Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief
“Decoder Ring”
Hosted by Willa Pasket, TV critic for Slate, “Decoder Ring” aims to demystify certain aspects of culture. The podcast was launched on April 29 and has only produced one episode — a 30-minute piece on the history of the Laff Box, the first laugh-track machine. According to Slate’s website, every month Pasket will, “take on a cultural question, object, idea, or habit and speak with experts, historians and obsessives to figure out where it comes from, what it means and why it matters.”
“Decoder Ring” is interesting to listen to because it does just that. The show makes listeners think about aspects of culture that may not be on their mind — I can honestly tell you that I had never thought about laugh tracks as in-depth as this show talked about them.
Photo by: player.fm
“I Need My Space”
“I Need My Space” is a podcast put out by Inverse, a website that’s aimed at exploring science, innovation and new ideas. The show is hosted by Rae Paoletta, senior editor for the site, and comedian Steve Ward. While “I Need My Space” explores questions relating to space and intergalactic travel, it does so in a more lighthearted way than podcasts like “StarTalk Radio.” Paoletta and Ward interview both space experts and space enthusiasts to answer a myriad of questions that range from “what do aliens really look like?” to “why do we love shooting things into space?”
“I Need My Space” is a must-listen for people who are interested in space, but who also love to ponder the questions that may be less serious. It’s important to know what Elon Musk is doing, but it’s also fun to think about what life in a spacecraft is like.
Photo by: Inverse.com
“Dear Franklin Jones”
I discovered this podcast while scrolling through the available podcast options in the Google Play store. “Dear Franklin Jones” follows Jonathan Hirsch, the show’s producer, as he tries to uncover the truth about a group led by Franklin Jones that he was raised in — the group has been deemed controversial because of speculation that they’re a cult.
The ‘cast consists of seven short episodes that document Hirsch’s journey as he tries to understand Jones’s effect on Hirsch life, family and the lives of the people who followed Jones. “Dear Franklin Jones” is an explorative podcast that follows the same vein of productions like “Missing Richard Simmons” — Hirsch uses extensive interviews, research, as well as his own self-reflection to work towards uncovering information about Jones.
Photo by: www.stitcher.com
“Nancy”
“Nancy” is the only podcast on this list that wasn’t introduced in April 2018 — but it turned a year old in April. Hosted by Kathy Tu and Tobin Low, the podcast focuses on showcasing different perspectives from people in the LGBTQ+ community. Though the podcast begins with Tu and Low talking about their individual coming out stories, it shifts into being a podcast that relies on interviews with celebrities like Lena Waithe and Nico Tortorella, or people closer to their lives like their moms.
Though “Nancy” helps give a voice to people throughout the community, it stands out because of the heart that Tu and Low have. Both hosts are clearly invested in the stories that they’re presenting and it shows.
Photo by: npr.org
Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu
