and tasty, like

PODSTER: New Lay’s flavors this year: Greek Tzatziki, Brazilian Picanha, Indian Tikka Masala and Chinese Szechuan Chicken. Did any get your vote?

MARVO: None of them got my vote. Greek Tzatziki, Brazilian Picanha, and Indian Tikka Masala were good, but not great enough where I’d want any of them to be a regular flavor. But if I could vote for one I’d never want to see again it would be the Chinese Szechuan Chicken. There were too many things going on with its flavor. I did not enjoy it and did not finish the bag.

MARVO LISTENS TO

the McDonald’s McDouble. And then there’s fresh and simple like In-N-Out and Five Guys.

PODSTER: How do you decide on what topics you will cover in each episode?

MARVO: The main segment on the show is “Nosh or Not,” and during it we talk about new products that are currently available or aren’t being sold yet. We’re fortunate to have sources that let us know what upcoming products are going to be out there. So prior to recording, I’ll scan our sources and pick junk food and fast food items that are the most interesting and I feel would create the most conversation.

Sometimes we learn about an Oreo flavor that hasn’t been announced yet or Taco Bell items that are currently being tested in a few locations in Kansas City.

PODSTER: You didn’t know each other personally at the start of the podcast. Have you gotten together to meet in person?

MARVO: I haven’t met any of the other hosts. But Ryan met Dubba at a press tour of the Ben & Jerry’s factory, which I was also invited to but didn’t attend, and Ryan and Eric randomly met each other while both were picking up bobbleheads of their favorite sports talk radio hosts in the D.C. area. But there is this running joke we have on the show that we’ll all go to the annual Sweet & Snacks Expo in Chicago. We say we should go every year so that we can meet each other, but we have yet to do so.

PODSTER: What is your favorite junk or fast food?

MARVO: Kettle cooked potato chips. I can never say no to them. If you want to know if I’ve been replaced with an alien who looks like me, leave out a bag of kettle cooked potato chips. If that bag isn’t eaten within 36 hours, it is not me and you should call the military. It’s the perfect combination of salt, oil, potatoes, and crunch.

I love listening to NPR’s Planet Money. Occasionally, they do shows about food. To help me balance all the horrible stuff I eat, I listen to The Nutrition Diva. I’m a Mac guy, so I subscribe to The Talk Show with John Gruber. To get my sports fix, I play the podcast versions of ESPN’s Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption. Also, because I guess I own a small media company, I like hearing about other media companies on Recode Media with Peter Kafka.

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behind the

MARK HADLEY

theme music theme music theme music composer of the Secrets, Crimes and Audiotape podcast theme markhadley.la

PODSTER: What were you listening to?

MARK: A lot of angsty, teenage music—pop punk bands like Blink 182. Then I started studying jazz, and I began to take music more seriously as a prospective career.

PODSTER: What jazz were you listening to?

MARK: Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green— kind of a mix of classic and contemporary.

:

I read that as a kid you studied piano and trumpet and then got your first guitar when you were 11. Did you immediately know guitar was your thing?

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MARK HADLEY: I think it’s fair to say that that was how it unfolded.

I was always drawn toward music, and guitar was a focus of a lot of the genres that I was absorbing at the time, so it was natural to gravitate toward it and learn songs that I was listening to.

PODSTER: What was it about jazz that interested you?

MARK: It was the improvisation.

It was really cool to have this format of music where, especially in the early days of jazz, people are playing the same songs and you have so many different ways of playing it. The players developed their personal voice through their improvisation.

PODSTER: When did you start composing?

MARK: In my teens I was in bands

and I wrote songs for the bands I was in, and when I started studying jazz, I immediately began to write what I could, breaking into that genre.

Writing has always been a part of my musical process.

PODSTER: I read that you wrote the theme music for TV Land’s The Exes.

MARK: I didn’t write the theme myself. I helped record it and produce it, and then I scored the show through its four seasons.

PODSTER: What does scoring involve?

MARK: You get the episode from the editors and you write music in the spots where it belongs. When you have a show like The Exes, it’s much simpler for the reason that it is a multi-cam show, which is your classic sitcom with a live studio audience and a laugh track—shows like Friends or Seinfeld. There’s really not much decision making in the placement of the music because they have transitional shots in between scenes where the music just belongs.

PODSTER: How did your involvement with Secrets, Crimes and Audiotape come about?

MARK: I was actually referred to a producer on the podcast from the composer that I worked with on The Exes. He

reached out to me and told me about the podcast and asked if I was interested in writing the theme song, and I of course said yes because I’m a fan of podcasts myself and had wanted to write original music for a podcast. It was an opportunity that I was eagerly waiting for, and it happened naturally and was a really rewarding experience.

PODSTER: What were you trying to do with the music?

It feels to me like a more complicated but upbeat X Files kind of thing.

MARK: That’s a really great question. I think that I was just trying to embody the characteristics which defined the podcast itself. So, already in the title of the podcast, you have so much information about what it is: Secrets, Crimes and Audiotape. So you want to portray drama, suspense, mystery, intrigue. After I conceptualized where I wanted the music to live with adjectives like that, then I just went for it and tried different things.

I had a general idea of the instrumentation that I wanted to use because I think podcasts typically work well when the musical ensemble is smaller. It’s more intimate, and that’s why I chose to feature more individual instruments like piano and cello rather than creating this big orchestral sound.

MARK

LISTENS TO

“My go to is Radiolab.

I listened to both seasons of Serial and a newer one that was sort of similar, which is called Accused.

I listen to Ted Radio Hour.

I listen to Hidden Brain.

I like nonfiction, scientific, informative podcasts.”

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theme Dogs

Because happiness is, indeed, a warm puppy.

Can I Pet Your Dog? Every Tuesday, dog owner Allegra Ringo and dog wanter Renee Colvert talk to guests about their dogs, discuss dogs they met this week, and brief you on dogs news.

They go on assignment to dog events and report back with what you need to know.

Positively A fun, informative and lighthearted look into Victoria’s life and work, the Positively Podcast series also offers listeners the opportunity to have Victoria answer their questions on the air during the ‘Ask Victoria’ segment and listen in to fun and fascinating conversations with special guests.

The Dog Show with Julie Forbes Dogs teach us to be present and connect us to the powerful ways in which we communicate non-verbally.

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NEED FOR FEED

The Dog Show with Julie Forbes™ illuminates the common ground we still share, and all the ways that the powerful connection between people and dogs manifests in today’s world.”

Good Dog! “Good Dog is a podcast focused on dog behavior, dog training, choosing a breed, dog care and feeding, as well as amazing stories about our four-legged best friends. Hosted

by Joanne Greene and featuring experts including Trish King, CPDT and author of Parenting Your Dog. Dog Talk (and Kitties Too!) “This Gracie® Award winning show, produced and hosted by pet wellness advocate Tracie Hotchner, has been broadcasting for over 8 years with 450 shows from the NPR station Peconic Public Broadcasting in the Hamptons.

DOG TALK® features global authors and experts discussing far-ranging topics involving dogs and cats, many of them with dog advice and health information, dog and puppy training tips, and help in understanding your cat.”

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THE PODSTER FIVE THE BUGLE thebuglepodcast.com

f there’s a silver lining to the madness of the contemporary political climate, it may just be the array of brilliant new political comedy shows (both televised and podcasted) from the US, the UK and beyond. The Daily Show has long been a hallmark of English-language satire, but the last few years have seen the rise of new voices as well. John Oliver, with his show Last Week Tonight, is probably the closest thing we now have to Jon Stewart.

But before Oliver was a regular on The Daily Show, before he had his own program on the hallowed HBO and before other media began talking about the “John Oliver effect,” the jolly Englishman was best known for being one half of the British political satire podcast The Bugle, along with the equally hilarious (and equally stereotypically English) Andy Zaltzman.

Delving into all manner of controversial, ambiguous and uncomfortable current affairs, The Bugle not only attacks politics from a liberal angle but also from a comedic one. From the creeping threat Russia poses on the international stage to the surrounding politics of the Olympic Games, from the refugee crisis to Brexit, Oliver and Zaltzman manage to find levity in the most somber of issues. Earlier this year, Oliver announced that he will be handing over the reins to Zaltzman permanently. But The Bugle is not going anywhere, and as he takes on the podcast solo, Zaltzman will be bringing in a range of guest speakers.

Smart and silly all at once, The Bugle will make you think and cackle in equal measure.

—Gemma King

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f you’re into conspiracy theories, dark history, unexplainable events and allegations of the paranormal, then the internet has an inexhaustible supply of information for you. Even if you don’t believe in such things, mysterious topics have an undeniable pull, and many of us have gotten lost down the rabbit holes of Wikipedia, Reddit and Creepypasta looking for eerie and confounding stories to read.

But the trouble with online material about the dark side of history is that much of it is fantasy, fiction or unfounded ramblings.

It can be hard to find trustworthy assessments of mysterious tales that examine evidence to get at the heart of theories and legends. But high-quality, well-prepared and professional sources are out there. Lovers of gruesome history are far from starved for podcasts that do this job; in Podster we have reviewed Lore, Criminal, Generation Why, Myths and Legends, Serial and more. But one of the finest and best-researched podcasts on the mysterious and the supernatural is Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know.

STDWYTK may have a rather melodramatic name, but it offers measured, informative and entertaining looks into notorious and controversial theories.

Hosts Ben Bowlin and Matt Frederick don’t automatically subscribe to legends, rumors or conspiracy theories, but they do approach the historical record with a grain of salt. Rather than trying to convince listeners that the moon landing didn’t happen, instead STDWYTK is interested in picking apart why other people believe it.

—Gemma King

THE PODSTER FIVE

STUFF THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW howstuffworks.com

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THE PODSTER FIVE

DEAR HANK AND JOHN hankandjohn.com

he last few years have seen the birth of a new kind of celebrity. A-listers still come from the film and television worlds, magazine covers still feature movie stars and supermodels and the highest-earning celebrities are still those of the silver screen. But a parallel world of stardom has arisen on the internet, and these days YouTube sensations are stars in their own way. Particularly popular with the teen and tween crowd, YouTube is a less expensive, more direct and more easily relatable medium than film or TV. YouTube may be home to thousands upon thousands of boy band videos, makeup tutorials and low-fi comedy sketches, but it is also where a community of modern thinkers resides. Brothers Hank and John Green, who have been vlogging about social, personal and political issues on YouTube for almost ten years, have built a small world of thoughtful, creative and inspiring videos that educate and entertain in equal measure. The brothers’ work ranges from their first channel Vlogbrothers to their brilliant Crash Course series, to Hank’s SciShow and John’s Mental Floss videos. However, one of the best projects these two Americans have founded is the comedy podcast Dear Hank and John, in which they answer the existential, scientific and comedic questions of their giant fan base. Equal parts whimsical and practical, Dear Hank and John is a sweet, long-form podcast that could not be further from the boy bands of YouTube if it tried.

—Gemma King

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t’s safe to say that most societies are obsessed with stories. We consume film after film, we binge-watch television series, we read, we go online, we game, we listen to podcasts. We construct our understanding of the world through stories, we share ourselves through storytelling, and we interpret experiences through narrative. As a species we are fundamentally curious about others and draw meaning from others’ stories. And despite what action movies, lofty romances, otherworldly fantasies and superhero narratives would have us believe, we are not only interested in radical stories removed from reality. Sure, we love our heroes and heroines, our villains and antiheroes and ghosts. But we also love stories about the intimate, the understandable and the everyday. Sometimes we don’t want to hear about Batman; we want to hear about the family down the hall.

In Podster, we’ve reviewed podcasts that tell stories of everyday wonder before; This American Life is the most famous podcast to popularize what one could call the narrative of the normal. But another podcast that is truly worth delving into is the elegant and contemplative Strangers.

Created and hosted by Peabody Award Winner Lea Thau, Strangers features relaxed and intimate interviews with everyday people who have extraordinary tales to tell. With low-key but heartwarming stories about couples falling in love or revealing interviews with a smalltime bank robber, Thau has a knack for seeking out individuals who you may not look twice at on the street but who have something meaningful to share.

—Gemma King

THE PODSTER FIVE

STRANGERS storycentral.org/strangers

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THE PODSTER FIVE TED RADIO HOUR npr.org

t’s become kind of fashionable of late to make fun of TED Talks – those thought-provoking 18-minute lectures that could make the most mundane of topics interesting and the most arcane of subjects accessible. The official criteria given to TED presenters are now common knowledge: no talk can exceed 18 minutes, the speaker should mix data with personal stories, and the “spirit” of the talk must focus on “the power of ideas.” TED talks are incredibly popular, but a counter-narrative has arisen that sees these pop-talks as the click bait equivalent of public speaking.

Such views have their value, for a brief and punchy talk can never capture the essence and depth of a complex social, scientific or environmental issue. Yet TED talks also have the power to raise awareness of critical issues, shape public opinion and popularize intellectual questions.

A welcome complement to the original video format, the TED Radio Hour podcast presents TED talks in an audio form.

Hosted by NPR, each TED Radio Hour features an expert presenter answering a key question, from “Can a Prosthetic Limb Feel?” to “How Can We All Listen Better?,” from “What Does Space Sound Like?” to “Does Technology Make Us More Honest?”

Of course, a TED talk will never be a replacement for deep reading or formal education, but it can spark our interest in something unexpected, shine a light on something we know nothing about, or push us to find out more about something new.

—Gemma King lesmuseesdeparis.com

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THE FEED

Hey, It’s a Poem Hosted by Margaret Brown

Outlier On Air Hosted by Ever Gonzalez

Hey, It’s a Poem is a bi-weekly podcast featuring interviews and poetry readings with well-known and emerging poets. Hosted by Shelf Unbound publisher Margaret Brown, this podcast examines how to access poetry and find its meanings.

Join Ever Gonzalez 5 days a week as he interviews founders, disruptors and mavens who are breaking the status quo and changing the world! Listen in as these entreprenerial leaders share a behind-thescenes view of their personal journey to success.

Be part of a one-on-one mentoring session where we discuss specific business strategies.

Hey, It’s a Poem Podcast No.1 www.heyitsapoem.com

Episode #214: Andy Weir - The Martian www.outliermagazine.co

PROMOTE

YOUR PODCAST Shelf Media Podcast Hosted by Margaret Brown In the Shelf Media Podcast, publisher Margaret Brown interviews emerging and established authors about their books, careers, writing, and lives.

Shelf Media Podcast No.1 & 2 www.shelfmediagroup.com/pages/podcast

Promote your podcast in Podster’s The Feed. Our initial issues are being distributed to the 125,000 readers of Shelf Media’s Shelf Unbound book review magazine. Our introductory rate for this section is $100/quarter page as seen here. A limited number of full pages are also available.

Contact publisher Margaret Brown to reserve your space.

MARGARET@SHELFMEDIAGROUP.COM 214.704.4182

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audiovisuals audiovisuals audiovisuals NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART PODCAST

“THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART AT 75” In honor of the 75th anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, which opened in March 1941, David A. Doheny reassesses the work of its three principal creators—Andrew W. Mellon (1855–1937), David Finley (1890-1977), and Paul Mellon (1907-1999).

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the case the case the case BEST BUY

by Colin Miller

Colin Miller is Associate Dean and Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law; co-host, Undisclosed Podcast; and blog editor, EvidenceProf Blog.

In Podster’s The Case, Colin picks up where Serial Podcast left off.

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ack in August, Best Buy announced that it was closing its location on Security Square Boulevard in Baltimore County. Serial listeners might recall that the parking lot of this Best Buy was the location where Jay Wilds claimed that Adnan Syed fatally strangled his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Oddly, however, Jay initially claimed that the murder took place somewhere else entirely.

In his first recorded interview on February 28, 1999, Jay claimed that Adnan had killed Hae at a strip off of Edmondson Avenue in Baltimore City. Two weeks later, however, detectives confronted Jay with the statement by his friend Jennifer Pusateri, who had said that Jay told her the murder occurred at the Best Buy. In Jay’s second interview, he now corroborated this statement, claiming that

he had initially lied about the murder site because he was worried that the Best Buy might have security cameras.

While this explanation might not have held water, Jay backed it up with a claim that had a ring of truth to it. According to Jay, Adnan and Hae used to have sex in the Best Buy parking lot, and Adnan told him on the day of the murder, “I can’t believe I killed her where I used to f@#& her at.” One of Adnan’s friends later confirmed the latter part of this statement, telling the detectives that Adnan and Hae used to have sex in the Best Buy parking lot.

It’s thus not hard to imagine that the jury at Adnan’s trial placed great weight upon Jay’s story that Adnan had murdered Hae in the Best Buy parking lot. While there were no eyewitnesses to that murder, the State had presented what seemed to be a pretty damning confession to the man who claimed he assisted Adnan in the hours after that murder.

In 2014, however, two surprising things happened immediately before and after the Serial podcast. First, while investigating the case, Sarah Koenig talked to Jennifer

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Pusateri, the first official source of the claim that Adnan killed Hae at the Best Buy. According to Koenig, “She wasn’t rude, but she was totally uninterested in talking to me. She had nothing to hide, she said, she just did not want to talk about that time in her life, period.” That said, there was one thing that she went out of her way to share: “[T]here was one thing she never believed.

She said she never believed the murder happened at Best Buy.” Later, in the wake of Serial, Natasha Vargas-Cooper of The Intercept interviewed Jay Wilds.

In the interview, Jay confirmed that Adnan had told him he killed Hae in the Best Buy parking lot and met him in that lot on the day of Hae’s murder. But here’s the full question and answer on the issue: Where was Hae’s car? Was it in the Best Buy parking lot?

“Hae’s car could have been in the parking lot, but I didn’t know what it looked like so I don’t remember. When I pick him up at Best Buy, he’s telling me her car is somewhere there, and that he did this in the parking lot. But that, according to what I learned later, is probably not what happened.”

As with many of Jay’s

statements in the interview, this one was perplexing, and, unfortunately, the interviewer did not ask any number of pertinent follow-up questions.

When did Jay learn that the murder probably did not take place at the Best Buy? Who told him this information? Where did the murder take place if not in the parking lot? Then, of course, there is the question that Jay likely could not answer: If the murder did not take place in the Best Buy parking lot, why would Adnan lie and claim that it did?

We may never know the answer to these questions. If the appellate courts uphold Judge Welch’s order granting Adnan a new trial, the State might drop the charges or offer an Alford Plea, pursuant to which Adnan could plead guilty while maintaining his innocence. But, if neither of these happens, there could be a retrial, during which the State would almost certainly have to recall Jay as a witness and try to get him to explain away the many inconsistencies in his stories. And, if that happens, the jury’s decision regarding guilt or innocence could very well hinge on whether they find him to be honest or a liar.

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Hosts: Dave, Becky, Kristen, and Jeff Site: mousetalgia.com About: “Mousetalgia is a podcast and community dedicated to the exploration of Disney in today’s society, emphasizing the theme park culture and exploring the past, present, and future endeavors of the people who have imagined Walt’s happy place into existence.”

Episode 17: “Fantasyland, continued.”

Description: “A look at the outdoor attractions in Disneyland’s Fantasyland, including the Tea Party, Dumbo, Matterhorn, Storybook Land, King Arthur’s Carrousel, and more.”

That Moment When: After an animated discussion of the questionable job satisfaction of the workers who spend six hours a night polishing the horses on King Arthur’s Carrousel, the hosts get giddy about a new horse on the ride.

Becky: “It’s dedicated to Julie Andrews—it’s the Mary

Poppins horse; it’s got the Mary Poppins umbrella on it.

Being a big fan of both Julie Andrews and Mary Poppins, I wanted to make sure that if I was going to ride on the carrousel that was the horse I used. “ Sound Bite: “According to Bob Gurr, who designed the tracks and the ride vehicles for Matterhorn, he says the best time to ride it is in the afternoon because the sun makes the oil on the tracks get hot so the sleds go faster.”

Listen Because: The election just ended, and we could all use some happy talk and tips about the Mouse House as well as the cheerful charm of Margaret Kerry, the original model for Walt Disney’s Tinkerbell, who opens the podcast with “faith, dust, and a little bit of pixie dust.”

Now Available on

In the first Shelf Media Podcast, publisher Margaret Brown talks to author Matt Bell about his three books and about writing, teaching the craft of writing, and his forthcoming novel. She also talks to book reviewers David Rice and Michele Filgate about Bell’s most recent novel, In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods.

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EA EAR RBBU UD D PODSTER’S AARON WATSON RECOMMENDS:

TEAM HUMAN teamhuman.fm

Accomplished authors are emigrating, en masse,

to digital audio. Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist HIstory is perhaps the most acclaimed recent example, but Douglas Rushkoff’s new Team Human is another show that warrants your attention.

The acclaimed author of books like Present Shock and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus mixes commentary on modern media, corporatism, and politics into his 30- minute episodes. The result is a show unlike any other in my podcast feed.

Key to any good podcast is the capacity to move beyond empty, repeated platitudes and dive into discussions of deep topics and explorations of thoughts that do not pervade mainstream media. That is what’s drawn us to the medium in the first place and it’s what Rushkoff delivers.

Rushkoff brings a healthy skepticism to social media, big tech companies, and the finance industry. As someone without similar views, I find myself consistently challenged by his perspectives and am forced to constantly reevaluate my stances. Guests have included revolutionary artists and Occupy Wall Street participants.

Listening to Team Human will not serve as a light way to passively pass a commute or workout. But the mind-stretching qualities of his words will surely have you coming back for more. I’d encourage you to consider playing for Team Human.

Aaron Watson is the host of the Going Deep with Aaron Watson podcast, a forum for meaningful, deep conversations about the passions, fears and problems of people from all walks of life. Guests talk about entrepreneurship, sports, finance, comedy, and lifestyle design. goingdeepwithaaron.com 40

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STO RY H A P P E N S H E R E

10.875" W N YC ST UD I OS is leading the new golden age of audio with personal narratives, deep journalism, revealing interviews and smart entertainment as varied and intimate as the human voice itself.

Radiolab Where science and culture collide

Freakonomics Radio The hidden side of everything

The New Yorker Radio Hour Hosted by editor David Remnick

On the Media Essential guide to surviving your media

Death, Sex & Money What gets left out of polite conversation

Snap Judgment Storytelling with a beat

Here’s the Thing Interviews by Alec Baldwin

Only Human Every body has a story

Note To Self The tech show about being human

The Sporkful It’s not for foodies, it’s for eaters

Tribeca Film Festival Exclusive content from the festival

Subscribe on iTunes or listen on the free WNYC app. ® 2016 New York Public Radio

TR TRE ENND DIN ING G

@STEPHENATHOME (Stephen Colbert) Cubs win! Congrats Chicago—see you in 2124!

@LAURADERN I LOVE YOU MY CUBS. HOME OF MY DAD. HOME FOR HISTORY. FOR BASEBALL.

@SETHMEYERS And from this day forward, not a single bro in Wrigleyville chose 1908 as his ATM pin code….

@KERMITTHEFROG I liked both #WorldSeries teams so much I rooted for the rain delay (it’s a frog thing). Congrats #WorldChamps Chicago #Cubs!

#CHICAGOCUBS WRIGLEYVILLE NATION PODCAST 42

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@EMMYROSSUM Out of body experience being here for Chicago’s historic win. SO SO overjoyed for this town and this young team that fought so hard.

OUTRO OUTRO OUTRO “Listen to the sound from deep within.

It’s only beginning to find release.” | from “Listen” by Beyoncé |

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