Aries: Caliphate

Aries traits: headstrong, virtuous, caring
Aries dates: March 21 – April 19

Aries, you’re likely to jump into conflict with action–but also with care. Caliphate is an emotionally gripping story about a New York Times journalist having deep, empathetic conversations with people radicalized to join ISIS. The journalist’s personal experiences are at the forefront, satiating your need for a human connection with the host, and the conversations about right and wrong will challenge–and then solidify–where you stand on some ethical debates.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Taurus: Hometown

Taurus traits: focused, patient, persistent
Taurus dates: April 20 – May 20

Taurus, you love a good, simple, earnest story about what makes people feel comfortable and safe. Hometown is a fiction anthology series told as vignettes from people describing their hometown. Each episode is a new story and a new perspective, so the tone does vary, but it always stays sweet and sincere. There’s a sense of low stakes–not no stakes, but instead, a shirking of big drama–that helps each narrative feel comforting and warm.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Gemini: Adventures in New America

Gemini traits: charismatic, witty, analytical
Gemini dates: May 21 – June 20

Gemini, your knack for hijinks paired with your love of fast-paced intellectual analysis makes Adventures in New America perfect for you. This Afrofuturist fiction series from Night Vale Presents is hilarious and bizarre, but underneath its pulpy genre veneer is a deluge of rapidfire social commentary. The story takes so many twists and turns, you’ll find yourself outpaced, and so excited about it.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Cancer: The Far Meridian

Cancer traits: emotional, imaginative, cautious
Cancer dates: June 21 – July 22

Cancer, your love of whimsy might sometimes clash with your introversion, making big adventures simultaneously enticing and difficult for you. The same is true for The Far Meridian‘s protagonist, Peri. When shy Peri finds her home, a lighthouse, transporting her to a new location every day, she has to learn to balance her fears with the adventure she’s been put on.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Leo: Aria Code

Leo traits: brash, bold, confident
Leo dates: July 23 – August 22

Leo, if you’re not familiar with arias, you should be: they’re parts of operas written specifically to show off the talents of the performer, usually including wildly difficult techniques. Aria Code talks about what makes certain arias important, but it also goes into how and why they were written and performed, scratching your itch for great storytelling.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Virgo: Song Exploder

Virgo traits: orderly, modest, practical
Virgo dates: August 23 – September 22

Virgo, your keen sense for detail is a great match for Song Exploder, which takes apart how songs are made piece by piece. If you feel like you love a song but can’t voice why, Song Exploder will help explain the nuances in songwriting and production that make songs work. You’ll love the clean editing, the songwriters’ attention to detail, and how well everything comes together as the episodes close.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Libra: Dear Prudence

Libra traits: diplomatic, sociable, protective
Libra dates: September 23 – October 22

Libra, you love keeping the peace, tending to your loved ones, and making sure everyone is heard and treated fairly. But let’s be real here: you also love the goss. Long-running advice podcast Dear Prudence is beloved for good reason. It’s a killer advice podcast delivered with a huge dose of empathy and heart, but it doesn’t shy away from questions that are wild.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Scorpio: Arden

Scorpio traits: mysterious, magnetic, passionate
Scorpio dates: October 23 – November 21

Scorpio, what could be better than a baffling unsolved mystery? The enemies-to-lovers trope. Arden is a modern retelling of Shakespeare classics, but it’s also a satire of the true crime genre–while still working as a killer fictional mystery. The two protagonists of Arden are Brenda and Bea, two diametrically opposed women with wildly different approaches to telling the core story.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Sagittarius: Ostium

Sagittarius traits: adventurous, honest, optimistic
Sagittarius dates: November 22 – December 21

Sagittarius, your love of travel and the unknown might have you craving more strange portal fantasy like Myst. Ostium is the perfect next step in podcast form. Ostium is a mysterious, ambiance-heavy fiction podcast about finding a strange town with doors and doors and doors. When the protagonist opens those doors, everything just becomes stranger, and the stakes get higher.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify

Capricorn: In the Dark

Capricorn traits: ambitious, disciplined, reserved
Capricorn dates: December 22 – January 19

Capricorn, you have a strong sense for right and wrong–not just ethically, but also in procedure. American Public Media’s In the Dark doesn’t just analyze strange true crime cases. It also analyzes why they were handled so poorly by the criminal justice system, and then it does something about it. Your need for systems to be taken seriously will be as satiated as the need to take action when things are done incorrectly.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Aquarius: Palimpsest

Aquarius traits: friendly, artistic, independent
Aquarius dates: January 20 – February 18

Aquarius, your love of strange, artistic stories will help you fall in love with Palimpsest. Palimpsest is a fiction podcast that takes on a different story and tone each season. The first season is a slow-burn Shirley Jackson style ghost story; the second season follows a woman working for a carnival, dealing with the whims of the fae; and the third season follows a woman through war-torn London. Each season will draw you in with its beautiful prose and keep you hooked by encouraging theories about the plots.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

Pisces: This Is Love

Pisces traits: sensitive, intuitive, jovial
Pisces dates: February 19 – March 20

Pisces, it’s okay to admit that you can be a little bit of a sap sometimes. This Is Love has some sappy stories, absolutely, but it also has plenty of that gut-wrenching heartache you also love. You’ll hear intimate stories of people without having to dive too deep into their lives as a whole, giving you some necessary distance to help parse the big emotional payoff in each episode.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google | Spotify

The post Podcast Recommendations for Your Horoscope appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

1. Love and Luck

Love and Luck is the story of two queer men in Austalia who fall in love, start a cafe, and realize they have magical abilities. Told through voicemail, this story is sweet and tender, making sure that even when there’s drama and turmoil, the plot always returns to being delicate. As the cast expands, more love stories manifest, but the love of the two main characters stays central to the show’s focus.

Listen: Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | RadioPublic | Pocket Casts | RSS

2. 36 Questions

36 Questions is a musical audio fiction about a wife who aims to reunite with her estranged husband by using the “36 questions to fall in love”–the same way they fell in love on their first date. Shrouded in mystery and turmoil, explored through beautiful songs, this melancholic will-they-won’t-they story packs a shocking amount of chemistry into just three episodes.

Listen:Apple | Google | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | RSS

3. This Is Love

Created by the team behind CRIMINAL, This Is Love is a look into love in all its iterations. What does love mean to two closeted gay men, to a woman dealing with the loss of a child, or to an incredibly rare snail? Each true story is told with such a sincere level of interest and respect, no matter the story being told. It’s a reminder that even in real life, love is something beautiful, strange, and magical.

Listen: Apple | Google | RadioPublic | Spotify | Stitcher

4. Deck the Halls (with Matrimony!)

While Deck the Halls (with Matromony!) is Christmas-themed, it’s sweet and fun enough for a year-round listen. Told in movie-length episodes, Deck the Halls (with Matromony!) starts out as a classic romantic comedy that only gets zanier and more fun. If you’re a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, or even off-the-wall romances like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Deck the Halls (with Matromony!) is a great fit for you.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher | PlayerFM | RadioPublic

5. Kaleidotrope

Kaleidotrope is an audio fiction about two opposites hosting a radio show on a magical college campus. This podcast is filled with classic romcom tropes; in fact, it’s baked right into the name and the plot of the show. As these hosts try to help fulfill the tropes of love stories around campus, they find themselves falling into one of their own.

Listen: Apple | Google | Stitcher

6. Wonderful!

Wonderful! isn’t necessarily about love, but love permeates everything about it. It’s a podcast hosted by a husband and wife in which each week, both discuss two things they love. It’s a simple premise, but what makes the podcast stand out is how much these two love each other. Their dynamic is so sweet and goofy, it’s hard not to come away from each episode with something new to check out, but also swooning at what absolute marriage goals the hosts are.

Listen: Apple | PlayerFM | Spotify

7. The Bright Sessions

The Bright Sessions is an audio fiction about Dr. Bright, a therapist for the “strange and unusual”–people who not only have psychological troubles, but also superhuman abilities. There are two love stories in the plot: that of a time traveler and someone stuck in time, and that of an empath and the only person who doesn’t disrupt their emotional state. Each love story develops slowly over each character’s individual arc, giving the listener plenty of time to really feel the impact of each story.

Listen:Apple | Spotify | Stitcher

8. The Shadows

The Shadows is both a love story and an anti-love story; it’s a listen that might be best for people who don’t see Valentine’s Day as a celebration as much as a time to brood. The Shadows follows the fictionalized Kaitlin Prest (producer of The Heart) as she falls in love–or what she thinks might be love–with a fellow actor, only to realize she might not know what romantic love is at all.

Listen:Apple | Google | RSS

9. Steal the Stars

If you like your love stories with aliens, political intrigue, and suspense, Steal the Stars is a must. This audio fiction is about the workers in a secret government facility built to study a deadly alien. Because the stakes of the job are so high, no intimacy–even close friendship–is allowed between employees. This becomes almost impossible, though, when a new worker is brought on to the project, and he’s problematically gorgeous.

Listen: Apple | Google | Stitcher | Spotify

10. Pounded in the Butt by My Own Podcast

Or maybe what you need is something so ridiculous you’ll be laughing so hard you cry. Look no further than Pounded in the Butt by My Own Podcast, a Night Vale Presents show in which guests read hilarious, absurdist erotica by Chuck Tingle (known as “tinglers”), usually to some kind of audience. Some of the tinglers read on the podcast include Slammed in the Butt by My Handsome Laundry Detergent Pod, Unicorn Butt Cops: Beach Patrol, and Monday Pounds Me in the Butt.

Listen: Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher

The post 10 Romantic Podcasts for Valentine’s Day appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

If you’re interested in an even more diverse set of podcasts from 2018, see picks at the halfway mark of the year from Eric Silver, Wil Williams, Ma’ayan Plaut, Arielle Nissenblatt, and myself — the best podcasts of 2018 (so far).

Alright, enough blabber. Here were my best podcasts of 2018 in no discernable order.

1. Caliphate

Holy crap. I started my Caliphate binge during a 3-hour drive from Austin to Dallas. I honestly can’t remember a quicker trip. Caliphate, produced by The New York Times, follows journalist Rukmini Callimachi as she reports on ISIS and the fall of Mosul. Expertly researched, Callimachi gives adequate context and interviews a former ISIS member to give further insight into their initial appeal, recruiting, and organization.

Caliphate is a 10-episode story with each episode hovering around the 30-minute mark.

2. Binge Mode: Harry Potter

A little less heavy than Caliphate, but arguably denser, the Binge Mode team of Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion strike a happy nerd cord with their deep dives into the Harry Potter series. I’ve written about my love for Binge Mode before (here and here), but it’s honestly one of my favorite podcasts — whether they tackle Game of Thrones or Harry Potter. As co-hosts, Rubin and Concepcion have an unrivaled rapport combined with sharp, sometimes dirty humor and extensive knowledge of the series and wider canon.

Binge Mode isn’t the podcast for a quick binge. As of this writing, the Harry Potter version of the feed has 63 episodes with most having over a 1.5-hour runtime. If you call yourself a Potterhead, you can’t miss it.

3. Articles of Interest

99% Invisible‘s Avery Trufelman produced a 6-part series that exemplifies what I enjoy about podcasts. Each episode goes into a different piece of clothing to analyze its history and the events that shaped it to be what we now think about it. For instance, how did Hawaiian shirts lead to “casual Friday”, or how did blue jeans become and remain such a ubiquitous article of clothing? Each episode is around 30 minutes and while thematically linked, can be listened to separately.

4. The Bright Sessions

I’ll be the first to admit, I had zero interest in audio drama podcasts. I don’t know why, I just never bothered to listen to any. However, we’re fortunate enough to have audio drama conoussier, Wil Williams, write for Discover Pods and she gave me a curated audio drama starter kit. For a comic book fan, The Bright Sessions comparisons to The X-Men are easy to make, but still don’t quite do it justice. The Bright Sessions follows therapist to the extraordinary, Dr. Bright, as she navigates complex relationships, coming of age challenges, and a sinister government corporation.

The Bright Sessions wrapped up their core story in June, but they’re still producing special individual episodes following new patients and creator, Lauren Shippen, has deals in place to adapt the story into other formats. Read our feature on Shippen here.  

5. 30 for 30 Bikram

As you’ll likely pick up from this list, I listen to podcasts for a few reasons: to be informed, to learn about something new, and to be entertained. These interests tend to lead to vastly different podcast choices — which I consider a good thing. ESPN’s 30 for 30 is a podcast I’ve subscribed to since day one. I’ve always been a fan of the documentary series and highly anticipated the podcast version of episodic audio documentaries.

However, the podcast took a mini departure from their winning format with the serialized Bikram season. They expanded their story to a 5-part series detailing the rise of popular fitness regime, Bikram Yoga and its horrific founder, Bikram Choudhury.

Read my full review of 30 for 30 Bikram here.

6. Endless Thread

I was initially apprehensive about a podcast using Reddit as their foundation. It seemed like a short-lived pseudo-branded podcast destined to live in mediocrity. But once again, I was wrong. The Reddit x WBUR collab has been a delightful new podcast for 2018. Reddit, as it turns out, is a nearly endless supply of stories and ideation for a quality podcast to build off of. From diving into Ken Bone’s fifteen minutes of fame, to analyzing the Mattress Firm potential conspiracy, to a story of strangers going great lengths to do a favor, and many other tangents, Endless Thread combines WBUR’s talent for good radio and Reddit’s already proven focus group of what people find interesting.

7. Dissect

I wrote about Dissect, the deep dive podcast analyzing specific hip hop albums, after host Cole Cuchna wrapped up the season on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Since then, the podcast and host were gobbled up by Spotify and Cuchna has completed two seasons on Frank Ocean and Lauryn Hill.

Cuchna’s penchant for choosing albums that happen to near and dear to my heart is unfathomable (pssst Cole, Yeezus next, thanks). Dissect does a great job of providing context into the events that led to the album creation, analyzing and discussing the significance of the lyrics, and breaking apart the beat production so even us layman can understand.

8. Disgraceland

I don’t typically gush over true crime podcasts unless there’s something unique or some unmatched production value. Disgraceland does have its faults — notably some exaggeration. However, there’s no denying the compelling writing and delivery of the story. Each episode tells the past crime of some musician. Stories include the alleged forced overdose of Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, drug- and sex-crazed Rick James, and of course the murder of Tupac.

Read my feature on Disgraceland creator, Jake Brennan here.

9. Slow Burn

The first anthology of Slow Burn was one of the best podcasts of 2017, chronicling the Watergate investigation and impeachment process of President Nixon. The collective podcast community was unsurprisingly excited when they revealed the Bill Clinton scandal and impeachment would be the focus of season two. It didn’t disappoint, and in many ways, surpassed the inaugural season. Host Leon Neyfakh does a masterful job of crafting historical evidence, new interviews, and forgotten context to present a well-known story in a new light.

Neyfakh surprised many when he announced his departure from Slate to start his own podcast company. Their first podcast, FIASCO, appears to follow a similar format to Slow Burn and will initially focus on the 2000 presidential election, Bush v. Gore. For their part, Slate has remained steadfast that Slow Burn will continue without Neyfakh.

10. Ars Paradoxica

Another audio drama I fell in love with (thanks again Wil! Read her full review). Ars Paradoxica tells the complicated story of time travel and clandestine government organizations. What I appreciated most, however, was their magnified attention to detail. They don’t shy away from the existential issues time travel would undoubtedly create — multiple universes, butterfly effect, and more. This unbridled focus is also readily apparent within the plot and dialogue that led to constant theorizing and speculation among the most ardent fans.

Though the main story is spread between 36 episodes, there are several bonus episodes and cast interviews that give even more insight into the story and characters.

11. Villains

Best-selling author, Shea Serrano, takes his unique humor, fanboy’ness, and honesty to create one of my favorite new podcasts. The concept of Villains is fairly simple, each week Serrano and a panel of guest hosts dive into a specific movie villain and discuss their motivations, actions, and determine if they’re redeemable. The topics and format is something The Ringer has already had success with The Rewatchables — a movie podcast.

What’s absolutely endearing about Villains is Shea’s honesty about being an amateur podcaster. In multiple episodes, Shea has added post-production audio footnotes providing meta-commentary on the podcast and his mistakes. It’s great.

12. Hi-Phi Nation

Along with Dissect, Hi-Phi Nation is another indie podcast receiving a promotion in 2018. In November, creator Barry Lam announced Hi-Phi Nation had been picked up by Slate to join their ranks. The philosophy podcast carefully blends qualitative and quantitative data to craft an immensely interesting podcast while also being extremely informative.

If you need to start with one episode, I’d recommend “The Chamber of Facts,” which details how our political beliefs are shaped by media echo chambers and what happens when the script is flipped.

13. Decoder Ring

Another new podcast from this year to crack my best of list. Slate’s Decoder Ring is billed as “cracking cultural mysteries”. This likely intentional vague descriptor really works for a podcast that’s explored topics ranging from opposing factions of a Sherlock Holmes fanfic theory to the origins and rise of the art in hotels.

Also, what I said at the top of the article about why I listen: “to be informed, to learn about something new, and to be entertained” — this podcast is a perfect 3/3. Host, Willa Paskin, does a great job acting as the audience’s proxy by asking the right questions and getting to the crucial aspects of the story.  

14. The Big Loop

Whoa, another audio drama! Audio dramas make-up 18.75% of my best of list, a stat I would not have believed had you told me a year ago. Creator and professional good human, Paul Bae, takes an episodic approach the genre. While most audio dramas tell a narrative fiction story serialized over several seasons, The Big Loop changes stories, characters, and overall format with each episode.

In the first episode, “The Studio,” Bae takes his influence from a popular Love+Radio episode, “The Living Room,” but adds a characteristic supernatural spin on the story. Arguably the best episode, however, is “Goodbye Mr. Adams,” which tells the coming-of-age story and a special lesson from a unique teacher. Briggon Snow voices the main character and does a great job encapsulating the teenage angst he brought to his character Caleb from The Bright Sessions. Combined with clever writing and intriguing stories, The Big Loop also adds custom music to provide the soundtrack for each episode.

15. Everything is Alive

Probably the most unique podcast I’ve heard in quite some time, Everything Is Alive brings life and personality to inanimate everyday objects. Creator and host, Ian Chillag, has a compelling and heartfelt unscripted conversation with objects you encounter on a daily basis to understand what they’re thinking, their struggles, and to see life a little differently. Objects range from a can of cola, to a lamppost, to a subway seat, and you actually start to think about how your interactions with these objects may be construed.

16. This is Love

I wanted to leave this list with the most heartfelt, uplifting podcasts in a world too often filled with negativity. Along with Everything Is Alive, This Is Love win the award for most likely to make you sob uncontrollably. From the team that brought you episodic true crime podcast, Criminal, you’ll get weekly episodes detailing different examples of love and loving in the world.

For example, in the second episode, “Something Large and Wild,” I was blown away by how much I cared about the relationship between an avid swimmer and a whale.

The post The 16 Best Podcasts of 2018 appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

On plane rides, you have relative quiet with a prolonged span of time to focus–and not much else to focus on. On a plane ride, you want something with a captivating story, rich sound design, and a marathon-worry story. Plane rides are, however, not the time for high-stakes thrillers or horror stories. Airports and planes are already stressful enough as it is, so you’ll want something beautiful, lush, and engaging, but ultimately not too stressful.

The following list is written with that criteria in mind. They’re not listed in any particular order, but instead are just a collection of podcasts that will help make your plane ride a little more bearable.

Related: 5 Great Road Trip Podcasts

1. 36 Questions

36 Questions is a three-part mini series about a husband and wife who, due to initially mysterious situations, are separated. It’s also a full musical with gorgeous, interesting, moving songs in each episode. The plot should be experienced with as little known about it as possible–for what initially sounds like a standard romantic drama, there’s a shocking amount of twists and turns along the way. What makes 36 Questions great for a plane ride is not just its self-contained story that can be listened to in full, but also its music and its sound design. The songs are gorgeous and help bring something different to a listen. The sound design is beautiful and lush, allowing you to really immerse yourself in the world, and a plane ride will allow you to focus and take in every detail.

Listen: Apple | Google | Stitcher

2. The Far Meridian

The Far Meridian is an audio fiction that follows Peri, an introvert whose lighthouse starts appearing in a a new location every day. The Far Meridian is an incredibly tender work of fiction that has stakes and moments of peril, but it won’t make you feel more stressed out than you already will be while traveling. Like 36 Questions, The Far Meridian is beautifully designed with an immersive setting each episode; like 36 Questions, The Far Meridian also has some variety: each episode is a character study, whether it’s through someone Peri meets or with Peri herself. Peri’s story is one about what confidence and courage can look like outside of a traditional extroverted hero, and it’s one that will stay with you long after you land.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher

3. Join the Party

Join the Party is a Dungeons & Dragons actual play podcast–as in, a group of friends actually playing D&D. The podcast is split between the players and the characters. The listener gets the story of what’s happening in the D&D campaign, complete with character voices, sound design, and a fantastic original soundtrack. The listener also gets the players talking out of character, whether that be discussing their next moves and ideas or making jokes with each other. The story is long and ongoing, but has specific arcs that make for great marathon listens. If you don’t know anything about D&D, don’t worry; in their first arc, they have a track for beginners where they break down the rules as they play so you can follow alone.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher

3. Within the Wires

Within the Wires is the most stressful and unsettling podcast on this list, but it’s also one of the most interestingly woven together pieces of audio fiction I’ve ever heard. Each season of Within the Wires follows a different character and a different framing device for their audio. The first season is a set of relaxation tapes that slowly unveil the strange, worrisome, science fiction inspired world in which they were created. The second season follows recordings to accompany art pieces and museums that becomes a story about love, frustration, art, and memory. The third and current season follow dictation tapes for a bureaucrat that tie the first two together. Within the Wires is beautifully written and performed, and a plane ride will afford you the concentration you’ll need to follow these stories as closely as they deserve.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher

5. This Is Love

This Is Love is a nonfiction podcast about all of the different sides of love. Created by the makers of Criminal in partnership with Radiotopia, the first season features beautiful, true stories about what love is. Intimacy is a hallmark of podcasting, but This Is Love feels especially close with its interviewees, largely thanks to the sincere care and respect the producers have for each episode’s subject. As a warning, this podcast might get you a little misty-eyed during travel, but each episode has an arc that feels so heartwarming and rewarding once you’re done. It’s a great plane listen for people who don’t mesh well with most fiction but still want something literary and lovely to steep themselves in.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher

The post 5 Great Plane Ride Podcasts appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

Those words, voiced in an endearing fashion in a slow, deliberate, and incredibly smooth voice are said during nearly every episode of the episodic true crime podcast, Criminal. Judge, the host of Criminal, has a voice fellow podcaster Helen Zaltzman described “like hearing a really low woodwind instrument” on a recent episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz. Judge’s voice, however, almost doesn’t quite match the subject matter. Pairing a voice that would be well-suited for guided meditation … but discussing some atrocious and gruesome crimes. The balance somehow works though.

Talking to Judge on the phone, I’m surprised by not only the similarities in her voice but also her speech pattern. Her responses to my questions are well crafted, almost predetermined. It’s easy to get sucked in to her responses, like listening to a podcast in real-time.

Both Judge and longtime Criminal producer and co-creator, Lauren Spohrer, worked together on a public radio show before it cancelled. Viewing this abrupt change as an opportunity, they decided it was time to start their own venture. The freedom of creating their own project was an enticing draw. Judge says, “We didn’t have to answer to anyone. We could make it about whatever we wanted. We could put it out as frequently or infrequently as we wanted.”

After settling on a crime-focused podcast, which in a pre-Serial world was still relatively untouched, they started working on the stories. Judge had migrated from producing to hosting while on the public radio show, and Spohrer would handle the production. They intentionally titled their podcast Criminal to be an all-encompassing term that allowed them to take their podcast in a myriad of directions. “We never feel pigeonholed by the word “criminal”, because the approach we take is broad and varied. We can be doing a story one week that’s the saddest thing in the world, but the next week the story might be actually very funny or very odd or strange.”

Since they launched Criminal in January 2014, true crime podcasts have continued to flood and dominate the medium. The added competition hasn’t forced Judge to change their approach. She states, “I can honestly say we haven’t changed anything.” Judge continues, “I think we’re going to do the best we can with the show we originally created. This doesn’t mean we stop doing good work. We are constantly pushing ourselves in the types of stories we do and the topics that we take on, but we know this type of format for our show. I don’t think we are going to shift our format because we see other podcasts are coming about that are different than ours.”

The rise in podcast popularity and the years of experience Judge and Spohrer racked up did lead to other opportunities. After more than four years and over 90 episodes, the Criminal team decided to try their hands in a completely new genre. While continuing to produce Criminal, they launched their next venture, This Is Love. The new podcast tells heartfelt stories that tug on every emotional fiber. Judge embraced the task, “[We] felt time to challenge ourselves and to really stretch our wings a bit and see if we could take on something brand new.”

The challenge wasn’t the only motivation though. Judge and Spohrer wanted to do their part to add some joy to the world, “We also thought that it was a good time in the world to be putting out somewhat hopeful stories, stories that made you feel good or made you think in a different way about life.”

The emotional reactions to This Is Love aren’t lost on Judge, in fact, it’s part of what they set out to accomplish. Judge tells of listener feedback, “They didn’t want to listen to any of these episodes in public, because they kept crying. But what I loved about it is that it wasn’t the crying, it’s rather that people are having such a visceral emotion to these stories about topics that maybe were very far from their own lives.” A quick Twitter search confirms the crying is universal.

Juggling two popular podcasts seems like a daunting task for a small team. Judge substantiates this when asked how she does it. “I could lie and say it was very easy, but it’s been an awful lot more work for [producers] Nadia Wilson and Lauren Spohrer.” Judge continues, “There is something about the rush and thrill about putting out something brand new, which I think buoyed us up and allowed us to remain really focused on Criminal at the same time as doing this totally new thing. It was exciting, because we didn’t know if it would work.”

Though now that season one of This Is Love is in the books (season two launches in the Fall), there’s no resting for the team. “I’m challenged every day. I’m challenged just as much as when we put out the first episode. The challenge is finding the story and writing the story and keeping an audience. I feel as threatened today as losing all of our audience as we did when we put out the first episode. Nothing has changed about that. Nothing has gotten easy.”

feature image credit: Juli Leonard

The post Phoebe Judge Pulls Double Duty with Criminal and This Is Love appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.