Podcast Playlist

New and Notable Podcasts: May 2021 Edition

Don’t understand the latest meme or TikTok trend? The hosts of a new online culture podcast are here to save you from endless scrolling. Plus, true crime in Malibu, life advice from Dolly Parton, and more.
(Courtesy of podcasts/Elena Hudgins Lyle/PicMonkey)

If you're craving travel this month, you're in luck. Well, kind of. This month's new podcast picks will take you on a journey all across time and space, from the banks of the Nile to Malibu. You'll hear powerful audio fiction and even life advice from Dolly Parton. 

Plus, there's a lot on the internet these days. Ever feel like you just don't get the latest meme, TikTok trend or online celeb feud? The podcast ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) is here to save you hours of scrolling. Hosts Rachelle Hampton and Madison Malone Kircher join our host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk all things internet culture and growing up online.

Podcasts featured this week:

(Courtesy of podcasts)

ICYMI: "Hosts Rachelle Hampton and Madison Malone Kircher recap the recent drama around Kylie Jenner's call for her followers to donate to a makeup artist's GoFundMe—and explain how it connects to a whole year of influencers failing to read the room during the pandemic."

By The Book: "Kristen and Jolenta are back with season 8, this time exploring celebrity self-help books! To kick things off, they're living by Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You by singer, songwriter, and superstar Dolly Parton."

Lost Hills: "On June 22, 2018, Tristan Beaudette is brutally murdered in front of his two young daughters while camping in idyllic Malibu Creek State Park. The killing stuns the tight-knit, privileged community of Malibu. More stunning? The fact that the cops anticipated the attack, but didn't move to stop it. And the culprit they identify insists he's being framed."

Aria Code: "They say you can't go home again, and Giuseppe Verdi's Aida knows it all too well. Captured from her homeland of Ethiopia and enslaved in Egypt, she falls in love with an Egyptian warrior. Aida is torn between her love for this man and her love for her home and, because it's opera, she ultimately chooses the tenor. In 'O Patria Mia,' Aida stands on the banks of the Nile and says goodbye to Ethiopia. In this episode, host Rhiannon Giddens and her guests explore what home means, and what it means to leave it behind."

Play Me: "By Jordi Mand. Marion, a middle-aged working mother, arrives at her son Alex's private elementary school — ostensibly for the school's parent/teacher night. Teresa, Alex's twenty-something teacher, wasn't expecting her but reluctantly agrees to a brief meeting about Alex's academic progress. The two share a tense exchange about school policy and Teresa's teaching style until Marion reveals the real reason for her unannounced visit."

Ear Hustle: "Visiting a loved one in prison is both emotionally intense and constrained by countless rules — from how much PDA is too much PDA, to what kind of candy you can eat inside. One year after California prison authorities suspended in-person visits due to COVID-19, we bring you stories from and about visiting rooms, and hear how families are adjusting to video 'visits.'"


What podcasts take you on a journey? Tell us! Email, tweet us @PodcastPlaylist, or find us on Facebook.

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