Make sure your phone’s connected to your car speakers — or your wireless earbuds are charged — because our sixth annual Nashville Public Radio podcast recommendations have arrived just in time for your Thanksgiving holiday and travels.
Much like a good Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving) table, we at WPLN welcome the suggestions from our music discovery station at WNXP, our development team folks and cross-station leadership. We could’ve cheated and recommended Meribah Knight’s latest, The Kids of Rutherford County — produced in partnership with Serial, The New York Times and ProPublica — or any of This Is Nashville‘s first full calendar year of episodes — like the “Blackest thing to ever air on public radio” (Khalil Ekulona’s words), the Halloween special. But here are some favorites from outside of our own building.
To listen, you can follow each link below, or check them out in this Spotify playlist. You can also search them out in any podcasting app on a smartphone. And since the best stories never get old, you can revisit our past lists from 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018.
Normal Gossip
S4 Bonus “Surprise! The Plant Story”
I am once again imploring you to listen to Normal Gossip. Every week, I am grateful to the Nashville Scene’s Kelsey Beyeler for introducing me to this little treat. The Plant Story was a special live episode recorded with a name familiar to NPR listeners, Brittany Luse of It’s Been A Minute. It is for people who delight in getting all the juicy details of drama that will never personally affect them. This story is for all my history buffs, plant lovers, and folks who love mess.
— Alexis Marshall
This American Life
Stories about addiction, well, I’m addicted. This one has all the emotions: fear, grief, relief, hope, remorse. The story is centered around one call to “Never Use Alone.” It’s a crisis line drug users can call to have someone on the line in case they overdose. In this episode, we get to hear that work happen — and hear why it happens. Reminds me what one of my sources said was the reason he does his controversial harm reduction work: “Dead addicts don’t recover.”
— Tasha A.F. Lemley
The Retrievals
As someone who listens to podcasts while I run, my mileage increased tenfold the week I devoured this five-part series. That’s why I’m not really recommending just one episode — because once you start listening, there’s no chance of stopping. It’s a story that tackles a lot: women’s pain (and the frequent minimization of it), addiction, the bureaucracy of American medical institutions … yet it is all deftly weaved together by host Susan Burton and the voices of the women impacted by this shocking experience.
Fun fact: I believe this was the last podcast launched by Serial Productions before they released The Kids of Rutherford County from WPLN’s own Meribah Knight!
— Cynthia Abrams
Song Exploder
As much as I love this show — and I’ve recommended it in prior years for its sonic dissections of great songs — it has only ever made me cry one time. Recently! What floored me was the old demo version of this song. And, again, including old demo recordings is common within Song Exploder. But this one just … got me. And I think the producers knew it could — they let it play out longer than usual, and even bring it back in for a second little spin later in the episode. It made me tear up that second time, too.
— Tony Gonzalez
On the Media
“How an OTM Reporter Became Part of One of the Biggest January 6th Trials”
This one is journalism gold. During the lead up to Jan. 6, On the Media producer Micah Loewinger spent a lot of time recording conversations on Zello, a walkie-talkie app that a lot of seditionists used to talk and organize. He was even rolling tape in an Oath Keepers group, as they stormed the Capitol. Because he had all this tape, he was subpoenaed to testify in court. This episode deals with what happens when reporting is so through that it is used against someone in the court of law and what that means for the reporter and journalism itself.
— Justin Barney
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
This year, Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend featured a guest that made my Gen-X heart skip a beat. Oh, and he also had a fantastic interview with the surviving Nirvana guys. Thing is, I’m Gen-X: Nerd Edition, so my podcast episode of the year features Captain Jean Luc Picard himself, Sir Patrick Stewart. They say never to meet your heroes, but I came away feeling like I’d kind of met him — and he exceeded my already high expectations.
— Nina Cardona
We Can Do Hard Things
“Why Etiquette is BS and New Rules for Living”
Five minutes into listening to this episode, I immediately sent it to my sister with the message “OMG YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS.” She can relate to my deeply traditional and good behavior-oriented Southern upbringing more than anyone else, after all. This is an exploration into the origin of proper etiquette and its relationship to equity and inclusion in the modern world. Makes you think!
— Margaret Raney
Rumble Strip
Rumble Strip is my favorite podcast, maybe ever. The host, Erica Heilman, interviews ordinary people in the rural part of Vermont where she lives. The conversations start out mundane — about homesteading, being in sixth grade — but almost always touch on some of the most fundamental questions out there: What’s the point of doing anything? How big is the universe, really? This episode stunned me. It starts out as a profile of a private investigator and ends up a discussion of the limits of empathy and what we owe each other in a society.
— Char Daston
Dolls of Our Lives
“Wannabe and the Pop Culture that Shapes Us”
I am not a podcast listener. I get paid to make a podcast, but that does not mean I would like to listen to them in my spare time. I have made a rare exception to my rule for Dolls of Our Lives. I do love American Girl and will consume any media even tangentially related. Where much of Dolls of Our Lives is the co-hosts’ perspectives on the iconic American Girl books (Claudie and Kit’s are the best, argue with the wall), this episode dives into the cultural phenomenon that is Pleasant Company/American Girl. If you fall into the target audience (annoying gay know-it-all) this one is for you.
— Elizabeth Burton
Over My Dead Body: Tally
I am not a podcast listener. This, however, is something that for me has a personal tie. While working at my last station, I covered the trial of Sigfredo Garcia and Katherine Magbanua, a mother and father that were accused of being connected to the murder of FSU professor Dan Markel. If you haven’t heard of the story, then I don’t want to give it away. But a recent development in the murder case has now brought me back to listening to this.
— Blaise Gainey
The Hidden Brain
I am a fan of The Hidden Brain podcast, hosted by Shankar Vedantam, and often find myself recommending episodes to friends and family because the content relates to one of our recent conversations. As we approach the Thanksgiving season, I find this podcast especially timely and poignant, and I am reminded of my tendency to focus on life’s challenges versus what is good. It is a good reminder that it is possible to actively cultivate a feeling of gratitude daily, not just one day per year.
— Kenda Lovecchio
We Read Movies
A show where three friends make fun of bad gay cinema — aside from folks like me with a highly cynical sense of humor, for whom is such a podcast? But the fact that Chris, Drew and Eric chose to cover this summer’s most-streamed rom-com perhaps makes this episode less niche than their typical, low-budget subjects. As someone who found Red, White & Royal Blue charming and romantic (if not completely unrealistic), listening to them tear it all to shreds over 74 minutes is absolutely hilarious.
— Ray Curenton-Dillinger
Smartless
I admit it. I love the friendship amongst Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman in their podcast Smartless. Listening to the three of them give each other sh– is just so much fun. You can feel their love for each other as dear friends come through your headphones. One of my favorite getaways from the world is riding my bike while listening to the three of them converse with their guest. I am also a fan of Kara Swisher. She is so darn smart and is able to talk about incredibly complex issues and simplify them for my small mind. In this episode, she also shows her friendship with Sean. It’s a joy to listen to. And I love her dumping on Elon Musk! Most of all, I loved smiling through my entire listen.
— Steve Swenson
Louder Than A Riot
S2 E9: “Like poppa, like son: Rodney Carmichael”
NPR’s Rodney Carmichael is someone who I strive to be in media. His coverage on topics in hip-hop, namely his recent interview with Andre 3000 talking about his first album in 17 years, New Blue Sun, is an example of his amazing work. Him and Sidney Madden’s Louder Than A Riot podcast has been something I’ve been locked in on since it dropped in 2020. The reporting, storytelling, the deep dive into these important hip-hop conversations are amazing on this podcast. This latest, and sadly final season, is focused on “How the double standard became hip-hop’s standard” — how Black women and people in the LGBTQIA+ community have dealt with the same oppression the musical genre was built to escape — and tells the stories of Megan the Stallion, Rico Nasty, Latto, Saucy Santana and many others. My favorite episode is Carmichael himself tackling his personal experiences dealing with the masculinity hip-hop raised him in, as he raises a son and questions the message of the music he still loves. As someone who wonders the same thing, as much as I love hip-hop, that episode hit me deep.
— Marquis Munson
Immune
OK, Big Macs are not what you are thinking. I study immunology as a hobby. Yeah, I know, I cannot get more geeky than that. Macrophages — the Big Macs because they are big — are particularly important cells of the immune system. They are the generals, directing the soldiers like the antibodies where to go and what to do. This episode of Immune reviews a research paper detailing all the cells of the human body, which total 38 trillion. Specifically, immune cells total 1.8 trillion and weigh about 2.5 lbs. It is not very technical, so no special knowledge is needed. Take a listen. It is more interesting than you expect.
— Carl Pedersen
NASA’s Curious Universe
One small step for the Swedish, one giant leap for mankind. As of this week, NASA’s podcasts are now available on Spotify, which is big, if you’re me and you recently deleted your Apple Podcast app in the desert to make room for more photos of bighorn sheep. Or if you’re up-to-date on the laws that usually prevent our dear space agency from collaborating with other countries. (This particular law was at the center of the Trump-era “China Initiative” which uprooted the life of a Knoxville professor.)
There’s a lot to explore in NASA’s Curious Universe, but I suggest starting here. This episode shows how sound can bring us closer to the center of our solar system. As the days get shorter, I’m definitely missing that big ball of hot gas.
— Marianna Bacallao
Dear Hank & John
372: “Did I Just Glimpse Nirvana?”
In 5th grade, I was out of school for weeks from a surgery to remove a birthmark that had become cancerous. My lifelong friend, Laurie, and I were classmates and neighbors, so she’d bring over my homework and give me media suggestions. The following year, she commented about her favorite YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, and how it would’ve been great for me when I was laid up doing nothing but recovering. I became an instant fan — a “nerdfighter,” for those in the know. Later, Hank Green’s Crash Course videos got us through our advanced science classes in high school. John Green’s book, “Looking For Alaska,” got us through our mutual best friend’s death. The Green brothers have genuinely been there for me, virtually, through so much in life.
This episode begins by addressing, in the saddest full circle moment for me, Hank Green’s cancer diagnosis. John shares such a poignant perspective as a sibling who feels helpless that I had to pause the episode to cry, and then called my little sister. I’d talked to my friend a lot during my recovery, but my sister — then just 6 years old — I’d left out of it, so as to not scare her. Hank’s thankfully in remission now, but I thank the Greens again for being there for me — this time, for a conversation 17 years late.
— Rachel Iacovone
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