5.18 Winner - Podcast Roundup March 2023

Bestest Friend and I are doing a podcast project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the eighteenth day of the month is "Winner."

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It's been a few months since my last podcast roundup, so let's dive into what I've been listening to. 

The Great Post Office Trial from BBC Radio 4 is about an insane story. The UK's postal service was using some sort of accounting device that wasn't keeping correct track of accounting and this led to lots of postmasters getting fired, sued, and going bankrupt. It's an insane story about how these postmasters had to rally together to figure out how to get the post office to admit to wrongdoing and attempt to get compensation for people whose lives were utterly destroyed. I've never heard anything quite like this before.

The podcast In the Dark is the best investigative true crime podcast. Period. Hands down. There's no competition for the title. The first season was an exploration of what went wrong in the investigation of the kidnapping and murder of a missing child named Jacob Wetterling. The second season was all about how a man named Curtis Flowers was tried six times for a crime he did not commit, led to his imprisonment for more than two decades on death row, and the podcast investigation that provided information that released him from prison. These two seasons were produced by American Public Media, but the podcast was canceled in May 2022. I was surprised when there was an announcement published on the In the Dark RSS feed that the entire ITD team was picked up by The New Yorker and they're working on a new series. Woot woot! It's such exciting news that a podcast of this quality is being rewarded with continued support. 

The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods is a podcast about how tens of thousands of people disappear in Japan each year. They just vanish. Some disappear with the help of "night movers" to escape debt collection or domestic violence, some die by suicide and their bodies are never found, and some of them really are mysteriously missing. North Korea(!) kidnaps some of them. I found the subject matter quite intriguing and the reporter Jake Adelstein is a fascinating character all by himself. There's an article in The New Yorker from about a decade ago called "All Due Respect" that is an absolutely fascinating read about him and his relationship with the Japanese mafia. 

And those are my recent winners. Here is a list of podcasts I listen to regularly and never miss an episode.  These are ongoing winners and I think I've talked about all of them at least once on this blog before.  It bears repeating that these are solid pods, though.

Food News - Juliet and Jacoby talk about food in the news, lots of heists, do some taste tests, and have some very strange food-related habits. I love it. Releases on Friday morning and it makes my morning routine fly by.

Taskmaster The Podcast - Former Taskmaster contestant Ed Gamble goes through every TM episode with a special guest once a week. I have no defense, but my Taskmaster love translates to this podcast.

Let's Go To Court - Brandi and Kristin get together and tell each other stories. I love the friendship between these two. This one drops on Wednesday mornings.

Crimelines - Just a straightforward true crime podcast. I like that the host has really made an effort to diversify the types of stories she tells, focusing on missing indigenous women and children and other crimes against non-white people. 

Petty Crimes - Hosts Ceara and Griff investigate one non-crime every week. Roommate issues, dog poop in the neighborhood, roving roosters, and thieving cutlery from the break room? Ceara and Griff will pass judgment, but they are MAD WRONG about a lot of stuff. I love it, though. Meaningless gossip examined from top to bottom in excruciating detail is exactly what I want from my podcast listening.

Crime Writers On - Four writers give us reviews about true crime podcast, movies, and television shows. One of the hosts drives me crazy, but I haven't been able to find another podcast that reviews true crime material in an engaging, but thorough way. It's released on Monday and Thursday mornings. 

Off Menu - Comedians James Acaster and the above-mentioned Ed Gamble talk with a guest each week about their dream menu. It's a true delight. 

Casefile - This is still the best scripted true podcast out there.

The Memory Palace - Nate DiMeo releases short historical snippets and the way he writes stories is always surprising and always delightful. DiMeo is a true treasure.

Too Scary; Didn't Watch - Three ladies recap horror movies. They're just younger enough than me that I feel like a sort of proud mom listening to them. I love to hear them talk about their lives and friendship.

Pop Mom! - Culture critic John Teti and his mom Bonney talk pop culture, the post office, and repeatedly give out the wrong recipe for Bonney's famous Chex Mix. Hearing a parent interact with her adult child in a healthy relationship is really a pleasure we don't always get in modern society. 

What should my next podcast listen be?