As we get ready to flip the calendar to another year, we thought we’d take a look back on the amazing Guest Lists that have been curated for us throughout 2023! We have been so thrilled to bring our listeners and blog readers their thoughtfully curated recommendations.
Below, you can take a listen to a podcast each guest curator has worked on, check out one of their podcast recommendations, and click through to read their full Guest List.
Amir Blumenfeld
Senior Superlatives with Greta Titelman
Each episode, Greta talks about high school with a new guest. They reminisce on early aughts culture and their awkward teen years. It’s full of laughs, and I was a guest! What more do you need? I’m serious.
Steph Smith
Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Originally started by well-known creator Marques Brownlee, Waveform is a wonderful step into the world of hardware. If hardware doesn’t sound like your thing, a friendly reminder that hardware has always been the precursor to software. Example? The iPhone 4’s HD camera unlocked a wave of photo-sharing apps, including Instagram, back in 2010. That’s why I always feel like I’m getting an edge when I listen to Waveform. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, I’d recommend their recent episode on ICANN, where their growing team of hosts discusses how we got to the pipes underlying the internet from IP to DNS, plus the 7 literal keys to the internet that still exist today.
Shannah Game
Side Hustle Pro
It’s incredibly important to highlight the voices of black women entrepreneurs. Side Hustle Pro unapologetically shares stories of black women building businesses, growing wealth, and overcoming financial obstacles which ultimately help listeners cultivate a healthier relationship with money. In each episode, host Nicaila Matthews Okome focuses on actionable tips to help black women entrepreneurs create sustainable side hustles and works to inspire her listeners to always strive towards their passions no matter what. Not to mention, Nicaila has an incredibly
soothing and inviting voice that will leave you always wanting more after each episode.
Tom McGee
Dumbgeons and Dragons
This show is a really good time – check it out not only for the great storytelling, characterization, and adventure design but also for the dynamic. When TTRPGs really soar it’s when you can tell the players and the DM/GM are playing TOGETHER rather than against each other, and Dumbgeons is a perfect example of this. DM Russ has also been great about finding crossover shows (including with Dumb-Dumbs & Dragons), so you can also get a great sampler of other shows, DMs, and playstyles by exploring their feed. Theirs is a table it’s always a pleasure to sit at – either as a listener or a player.
Alexandra Cohl
Young and Indigenous
This podcast started as a way for the youth of the Lummi people (Indigenous folks who are the original inhabitants of Washington’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia) to keep the “origins of their oral tradition alive by starting a discussion about relevant topics on the rez.” The first episode primarily follows one of the hosts, Isabella James, as her brother teaches her her introduction of her Lummi language and the sharing of her name. It captures the importance of storytelling and language in history and, as they point out, is a means of connecting to ancestors, to “those people [elders…who] live through us…and not just the ones who are here.” Other episodes explore things like motherhood, life lessons through song and storytelling, local Native artists, youth mental health, and more. They wish for the podcast to be a place for their community but also for folks outside of their community who would like to learn more about them.
Joe Skinner
Blank Check with Griffin & David
Smart and fun conversations that go extremely deep into the filmographies of Hollywood auteurs. This show is like catnip for my own personal interests – I guarantee you’ll have a good time if you give it a listen on your next road trip or long flight. As a rom-com fanatic, I’d recommend their episode on When Harry Met Sally… and the full series on Nora Ephron.
The Retrospectors: Arion McNicoll, Rebecca Messina, & Olly Mann
Philosophize This!
The history of philosophy can feel impenetrable at the best of times, but host Stephen West does an impressive job of making even the most mind-meltingly complex philosophical concepts both comprehensible and entertaining. Come to remind yourself you are smart because you know what Descartes meant by “I think therefore I am”, stay to discover that you never really knew what Nietzsche was getting at when he said “God is dead.”
Jason Moon
In the Dark
The work of Madeleine Baran and her team might be the gold-standard of investigative true crime for me. Meticulous, methodical, courageous. The impact of their work speaks volumes. How many podcasts directly contribute to a case being reviewed by the Supreme Court?
Matt Ferrell
The Fully Charged Podcast
This is a long time favorite of mine. Robert Llewellyn, the actor from Red
Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge, covers eco-news and interviews experts from the renewable energy industry. It’s not only a great place to learn what’s happening in sustainability, but to be entertained while doing so.
Francesca Turauskis
The Log Books
The Log Books was made in partnership with a charity called Switchboard, which is the leading LGBT+ helpline in the UK. The show explores the LGBTQIA+ history of the UK through log books of phonecalls made to Switchboard since it was founded in 1974. Alongside quotes read directly from the books, we hear interviews with Switchboard volunteers and thoughtful discussion from hosts Adam Zmith and Tash Walker. The second series was particularly moving as it looked at the HIV crisis, but I found the final series (which covered 1992-2003) taught me about a world that runs parallel to my own memories. I’m sad to say the series has ended, but the physical log books from Switchboard became digital in 2003, so it was a fitting place to end.
Stephanie Wong
Hard Fork
The term “hard fork” means to take something that isn’t working and make a radical change to improve it. With technology moving so quickly and tech companies large and small disposing of the old and looking for the next new thing at a head-spinning speed, Hard Fork (a tech podcast from The New York Times) arrived at just the right time to break it all down for us. Hosts and tech journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton do a great job explaining what we should be excited about in the world of tech – and where we should contain our optimism.
Tonya Mosley
Dear Prudence
Host Jenee Desmond Harris is thoughtful and engaging and takes the idea of giving advice seriously without being too heavy-handed. Dear Prudence is such a fun listen; at the end, I’m always like, “Wow, this is over already?”
Sonal Chokshi
You Must Remember This
While it’s described as the “secret or forgotten” history of Hollywood’s first century, You Must Remember This by Karina Longworth is for me really a show about the business, and technology, of creativity. Whether it’s the evolution of the studio system to New Hollywood and cult of the auteur to the impact of the Production Code – or the shift from silent to sound technology or changes due to new distribution models, this show covers it all. But ultimately it’s the people’s stories that really hook me, from Merle Oberon’s to Louis B. Mayer’s. My absolute favorite episodes of this podcast however were the “Polly Platt: The Invisible Woman” (2020) season, based on Platt’s unfinished, unpublished memoir It Was Worth It – and featuring actor Maggie Siff as the voice of Platt. Audio storytelling at its best!
Allison Raskin
CANCELLED
Twin sisters Jessie & Clare Stephens set up a fake courtroom each week to prosecute a famous figure for their “crimes.” This lighthearted examination of human nature and cancel culture is made even better by the twins’ banter with each other. It’s always a fun ride that offers extensive details about your favorite (or least favorite) celebrities. (Apparently Justin Bieber was a horrible monkey dad.)
Drew Taylor and Charles Hood
Films to Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein
There’s life, there’s death and in between – there’s movie-watching. Such is the premise for comedian Brett Golstein’s Films to Be Buried With. Each week, he along with a superstar guest, talk about the films that have shaped us and we’ve turned to during pivotal moments in our lives.
Paola Mardo
As a producer and creator, I’m interested in how creative things are made. I love diving behind-the-scenes of a movie, TV show, or podcast and learning all about the production and business of creativity. I wanted to share some podcasts that break down the making of creative projects and provide in-depth analysis of the larger history and landscape of art, media, and technology that these works are all a part of.
Quinn Emmett
Everybody in the Pool
When everything kept coming back to climate change and it was no longer a side story, but the main story, reporter Molly Wood made the switch to covering climate impact full time. Through this show she focuses on solutions. Entrepreneurs are inventing miracles; the business world is shifting; individuals are overhauling their lives; an entirely new economy is being born, and she’ll make you feel hopeful about the future.
Charlotte Alter
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
I didn’t think I could love Julia Louis Dreyfus more, but it turns out I can. Here, she talks to older women, from Jane Fonda to Fran Lebowitz, about what they’ve learned in their lives and careers and how they’re thinking about what she calls the “third act.” After every episode she calls her mom to dish about the conversation.
Zing Tsjeng
Dissect
As someone who once studied piano but has absolutely no ability to make music myself, I love anything that breaks down songs that I love. Dissect, particularly the Frank Ocean season, is great for this. It helps you appreciate the creativity and depth – particularly of real-world experience and artistic subjectivity – that goes into creating amazing music. AI could never!
Ashley Ray
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
They’re my best friends even though I can’t talk back to them, but this is the closest I’ve come to feeling like my own personal conversations are being recreated among celebrities and I get to listen in.
Major Garrett
Alphabet Boys
Most of us have at least heard of the CIA and FBI – two of the intelligence agencies responsible for safeguarding the nation’s secrets. But who are the people behind the letters? Alphabet Boys looks at the FBI, DEA, ATF and all the other three-letter agencies that keep very tight lips. Journalist Trevor Aaronson exposes the stories they don’t want you to know, leaving you wondering who really is the good guy? The latest season follows an international weapons deal that brings the FBI, CIA and DEA together to try to get to the truth.
Connor Ratliff
Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer
Nicole Byer is one of the most delightful and funny people in the world, and everybody with any sense or taste absolutely loves her. Yet, the premise of her wildly successful podcast is that she has been single for decades and wants to know WHY. (Nicole was also very helpful to me when I was trying to turn Dead Eyes into a podcast, both as a source of inspiration and very practical advice.)
Adrien Behn
Slow Burn
The format of Slow Burn is so compelling. Each season takes one moment in history and unpacks it over four-eight episodes. No matter the narrator, I always walk away understanding some illusive historical moment like what was Iran–Contra about? Or what happened with Tupac and Biggie again? How did Roe v Wade get passed? Slow Burn breaks it down. All seasons are great.
Amy Westervelt
Normal Gossip
As an investigative journalist, I often think of my job as basically professional gossip – I get people to tell me things they aren’t supposed to and then I share the story with everyone. I love Normal Gossip because it’s a total escape, a story with twists and turns I never see coming, low stakes, and a totally satisfying ending.
Adam Levin
Darknet Diaries
Jack Rhysider’s Darknet Diaries is one of the most popular podcasts on things cyber, and with good reason: Few other podcasts delve into the details of cybercrime as deeply while still being accessible. Often terrifying, but always interesting. You don’t want to miss this gem of a podcast. And definitely don’t miss his previous guest appearances on What the Hack!
Mo Rocca
Ticklish Business
A podcast by and for old Hollywood devotees, Ticklish Business honors classic films and legendary stars through episodic reviews of the most iconic movies of the 20th century. An array of guests, from authors to costume designers to actors (all fellow cinema enthusiasts), join the hosts every week, which makes for fun, expert listening.
Pocket Casts Blog 