Phonograph

On this episode, a break from the usual format. About a year ago, Rob came home from his 30th high school reunion with a story he couldn't stop telling: how he tried to apologize to a woman that reunion whose friendship he'd ended their junior year of high school. To get to the bottom of what the story meant, Rob sat down with a close friend, set up two microphones, and told ...

Overview:

On this episode, Rob and Britta dig into the career of editor and writer Julia Barton, whose incredibly varied career has spanned the golden era of public radio, an experimental podcast recorded while doing the dishes, and an executive editing role at Pushkin Industries. Along the way she's traced the hidden architecture of radio—where it came from and what i...

On this episode, Rob and Britta dig into the classic This American Life episode "24 Hours at the Golden Apple," (November 17, 2000) in which a team of producers spent a full day and night at a 24-hour diner on Chicago's north side, trying to interview everyone who was willing to talk. Special guest Joe Richman, founder of Radio Diaries, joins us to talk about the segment he p...

On this episode, Rob and Britta tell the story of the golden age of podcast advertising — how it started, why it worked, and why it seems to be over. Along the way we tell the story of what happened when Cards Against Humanity partnerned with a very opinionated tech podcaster to create the most entertaining ad campaign in the history of the medium.

Guests include Lex F...

In the weeks since Alex Pretti's murder, Rob and Britta have been listening to numerous podcasts that covered the ICE invasion of American cities over the past year. Ingesting a year of audio ICE coverage puts this story (not to mention our conception of audio journalism) into a whole new perspective.

Come for the heartfelt media criticism. Stay for Rob's brutal taked...