A great podcast suggestion is valuable currency in the RUSSH office - we trade favourites and binge-worthy series' constantly, and always seem to be in need of more. In the spirit of reciprocity, we asked the RUSSH Editors to share the podcasts they can't hit pause on.
Ellen Presbury
Market & Beauty Director
I’ve listened to endless hours of podcasts. There was the Here’s The Thing phase. The time we all tuned in to Serial and This American Life. But mostly I find myself listening to You Made It Weird (With Pete Holmes). It’s a podcast on comedy but also does sweeping sidesteps into religion, spiritualism, sex, relationships, therapy and the general strangeness of humans and existence. Most episodes sit at a reasonable 90 minutes but often stretch up to three hours. The host’s oversharing leads to oversharing which leads to the most interesting parts of a person.
I get recommended podcasts on really interesting subjects, but what can you really get out of 20 minutes? It always makes me think, “Yeah, I’ve got Google too. What else?” If you get a really interesting person in the room and I only get their Wikipedia page out of it, I’m not really interested. I don’t want 20 minutes of facts, I’d rather three hours of feelings. I don’t want a static question followed by answer, question then answer. I want a jolted, interrupted, side-tracked conversation because that’s how my brain works, and you’ll keep me engaged if you can follow a thread of thought off to the side and loop back around to the point being made 30 minutes earlier.
A special mention to The Cutting Room Floor for having fearlessly critical discussions on the fashion / photography / design industry with those that work within it.
Ella Jane
Production Co-ordinator
Since The Cut on Tuesdays has left the building, there has been a storytelling-shaped void in my life. To remedy this, I’ve been listening to a myriad of conspiracy and con-artist podcasts (a far leap from Molly Fischer debunking our stance on pubic hair, I know). This lead me to Fake Heiress, the investigative podcast centred on Anna Delvy – a rogue German woman who pretended to be a New York heiress and scammed people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’d read The Cut’s 5000 word story on her when it broke, but re-listening to the elaborate plan this deranged woman hatched to scam thousands still gets me.
Ella Jane
Production Co-ordinator
Since The Cut on Tuesdays has left the building, there has been a storytelling-shaped void in my life. To remedy this, I’ve been listening to a myriad of conspiracy and con-artist podcasts (a far leap from Molly Fischer debunking our stance on pubes, I know.), this lead me to Fake Heiress, the investigative podcast centred on Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) – a Russian woman who pretended to be a German heiress and scammed people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’d read The Cut’s 5,000 word story on her when it broke, but re-listening to the elaborate plan this deranged woman hatched to scam thousands still gets me.
Natalie Petrevski
Fashion Editor
This was a recommendation from podcast enthusiast Victoria Pearson. I’m halfway through listening to Chasing Cosby and yes, it is quite distressing, but also so powerful and fascinating to see the rise and fall of “America’s Dad”. For decades, Bill Cosby was a loved and admired comedian and the star of his hugely successful sitcom The Cosby Show. This was a very powerful celebrity that led a dark and disgusting secret life, preying on young women by drugging and sexually assaulting over 60 victims – he almost got away with it too. Hosted by investigative reporter Nicki Weisensee Egan from the L.A. Times, the podcast features interviews with survivor Andrea Constand and first-hand accounts from over a dozen survivors, jurors and prosecutors. Please be warned, this podcast traverses raw and graphic content, but also be empowered at how strong these women are, and needed to be.
Andréa Tchacos
Deputy Editor
This is perhaps nerdy but I’ve been enjoying the New York Public Library’s Library Talks. My favourite episodes: an interview with Patti Smith in which she is characteristically humble while also trying to procure the library’s heirlooms; and one with Debbie Harry and Marina Abramovic – Harry is deadpan and Abramovic is intense and they talk being broken up with and selling out and living with their parents, and it’s chaotic but brilliant.
Andréa Tchacos
Deputy Editor
This is perhaps nerdy but I’ve been enjoying the New York Public Library’s Library Talks. My favourite episodes: an interview with Patti Smith in which she is characteristically humble while also trying to procure the library’s heirlooms; and one with Debbie Harry and Marina Abramovic – Harry is deadpan and Abramovic is intense and they talk being broken up with and selling out and living with their parents, and it’s chaotic but brilliant.
Victoria Pearson
Content Director
I, like my colleagues, have a soft spot for The Cut on Tuesdays, This American Life and You Made It Weird (with Pete Holmes). But what I’m currently bingeing (about five years too late) is Start Up. Specifically season one, which covers the genesis and launch of podcast network Gimlet Media. Hosted by TAL alum, Alex Blumberg, the series traverses the various breakthroughs and pitfalls associated with launching a start up, and I can’t stop listening. I’m particularly fascinated by the pitching process, and the number of times they doubted their own skills, knowledge and passion throughout the course of the season. Knowing now that the company would be incredibly successful (and a recent purchase of Spotify) makes it all the better listening.
I also had a brief but intense dalliance with The Big One: Your Survival Guide, an aural imagining of what the next catastrophic earthquake to hit Los Angeles would look like (because it is coming), and the major effects of its aftermath. It did compel me to consider joining a doomsday cult, but it’s slick listening and you’ll never want it to end.
Megan Nolan
Designer & Creative Services Manager
I will admit that I’m by no means a regular podcast listener however for long car trips Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin? is my go to-to. Each episode delves into a couple’s relationship, letting you in on a counselling session led by psychotherapist Esther Perel. It’s completely raw and very multifaceted in terms of what kind of relationships it covers and the types of problems they are facing. My favourite? An evangelical couple who had never kissed until their wedding day and now struggle to get intimate.
Esther has also just released a new podcast called How’s Work?, discussing workplace connections, and this is definitely next on my list.
Megan Nolan
Designer & Creative Services Manager
I will admit that I’m by no means a regular podcast listener however for long car trips Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin? is my go to-to. Each episode delves into a couple’s relationship, letting you in on a counselling session led by psychotherapist Esther Perel. It’s completely raw and very multifaceted in terms of what kind of relationships it covers and the types of problems they are facing. My favourite? An evangelical couple who had never kissed until their wedding day and now struggle to get intimate.
Esther has also just released a new podcast called How’s Work?, discussing workplace connections, and this is definitely next on my list.
