Podcast of the Week: Gravy
We were on the Serial thing early -- but Podcast of the Week is even earlier to this party. Check out Gravy, the new podcast from the Southern Foodways Alliance and you'll be in on the first course. Or the appetizer. You'll be one of the first at the table.
OK, you get it. Gravy's first episode debuted yesterday and it's a good listen. Perfectly timed for Thanksgiving, Gravy tells the story of the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina. I'd never heard of the Lumbee Indians, more shame on me, and I learned about food and culture and history, without feeling like I was being force-fed educational matter. And I'm really glad it was audio, because hearing the actual voices made it so much stronger. I'm looking forward to hearing what these guys come up with next.
Podcast press
Serial gets its own category in this section, since so much of the podcast press is driven by coverage of that show. For example:
- A podcast about a podcast about a podcast -- some meta-consideration of Serial from Linda Holmes of NPR's Monkey See blog and Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Holmes continues to offer a media-savvy, smart and fair consideration of Serial.
- The Onion A.V. Club's podcast about Serial, one of the subjects of Holmes' piece.
- Writer Megan Abbott offers her take on Serial on WNYC's The Takeaway.
- Adnan Syed's family offers their perspective on the podcast.
- An analysis of Sarah Koenig's approach from the National Post.
- News from the Baltimore Sun about the legal status of the case.
- A story from the Independent in Britain about Serial's appeal for funds, which they made during this week's episode.
- Why it's OK to give Serial credit for a podcasting renaissance from the Radiosurvivor blog
- A helpful roundup and guide to Serial backlash from Salon.
- Serial breaks iTunes download record in record time, from The Guardian
- Speaking of backlash, this piece from Digital Spy has some qualms about the entertainment/enjoyment factor in a story about a real-life murder case
OK! There were a few other pieces of podcast press that were *not* about Serial, though it sneaks a mention in some of them, if only as the starting base for alternative suggested listens.
- Radiotopia sets a Kickstarter record for fundraising -- the podcast collective's goal was $250,000; they closed the campaign at more than $600,000.
- Buzzfeed has recommendations for storytelling podcasts
- The Financial Times offers a podcast about the podcasting renaissance focusing, naturally, on the financials.
- Wired provides The Three Podcasts You Can't Miss This Week -- as a special bonus, none of them are Serial.
- Music podcasts! That's different. Here is a piece recommending 11 of them from NME, or New Musical Express, which is British.
- Glamour offers five podcasts for the Serial-obsessed, including the A.V. Club and This American Life and a couple others about crime.
- A story about how Spotify is going to add podcasts to its programming, which some people who understand these things figured out from the code. Or something.
- Another recommendation of podcasts, this one with a couple unusual suspects, from the Courier-Mail of Australia.
- The Future of Podcasting according to Forbes, with an emphasis on the business end of the business.
- Are podcasts the new Netflix? Entrepreneur.com seems to think so. So does the Huffington Post.
- And if you're still with me ... some satire for dessert. The Awl has recommendations for 11 Podcasts That Will Inform and Delight You.