Three New Non-Serialized Shows That You Need To Listen To

PLUS...Details on Resonate's Pitch Party, deadline extended to Sept 15

Sep 05, 2024

It’s September, woah! Feeling energized to be back at the desk.

Chioke I’Anson, Founder and Resonate Podcast Festival has some things to say

Last year I ventured to Resonate Festival for the first time. I’ve been going to festivals and conferences for decades…this one stood out for me. It was small, it was curious, it dug into some deep questions that were lingering in my brain. It felt like a gathering of minds, as much as a grouping of like-minded people.

Sorry to report, but if you wanted to join the festival this year, it’s too late. All the tickets sold out in just a few short hours. But there is still one way to get there…get your pitch selected for the Pitch Party.

The deadline has been extended to September 15. So if you can get your pitch together in time, if you’re a US Resident, and you can make your way to Richmond, Virgina for October 25-26, 2024, you’ll be delightfully surprised.

Find all the details and links about Resonate you need here.

I reached out to Chioke to get some answers to my 7 questions about what the Pitch Party is all about…and what he’s excited about this year for Resonate.

[Samantha Hodder]: Some details: What does the pitch app need to include?

[Chioke I’Anson]: It's pretty simple. A description of the show and a short trailer. There are some other questions, but this is the main thing [ED: find that and more HERE]

[SH]: And what are three ways to make their app stand out?

[CI’A]: Make an intriguing trailer that gives a true sense of what the show is. Convey your passion in the show description. Be very clear about how your show merges fiction and non-fiction.

[SH]: Have we reached peak non-fiction?

[CI’A]: Ha. You are asking a Hegelian whether we have reached the absolute. I suppose I think that audience expectation and receptivity is more varied than it has ever been, but we have been conditioned en masse to be open to non-fiction forms that aren't challenging or "weird." We could do with a bit more weird to break us out of the malaise.

[SH]: Can you narrow it down to 1-2 series that you listened to that made you think ‘we need more of this stuff right now?’

[CI’A]: I always talk about Love + Radio's Girl of Ivory. It's a strange episode about a strange relationship, but it is portrayed with maximum empathy that would have been impossible to evoke without its fictional overlay.

[SH]: I can think of similar terms: "creative non-fiction," "docu-drama"…how are those similar and different to your term “docu-fiction?”

[CI’A]: Look, I'm kinda winging it here. I just mean "has fiction and also has non-fiction."

[SH]: Tell me about three things you’re super excited for WRT Resonate Fest this year?

[CI’A]: We've got satellite events this year. The ECCO is doing a listening thing, Goat Rodeo is doing a kayaking trip, and some other things are in the works. I have to survey ticket holders to see if anyone wants to ride a horse. We will also be gathering together on the last day to form a parade that will take us to the after party. We are going all in on being an intentional artistic community.

[SH]: For those coming to the fest, what are three pro-tips about what they need to do to get ready for the event?

[CI’A]: If you can, plan to leave late on Sunday after RESONATE. Richmond is a great city that is worth spending time in, even if you don't ride horses Sunday morning.

There will be a photographer taking complimentary headshots on Saturday, so roll up ready for camera lights.

Oh, and pack your business cards. RESONATE happens all in one space and you will meet many people.

Proxy

For those listeners who loved Insibilia as much as I did (RIP), this is a little bit like taking a Neo Citron to help you sleep through the night because you feel so terrible.

Yowei Shaw has been very public, and excruciatingly honest, about how hard it was to be let go of her job at NPR, where she worked for many years at Invisibilia, first as a staffer, and eventually as Host. For anyone who has been fired, or gone through a horrific layoff, this is good medicine. But she found a productive way to continue that conversation, in her new show, Proxy, that she hosts with a small indie production team. It’s actually semi-serialized, if we are getting technical. But you get the picture.

My own story from more than 15 years ago still stings, so I wasn’t sure that I could listen comfortably. But she makes it work. She does that thing that she does so well, which is to dive into emotions that we all have and lay them bare for everyone else to benefit from their telling. And while you’re sitting with your discomfort, she will make you feel a bit better (or more normal, or less special and singled-out). The concept of “proxy” is to that Shaw will host a conversation between two people; the person who has something to unpack, and a “proxy,” an expert or even a stranger with shared experience.

It’s medicine if you need it. And it’s honest and open-cracking if you’re there to listen. There’s also a community if that’s what you’re really looking for.

The Wirecutter Show, from the NYTimes

The arrival of The Wirecutter Show to me also signals the arrival of normcore in the podcast world. I mean that in a good way. Where do I start…the audacity to launch a podcast—from the biggest, best-funded and arguably most successful podcast production house out there—with an episode about laundry? Is just, so…normal. I had no idea that one could make a living out of laundry. I may have missed my calling.

The show launched in late August, and so far episodes have covered various categories that squarely fit in the news-you-can-use category: air filters, food waste and complex matrix surrounding when to purchase a cellphone for your kids. The topics, briefly listed, sound boring. But the content is mesmerizing.

Like all the other NYTimes shows, the hosts: Christine Cyr Clisset, Caira Blackwell, along with producer Rosie Guerin dig into the luxurious NYTimes bank of various beat reporters. They also offer a captivating glimpse into Wirecutter universe and share stories that allow you to peak behind the curtain of how the Wirecutter team does their own, deeply-sourced, un-sponsored, scientific-method-inspired research to deliver us opinions about which is the best vacuum-sealer machine to buy…or what budget robot vaccum actually works (for longer than the brief warranty period).

You probably didn’t know that you needed this each Wednesday, but you’re welcome. Because now you know that you do.

The Worst Podcast

Canadaland has done it again (and again) this year, with a new slate of shows that are all great for different reasons. The Worst Podcast is a cheeky, Canadalandish response to a celebrity show. The show is Hosted by Alan Zweig, a notable, infamously grumpy and iconoclastic documentary filmmaker. It’s charmingly co-hosted with

Kattie Laur

and EP’d by Julie Shapiro. It’s a whip-smart team…no wonder they produced some incredible results.

I recently interviewed Zweig for an article I wrote in the print edition of POV Magazine that just dropped…which gave me advance episodes to a whole range of insightful things about this show, and Alan’s long career as both a filmmaker, which by default makes him a professional ‘interviewer.’

Zweig learns who the guest is that he will interview for the show after Laur prompts (and sometimes spoonfeeds) him clues. He has to guess who…he often fails the quiz…and then in real time, they dive right into the interview. Zweig goes in cold, with about two minutes of Zoom room waiting time to prepare (this is actually true, I’ve listened to the raw tape).

But what makes it an anti-celeb format is that they don’t chat about their latest titles, starring roles, or festival circuit shenanigans….instead, they dive into all the worst things that have ever happened to them. Zweig is looking to capture their worst memory, the worst thing they’ve ever said to their mother, some wildly regrettable moment or their worst job. What he’s actually seeking is to “find some humour to the horrible shit in life.”

And trust me on this one—he has an uncanny ability to crack people open during an interview to find the most interesting parts. I know because he did this to me, while I was interviewing him.

Find this to tune up your own interviewing skills, to be charmed by Zweig and Laur, and to learn all about the worst moments and things and stuff from the various celebrities that will appear here…or listen just for the fun of it. Because it is fun. The launch episode is comedian Paul F. Tompkins and actress Janie Haddad Tompkins. Future eps will include Ron McLean, Anna Sale, Priyanka, and others.

Brief BUT Important!

Audio Flux Circuit 4 is September 15….get those details HERE.

Third Coast has SUCCEEDED in their goal to raise over $50,000 to relaunch the Third Coast Competition…details will arrive later this fall. Sign up for their newsletter HERE, for details and potential future Audio Doctor appointments.

Ever thought about becoming an Academic? Apply now for PhD Studentships at Falmouth, UK.