Some *Bingeworthy Summer Listens To Get You Started

With the official start of summer newsletter, I've got some listens for you to put in your queue as you go for your road trips, long summer walks, or extended gardening afternoons

Something a bit different for you today. I’m taking a look back, a look forward, and also sharing one of my secret pleasures with you today. *some of these series may be profiled here…please let me know in the comments which ones you’re super curious about.

First off, looking back just a couple of weeks from today, I was in New York, taking in all the sights and sounds of Tribeca. There is some buried treasure inside this post…a round-up of some of the exciting new series that premiered at the festival.

Listening Back

As one season turns to the next, here’s a look back on a couple of posts that you might have missed.

1. Speaking of Tribeca, the very-very first series that I profiled as part of Bingeworthy was Mother Country Radicals. That series took the top honours last year at Tribeca. If you’re looking to get caught up on American history, but see it through a whole new lens, here ya’ go.

2. The podcast Bone Valley is about the wrongful conviction of Leo Schofield that has lasted for more than 34 years, despite any physical evidence linking him to the crime. In early May, another parole hearing was denied…but I have a feeling this story is not over yet. Listen to this excellent series, and read the review along with Q+A here.

Looking forward

My eyes are burning, there’s smoke in the air…this must be the start of summer. Or summer in the new way that we know it to be. I was scrolling the other day (old habits dies hard) and came across a tweet by Catherine McKenna’s tweet that suggested that the Environment Canada weather warnings include a disclaimer: "A warming planet leads to increased severity & frequency of wildfires across the world resulting in air pollution." McKenna is Canada’s former Environment Minister, who was famously called Climate Barbie by some deep fake loser. She’s got some good ideas.

The air quality is so bad in parts of Quebec that many outdoor events were cancelled, including an Ironman event, along with a range of other sporting events. It’s not just Canada, today Chicago’s air is so bad they are warning people about being outside.

Oh dear. I can hear the chorus of Blame Canada between the lines of the New York Times round-up of the wide range of the smoke and its ill effects.

This all makes me think about a podcast that I’ve heard many great things about, and have put on my summer listen list: Expectant, is a 6-part series that explores the thought process of a woman who chooses to face the prospect of becoming a parent during the climate crisis.

If you’re looking for a series that feels like a roadtrip through a cultural community you probably never really new existed, tune in to Foretold…it’s all about the insular Romani community, who live in and around some of the biggest cities in California, not nestled away on homesteading farms of the hinterland. This series feels like a hot secret tell-all, from one woman named Paulina, who left her community. Watch out for a Q+A with Faith Pinho and Jazmín Aguilera next month.

It’s summer…which means, obv, that it’s time to talk about hockey, right? Note: not all Canadians are hockey nuts; take this one in particular. But a series that tackles some of the deeper and darker sides of hockey? I’m all in. Commons: Hockey

This one is gracing the top of every chart out there. It was too tempting to pass up. If you’ve been touched by cancer, which is very likely, Scamanda will make your blood boil, and leave you wondering: Is this woman a genius or just a psychopath-lying piece of crap?

This came on my radar recently…another upper about women’s health. Whatever happens in this series, however dark it will get, we can be sure that the Serial team will take us to the bottom of some abyss, and then slowly walk us out. Anyone up for meeting at the pit of despair? Summer can’t be all about wine and roses.

NEXT WEEK

I’m excited to share my conversation with Lauren Passel and Arielle Nisenblatt when we huddled together on a noisy Tribeca rooftop to chat about Tink Media does their magic. And also what they have to offer for low-to-no budget indie productions in terms of support…aka Podcast Therapy.

In the meantime, get caught up on (one of Lauren’s) great newsletters, Podcast, The Newsletter:

🧁Sweet? 🤣 snorting with Terry Gross 💃 club kids🕺🏻 little prayers 🙏 "a mouth with a lot of teeth missing full of people" 🦷

And…not to be outdone here. For all my Canadian freinds who work in this industry, or are curious about how it all goes up here….check out Pod the North.

What I wish I said over the last few weeks. (Clickbait title, I'm tired.)

This is a little something that’s stolen my heart…

All this writing about facts and the documentary craft is what I choose to spend much of my time doing. But, there is another side to it all. I’ve discovered that committing to a few writing sprints throughout the year, where I often dabble in some fiction writing about some of the whacky tangents my brain wanders off with…I’ve discovered this writing community. It’s called #1000 Words of Summer, headed by

Jami Attenberg

and her wonderful Craft Talk #1000.

Below is the first post…this sprint is almost done, but why not tee-up a writing spring for yourself this summer and let your brain melt down onto the page.

Day 1 of #1000wordsofsummer 2023

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Thanks for all this, and see you next week.