Time for some we-are-so-tired-of-the-news-please-give-us-something-to-put-in-our-minds-that-is-not-about-a-pandemic news!
- “Jameela Jamil Has an Ambitious Goal: To Feel Things” from The Hilarious World of Depression
- Lainey also mentioned John Green’s episode.
- I Weigh with Jameela Jamil from Earwolf
- Julie’s Library from Julie Andrews (who needs a spoonful of sugar when you have podcasts?!)
- Still Processing is back!
- Modern Love has plenty of backlist to fall into for comfort, covering all types of love (which is what we could all use right now). Try “I Saw a Playhouse, My Daughter Saw a Jail” read by Brian Cox.
- Harry Styles performed songs from his new album for NPR’s Tiny Desk
And alternatively, if you need some supplemental info after you watch the news, here are some corona-related podcasts:
- Kind World from WBUR offers some positivity during this difficult global moment.
- Find out the basics from Stuff You Should Know in their episode “How COVID-19 Works.”
- America Dissected: Coronavirus is the new season of this podcast—as always, the pod bridges the social side of health with the scientific.
- How long are we looking at here??? Explore our near future on Factually! with Adam Conover: “The Truth about COVID-19 and the Next 18 Months“
- The Good News Podcast is helping you get happier. Check out their episode on “Yale’s Happiness Class.”
- That led Lainey down the rabbit hole to find Dr. Laurie Santos’ podcast, The Happiness Lab, and to sign up for the free class here.
BYOP (Bring Your Own Podcast)
This week, Alex brought Switched On Pop (produced by Vox) to the show. Here’s a quick description of the pod:

What makes pop songs so catchy?
Musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding pull back the curtain on how pop hits work their magic on our ears & our culture. You’ll fall in love with music you didn’t even know you liked.
This podcast has been going strong since 2014 and releases new content on a weekly basis. They cover a range of popular music and incredible artists, and nearly every episode is under an hour. Whether you like to geek out about chord progressions or you just want to hear from their impressive musical guests, there’s an episode for you.
Check out the following episodes that Alex highlighted:
- April 9, 2019: Billie Eilish is a Different Kind of Pop Star (ft. FINNEAS)
- December 10, 2019: Paper Planes, Chandelier & What the #@%! is Timbre? (with Constance Grady)
- January 21, 2020: The Hopes and Fears of Mac Miller, Future, Drake, and Billie Eilish
And if you want an even deeper dive in book form, they wrote Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works, and Why It Matters detailing the ins and outs of popular music too.
Does pop music have a special place in your heart? Ever listened to a Top 40 song that surprised you? Email us and let us know!
Interview with Flash Forward Host Rose Eveleth
This month, we were thrilled to have Rose Eveleth join us and share a bit about her informative, humorous, and immersive podcast Flash Forward. We discussed her journalism origins, her goals when speculating about the future, and a few things she’s excited about for her next season.

Flash Forward is a critically acclaimed podcast about the future. In each episode, host Rose Eveleth takes on a possible (or not so possible) future scenario.
By combining audio drama and deep reporting, Flash Forward gives listeners an original and unique window into the future, and just how likely different scenarios might be.
Here’s the animal testing episode that Alex referenced:
And Lainey called out Rose’s great starter playlist, which is available here on Spotify.
Plus, Rose recommended some podcasts for listeners, too:
Here’s a list of Flash Forward‘s social handles and links:
- Twitter: @FlashForwardPod, @Roseveleth
- Instagram: @FlashForwardPod, @Roseveleth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flashforwardpod/
And don’t forget, Flash Forward‘s new season premieres April 14th—make sure to subscribe and check it out!
And that’s all for April! DM us, email us, or send us a carrier pigeon and let us know your thoughts on Flash Forward, and your ideas of what the future could look like. We might feature it on the show!
—Lainey & Alex