MetaPod

“From ghostly phantoms to UFOs, Uncanny host Danny Robins investigates real-life stories of paranormal encounters.”

How do you follow up on the tremendous impact of The Battersea Poltergeist – the hit podcast from Danny Robins in 2021?

You create a new series of ghostly stories from its listeners.

This is what Robins did in late 2021 (at the same time as his award-winning play, 2:22 A Ghost Story, was playing in London’s West End), producing the chilling and equally unsettling Uncanny.

Robins spoke to MetaPod about The Battersea Poltergeist for our 15th episode, so we were thrilled to have him back to discuss his latest podcast.

In our interview, we discuss some of the threads that are common to many of the stories he recounts in the show, why tales of UFOs are just as bizarre as the supernatural, what makes a truly terrifying ghost story and whether he’s a believer or not.

We also find out if Robins would stay at some of the locations he’s featured on the show and how the “Bloody Hell, Ken” slogan has become a calling card (literally) for all things spooky.

About Danny Robins

Danny Robins is an award-winning writer and journalist. He writes and makes drama, comedy and documentaries for TV, audio and the stage.

His interest in ghosts stems back to childhood. He has made several shows about the supernatural, most recently the acclaimed podcast Haunted, exploring real-life ghost stories.

Danny grew up in Newcastle and started performing and writing comedy aged 15. As a comedy writer for BBC Radio 4, he has written the hugely popular shows The Museum of Everything, Rudy’s Rare Record and The Cold Swedish Winter. For TV he co-created the RTS-Award winning CBBC series Young Dracula and has presented for shows such as BBC2’s The Culture Show and Newsnight. He has written two critically-acclaimed stage plays, including the award-winning 2:22 A Ghost Story.

Amongst his weirder achievements, he also once had a Number 11 hit single without realising it, entered North Korea for a few minutes and came second in the UK AirGuitar Championship final (he was robbed). He lives in Walthamstow in East London with his Swedish wife and two sons.

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“In Machines We Trust is a podcast about the automation of everything.”

The automation of everything sounds impossibly extensive, but automation is everywhere.

The artificial intelligence (AI) that drives automation is increasingly part of how individuals live and work, do business, spend leisure time, and consume news and entertainment. AI is also behind systems that process and make decisions about large amounts of data.

Decision-making technology enables the automation of processes that would otherwise be handled less efficiently by humans. Such systems dictate dynamic pricing online or “read” and interpret job applications before they even reach the eyes of a human.

“I think a lot of the stuff that we talk about on the show surprises even us,” says Jennifer Strong, host of In Machines We Trust.

“We start by saying, ‘hmmm, I wonder how this is being used in retail?’ or ‘I wonder how this is being used in HR?’ You’d be surprised by how many different ways things have changed and we’re not really aware that things are changing.”

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to Jennifer Strong about artificial intelligence and its application in the activities of daily life. We hear Jennifer’s observations on how AI-driven processes work or don’t work. We also discover the unintended outcomes of decision-making technology and the potential consequences for individuals, institutions and society at large.

About Jennifer Strong

Jennifer Strong is the editorial director of audio and live journalism for MIT Technology Review. She’s the host and executive producer of In Machines We Trust, a podcast about artificial intelligence. She’s also the executive producer of The Extortion Economy, a podcast about the ransomware epidemic produced in collaboration with ProPublica.

In Machines We Trust has appeared on podcast charts in more than 70 countries. The show has won two Front Page Awards for investigative audio. It was a finalist for the 2021 Webby for “Best Tech Podcast” and an Ambie, the podcast industry’s award for excellence in audio. Strong previously led long-form audio for The Wall Street Journal, where she created and hosted The Future of Everything podcast—winner of the 2019 Webby for “Best Tech Podcast,” the New York Press Club Award for “Best Podcast,” and an iHeartRadio Podcast Awards finalist.

Jennifer pivoted to podcasting after a decade of reporting and producing for public and commercial radio networks.

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Tape Notes is a “podcast about the art and craft of music production.”

What makes a music producer “good”? What does it mean when critics deem a song or album “overproduced”? And does any of this matter if long-play albums are on the demise?

“What’s interesting is how interested in the album people still are,” says John Kennedy, host of Tape Notes, our guest on MetaPod this week. “It’s not just older artists, but new artists as well.”

Aside from hosting Tape Notes, John Kennedy is a radio presenter on Radio X in the UK. His radio programme, X-Posure, features new bands and music. John’s life-long love for discovering new music perfectly positions him for these roles, as you’ll hear when he explains the origins of the Tape Notes podcast.

“I think the idea of the album is still there even for young artists who are maybe 20 years of age,” said Kennedy. “They still feel as if they want to write and record an album at some point. That’s still on the list of things that they want to try and do as an artist. It’s a stage to get to and to go through.”

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to John Kennedy about the collaborative dynamics between musicians and producers. Based on what he has learned, John tells us what he thinks constitutes a “good” producer and why a song or album might be deemed “overproduced”.

He shines a light on the role of engineers in the production process too. And because music comes from the “inner sanctum,” we talk to John about what some of the more personal issues are for musicians currently.

Finally, Wendy and Kevin subject John to a quick-fire round of questions to discover his favourite albums, producers, gigs, and new bands.

Show notes

• Radio X presents: A Conversation with Johnny Marr
• Chartreuse
• In A Silent Way by Miles Davis
• X-Posure with John Kennedy

About John Kennedy

John Kennedy is a music industry legend responsible for breaking new music on his Radio X show (formerly XFM) for over 20 years. In 2008 John first compered the Quarry stage at In The Woods and has been a loyal friend and supporter of the festival ever since.

With his encyclopedic knowledge of bands, insatiable appetite for music and thousands of interviews under his belt, John is the perfect host to explore the captivating world of music production on Tape Notes.

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"The story of David Koresh: the prophet whose cult in Waco, Texas preached an apocalypse — and the 30 Britons taken in by his message.”

End Of Days tells the story of the British victims of the deadly standoff between the US government and David Koresh in Waco, Texas in 1993.

Published by the BBC in 2018, journalists Ciaran Tracey and Chris Warburton shine light on untold stories and under-appreciated details of events that lured a number of British citizens to leave the UK to join Koresh in the USA.

In this episode of MetaPod, we hear Chris and Ciaran recount their investigation and storytelling, work that took place 25 years after the tragic event. They reflect on what it was like to consider the event, and the big (political) questions that arose from it, with the advantage of age.

They also discuss the challenges of exploring the belief system of the Branch Davidians. How do you understand the religious justifications for a way of life that most people struggle to accept as normal?

You might be surprised to learn that heavy metal played a role in generating the idea for the podcast. While Chris and Ciaran rightly share their pride in a project that managed to unearth stories from a site that no longer exists, you'll also discover that the story "nearly couldn't have been brilliant".


Show notes:

• Picture gallery for End Of Days
• Waco: Madman or Messiah (Channel 4 documentary)
• Profile of David Koresh (via Biography.com)
• The Deaths Of 76 Branch Davidians Could’ve Been Avoided – So Why Didn’t Anyone Care? (via The Conversation)
• Janet Reno recounts darkest days as US attorney general (PBS News Hour)

About Ciaran Tracey

Ciaran Tracey is an award-winning creator and executive producer of flagship BBC podcasts. Ciaran created the groundbreaking End Of Days, – the story of the British victims of Waco. It earned a British Podcast Award and has been bought for TV development. His next podcast series followed cricketer Kevin Pietersen on location through the South African bush in his struggle to save rhinos from illegal poaching in Beast Of Man. In 2020 Ciaran created a first-of-a-kind dual-format factual + drama series Ecstasy: The Battle Of Rave, working directly with leading BAFTA-winning screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst (Shameless, The Stranger) to acclaimed reviews and 1.5 million downloads. In 2020 he was in the leadership team for the tough Sounds podcast Gangster, charting the life and death of Paul Massy, one of the year’s best performing Sounds titles. He established Big City Nights in 2021 to create premium podcast box sets.

About Chris Warburton

Chris Warburton is a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live. He has also worked on the podcasts End Of Days and Beyond A Reasonable Doubt?

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"Sodajerker is a songwriting team from Liverpool, founded by Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor. The podcast Sodajerker On Songwriting features interviews with the world’s most successful songwriters."

A "soda jerk" isn't normally associated with songs, unless of course, you ask Simon Barber and Brian O'Connor. It all started with something that Sydney Pollack said, which then led them to an academic article titled "Linguist Concoctions of the Soda Jerker".

"They'd come up with all these creative, alternate ways to describe things," said Simon of the soda jerk of the 1950s American diner. "We thought, well that's a great metaphor for creating magic out of the everyday, which is what the songwriter does."

And so they went with it, adopting Sodajerker for their songwriting partnership and eventually Sodajerker On Songwriting for their podcast.

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to Simon and Brian about their approach to interviewing the world's most successful songwriters.

We also hear the lessons they've learned across Sodajerker On Songwriting's ten years as an independent podcast. Simon and Brian also discuss songwriting's position in the music industry, the impact of technology on songwriters and the challenges of the craft.

The two tell a bit about their own complementary songwriting partnership. And if you're wondering who else they hope to add to their incredible archive of guests, you'll find out in this interview.

About Sodajerker On Songwriting

Sodajerker is the creative partnership of Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor. Described by Esquire magazine as ‘the Frost/Nixon of tunesmithery’, their podcast Sodajerker On Songwriting contains the world’s most expansive archive of audio interviews with songwriters about their creative process. Now well into their 10th year, they’ve produced over 200 episodes of the show to date, featuring such luminaries as Sir Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Alicia Keys, Paul Simon, Sting, St. Vincent, Beck, Elvis Costello, Nile Rodgers, Jon Bon Jovi, Lindsey Buckingham and Diane Warren. Despite having been downloaded millions of times, the series remains completely independent and ad-free, and has been featured in virtually every major music publication since its launch. Last year the Sodajerker interview archive was added to the British Library in London for posterity.

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“MetaPod unpacks the web’s most interesting podcasts and the stories behind them.”

“We made it!” – well, just about. After 36 shows featuring the finest podcasters in all the land, we decided to not take a breather to celebrate our first year, but produce a bonus episode of MetaPod.

Maybe it’s a slightly vain idea that listeners might want to hear about us, but we also wanted to catch up with each other about our packed calendar of episodes from 2021 – this time IN-PERSON (the shock, the horror!). So here it is – a record of ourselves talking with each other about ourselves and our wonderful show.

It’s not as bad as it sounds – honest. View the companion YouTube video here.

Fuelled by tea and extraordinarily good doughnuts (courtesy of Crosstown in London’s Square Mile), we tackle a few entertaining questions about MetaPod guests and topics. Check the show notes below.

MetaPod continues in 2022 with more unpacking of the web’s most interesting podcasts. Until then, why not spend the last few days of this year reflecting, with us, on a year of some amazing podcasts and guests?

Some might call it naval-gazing, but we’re not really into sea-based military stuff. We haven’t found a good podcast on that particular subject matter yet.

k + w

About Wendy Morrill and Kevin May

Wendy is co-host of MetaPod by night and employed by an international travel trade association by day. Her friends and enemies appreciate her love of baking, interest in new and old music and skeptical sense of humor. Before moving to the old Amsterdam, where she currently resides, Wendy lived in the new Amsterdam. She grew up in a different new place called New Hampshire. If you need a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, she can help you.

Kevin has somehow managed to be employed for over 25 years as a journalist, covering everything from crime, politics, media and, since 2005, travel and its intersection with technology. He’s the former Editor-In-Chief of US-based PhocusWire, although he mostly sits at home in the UK. Kevin’s accident rate on a mountain bike is worryingly high for a 40-something who should know better and he’s also spent far too long co-authoring a biography about electronic music pioneers Depeche Mode. Kevin is suspicious of people who do not like Marmite.

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“An entertaining look at some of the big issues in history by examining public apologies of the famous and infamous. Apologies Accepted looks at politicians, serial killers, actors, and you!”

Apologies Accepted is a place to examine and debate the controversies that develop around public apologies, as well as the expressions of remorse, regret and reparation – or failures thereof – that come along with them.

Listeners who appreciate firm opinions and critique of cultural and political affairs will appreciate Theo and Juliette’s discussions. From Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinksy to Billie Eilish and the Golden State Killer, Juliette and Theo dissect apologies of recent and historical significance. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the Pope.

“We’re all human, we all make mistakes,” says Theo.

“Everybody’s got something that they’re sorry for. Hopefully, we grow out of it as we get older and understand a little bit more,” says Juliette.

In this episode of MetaPod, we learn what constitutes a good apology and why people deserve and should give, apologies. We also discuss the sincerity and value of apologies from politicians and institutions.

Are there things that simply cannot be apologized for? Do you think an apology means more when given by somebody on their deathbed? Find out Juliette and Theo’s answers to these and more tough questions about being sorry.

Show notes:

• Vatican says Pope Francis has agreed to visit Canada, meet with Indigenous leaders
• We All Owe Monica Lewinsky An Apology
• Billie Eilish Apologizes for Lip-Syncing Anti-Asian Slur
• Six Ways to Apologize Like You Mean It

About Juliette

Juliette co-hosts the Apologies Accepted podcast along with her high school friend, Theo. She manages IT projects by day, where she learns something new every ten minutes. Juliette was the publisher and editor of the first major feminist web journal, Feminista!, from 1995 to 2001.

Juliette lives in San Francisco with her husband Brent, the producer and engineer of Apologies Accepted, and a neurotic greyhound named Sophie, who has no role in the podcast. 

About Theo

Hailing from Los Angeles, Theo is a freelance copywriter currently based in Austin, TX.  He entered college at the age of 48 and majored in English at UT Austin, a move that taught him a needful lesson in humility but allowed him to change career paths. Previously Theo worked in Corporate America, starting off at Disneyland’s Marketing Department, eventually serving as Tourism Marketing Director for the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. 

Theo and Juliette are both big fans of podcasts, and on a whim, created Apologies Accepted together – over 50 episodes later they are still awed every week by the fact they have actual listeners. Theo has been married for nearly 20 years now, a success he credits to his husband’s patience.  He enjoys baking and wine, ideally both at the same time.

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“The story of Daniel Morgan’s killing moves from back streets of London, through the highest echelons of Scotland Yard, to the offices of Rupert Murdoch’s best selling newspapers, to the doors of Number Ten Downing Street. If you haven’t heard this story, ask yourself, why?”

Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder is not a podcast to reassure a listener who has lost faith in their country’s institutions.

It doesn’t have any kind of happy ending, either. There is no closure for the victim’s family, by way of a conviction of the killer, or killers. Nor does it have any of the shenanigans that went on behind the scenes to cover it up.

Morgan, a private investigator who it later emerged happened to be on the verge of selling a major story about police corruption to a tabloid newspaper, was murdered in the most brutal way (with an axe) in a South London pub car park in 1987.

The intervening 34 years have seen a number of official inquiries into the role of the police in the investigation and the suspects publicly named on numerous occasions, only for a prosecution to be abandoned in 2011.

Since the podcast concluded in October 2018 there have been some major developments, including an Independent Panel Report, which came to the conclusion that the investigating force, The Metropolitan Police in London, is “institutionally corrupt”.

Yet, still, the killer(s) remains at large and the fight for justice continues by the Morgan family.

Step forward, Peter Jukes, a screenwriter who produced Untold alongside Deeivya Meir and produced what is probably the definitive account of Morgan’s backstory and the investigations.

In this episode of MetaPod, Jukes joins us to give his perspective on the case to date and, of equal importance, what such complex connections between the police, the suspects, organized crime, the press and government mean for society.

Show notes:

• Cast of “characters”
• The Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report
• BBC Documentary

About Peter Jukes

Peter Jukes is an author and dramatist. He is the executive editor and co-founder of Byline Times, an independent news and opinion platform focussed on “what the papers don’t say”. In addition to presenting the story of the Daniel Morgan murder in the podcast Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder, Peter co-authored with Alastair Morgan the book Untold: Exposing The Truth About The Daniel Morgan Murder.

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“Almost a perfect crime. The hacking ring and an attempt to steal a billion dollars. Investigators blame North Korea. Pyongyang denies involvement. The story begins in Hollywood.”

The Lazarus Heist is a BBC World Service podcast examining cybercrime and how modern nation-states are utilising such tactics. The story starts with the 2014 hack into Sony Pictures’ information systems. The operation led to a shutdown of the company’s computer networks, seizure of its digital files and leak of confidential information into the public domain. The perpetrator? North Korea.

“What’s interesting about the Sony hack is that it did demonstrate this other purpose of a cyber hack, which I believe is to sow discord or chaos,” says Jean Lee, journalist and co-host of The Lazarus Heist.

There are other reasons cyber hacks are utilised by North Korea, according to Jean Lee — “to use it as a form of asymmetric warfare.”

To illustrate the global threat that cybercrime presents, The Lazarus Heist also highlights other significant cyberattacks. These include the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist and the 2017 Wannacry ransomware attack that affected the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Other culprits involved in these cyber attacks? Microsoft, the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and Russian intelligence groups.

Jean Lee’s knowledge of Korea, North and South, combined with Geoff White’s knowledge of cybercrime add up to a fascinating story of technology, culture and history in The Lazarus Heist. The story is as important for understanding the effects of cybercrime on individuals and society as it is for understanding modern international relations.

In this episode of MetaPod, we learn about cybercrime methods and why they have become attractive instruments of asymmetric warfare and income generation for North Korea.

Show notes:

• The Lazarus heist: How North Korea almost pulled of a billion-dollar hack
• The Korean War
• CNC song

About Jean Lee

Jean H. Lee is a writer, commentator and expert on North Korea. Jean led the Associated Press news agency’s coverage of the Korean Peninsula as bureau chief from 2008 to 2013. In 2011, she became the first American reporter granted extensive access on the ground in North Korea, and in January 2012, she opened AP’s Pyongyang bureau. Jean now serves as a senior fellow at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, DC.

About Geoff White

Election hacking, the dark web, multi-billion dollar cyber heists – investigative journalist Geoff White has covered it all. His work’s been featured by BBC News, Channel 4 News, The Sunday Times and more. His book, Crime Dot Com, takes you inside the murky world of the digital underground, uncovering cybercrime’s emergence as today’s global threat.

The twists and turns of his investigations into hacking have informed and entertained audiences from music festivals to political party conferences and his live phone-hacking stage show was a sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

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“Your weekly infusion of plant-based nutrition, lifestyle habits and mindset to live your best life possible!“

How many of your lifestyle habits are optimised for good health and wellness? Your sleep? Your physical activity? What you eat? All of the above? One? None?

Dr Yami Carzorla-Lancaster is a podcasting paediatrician, lifestyle medicine physician and health & wellness coach based in the state of Washington in the USA. As you’ll hear, she’s very passionate about plant-based nutrition and lifestyle habits for optimum health. Dr Yami emphasizes that even small changes in diet can slow or arrest disease, physical movement can contribute to longevity and that there are more than 50,000 plants that humans can benefit from.

“Not enough people realise that nutrition is as powerful as it is,” says Dr Yami. “Most people have no clue that some people are able to reverse their (type 2) diabetes in 10 days with a change of diet.”

Dr Yami shares her passion for edible plants on the Veggie Doctor Radio podcast. The show has more than 180 episodes and features conversations with health and wellness experts. She also discusses plant foods and their nutritional profiles and benefits.

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to Dr Yami about her journey towards a plant-based lifestyle. You’ll learn that part of that is her family’s minimalist lifestyle. Dr Yami also shares recipes to help you add more veggies to your routine or just try something new.

Additionally, Dr Yami offers her professional thoughts on the future of nutritional guidance and industry influence on that guidance. She also tells us about the research that is likely to radically shift our thinking about the human body. Kev and Wendy start things off with some corny veggie puns and wrap up with Dr Yami’s F bombs: FIBER and FLATULENCE.

Show notes

• Dr Yami’s freebies, including “Let’s Eat Beans!”
• A Parent’s Guide to Intuitive Eating
• Born to Run
• The Vegan Society
• Micropia

About Dr Yami

Dr Yami is a board-certified paediatrician, certified lifestyle medicine physician, national board-certified health and wellness coach, author, podcast host and professional speaker. A passionate promoter of healthy lifestyles, especially the power of plant-based diets for the prevention of chronic disease, she founded VeggieFitKids.com where she provides information on plant-based diets for children. She also hosts the podcast Veggie Doctor Radio.

Dr Yami obtained a certificate in plant-based nutrition, is a certified Food for Life Instructor, and a Jack Canfield Success Principles Certified Trainer. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Dr Yami owns Nourish Wellness, a pediatric micro-practice in Yakima, WA where she lives with her husband and two active sons. 

Her book is entitled A Parent’s

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“In 1996 French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier is found dead near her holiday home. There are no witnesses and no known motive. The police suspect one man in this community but they can’t make a charge stick and he refuses to leave, living under the glare of suspicion ever since.”

In West Cork, Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde bring one of Ireland’s most widely known tragedies to international listeners. The podcast explores the murder case of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a woman found bludgeoned to death outside of her vacation cottage in a remote area of West Cork just before Christmas in 1996.

Sam and Jennifer attempt to pick up the pieces of an investigation mired with problems for decades. They immerse themselves in the small community, talking to those disturbed by the horror and its legacy. Surprisingly, this includes the main suspect, who remains rather unusually involved with the case.

Intimate and measured, West Cork keeps listeners on the edge of doubt and certainty. Listeners will experience the emotional “push and pull” that Sam and Jennifer experienced themselves during their investigation.

In this episode of MetaPod, Jennifer and Sam explain how they tackled the storytelling challenges that a complex, unsolved, international murder case presents.

They reflect on their own thinking and creative processes for the podcast, describing the unique context and characters involved. Also, Sam and Jennifer reveal the story behind the photograph on the podcast artwork.

Show notes:

• The couple behind the West Cork podcast, Irish Examiner
• Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s son makes fresh appeal: ‘You have a murderer in Ireland’, The Irish Times
• Ian Bailey is offered lie detector test over murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, The Irish Independent
• Explore West Cork

About Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde

Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde have worked together in podcasting for six years. They produced and hosted West Cork for Audible, and an 8-part Spotify/BBC Studios series on the punk band the Clash, hosted by Chuck D.

As an award-winning documentary television producer, Jennifer has worked with the BBC and Britain’s leading independent production companies. She believes that the most important part of telling any story is letting the people who have lived it tell it for you.

As a journalist, Sam has contributed to This American Life, the Guardian, the Daily Beast and elsewhere. He started his career in Dublin with a national monthly magazine, Mongrel.

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“A podcast documentary about Cheltenham, the home of British spying, and the cracks of lying and deception that run through this seemingly perfect Cotswolds town.”

The Town That Knew Too Much shines a light on the English town of Cheltenham and how the “pomp and ceremony” of this upper-middle-class town has been “subverted in the seedy world of espionage” since Government Communications Headquarters or “GC HQ” made its home there.

Over seven episodes, Nick Hilton features various characters associated with Britain’s spy and state intelligence history, including Alan Turing, Geoffrey Prime, Gareth Williams, and Edward Snowden.

The story also includes an episode about Kit Williams, author and creator of the Masquerade book and treasure hunt – and the Wishing Fish Clock, which resides in Cheltenham.

The second in Nick Hilton’s “Town” series, The Town That Knew Too Much continues with a “light-hearted, whimsical, tangential” documentary tone that is informative and entertaining. Also much like the first series, The Town That Didn’t Stare, The Town That Knew Too Much presents complex themes and issues related to technology, the Internet, society and self.

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to Nick Hilton about some of the overarching themes of The Town That Knew Too Much, such as privacy, data collection, the internet, Big Tech, the Snowden leaks and the state.

We also discuss opinions on technology and privacy, from both the media and the public perspectives. Nick also tells us about the interactive elements that he built into the podcast. To conclude, Kevin asks Nick if he would ever like to be a spy. Obviously.

Show notes:

• Wishing Fish Clock and Kit Williams
• The Town That Knew Too Much Wishing Fish Clock challenge
• Geoffrey Prime
• You’re using coconuts
• Music from The Town That Knew Too Much by George Jennings

About Nick Hilton

Nick Hilton is a journalist and podcast producer. He was previously broadcast editor at The Spectator before starting his own company Podot, which specialises in current affairs and makes a slate of podcasts including A Podcast of One’s Own with Julia Gillard, The Everyman Podcast with James Naughtie, and House Work with Harriet Harman. He is also the podcast editor at the New Statesman, producing the biweekly New Statesman Podcast, as well as World Review and Skylines. As a journalist he has written for The Guardian, Vice, The Independent, the I, and Prospect, as well as The Spectator and New Statesman.

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“Seeing how it all started and seeing where I am now, one of the things that’s so different than before is that now it’s fancy.”

If you had an iPod in 2006 and synced podcasts from iTunes, you might have seen Elsie’s Yoga Class. The class was one of the first female-led yoga podcasts available. Remember, this was a time when you could browse most of the podcasts that existed fairly quickly.

“I came into the scene, recording my yoga classes because I wanted to record something — I wanted to have a show,” recalls Elsie Escobar, creator of Elsie’s Yoga Class. “I didn’t know how to make it work. I didn’t know how to do it, so I thought, you know what, I’m just gonna start doing something. I just wanted something to record so that I could understand the process.”

Fast forward 100+ episodes of Elsie’s Yoga Class and it’s 2013 and she works at a podcast hosting company, Libsyn. By 2014, Elsie joins forces with Jessica Kupferman to found She Podcasts, now the largest network of women in podcasting.

In this special episode of MetaPod we talk to Elsie Escobar, Co-founder of She Podcasts and Community Manager at Libsyn. We learn from Elsie what it’s been like to be part of podcasting’s professionalisation. She recounts the early days where everyone was “starting from zero” vs. now where more money and brands are involved.

Elsie also explains a few things that new podcasters should understand about the heart and soul of the medium’s origins. We also discuss the time and commitment that “doing all the things” as an indie podcaster requires.

We also hear about Elsie’s personal journey to becoming a more visible woman and role model, particularly for marginalised people and communities in podcasting.

About Elsie Escobar

Elsie Escobar is a podcasting community expert, advocate and mentor.

She is a 15-year veteran in the podcasting industry and inductee to the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame. Elsie is also the co-founder of She Podcasts, a podcasting community for women + non-binary that has 20k members with a corresponding podcast and conference.

If that’s not enough, Elsie is also the community manager at Libsyn and co-host/producer of The Feed: The Official Libsyn Podcast. 

Elsie has been a podcasting advocate, pundit and mentor to primarily women podcaster leaders. Her thing is driving dialogue in the podcasting industry, focusing on podcasts’ impact on society, culture and their power to drive social change.

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“How did an American family end up in the heart of the ISIS caliphate?”

Samantha Elhassani (nee Sally) insists, “I’m not a bad person — I’m not a monster”.

Yet she lived in the ISIS caliphate. Her ten-year-old son could make a suicide belt and be featured in ISIS propaganda. She owned slaves. And travelled to Hong Kong to deposit large sums of cash and gold and bought tactical combat gear there. And perhaps most astonishing, she was an FBI informant.

The story sounds unbelievable and Samantha says so herself. However, in 2018 she returned to the US into the custody of law enforcement. At the end of 2020, she was convicted of financing terrorism and sentenced to prison for 78 months.

Investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Joshua Baker untangles Samantha’s story in the podcast In I’m Not A Monster and the film Return from ISIS. Jointly produced by the BBC and PBS, the podcast and film examine how an American woman and her children could possibly end up with ISIS in Syria. Joshua Baker brings listeners to places both frightening and familiar, from a former torture prison to a children’s swing set in the backyard of a home in Indiana.

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to Joshua Baker about his mission to chronicle Samantha’s unique story. Josh discusses his journalistic career working in high-risk conflict zones and with vulnerable people. We also discuss the political and cultural understanding between countries of the Middle East and the West. Please be advised that some of our discussion revolves around violence, coercion and other unsettling topics.

Show notes:

• Return from ISIS on BBC Panorama or PBS Frontline
• Former Elkhart, Indiana Resident Sentenced to Over Six Years in Prison for Financing of Terrorism, US Department of Justice press release
• I Went To Syria To Find The American Family Who Joined Isis, Huffington Post interview with Joshua Baker
• I’m Not A Monster awarded Edward R Murrow Award

About Joshua Baker
Joshua is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist and podcast creator. He prides himself on creating compelling human stories, often dealing with complex and emotive topics. He is the writer and host of I’m Not A Monster.

Josh combines journalistic rigour, cinematic sensibility and compelling narrative structure to create work that is both accessible and in-depth. He recognises story creating is a team game and loves bringing people together to make a collaborative process.

Josh has a track record for working with vulnerable contributors suffering from trauma or mental health issues, including children and highly sensitive sources. He has secured a plethora of specialist access, be that with terrorist groups, elite military units, whale hunters, sex workers, or friends and family of contributors. As well as working in the UK and USA, he has worked substantially in hostile environments around the world. Follow Joshua Baker on Twitter and listen to series 2 of I'm Not A Monster: The Shamima Begum Story.

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“Standup comedian, writer, and candlehead Selena Coppock talks with guests about their individual candle journeys, including candle stories, favorite scents and #wickpics.“

Who doesn’t like a candle burning away on their desk, on the kitchen table or while you’re having a bath?!

Well, maybe the last one is more of a required taste but very few people would say they dislike candles – surely…

The right scent, the right size, the right jar, lots of accessories – there’s a lot to take into consideration these days, not least with countless lifestyle brands now diving into the world of waxy wonders.

But even though candle selection is a serious thing, our guest – Selena Coppock – doesn’t take things TOO seriously, mainly because she’s a standup comedian and all-around giggler at life.

Selena’s premise for Two Wick Minimum is to interview her friends, many in the entertainment world, about their love of candles and what scents they love/hate and the memories that specific candles create.

The podcast is a riotous listen at times but, actually, also pretty useful if you’re looking for a new scent to buy or avoid.

Selena joins us in this episode to share a story or two about the show and her take on what’s hot or not in the candle universe.

Show notes

• Selena Coppock IMDB
• Seen Better Days
• How To Make Soy Wax Candles

About Selena Coppock

Selena Coppock is a standup comedian, writer, author, and storyteller based in NYC. She is the creator and voice of @NYTVows, the parody Twitter and Instagram account that lampoons the New York Times Wedding section, the wedding industrial complex, WASPs, and courtship rituals of the rich and insufferable. She is also the creator and host of Two Wick Minimum, America’s favorite and only podcast about candles. Her debut standup Seen Better Days (Little Lamb Recordings) hit #1 on the iTunes comedy charts and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, etc. Selena was a guest star on the sitcom Red Oaks (Amazon Prime) and has been seen on Bravo, Lifetime, VH1, CollegeHumor.com, RooftopComedy.com, and elsewhere.

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“Unexplainable is a science show about everything we don’t know, looking at the most fascinating unanswered questions in science and the mind-bending ways scientists are trying to answer them.”

Dark Energy – what the heck is it? And what about UFOs – surely there’s some kind of analysis available that can shed some light on those mysterious objects in the sky?

Well, disappointingly, there is no definitive understanding of what either of these is – just a lot of speculation, ongoing research and, often, a lot of bad science.

Thankfully, Unexplainable is here to unravel the key elements behind these mysteries and many others, as much it can.

The Vox Media-run podcast is informative, entertaining and extremely thought-provoking. It has tackled the aforementioned subjects alongside others as varied as establishing the height of Mount Everest, planet-hunting, why placebos work and the length of human life.

Heavy stuff – but riveting and worth every minute of a listen.

In this episode of MetaPod we speak with Brian Resnick, co-creator of Unexplainable and Vox’s science reporter.

We wallow in the smartness of our guest and try to pick apart some of the topics in the Unexplainable portfolio of shows, as well as asking why does the internet need another podcast about science.

If you listen to Unexplainable, you’ll soon know why.

Show notes

• The Night Sky – How Henrietta Leavitt Changed Our Understanding Of The Universe
• How much worse can coronavirus get? (Brian Resnick for Vox)
• Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Why Science Is Hard

About Brian Resnick

Brian Resnick is a science reporter at Vox.com, covering social and behavioral sciences, space, medicine, the environment and anything that makes you think “whoa that’s cool.” He is the co-creator of Unexplainable, a Vox podcast about unanswered questions in science. He serves as the show’s senior reporter, shaping the editorial direction of the series. Before Vox, he was a staff correspondent at National Journal where he wrote two cover stories for the (now defunct) weekly print magazine and reported on breaking news and politics.

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“Permanent Record Podcast is a look back at albums from the New Wave and Classic Rock genres.”

Think back to your favourite bands, songs and albums before the Internet – the songs you recorded off the radio or the albums that your friend let you borrow and copy with your dual cassette deck. How much do you really know about these beloved artefacts of your past?

Perhaps a fair amount, but Sarah and Brian Linnen of the Permanent Record Podcast demonstrate that there is always something more to learn about your favourites, especially with the advantage of hindsight and a few modern-day research tools.

Combining historical context and facts, trivia and endearing personal memories of the classic alternative and rock music of the 80s, Sarah and Brian will likely jog some memories of your own – from chart performance and critical reception to what you thought of the artwork on a cassingle or the band hairstyles and outfits in a music video.

Oh, you didn’t realise that there was another song on that album until much later in life? Probably because it didn’t fit on the only 60-minute cassette that your friend had available to record over, right? Don’t worry, Sarah and Brian will still have you in their club. You just need to be a fan.

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk about classic alternative music of the 1980s with Sarah and Brian – Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Communards, The Cure and others. We learn how Sarah and Brian select, research and present the albums they feature on the Permanent Record Podcast. We also discuss music more broadly.

If you’re a fan of Permanent Record Podcast, this is your chance to learn more about Sarah and Brian personally and all of the good work they do to provide listeners with a broad, yet detailed look at the much-loved classic alternative bands of the 80s.

Show notes:

• The First 100 Videos Played on MTV
• Album artwork for Falco 3
• Depeche Mode Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction 2020

About Sarah and Brian

Brian and Sarah spent the 1980s searching their local record shops for imports, new releases, and anything that spoke to them and their New Wave sensibilities. Now, decades later, they are still going on about those classic albums and the wonderful bands that were so important to them during those formative years.

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“In the early days, it really was this group of geeks and hardcore people that wanted to create media and hardcore audiences that wanted to listen to it.”

How do you go from a career in the military to one in podcasting? Just ask Todd Cochrane, the founder and CEO of Blubrry, a podcast hosting company.

“Life has these right and left-hand turns and I had a right-hand turn in June of 2004,” Todd told us.

That right-hand turn put Todd among the pioneers of a new medium being raised by rebels.

While recovering from an injury that changed the course of his career in the US Navy, Todd discovered the work of Dave Winer and Adam Curry and this thing they were talking about called “podcasting”. Todd was sucked in and before he knew it, he was at the nearest Walmart purchasing his first microphone.

Podcasting since 2004 with his tech show Geek News Central, Todd Cochrane also established the first podcast advertising deal and wrote the first book on podcasting. He also founded the Podcast Awards and is a member of the Podcast Hall of Fame.

“The industry was exciting, it was basically pioneer days, we were making stuff up as we go, we didn’t really know what we were doing, but things progressed very, very quickly,” said Todd.

In this special episode of MetaPod, we talk to Todd about the early players of podcasting and what it was like to work with the techies, geeks and hardcore audiences of the medium. We also discuss how podcasting has evolved to this day, including investment, leadership, its increasingly diverse field of creators and the entry of big media platforms in the space.

Todd also tells us what the most important thing is for new podcasters to understand about the medium and why the first two episodes of Geek News Central no longer exist.

Show notes:

• Geek News Central
• New Media Show with Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee
• The Rise and Demise of RSS

About Todd Cochrane

Todd Cochrane is the founder and CEO of Raw Voice, Inc, also known as Blubrry Podcasting. Todd has been podcasting since 2004. He is credited with the first podcast ad deal (with GoDaddy) and the first book about podcasting (published by Wiley). He also founded the Podcast Awards and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2015. Before going into podcasting, Todd served in the US Navy for 25 years. He retired with the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer. Todd spent the majority of the past 25 years in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Michigan.

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“Smart Enough To Know Better is a podcast of science, comedy and ignorance.”

It’s a unique skill to be able to apply humour to science – and get it to work.

Greg Wah and Dan Beeston have been doing this for over 10 years with Smart Enough To Know Better, creating an extremely listenable podcast that tackles big subjects with an accessible style.

There is a lot of banter, plenty of tangents that they often head down and a very loyal and engaged audience.

What makes Smart Enough To Know Better so good is that it’s not afraid to dissect a subject and speak truth to power – but do so in a way that is, generally, positive and constructive.

And as the pair creep closer to their 200th show, what better time to understand more about the show and the issues and topics that get them going.

For our latest episode of MetaPod, we speak to the Australia-based pair about how they pick their subjects each week and how they’ve nurtured their audience over a decade.

We tackle some big issues, such as the billionaire space race and coronavirus, as well as find out how much science they actually remember.

Show notes:

• Rocket men: Bezos, Musk and Branson scramble for space supremacy – The Guardian
• Everything you need to know about the ISS
• Risky Business dance scene

About Dan Beeston and Greg Wah

Dan has two decades of live performance under his belt and has tread the boards of the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, the Powerhouse in Brisbane and the back room of Mary’s Hotel in Dalby. His day job is as an internet boffin and he doesn’t hate it very much at all.

Greg is a bit of a generalist. A performer, writer, director by night but an astrophysicist by day. Learning is his passion and he can’t shut up about whatever new thing has squeezed his curiosity gland.

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“When Matthew MaGill died alone in the woods on the Florida-Georgia border, he left behind a box filled with the artifacts of an incredible life. A series of coincidences leads reporter Eric Mennel to the box, sending him on a five-year search to understand the truth about its owner.”

Stay Away from Matthew MaGill is an unusual podcast. It’s the story of a man who earned a reputation for being unusually handsome, stubborn and prone to telling tall tales. It’s also the story of secrets and the spaces they occupy between us, family and friends.

Blending investigation and personal memoir, Eric Mennel extends the boundaries of what one might expect from either genre. He begins by building an understanding of Matthew MaGill’s life through the contents of the box. At the same time, Eric is grappling with the relationship dynamics of his own family.

Eric bravely chooses to reconcile with family, a choice we presume Matthew MaGill did not make. Eric’s personal reflections on this process, as well as those of his family members, are included alongside the story of Matthew MaGill.

“Along the way, the questions I was asking about him – they just became a little entangled with things that were going on in my own life,” said Mennel. “The show is largely about the journey that I go on to reconnect with my family – with the help of Matthew MaGill’s box.”

In this episode of MetaPod, we talk to Eric about the contents of the box that Matthew MaGill left behind and how people earn the reputation as ‘someone to stay away from’. Eric explains the research that he undertook to understand who exactly Matthew was. We also discuss the provocative blend of investigation and personal memoir in the podcast.

Show notes:

• Woodbine, Georgia, At The Center Of A New Podcast
• FSU creative writing alumnus wins Edward R. Murrow Award

About Eric Mennel

Eric Mennel is an award-winning journalist and podcast producer. He is host of the new podcast, Stay Away from Matthew MaGill. His work has appeared on This American Life, NPR, StartUp, 99% Invisible, and lots of other shows. He’s won Edward R. Murrow Awards for his work on The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow, and for his reporting at WUNC in North Carolina. In 2013 he helped create the podcast, Criminal. He is currently a senior producer at Pineapple Street Studios.

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