Each month, Podcast Review’s staff offers recommendations on the best new podcasts to listen to. Here are our favorites for October:
Tortoise Media’s podcasts break stories faster than some newspapers. After recently covering an Amber Heard conspiracy and allegations against the writer Neil Gaiman, Tortoise Investigates returns with a three-part series that asks how the so-called most powerful man in the world — who champions free speech on the social media platform he bought — might be using covert tactics to manipulate information for personal and professional reasons. The recent deluge of podcasts about Elon Musk hasn’t put off host Alexi Mostrous (Sweet Bobby), who clearly believes this is a new story worth telling.
Backfired returns for a second season after a successful investigation into the vaping industry. This time, Leon Neyfakh (Fiasco, Slow Burn) and Arielle Pardes (Gadget Lab) turn their attention to the business behind Adderall and Ritalin. But with a new focus, the show has also expanded its scope. In the opening episode, “Now More Than Ever,” the hosts ask enough questions to fill a thesis, never mind a six-hour podcast: Is ADHD on the rise? Is it over-diagnosed? Should it be medicated? Why is there a medication shortage? Are there addictive side effects? Should children with ADHD be medicated? Is social media causing ADHD? The list goes on. The success of Backfired: Attention Deficit will depend on whether these questions can be answered — or at least adequately investigated. But with Neyfakh and Pardes at the helm, we’re confident they will be.
It was about time an American version of Desert Island Discs hit our airwaves. The San Francisco Standard recently launched Life in Seven Songs, a show where writers, actors and other prominent figures tell the story of their lives through the music that shaped it. It’s a simple yet highly emotive premise, which is why Desert Island Discs has been on air since 1942. The Standard’s version is shorter and less gimmicky (there’s no island threatening to sweep all but one record away at the end). The show will ultimately appeal to a US based audience where the BBC show failed to gain traction. The first episodes feature great guests, including Margaret Cho and Lord Norman Foster; at the very least, you’ll build a great playlist of new songs after just a few listens.
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