Best of the week

7 shows we’ve never written about before

1. From Panoply: Why Oh Why

Featured on iTunes this week, Why Oh Why is a podcast reboot from producer Andrea Silenzi. It’s a memoir/documentary/fiction about love, sex, and technology. I loved the most recent episode, Just My Swipe, a live dating-experiment set up like the Bachelor or Match Game, but with Tinder.

2. From WBEZ: Do Listen Twice and Making Oprah

Two new shows from WBEZ in Chicago: Do Listen Twice is a This American Life mini-series featuring Ira’s favorite Mike Birbiglia stories on TAL, to promote the Ira-produced movie Don’t Think Twice. Listen if you want to revisit old favorite sections of TAL.

Making Oprah, a new three-part series (⅔ available now) about the rise of the Oprah Winfrey Show. Listen ‘if you like big hair shoulder pads, and 80s TV themes’.

3. From WQXR: Helga

This new show hosted by vocalist and activist Helga Davis won’t just be episodes about music making, but aims to foster a thoughtful look into the power of art and music for social change. The latest episode features frontrunner Shara Worden of a band we haven’t heard of in ages, My Brightest Diamond. 

4. From De Facto Sound: Twenty Thousand Hertz

Cool thing we learned: the NBC chimes (you know, da-da-da) were the very first sound to very be awarded an audio trademark. This short-and-sweet new podcast, Twenty Thousand Hertz, tells the story of the most iconic and recognizable sounds in the world.

5. From KQED: Bay Curious

“There are just some days when a burrito isn’t very good”. The most San Francisco-ish opening line from Bay Curious, KQED’s new Q&A podcast about the Bay Area. 5 minutes to learn about the possible origin stories of the word hella.

6. From Slate: Warm Regards

There’s been so much to worry about with the implications of the election that climate issues have taken a backseat. But listening to this episode, Climate Anxiety in the Trump era, might change that. The show is hosted by an environment writer for the New York Times, a paleoecologist, and a meteorologist.

7. From the Podquest Shortlist: Third Culture

Radiotopia & PRX recently announced the winner of Podquest (Ear Hustle!) but there were close to 1500 other entries. Third Culture made the top ten out of a fiercely talented and competitive pool. In the first episode, Naima Sakande tries to answer the question “where am I from?” by returning to Burkina Faso, a place she knew well for so long but mostly through her father’s deep ties.

What should I listen to?
Podcast recommendations for Katie

Industry news & notes

By Brittany

Radio + travel + wandering around

Favorite things combine: audio-tour-guide app Detour and Airbnb are partnering for a new thing called Airbnb Audio Walks. You can even ‘form a group to sync audio with friends’, which seems like a super valuable feature even outside of this context. If you have a voice for radio and a story about your neighborhood to tell (and your neighborhood is in LA, SF, London, Paris, Tokyo, or Seoul), you can apply to be a local narrator.

Can’t say we’re not critical

We got lots of feedback on our article last week about Gimlet’s StartUp mini-season on Dov Charney & American Apparel, and we really appreciate all of your thoughtful responses. I like Gimlet a lot, so here’s a quick shoutout about the good things they did recently: hey Gimlet, your website redesign looks great, and the Reply All 48-hour call in show was one of the best things I’ve heard in weeks. (The newest episode of StartUp, however, might be the most disappointing yet).

We have a friend-crush on: Alex Laughlin

I came across Alex Laughlin’s name while reading about how to make a side hustle work for your journalism career, and I knew I’d seen her work before, so I did a quick Google search (okay, stalking sesh). From writing that 22 most influential women in podcasting article a few months ago, to her fabulous and thoughtful Ladycast podcast (which I admit I had never listened to, but binge-listened to several of because it’s honest and articulate and feminist and excellent), she is one cool lady. 

Other notable happenings and things to read — 

• Que bien — Radio Ambulante becomes the first Spanish-speaking show distributed by NPR.
• Making history come alive: an interview with the creator of history podcast Wittenberg to Westphalia: Wars of the Reformation.
• We love this argument from Julie Shapiro in defense of radio art. An old article, but relevant in light of the news that Radio National’s Soundproof will be ending.
• Must-watch: a behind-the-scenes video from the Radiolab team.
• “It’s really great that a story about a woman and her vagina can win an award.” The best acceptance speech from The Heart, which won for Best Documentary at Third Coast!
• Shell-shocked by Trump win: a post-election panel at Third Coast last week, entitled Mudslide: The Election of 2016.
• “Go, engage, become”: notes from a black first-time Third Coaster, from Stacia L. Brown.
• Sean “Diddy” Combs and podcasts, on REVOLT.
• A spotlight on fiction podcasts from the New York Times.
• According to the very end of a Gimlet transcript, Reply All’s head editor, Peter Clowney, is leaving for a ‘secret project’.
• Listening deeply: a mandate for public radio, from the president & CEO of New York Public Radio.
• The hit Someone Knows Something is releasing season 2 today! Go check your feeds (I’m talking especially to you, Halley, SKS-fanatic)

Exes and oh oh ohs,

Dana and the Belllo Collective

P.S.) We’re grateful for you. Also, I love to hear what people eat for Thanksgiving, whether it’s the traditional turkey/stuffing/cranberry/sweet potato variety or the anything else variety (that’s more my style). Send us a note <3