Podcasts

Whether you’re stuck in traffic or stuck in the kitchen as Thanksgiving nears, we have some ideas for great podcast listening. These on-demand shows have exploded in the last decade, and are now being used for in-depth reporting, to influence policy, and as educational tools. We discuss the latest podcasts, and the role podcasts are playing in the media industry.

Read on for all our recommendations!

Original air date: Wednesday, November 27, 2019. 

One of the top podcasts on the charts right now imagines the U.S. in a massive blackout - no electricity, no cell phone service, and a potential conspiracy. It's called Blackout, a fictional story that’s set in Berlin, New Hampshire.

It's a golden age for podcasting, with thousands you can listen to any time, anywhere.  NHPR producers discuss the latest trends in podcasting, and give their picks for all kinds of listening, from in-depth reporting, to storytelling, to comedy, and more. 

On today's show:

• Civics 101: Emoluments
• Threshold: Episode 3. You can listen to this full episode and read more about it here. 
• "Haunting" from The Memory Palace and Nate DiMeo. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 

On today's show:

• Threshold: Episode 2. You can listen to this full episode and read more about it here. 
• Civics 101: National Debt and The Deficit 
• "When Romance Turns to Dread" from producer Ashley Eady. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 

On today's show:

• Civics 101 - Declaring War
• "'Please Call Stella': Capturing English, from Afrikaans to Zulu." Producer Rebecca Sheir taks a look -- and listen -- inside the world's largest online database of English accents. Listen again at prx.org.
• All this week we're playing episodes from the first season of the podcast Threshold. Today we talk to the host of the podcast, Amy Martin and share Episode 1. Listen to this Episode 1 here. To learn more, see photos, and listen to bonus interviews, head to thresholdpodcast.org.

On today's show: 

• The Monadnock International Film Festival kicks off today, April 20 and runs through Sunday, April 23. More info on screenings and tickets here.  
• We talked to the creator and host of the podcast Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonalds? Brian Thompson. 
• Producer Jimmy Gutierrez checked in with Slam Free or Die at Stark Brewing during the second round of semi-finals. You can see the team finals tonight at Stark, doors open at 7 and performances start at 8.
• Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come produced by Devon Strolovich. Listen again at prx.org.
• 10-Minute Writer's Workshop: Tana French

On the weekend show:

• The Lonely Palette Podcast is bringing art to your ears. 
• Alex Preston joined us in the studio for an interview and a few songs

• This story comes to us from Roman Mars and the podcast 99% Invisible. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.

• 10-Minute Writer's Workshop: Ottessa Moshfegh

On today’s show, we’ll talk to the host of The Lonely Palette, a podcast that aims to put art appreciation back in the hands of the masses, one painting at a time.

Plus, the Grammy-award winning group OutKast has had an undeniable impact on hip-hop, and put southern hip-hop on the map. Now that musical legacy is being deconstructed for college credit. We’ll talk to the professor behind a new upper level English class that puts OutKast on the syllabus.

And we get ready to kick off the 12th year of the Portsmouth-based RPM challenge, when artists around the world try to write and record an album in just 28 days.

Radio host, writer and historian Louis "Studs" Terkel was known for intimate oral histories of ordinary people—a collection of previously unheard recordings from his landmark 1974 book Working—revealing how regular Americans viewed their jobs four decades ago, and how that's changed.

On today’s show, The Working Tapes. Plus, the real cost of a mug shot. Police station photos of someone arrested for a crime are considered public record by the American justice system. They're also a multi-million dollar source of revenue for internet scammers.

We’ll also hear about a podcast that looks at Harry Potter as a sacred text. 

So late August is just about the toughest time to produce a radio show, because just about everybody is on vacation  -  of course, that doesn't matter much for podcasts - these days with so much on-demand audio, our playlists are packed with great new shows, and fresh episodes from our long-time favorites. Since Virginia is off swimming in a lake somewhere, and all of the other newsmakers are off squeezing the last few drops out of summer, today we're going to do a summer playlist of staff podcast picks. 

Want to guess how America's internet speed stack up to the rest of the world? Not even top 20... That means below Mongolia, Slovenia and dozens of other countries.Today, find out why the leader of the free world lags so far behind in fast -and affordable - access.

Plus, love is complicated. Most people can agree that they want love in their life, but we are messy, imperfect beings and a lot of ways to get it wrong. From sibling resentments to misguided crushes to good old self delusion, one podcast is jumping in to take a closer look at love in all its forms.

Since it's early days, hip hop have critiqued oppressions both political and economic - while flashing their own wealth and bravado. Donald Trump became a symbol of the latter, but recent mentions of him in hip hop have become much less positive during his campaign for president in the 2016 election. 

Plus, a few years ago, one of America's most beloved snack cakes was in danger of disappearing forever - until investors swooped in and saved the day. What started out as a rescue mission quickly evolved into a business strategy, and resulted in substantial changes to the brand. How are we preserving the mythical, magical Twinkie.

A new study has confirmed a sad truth about our listening habits - people stop discovering new music around age 33.  Today on Word of Mouth, a seasoned music editor offers tips on how not to get stuck listening to the songs you loved in high school for the rest of your life.

Here at Word of Mouth, we spend a lot of time researching, recording, and listening to wonderful – and sometimes weird – audio. Today, a new installment of “Overheard.” This time we pull in some NHPR colleagues to share some of the best examples of sound the internet has to offer – some healthy curiosity required.

Then, a Pokebattle for the ages. Two teams duke it out over whether Pokémon go helps or hinders the experience of being in the natural world – and tussle over who has the right to decide that.  

The recent disintegration and crash of a Virgin Galactic suborbital space plane raised questions about the safety and viability of space tourism. On today’s show, we consider another issue for commercial spaceflight: the psychological effects of leaving earth.

Then, touted as the world’s most advanced ship, Royal Caribbean’s cruise-liner Quantum of the Seas is outfitted with virtual balconies, robot bartenders, Bladerunner-esque elevators, and smart apps. While the ship’s technology is impressive, we’ll find out where it all falls short.

Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.

Surgery requires years of education, steady hands, extreme confidence, and…kindness? On today's show we ask: when it comes to being a good surgeon, does bedside manner matter? We'll also look into the growing digital house key market and the complicated math behind queue design.

Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.

With so many choices, exploring the wild frontier of podcasts can be overwhelming. Don't fret, we have a great starter package for you.  We asked Jesse Thorn, host of NPR's Bullseye and founder of Maximum Fun, to share five of his favorite podcasts with us. He delivered six. Full disclosure, Jesse admits a slight bias in selecting some podcasts from his podcast network, Maximum Fun, but made it exceedingly clear that he is not directly involved in their production. We present Jesse Thorn's podcast picks, in no particular order, of course.

Just a few years ago, the podcast was a way to hear radio on your own schedule, or a mouthpiece for amateur creative types. Not so today, when as many as 40% of Americans listen to audio on digital devices. Given the tens of thousands of podcasts available to get you through long car rides or gym visits, we wanted to find some of the best.