10 Pod Takes

1) “I don't know how to hug my mom.”

Ear Hustle: Firsts, March 14 (7:31)

• The heartbreaking words of Adnan Khan, before greeting his mother the first time she visits him in prison. He’d been locked up for 10 years.

• It’s the centerpiece story of an incredible first episode of Ear Hustle’s second season.

2) “It is definitely the most compelling thing I’ve heard in 2018.”

Longform Podcast: Chana Joffe-Walt, March 14 (0:53)

• Co-host Max Linsky was so impressed by Joffe-Walt’s “Five Women” episode of This American Life he listened three times.

• The two talk for almost an hour about the reporting and creation of the story about five women connected to one man accused of sexual harassment.

3) “I never want to forget what it's like to be 24 years old and hungry.”

The Adam Carolla Show: Brad Meltzer + March Gradness Round 1 & Hooray for Baldywood, March 15 (5:29)

• That’s Meltzer, shouting his truth from the top spot on the New York Times hardcover fiction best sellers list.

• Meltzer recounts his struggle rising from a rough Brooklyn ‘hood.

4) “I call her the ghost of the Russia investigation. She seems to be everywhere that Mueller is, but no one sees her.”

Trumpcast: The Ghost of the Mueller Investigation, March 14 (12:53)

• The specter is Ivanka Trump, dubbed by guest Hannah Seligson.

• Seligson isn’t fooled. She explodes Trump’s Instagram persona and explores her potential fate in an ever-encroaching investigation.

5) “The stories about the past are so good that they create an illusion that life is understandable. And that’s an illusion.”

Hidden Brain: Think Fast with Daniel Kahneman, March 12 (19:52)

• And that’s Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Kahneman, whose work “laid the foundation for behavioral economics” and shifted perceptions of human behavior. No big deal.

• A hug from a Nazi in German-occupied Paris set up a theme in his life and work: People are complicated.   

6) “We thought a show involving singing would make people happy and proud, and would defend them psychologically from al-Shabab.”

Invisibilia: The Other Real World, March 16 (11:11)

• Says Ben Parker, one of the minds behind an effort to use a reality show to fight Islamic terrorism in Somalia.

• The fascinating pod looks at efforts to use “American Idol”- and "Shark Tank”-style entertainment to communicate Western values.

7) “There’s something really weird about restaurants that kind of lets you buy your way into a different class for a couple hours.”

Eater Upsell: Performative Eating and Fatness with Jessica Valenti and Lindy West, March 13 (16:59)

• So says host Daniel Geneen, talking to Valenti about food, feminism and potentially raising a bougie Brooklyn kid who occasionally craves sticky rice from Pok Pok.

8) “This is the least sweaty comedy you’re gonna see.”

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Atlanta, March 14 (6:01)

• That’s praise from Glen Weldon for Donald Glover’s “Atlanta,” a place where an invisible car and a black Justin Bieber don’t seem out of place.

• The PCHH crew fawns over the show’s tone. Weldon says, “The humor is never lunged at.”

9) “A shopping cart is a traveling embassy.”

Dear Hank & John: Space War Fears, March 12 (24:09)

• Says John Green, advising his listeners not to poach the goods in other people’s carts at the market.

• Also: WTF? Who does that?

10) “If my dad showed up on the Millennium Falcon, I’d be fucking terrified.”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Bill Hader Live at SXSW, March 12 (1:16:38)

• That’s Hader, with sharp insight into why his kids have problems seeing him in movies.