Best of the Left :: Democracy Under Siege
Republicans are attacking the right to vote in order to retain power and maintain white supremacist fascism.
Code Switch :: Lonnie Bunch And The ‘Museum Of No’
An interview with the first Black Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution focusing on his work in bringing the National Museum of African American History and Culture to fruition.
Have You Heard? :: What They’ve Lost
Boston Public Schools students talk about their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and not being able to attend school in person. Also includes a good discussion of why the focus on “learning loss” only adds to the trauma rather than addressing students’ real problems.
Hub History :: Disaster at Bussey Bridge
134 years ago, corporate malfeasance lead to the death and dismemberment of several railway commuters at a site not far from where I live today.
Planet Money :: The Even More Minimum Wage
The history of the tipped minimum wage and how it maintains inequality. I was particularly stunned by how tipped employment is often the first jobs for young women and that it conditions them to accept sexual harassment in order to get tips.
Seizing Freedom :: Interview: Rhiannon Giddens
For the second POTW post in a row I’ve found a fascinating podcast about the banjo in Black music, this time an interview with the contemporary folk musician Rhiannon Giddens.
This American Life :: The Campus Tour Has Been Cancelled
Many colleges and universities have suspended using the SATs and other standardized tests for admissions because of the COVID pandemic. Tests like these have a gatekeeping effect and this podcast explores how their absence can open up college opportunities for poor, BIPOC, and first-generation applicants.
Throughline :: Chaos
Stories of humanity and chaos, including the real life The Lord of the Flies.
Twenty Thousand Hertz :: 20th Century Fox
The composition and history of the deceptively simple 20th Century Fox fanfare.
The War on Cars :: Jamelle Bouie Has Seen the Future of Transportation
Journalist Jamelle Bouie talks about his experience using an electric bike in Charlottesville, VA and the future of transportation and housing in the United States.
Running Tally of Podcast of the Week Awards for 2021
- Afropop Worldwide – 1
- AirSpace – 1
- Best of the Left – 1
- The Brattle Film Podcast – 1
- Code Switch – 2
- Consider This – 1
- Futility Closet – 1
- Have You Heard? – 2
- Hub History – 2
- Judas and the Black Messiah – Entire series
- LeVar Burton Reads – 1
- Lost Massachusetts – 1
- The Moth – 1
- The Memory Palace – 1
- 99% Invisible – 2
- Politically Re-Active – 2
- Planet Money – 1
- Radio Boston – 1
- Radiolab – 1
- Reparations: The Big Payback – 1
- Scientific American – 1
- Seizing Freedom – 2
- Sidedoor – 1
- Strong Songs – 1
- This American Life – 2
- Throughline – 4
- Twenty Thousand Hertz – 2
- Up First – 1
- The War on Cars – 1
Panorama of the Mountains 