Are you a pod person? Do you listen to podcasts? Do you have your own podcast? It seems that every other person is a podcaster these days, and every celebrity, comedian, and author is a podcaster. I've been slow to embrace podcasts, but I have found a few that interest me. I listen when I'm reading my bike in the morning or walking or driving. Here are a few recommendations.
I really started listening to the podcasts of two of my favorite people. Mike Rowe (Who doesn't love Mike Rowe?) started doing The Way I Heard It a couple of years ago. His stories are a great entry into podcasts because they're short, interesting, and witty. Some might even call them pithy. They average about 10 minutes each, and the stories are very reminiscent of The Rest of the Story by legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey. (If you're 40 or under, you probably have to look him up.) Each story is an interesting and/or funny story about some famous person or event. However, Rowe doesn't reveal the subject of the story until the end, and it's almost always a surprise, or a story you've never heard before. He also published a collection of the stories in 2019. ( https://mikerowe.com/podcast/ )
Mo Rocca has been all over our television sets for years now, first on The Daily Show, then as the host of several different series, and as regular correspondent on CBS Sunday Morning. I have always loved his shows and interviews, and he has a real interest in history. Many of his CBS Sunday Morning pieces are about U.S. Presidents, and I used several when teaching American history. His podcast grew out of his CBS Sunday Morning pieces. They are well-researched shows about famous people or things that have passed, and he thinks that they deserve some more attention. Each podcast is a pleasure to listen to. He also published a collection of his pieces in 2019. ( https://www.mobituaries.com/the-podcast/ )
Both of these podcasts are great and easy-listening and cover a broad range of topics. However, it looks like one of the most popular genres of podcasts is true crime. The podcast is an ideal medium in which to explore crimes in great detail and from several angles, sometimes seeking answers to puzzling questions, or sometimes just raising even more questions.
This morning, I just finished episode 10 of 12 of In the Red Clay, set in and around Winder Georgia from the late 1960s to about 2000. It is the story of Billy Sunday Birt, perhaps the most dangerous man to ever live in Georgia. He was a bank robber, arsonist, and professional hitman who was responsible for at least 50 crimes, including dozens of murders. He also was the founder of the "Dixie Mafia", an organization that controlled moonshining, drugs, and other criminal enterprises throughout the southeastern United States for decades. The creator and narrator of the podcast first heard about Birt when he went to Winder, Georgia to work as a member of the crew of an HBO series that was being filmed there at the time. This is one of the most compelling stories that I've ever heard. No writer in Hollywood or writer of fiction could possibly write a story that was more interesting. Birt was born poor. His father died when Birt was young, and Birt's mother and siblings lost the small family farm. He had a severe speech impediment which made it difficult for most people to understand him. He didn't have any education or prospects to speak of. Then, as an adult, he became the most "respected", mostly feared, and richest man in north Georgia. On one hand, he was known as a loving family man, who had soft spots in his heart for children and animals. On the other hand, he was a cold-blooded killer. This is a great story, told so well, and told mostly by Birt's son Stony, who grew up absolutely idolizing his father. (https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/in-the-red-clay/ ).
Buried Truths is a podcast that grew out of a class at Emory University. Hank Kilbanoff taught classes on unsolved crimes in Georgia. The class, which began in 2011, allows students to take an in-depth look at racially motivated murders that went unpunished in the Jim Crow South. It mixes journalism with history and African American studies, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Magazine. The professor and his students investigate each case through records and interviews, and their findings are presented in the podcast. The first season told the story of the murder of Isaiah Nixon, a black man murdered for voting in 1948 in Alston Georgia, a town about twenty miles from my hometown of Vidalia. These are compelling stories that deserve to be told. ( https://www.npr.org/podcasts/577471834/buried-truths )
The Red Note is a podcast about the Mexican gangs that operate with impunity on the U.S. - Mexican border. In recent years, hundreds of women have disappeared and have been tortured and murdered and forced into sex slavery. This podcast, narrated by a Mexican investigative reporter who is now on the run because of threats against her life. It's a frightening story. ( https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/the-red-note/ )
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