Your Next Favorite Podcasts, as Selected by Ira Glass and NPH
What to hear, here
I’m always on the hunt for new podcasts to listen to. Luckily, since I had the best podcaster in maybe the entire world on Zoom, I asked him for his recommendations. We got together for a Zoom chat last week to discuss the art of storytelling (among many other topics, as you’ll soon see), and I’m thrilled to share it with you. Read (and listen) away! -NPH
NPH: You are a podcast host and executive producer. Are you a podcast listener?
IG: Yes, I am.
NPH: Can we recommend some favorite podcasts to our readers?
IG: I would be happy to.
NPH: I’ll start! Hard Fork.
IG: I love that too. Those guys have a real joy in living and they’re amazing reporters, and those two things together are great.
NPH: There’s one called The 3028 that’s about Disney history, and they call it Disney “listory,” where they go into the past of the backstory of Disney theme park stuff. I highly recommend it.
IG: Okay. I will match you with…which one do I wanna say…?
NPH: Are you looking at your phone?
IG: I’m looking at the app.
NPH: What app do you use?
IG: Pocket Casts.
NPH: Interesting.
IG: I like the display, and they make it easy to knock up to 1.8 speed.
NPH: You listen to your podcasts at 1.8 speed?
IG: Yeah. Like, I’m old enough that when I started in radio, it was reel-to-reel audio tape. Even as a baby associate producer on All Things Considered, basically everything was on reel-to-reel tape. And so you couldn’t listen to things in real time — you listened to everything at double speed and edited at double speed, because you’re on a deadline. And double speed sounds the same to you as regular speed after a while!
NPH: Amazing.
IG: Anyway, other podcasts…our recent podcast, The Retrievals, which Susan Burton did—
NPH: I’m listening to The Retrievals currently! And holy crap!
IG: Yeah. She did such a good job. It makes you so mad. Also, I am so excited to hear what the guys in Hacks on Tap say about the Republican debate. Do you listen to Hacks on Tap?
NPH: I don’t, but I’m writing it down.
IG: Okay. So Hacks on Tap are David Axelrod and Mike Murphy. You have [in Axelrod] the guy who basically got Obama elected, or one of the main guys, at least. And Mike Murphy was with [Jeb] Bush, and I think McCain. And Robert Gibbs, another Obama campaign and White House veteran. During the political season, they bring such knowledge to “here’s what the polls mean,” “here’s what you should pay attention to,” “here’s what you shouldn’t pay attention to.” And also, they’re really funny.
NPH: Nice. Okay, give us one more. One last one. Make it count.
IG: I’m gonna go with Sold a Story. Do you know that one? It’s from a reporter named Emily Hanford, and basically, she discovered that the way that we teach reading in much of America is based on stuff that isn’t true and doesn’t work, and, in fact, fucks kids up.
NPH: Did you guys cover it? Oh, no, there was a Daily episode.
IG: The reason why there’s a Daily episode of it is because she changed the world. Like, it’s the only podcast that people listened to and got so mad they went through their school boards and…basically said, “We’re not gonna do this stuff anymore.”
NPH: Wow.
IG: The storytelling is so fun. She always finds exactly the perfect interviewee.
NPH: I really do need to follow up on that one. Sold a Story. No one sells — or tells — a story quite like you do, good sir.
IG: Whoa. Segue! That was mastery.
NPH: [Laughs] Thank you. Thank you for this conversation. Thank you for supporting Wondercade and our 100th issue. Thank you for helping us learn how to sell a better story. Thank you for all that you do. I truly not only think the world of you, but we’re all better because you exist.
IG: That’s very sweet. Thanks, Neil. That’s fantastic of you.
NPH: Bye.
