Podcasts of Two Weeks Ending September 11

Hub History – Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them, with Joe Bagley

Boston city archaeologist Joe Bagley talks about his new book about Boston’s historic architecture.

The Memory Palace – The Life and Works of a Monumental Figure

The story of social activist Jane Addams.

This American Life  – This Is Just Some Songs

A mixtape of stories.

This Day in Esoteric Political History – Teacher In Space

In the 1980s when it came time for ordinary civilians to go to space, teachers were the obvious choice.  This podcast is especially interesting about Barbara Morgan who was Christa McAullife’s back-up and became a career astronaut.

Running Tally of Podcast of the Week Awards for 2021

• Afropop Worldwide – 2
• AirSpace – 1
• Best of the Left – 2
• The Brattle Film Podcast – 1
• Code Switch – 2
• Consider This – 2
• Decoder Ring – 3
• Fresh Air – 2
• Futility Closet – 1
• Have You Heard? – 2
• Hit Parade  – 2
• Hub History – 3
• Judas and the Black Messiah – Entire series
• The Last Archive – 3
• LeVar Burton Reads – 1
• Lost Massachusetts – 3
• The Moth – 1
• The Memory Palace – 2
• 99% Invisible – 4
• One Year – 2
• Politically Re-Active – 2
• Planet Money – 2
• Radio Boston – 6
• Radiolab – 8
• Reparations: The Big Payback – 1
• Scientific American – 2
• Seizing Freedom – 2
• Sidedoor – 1
• Slow Burn – 1
• The Story Collider – 1
• Strong Songs – 1
• Stuff the British Stole – entire series
• The Thirty20Eight – 1
• This American Life  – 3
• This Day in Esoteric Political History – 10
• Throughline – 7
• The Tomorrow Society – 1
• The Truth – 1
• Twenty Thousand Hertz – 5
• Unf*cking the Republic – 2
• Unspooled – 1
• Up First – 1
• The War on Cars – 1
• What Next – 4

Podcasts of the Two Weeks Ending March 27

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

Podcasts of the Week Ending February 6

Politically Re-Active :: Nikki Giovanni

An interview with the legendary poet Nikki Giovanni.  If you listen to only one podcast this week, make it this one

Hub History :: Literal Nazis

Before and during World War II, a group called the Christian Front operated in Boston and carried out anti-Semitic violence in the city.  While I’m not particularly surprised by this dark stain on Boston’s history, I nevertheless had never heard of these Nazis operating in the city..

Throughline :: What Happened After Civilization Collapsed

A history of the ancient Bronze Age and what caused those civilizations to collapse, and what we can learn from that today.

Running Tally of Podcast of the Week Awards for 2021

• The Brattle Film Podcast – 1
• Code Switch – 1
• Have You Heard? – 1
• Hub History – 1
• Lost Massachusetts – 1
• The Moth – 1
• The Memory Palace – 1
• Politically Re-Active – 2
• Radio Boston – 1
• Radiolab – 1
• Scientific American – 1
• Strong Songs – 1
• This American Life  – 1
• Throughline – 1

Podcasts of the Week Ending November 28

AirSpace :: Station to Station

Everyday life for astronauts on the International Space Station.

Decoder Ring :: The Cabbage Patch Kid Riots

The weird phenomenon of the early 80s when ugly dolls became all the rage, explained.

Hub History :: Lost Wonderland

The Wonderland amusement park in Revere, MA had a short history but a long legacy.

The Story Collider  :: Adaptation, Part 1

The story of how a person living with OCD faced the challenges of the COVID world.

This Day in Esoteric Public History :: Franksgiving!

The political history of Thanksgiving, focusing on Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s controversial declaration of the date of celebration, and reasons why we need to divorce the holiday from the myth of Pilgrims and Indians.

 

RUNNING TALLY OF PODCAST OF THE WEEK APPEARANCES

• AirSpace – 2
• Afropop Worldwide – 3
• All Songs Considered – 3
• And Nothing Less – Entire series
• The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
• BackStory – 4
• Brattle Film Podcast – 2
• Best of the Left – 3
• Coronavirus Daily/Consider This – 5
• Code Switch – 5
• Decoder Ring – 6
• Fresh Air – 9
• Futility Closet – 5
• Have You Heard – 3
• Here & Now – 1
• Hidden Brain – 3
• Hit Parade – 4
• Hub History – 2
• The Last Archive – 4
• LeVar Burton Reads – 1
• Memory Palace – 4
• More Than Enough – 4
• Mortified – 1
• The Moth – 1
• Nice White Parents – entire series
• 99% Invisible – 12
• 60-Second Science – 7
• Planet Money – 7
• The Politics of Everything – 2
• Radio Boston – 3
• Radiolab – 8
• Retro Disney World – 1
• The Rewatchables – 1
• Risk! – 1
• Science Talk – 2
• Smithsonian Sidedoor – 4
• Snap Judgment – 1
• Sound Opinions – 1
• The Story Collider – 2
• The Thirty20Eight – 2
• This American Life – 2
• This Day in Esoteric Public History – 1
• Throughline – 12
• The Tomorrow Society – 2
• The Truth – 1
• Twenty Thousand Hertz – 8
• The War on Cars – 1
• Wedway Radio – 1
• What Next – 13

Podcasts of the Week Ending March 7

Afropop Worldwide :: Remembering Johnny Clegg

A tribute to Johnny Clegg, who died last year, reviewing his genre-defying career of blending Zulu music and dance with pop in apartheid South Africa.

Futility Closet :: If Day

The true story of an effort to sell Canadian war bonds by staging a Nazi invasion of Winnipeg.  (This was dramatized in the weird and wonderful Guy Maddin film My Winnipeg).

Hub History :: Remembering the Boston Massacre

250th years ago this week, British soldiers fired into a rowdy crowd in Boston, killing 5.  Nat Sheidly reflects on the deeply personal tragedy for the people involved and how the incident has been reinterpreted in popular memory.

This American Life :: Everyone’s a Critic

Stories about white tourists observing Black church services, a Chinese journalist investigating coronavirus, and a woman who love the movie musical Cats.

Throughline :: Public Universal Friend

A glimpse into transgender identity in American history through the story of a Revolutionary War Era leader of a Quaker sect known as the Public Universal Friend.

Twenty Thousand Hertz :: Satanic Panic

The history of backmasking in popular music and the moral panic that ensued.

Running Tally of Podcast of the Week Appearances in 2020

• Anthropocene Reviewed – 2
• Afropop Worldwide – 1
• BackStory – 2
• Best of the Left – 2
• Decoder Ring – 1
• Fresh Air – 2
• Futility Closet – 2
• Have You Heard – 1
• Hidden Brain – 2
• Hit Parade – 1
• Hub History – 1
• LeVar Burton Reads – 1
• Memory Palace – 1
• More Than Enough – 4
• 99% Invisible – 1
• 60-Second Science – 1
• Radio Boston – 1
• Risk! – 1
• Science Talk – 1
• This American Life – 1
• Throughline – 4
• The Tomorrow Society – 1
• Twenty Thousand Hertz – 2
• Wedway Radio – 1
• What Next – 2

Podcasts of the Week Ending October 19

Dolly Parton’s America :: Sad Ass Songs

This is a new podcast about possibly America’s most beloved living person, Dolly Parton. The debut podcast focuses on issues ranging from murder ballads to feminism.

99% Invisible :: Unsure Footing

The story of how soccer changed the backpass rule leading immediately to an embarrassing period for goalkeepers, but ultimately to a more exciting game.

Hub History :: Race Over Party

The history of African American politics in Boston in the late 19th century.

This American Life :: We Come From Small Places

The immigrant experience explored through stories from the Labor Day Carnival and the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.

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Running tally of 2019 Podcast of the Week appearances:

• Afropop Worldwide – 1
• AirSpace – 1
• The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
• BackStory – 6
• Best of the Left– 3
• Code Switch – 5
• Decoder Ring  – 4
• Dolly Parton’s America – 1
• Fresh Air – 8
• Futility Closet – 1
• Have You Heard? – 1
• Hidden Brain – 2
• Hit Parade – 4
• Household Name – 1
• Hub History – 7
• Lost at the Smithsonian – 1
• Lost Notes – 1
• Memory Palace – 5
• More or Less – 3
• More Perfect – 2
• The Moth – 1
• 99% Invisible – 12
• The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
• Next Left – 1
• On the Media – 4
• Planet Money – 3
• Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
• Re:Sound – 1
• Radiolab  – 2
• Radio Boston – 2
• Science Talk – 1
• 1619 Project – 4
• 60 Second Science – 1
• Smithsonian Sidedoor – 3
• Sound Opinions – 4
• StoryCorps – 2
• 30 for 30 Podcasts – 2
• This American Life – 3
• Tiny Desk Concert – 1
• Throughline – 7
• To the Best of Our Knowledge – 1
• Tomorrow Society – 1
• Travel with Rick Steves – 1
• The Truth – 3
• Twenty Thousand Hertz  – 3
• The War on Cars – 3
• WBUR News – 5
• We Need Some Milk – 1
• What Next – 1

Podcasts of the Week Ending September 14

Hub History :: Boston’s Rock n Roll Riots

Boston is a city that’s always loved a good riot, so much so that Hub History can make an entire episode just about riots related to rock concerts.  Even better though, are the stories when rock n roll PREVENTED riots in Boston, both times involving Mayor Kevin White.

Planet Money :: The Working Tapes of Studs Turkel

Excerpts of interviews that Studs Turkel conducted with people for his book Working in the 1970s paired up with interviews with the same people in the present day.

The Truth :: Poofed

A pair of women meet on a subway platform in New York and discover that they can make the men who harass them disappear by playing a magical ukulele.

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Running tally of 2019 Podcast of the Week appearances:

• • Afropop Worldwide – 1
  • AirSpace – 1
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
  • BackStory – 5
  • Best of the Left– 3
  • Code Switch – 4
  • Decoder Ring  – 3
  • Fresh Air – 8
  • Futility Closet – 1
  • Have You Heard? – 1
  • Hidden Brain – 2
  • Hit Parade – 4
  • Household Name – 1
  • Hub History – 6
  • Lost Notes – 1
  • Memory Palace – 4
  • More or Less – 3
  • More Perfect – 2
  • The Moth – 1
  • 99% Invisible – 10
  • The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
  • Next Left – 1
  • On the Media – 4
  • Planet Money – 3
  • Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
  • Re:Sound – 1
  • Radiolab  – 2
  • Radio Boston – 2
  • Science Talk – 1
  • 60 Second Science – 1
  • Smithsonian Sidedoor – 3
  • Sound Opinions – 3
  • StoryCorps – 2
  • 30 for 30 Podcasts – 2
  • This American Life – 2
  • Tiny Desk Concert – 1
  • Throughline – 6
  • To the Best of Our Knowledge – 1
  • Tomorrow Society – 1
  • Travel with Rick Steves – 1
  • The Truth – 3
  • Twenty Thousand Hertz  – 3
  • The War on Cars – 2
  • WBUR News – 5
  • We Need Some Milk – 1
  • What Next – 1

Podcasts of the Week Ending September 7

More or Less :: Amazon Forest Fires

Statistics cited regarding the Amazon forest fires are not accurate, but the true story is more alarming.

Hit Parade :: We Are Stardust, We Are Gold-Certified

Counting down the artists and bands that got a boost (and those that didn’t) after their performances at the Woodstock festival.

BackStory :: Labor Day Special: A History of Work and Labor Relations in the U.S.

Overlooked history of women, children, and Mexican-Americans in the American labor pool.

Radiolab / Memory Palace :: Memory Palace

I’ve been listening to podcasts for close to 15 years now, and Memory Palace and Radiolab have been longtime favorites.  This special episode of Radiolab features highlights from classic Memory Palace episodes and a new story about scrub bulls.

Hub History :: Mayor Curley’s Plan to Ban the Klan 

Back in the 1920s, white supremacists hoped to expand their operations into Boston, but faced fierce opposition from Boston mayor James Michael Curley.  If only Boston’s mayor in 2019 was not a coward who appeases white supremacists.

Throughline :: The Litter Myth

The history of the successful campaign in the 1960s and 1970s to shift responsibility for environmental destruction from big corporations to individuals, with the help of a fake Native American.

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Running tally of 2019 Podcast of the Week appearances:

• • Afropop Worldwide – 1
  • AirSpace – 1
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
  • BackStory – 5
  • Best of the Left– 3
  • Code Switch – 4
  • Decoder Ring  – 3
  • Fresh Air – 8
  • Futility Closet – 1
  • Have You Heard? – 1
  • Hidden Brain – 2
  • Hit Parade – 4
  • Household Name – 1
  • Hub History – 5
  • Lost Notes – 1
  • Memory Palace – 4
  • More or Less – 3
  • More Perfect – 2
  • The Moth – 1
  • 99% Invisible – 10
  • The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
  • Next Left – 1
  • On the Media – 4
  • Planet Money – 2
  • Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
  • Re:Sound – 1
  • Radiolab  – 2
  • Radio Boston – 2
  • Science Talk – 1
  • 60 Second Science – 1
  • Smithsonian Sidedoor – 3
  • Sound Opinions – 3
  • StoryCorps – 2
  • 30 for 30 Podcasts – 2
  • This American Life – 2
  • Tiny Desk Concert – 1
  • Throughline – 6
  • To the Best of Our Knowledge – 1
  • Tomorrow Society – 1
  • Travel with Rick Steves – 1
  • The Truth – 2
  • Twenty Thousand Hertz  – 3
  • The War on Cars – 2
  • WBUR News – 5
  • We Need Some Milk – 1
  • What Next – 1

Podcasts of the Week Ending August 31

Hub History :: The Dread Pirate Rachel

The story of the last woman executed in Massachusetts is shrouded in a myth of her being a seductive pirate, but her real story is even more interesting.

Throughline :: Strange Fruit

The true history of Billie Holiday, a Civil Rights anthem, and the origins of the War on Drugs.

 

Running tally of 2019 Podcast of the Week appearances:

• Afropop Worldwide – 1
• AirSpace – 1
• The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
• BackStory – 4
• Best of the Left– 3
• Code Switch – 4
• Decoder Ring  – 3
• Fresh Air – 8
• Futility Closet – 1
• Have You Heard? – 1
• Hidden Brain – 2
• Hit Parade – 4
• Household Name – 1
• Hub History – 5
• Lost Notes – 1
• Memory Palace – 3
• More or Less – 2
• More Perfect – 2
• The Moth – 1
• 99% Invisible – 10
• The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
• Next Left – 1
• On the Media – 4
• Planet Money – 2
• Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
• Re:Sound – 1
• Radiolab  – 2
• Radio Boston – 2
• Science Talk – 1
• 60 Second Science – 1
• Smithsonian Sidedoor – 3
• Sound Opinions – 3
• StoryCorps – 2
• 30 for 30 Podcasts – 2
• This American Life – 2
• Tiny Desk Concert – 1
• Throughline – 6
• To the Best of Our Knowledge – 1
• Tomorrow Society – 1
• Travel with Rick Steves – 1
• The Truth – 2
• Twenty Thousand Hertz  – 3
• The War on Cars – 2
• WBUR News – 5
• We Need Some Milk – 1
• What Next – 1

Podcasts of the Week Ending July 27

BackStory :: Moon, Man, and Myths

The History Guys commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing with an interview with flight director Gene Kranz, among other things.

Code Switch :: Chicago’s Red Summer

Another anniversary, of a grim sort, of the race riots 100 years ago in Chicago and other American cities that targeted African American soldiers returning from the World War among others.

Fresh Air :: 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

This podcast includes interviews with astronauts Michael Collins and Alan Shepherd as well as test pilot Chuck Yeager.

Hub History  :: The Cessna Strafer

A bizarre incident in 1989 when a man who’d just murdered his wife took to the air in a small airplane and fired an assault rifle at people on the ground in Boston.  This seems like a very serious crime, and yet I only learned about it a few years ago, even though I was alive and living in an adjacent state at the time.

99% Invisible :: Invisible Women

An interview with Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, on how women are ignored in the design of just about everything, and the dangerous effects of this bias.

On the Media :: What, Me Worry?

Mad Magazine, the satire magazine enjoyed by decades of children going back to the 1950s, is going out of print.  Journalist Jeet Heer talks about the magazines importance and influence.

Running tally of 2019 Podcast of the Week appearances:

• Afropop Worldwide – 1
• AirSpace – 1
• The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
• BackStory – 4
• Best of the Left– 3
• Code Switch – 4
• Decoder Ring  – 2
• Fresh Air – 7
• Futility Closet – 1
• Have You Heard? – 1
• Hidden Brain – 2
• Hit Parade – 3
• Household Name – 1
• Hub History – 4
• Lost Notes – 1
• Memory Palace – 3
• More or Less – 2
• More Perfect – 2
• The Moth – 1
• 99% Invisible – 10
• The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
• Next Left – 1
• On the Media – 3
• Planet Money – 1
• Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
• Re:Sound – 1
• Radiolab  – 2
• Radio Boston – 2
• Science Talk – 1
• 60 Second Science – 1
• Smithsonian Sidedoor – 3
• Sound Opinions – 1
• StoryCorps – 2
• 30 for 30 Podcasts – 2
• This American Life – 2
• Throughline – 4
• To the Best of Our Knowledge – 1
• Tomorrow Society – 1
• Travel with Rick Steves – 1
• The Truth – 2
• Twenty Thousand Hertz  – 2
• The War on Cars – 1
• WBUR News – 5
• We Need Some Milk – 1
• What Next – 1