S4: E5 I Fell Into A Rabbit Hole with Capitalism (feat. Red Flag)

July is here, pod pals!

Here’s the run-down of our episode this month. We start out with some pod news, followed by a round of what Alex and Lainey are listening to. After Lainey shares her BYOP (Bring Your Own Podcast) pick, you’ll hear an interview with Chellese Grove and Beau York from the Red Flag podcast. This podcast is about the origins of the Mississippi state flag and how, ultimately, the flag changed in 2020. We’ll round us out with some Calendar Corner picks.

That’s it…well, that seems quick. But we have an episode JAM-PACKED with podcast recommendations, so buckle up. Enjoy!

Do You Even Podcast? · S4: E5 I Fell Into A Rabbit Hole with Capitalism

In the (Podcast) News

  • Good news! Pod Pal Eric Marcus has launched his 9th season of Making Gay History! This season focuses on the AIDS Crisis in the 1980s. Over six chapters of this audio memoir, Eric will tell listeners a little of what those first confusing and frightening years of the crisis were like. Listen to the first episode here.
  • Alex was thrilled to learn that Floodlines, a fantastic podcast from The Atlantic won a Peabody Award! Additionally, she recommends Unfinished: The Deep South, another great pod that was nominated for a Peabody Award.
  • Lainey started out with some wild podcast-slash-catfishing news, passed along courtesy of her Dad:
    “A catfishing scandal rocked Lakers Twitter and left a lot of unanswered questions“
  • Check out NPR Throughline‘s three-part series on capitalism—perfect if you’ve been engaging in conversations on the topic with family and friends and want some interesting perspectives and history.
  • For something lighter and immersive, try out Gimlet Media’s fictional podcast Two Princes—perfect for kids and adults like!
  • Have questions about the “Free Britney” movement? Lainey sought answers from The Shit Show‘s “WTF is the Free Britney Movement” and WSJ – The Journal’s “Britney Spears Wants Her Life (And Money) Back” episodes.
  • Alex recommends Pineapple Studios’ 70 Over 70 for insightful interviews, all with striking individuals over the age of 70.
  • BuzzFeed Daily covered why “Black TikTok Creators Fight Back On Dances.”
  • Kristen Bell and Monica Padman (producer for Armchair Expert) have a new podcast called Shattered Glass—it’s all about recognizing, interviewing, and celebrating women who have broken the glass ceiling in a variety of industries.
  • Put on your tinfoil hat…The Daily covers the UFO report.
  • Another Pod Pal™️ of ours, The Bowery Boys, covered “The Very Gay History of Fire Island” in their June 4th episode.
  • One of Alex’s favorite podcasts, Imagined Life, has a great episode from June 11th titled “The Witness.” Give a listen and see if you can guess the famous figure they’re following!
  • Lainey learned a lot about Critical Race Theory on NPR’s Consider This.

BYOP (Bring Your Own Podcast)

This month, Lainey’s BYOP was The Doodler from The San Francisco Chronicle and Ugly Duckling Films.

“The Golden State Killer. The Unabomber. Ted Bundy. You’re probably familiar with these serial killers. But in the mid-1970s, another monster terrorized San Francisco’s gay community. He was coined “The Doodler,” and he may have been responsible for as many victims as the Zodiac Killer, yet you’ve probably never heard of him. Plagued by a complicated investigation, a frightened public, and the hesitation of many to come forward, the case went cold, and a killer walked free. Nearly 50 years later, a renewed hunt for a forgotten serial killer seeks to change that.“

  • From The San Francisco Chronicle and Ugly Duckling Films
  • Contains 8 episodes, about 30 minutes long
  • Hosted by reporter Kevin Fagan
  • Find out more about the unsolved crimes here.
  • Listen to the full podcast here.
  • See the updated police sketch here.

Interview with Chellese Grove and Beau York from the Red Flag Podcast!

Mississippi was the last state to actively fly the confederate battle flag within the canton of its own state flag. For many years, state-funded universities and some cities around the state refused to put up the flag. In 2001 a motion was put to popular vote, but in the end nothing was changed. As the issue became more urgent, with white supremacists flying not only the Confederate and the Nazi flags, but also Mississippi’s state flag, a group of Mississippians began creating a podcast to tell the story of how Mississippi is changing itself from within. They saw an opportunity to showcase the future of their state, not the past. They wanted listeners to shape the outcome of that story. And they did.

The Hosts’ Pod Recs:

  • Beau’s a big fan of Truth’s Table, another Podastery show that is hosted by Michelle Higgins, Christina Edmondson, and Ekemini Uwan, three Black Christian women who love truth and seek it out wherever it leads them.
  • Chellese has found solace in The Splendid Table, a podcast connecting people through the common language of food and eating, as it speaks to her passion for baking.

Calendar Corner

  • July 4th — Independence Day
    • Red Flag is a great pick to think deeply about our country and how iconography plays a role in working towards a more unified future.
    • 1619 is an excellent pick for a look at our country’s inception that acknowledges and digs into the role of the American slave trade in our history.
  • July 12th — Etch a Sketch Day
    • Stuff You Should Know is our go-to when figuring out the history behind the wacky. Check out their episode on the Etch A Sketch.
  • July 14th — Bastille Day
    • The Land of Desire is a French History and Culture podcast. They covered Bastille Day in their July 2016 episode.
  • July 14th — Shark Awareness Day
    • Take a listen to Shark Tales from NBC10 Boston and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
  • July 17th — World Emoji Day
    • Lexicon Valley has a July 26, 2016 episode called “Are Emoji A Language?”
    • Emoji Wrap covers everything emoji related for your podcast needs!
  • July 21st — Junk Food Day
    • Doughboys has you covered on all things chain restaurants.
  • July 24th — National Tequila Day
    • Tequila Talk with Daisy Fuentes and Richard Marx is hosted by the titular married couple. Each episode, they open up a bottle of tequila and talk about life.
  • July 27th – Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day
    • Plant Daddy Podcast hosts Stephen and Matthew are excited to be your digital plant friends! Check out the cute website with bios about the hosts that mention their first plants.
    • Bloom and Grow Radio, led by host Maria has lots of interviews to help you stop killing your houseplants—and the website features a fun Plant Parent Personality Quiz!
  • July 30th — Cheesecake Day
    • Thank everyone for being a friend around a big ‘ol cheesecake this month and listen to Let Them Eat Cheesecake (A Golden Girls Podcast).
  • August 1st — Girlfriends Day
    • Call Your Girlfriend is a solid podcast that came out of hosts Aminatou and Ann’s long distance friendship.
    • Shattered Glass, mentioned earlier, shows off hosts Kristen and Monica’s friendship and is focused on lifting up other women.

July is a wrap! Let us know what you’re listening to—DM us, email us, or Tweet us!
—Lainey & Alex

S4: E4 We’re Back, Loves! (feat. LGBTQ&A)

It’s June, pod pals! Summer is here and we’re keeping you cool with all the recommendations. June is also Pride Month, and we hope you’re finding ways to celebrate this month, as well as honor the LGBTQIA+ leaders and activists who have come before. We have a great interview with Jeffrey Marsh of LGBTQ&A, as well as a calendar corner full of listens—but give a shout with what else you’re loving and we’ll spread the word!

Do You Even Podcast? · S4: E4 We’re Back, Loves!

In the (Podcast) News

  • Lainey high listed three WTF with Marc Maron episodes that are a must-listen: Eddie Huang, Eddie Murphy, and Tim Allen.
  • Alex has been sticking with the mindfulness pods and feel good listens, including Wake Up/Wind Down. It’s a Spotify original with really short audio to start and end the day—plus the host Niall Breslin has a great Irish accent.
  • The Crown’s Josh O’Connor made an appearance on Netflix’s Present Company.
  • All those Millennials trying to figure out how to excel at “adulting” should listen to BuzzFeed Daily’s “Millennials Don’t Feel Like Real Adults. Why?” episode.
  • Alex has also kept Gemini Today and The Daily Shine in her mental health rotation, as well as Meet Cute for a romcom lift every now and again.
  • Get ready for our July episode where we revisit American history by listening to the Fresh Air episode with Clint Smith, “Reckoning With The History of Slavery.”
  • A funny podcast recommendation that is sure to give you some laughs: Smartless with Zach Galifianakis.
  • If you want something relevant and science-y, try out a couple great Short Wave episodes:
    • “Too Soon? The CDC Relaxes Mask Guidance for Fully Vaccinated” (May 18th)
    • “Disabled Scientists Are Often Excluded from the Lab” (May 28th)

BYOP (Bring Your Own Podcast)

This month, Alex’s BYOP was the Spotify Original podcast, You Heard Me Write!

Treat your ears to 30 original pieces of prose, music, and sound design never heard before. This podcast features artists collaborating on a multi-media group project without having any knowledge about the identities of their counterparts. Only after the project’s completion are the artists introduced to one another in a Salon-style roundtable discussion as they explore the roles of creativity, anonymity, and the power of connection between people from different walks of life.

  • Host is Kacie Willis, a creator and arts advocate from Atlanta, Georgia.
  • She has BS in Music Recording Technology from Hampton University, MFA in Sound Design from SCAD
    • She formed Could Be Pretty Cool, a production company whose mission is to inspire community building through the arts.
    • She participated in the 2019 Spotify Sound Up accelerator program, which is a Spotify program supporting underrepresented podcasters through workshops and other support.
  • Episodes are roughly 30 minutes long
  • Alex shouted out the following episodes in particular:
    • Ep 1: “Split it 50/50“
    • Ep 2: “Kaleidoscope of the Heart”
    • Ep 10: “Fertile Battle Ground”

Interview with Jeffrey Marsh of LGBTQ&A

LGBTQ&A was created in 2016 in order to document modern LGBTQ+ history — to get beyond transition and coming out stories, to get to know each person, their accomplishments, their failures, and how they got to where they are today. ​Hosted by writer and podcast producer Jeffrey Masters, each episode is a 30-minute interview full of insight, humor, and wisdom.

Jeffrey shared so many wonderful tidbits about his experience with producing and hosting a podcast, as well as offered some listening recommendations:

  • Still Processing – for the great chemistry
  • Pivot – for the tech news (which is most news, these days) 
  • 30 for 30 – for a great sports pick, even for non sports people
  • The Line – for the amazing storytelling 
  • Stay Away from Matthew MaGill – for really great exploration of one person’s life story
  • Unexplainable – for a great way to look at what we just CAN’T explain
  • In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson – for incredible audio diaries

Find out more about the pod on , , and too!

Calendar Corner

  • June is Pride Month, and Alex recommends The Nancy. Although it’s unfortunately been cancelled and new episodes are no longer being released, there’s a LOT of great backlist featuring stories and conversations about the queer experience today.
  • June 8th – Best Friends Day
    • Best Forevers: A Podcast for Kindred Spirits is all about friendship (from breakups to the impact of the pandemic, to more)
  • June 19th – Juneteenth
    • Juneteenth is also known as Jubilee Day or Emancipation Day and commemorates the end of slavery, marking the day when troops arrived in Galveston, TX in 1865 to control the state and ensure the enslaved were freed (2.5 years after signing of Emancipation Proclamation).
    • Fresh Air Weekend: ‘Opal & Nev’ Author Dawnie Walton; The History Of Juneteenth (May 29, 2021)
    • The Daily: The History and Meaning of Juneteenth (June 19, 2020)
  • June 20th – Father’s Day
    • Life of Dad Show – podcast hosted by three fathers who discuss two topics (one heavy, one light) and then come to a resolution at the end of the show
  • June 25th – National Catfish Day
    • Catfish: The Podcast: a podcast from the MTV show Catfish.
  • June 26th – Forgiveness Day
    • Life Kit, “Why Forgiving Others Actually Heals You” (July 30, 2020)
  • June 28th – International Body Piercing Day
    • Piercing Wizard Podcast: Join host Ryan Ouellette as he discusses the professional body piercing industry with friends and colleagues.

That’s all for June! Let us know what you’re listening to—DM us, email us, or Tweet us!

—Lainey & Alex

Guest Pod Post: Sinduja Srinivasan and Anna Rothschild from PODCAST-19

We’re pleased to share a new guest pod post this week! Sinduja Srinivasan and Anna Rothschild share a bit about their timely project PODCAST-19.

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We’re PODCAST-19 from FiveThirtyEight, hosted by Anna Rothschild. Anna is FiveThirtyEight’s Senior Video Producer. Previously, she was the on-air science host for The Washington Post, where she launched the variety show Science Magic Show Hooray! on Amazon Prime. She’s also the creator, host, and animator of the popular YouTube channel  for NOVA and PBS Digital Studios. 

Our Producer is Sinduja Srinivasan. The trajectory of her podcasting career has been completely directed by COVID. Her first day as a junior producer at Science Vs (from Gimlet Media) was the day the World Health Organization declared a pandemic! So Science Vs switched from astrology to virology, and Sinduja reported on the science of the coronavirus as it was unfolding. In her pre-podcast life, she was an economist for the United Nations. She also created, hosted, and produced the United Nations’ podcast, UNcomplicated.

FiveThirtyEight’s COVID-19 podcast is laser-focused on evidence—what do we know about the novel coronavirus, and what do we know we don’t know? COVID-19 has pushed Americans into more uncertain territory than most have ever known. We investigate coronavirus mysteries, debate when it’s safe to reopen the economy and keep track of the latest scientific developments on vaccines and treatments. We do it all with FiveThirtyEight’s trademark blend of transparency and rigor.

Our goal is to show a different side of the current coronavirus topic d’jour — for example, we talked to Anthony Fauci about which celebrity he’d like to see get vaccinated, conducted a vaccine-ethics “lightning round” with three bioethicists, and considered the implications for the healthcare system in 10 years, if even only 10% of covid survivors have long-covid.   

Our podcast helps listeners understand what about the pandemic they can be certain about, and what is still unknown.

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Thank you, Sinduja and Anna! You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, and, of course, on fivethirtyeight.com.

It’s Been A Minute!

Hey Pod Pals,

We’ve missed you—it’s been too long!

The past couple months, we’ve been hard at work regrouping and focusing on the strongest strategy to give you the best recommendations and line up some exciting interviews. While a hiatus isn’t always easy, we’re very excited about the great things ahead.

Our editorial calendar is filling up, and we’re pleased to announce we’ll be returning Monday, June 7th with a new episode featuring all your favorites—the latest pod news, a BYOP, Calendar Corner, and of course, a knockout interview.

Keep checking back here and on our for updates, as we have a new guest pod post coming to the blog this week, and we’ll be dropping a sneak peek mini-sode of what’s to come later this month!

If you haven’t already, sign up here to join our newsletter and get all the updates straight to your inbox. And if you need something to hold you over until June, try out one of our most popular backlist episodes:

  • S3: E22 A Pod to Change Your Worldview (feat. The Point Noir Podcast)
  • S3: E21 An Inclusive Past, Present, and Future (Feat. Gender Reveal and Making Gay History)
  • S3: E19 An Alternative Future (feat. Flash Forward)

More to come,

Alex & Lainey

Black History Month Recommendations!

Hi pod pals!

I’m hopeful that you’re all celebrating and supporting Black creators every month of the year, but I’m excited to shout out some of the show in my rotation if you’re looking for some new listens.

Still Processing

This podcast from The New York Times is hosted by contributors Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris and covers culture, culture, culture—from music to movies to television and more. It’s an Alex staple!

The Unofficial Expert

You think you know-it-all but you have no idea. Join Sydnee Washington & Marie Faustin as they sit down with comedians and people of the culture to talk about their fields of expertise.

The Point Noir Podcast

Travel and adventure stories for men of color, told by men of color. Host Jerry The 3rd cultivates perspectives of those who have taken the leap to explore life beyond their homes and comfort zones. And, catch our interview with Jerry here!

Scam Goddess

Scam Goddess is a podcast dedicated to fraud and all those who practice it! Each week host Laci Mosley (aka Scam Goddess) keeps listeners up to date on current rackets, digs deep into the latest scams, and breaks down historic hoodwinks alongside some of your favorite comedians! It’s like true crime only without all the death! True fun crime!

The Nod

The Nod tells the stories of Black life that don’t get told anywhere else. Our show ranges from an explanation of purple drink’s association with Black culture to the story of an interracial drag troupe that traveled the nation in the 1940s. We celebrate the genius, the innovation, and the resilience that is so particular to being Black—in America, and around the world.

The Read

Join Kid Fury and Crissle for their weekly podcast covering hip-hop and pop culture’s most trying stars. Throwing shade and spilling tea with a flippant and humorous attitude, no star is safe from Fury and Crissle unless their name is Beyoncé. (Or Blue Ivy.)

The United States of Anxiety

Host Kai Wright bridges the past to the present to the future in this show about American society. Listen for insightful conversations and interviews about race, culture, and history.

Driving the Green Book

Award-winning BBC broadcaster Alvin Hall joins activist and social justice trainer Janée Woods Weber on an audio journey through American cities, discussing the way Black Americans used The Green Book to travel cross-country during the height of segregation. A solid historical podcast that’s truly immersive.

Therapy for Black Girls

The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly chat about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.

The Daily Shine

This meditation podcast is perfect for anyone seeking self-care and a moment for themselves. The show is part of The Shine, a larger initiative that values intersectionality and inclusivity in mental health.

What shows are you binging? Give a shout and shoot us a message with your recs as we round out Black History Month—and continue listening and supporting even beyond February!

Bye for now,

Alex