Each month, Podcast Review’s staff offers recommendations on the best new podcasts to listen to. Here are our favorites for July:
Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma
Following an excellent season about the rise and rebrand of Twitter, Land of the Giants returns with a new corporation to dissect: Disney. After starting as a small animation studio, the Walt Disney Company is now one of the biggest companies in the world, with fans of all ages and backgrounds. A major factor in Disney’s endurance has been brand loyalty, the show argues, an essential ingredient threatened by the company’s vast scale. With great success comes bigger problems, including political controversies and messy acquisitions. So, what’s next for a company that makes its living selling dreams? The team at Vox Media and Vulture bring Disney back to earth in their new series, unraveling its history, audience, and business strategy to figure out where it might go next.
Despite picking up an award at Tribeca and being produced by our favorite actor and negroni connoisseur, Stanley Tucci, Pack One Bag appeared quietly on our podcast feed at the beginning of June. But after a slow start, we’ve come to appreciate this story of an Italian Jewish family separated by fascism and war. Based on true accounts, the show is narrated by documentarian David Modigliani, who was a child when his grandfather won the Nobel Prize. But rather than focusing on this great moment, Modigliani tells the story of his grandparents’ romance on the run from Fascist Italy. But after uncovering the story, he finds an uncomfortable secret. Pack One Bag is an elegant show that rewards slow listening, making it ideal for a lazy road trip this summer.
From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical is a seven-part series that investigates a mystery illness that overcomes a group of high school girls in upstate New York. This show has plenty of buzz around it, due in part to our fascination with young women being either victimized or crazy — in this case, both at the same time. Hysterical’s host Dan Taberski (Running from COPS, 9/12) asks important questions about whether an illness that’s “all in your head” can be real as he unravels the bizarre events surrounding this mysterious malady. The show drops on July 22nd.
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