Podcasts fans and book lovers enjoy a good story, great dialogue and rememberable characters (real and imagined). So we wanted to end the year by sharing the amazing and thought provoking podcast episodes that made our 2017.
Not just for sport fans, this ESPSN audio documentary tells the ups and downs of a boxer who won several championships… from jail.
Kunta in The House (With Levar Burton)
Levar Burton has a pretty expansive career from Roots, to Reading Rainbow to Star Trek and now a podcast. Burton dishes on almost everything with Heben and Tracy.
Separation of Church and Coffee
The Gravy podcast, produced by the Southern Foodways Alliance, explores the intersections between food and cultural changes in The South. This episode tries to figure out what is up with the emergence of Christian coffee shops
The bizarre and possibly unsolved mystery of John Murray Spears and his lost living machine sounds a lot like the premise of a Dan Brown Novel.
Kilts, Cupcakes, and Romance Novels
Two fun loving New York Public Library librarians and a few guests dive into the world of romance.
Malcolm Gladwell–in his journey to revisit what we think we know– walks into a food lab and rounds up some millennials to explore how one man changed America’s favorite fries.
In this podcast about the Supreme Court, reporters revisit cases where the supreme court got it wrong; they tackle everything from Japanese Internment, Fred Korematsu, Dred Scott and reconciliation.
Academia In Death : A Interview with Dr. Kecia Ali
Genre romance extraordinaire, Sara Wendell interviews a feminist scholar about her academic book about morality and mortality in J.D. Robb’s In Death series. Yes, she has read the ENTIRE series. Twice.
The tough and honest story about how Afghans and Iraqis who worked with the U.S military who were left behind and are now struggling to get visas and get to safety.
An introspective episode about advice and growing up, but the real kicker is Act IV where host Ira Glass delivers an in part eulogy part confessional following the death of his good friend, Mary.
Radiolab interviews Alex Hai who was touted as the first female gondolier even though he is a transgender man. They sort of use Alex’s identity as a “reveal” but this is also a nuanced story about sexism and gender identity.
A Year Of Love And Struggle In A New High School
An intense and in depth look at the year in the life of high school students at an experimental high school. By the end of this series you will find yourself rooting for the students and educators.
Hosted by two improv comedians, this podcast about pop culture has a great millennial perspective. In this episode they interview SNL alum Sasheer Zamata about the pop culture that impacted her the most.
The Pentagon’s Secret Gaggle of Gays
Nancy is one of my new fave podcasts of 2017 and this episode is all about the intricacies and nuances of being gay in the military during don’t ask don’t tell.
Guy Fieri Doesn’t Live on A Yacht That Shoots Rockets
Host Dan Pashman interviews Guy Fieri and goes behind the truth of his TV personality. And yes,– he talks about the Vanity Fair interview and donkey sauce.
The hosts travel to the US Mint to the people who restore and replace destroyed money from people all over the country. Come for the crazy stories about how money can accidentally be destroyed.
In this podcast produced by inmates at San Quentin–the hosts answer questions for listeners while giving an intimate look at prison life from the prisoners perspective.