Or Plane, or Train, or staying at home needs!
Empty Frames
Can there be too many podcasts about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist in 1990? (Hint, the answer is no). This take on it done by Crawlspace Media back in 2018 (when there was quite a resurgence in activity around trying to find out who did it) is not exactly what I was expecting. Instead of taking all the info and then making it a narrative podcast, the two hosts usually sit down with a different expert (book writer, etc.) on the heist in each episode, getting that person’s point of view as well as giving their point of view.
The podcast also has two subsequent seasons that take on more about the Gardner heist, but, also take on other topics that surround the stealing of art as well. It’s a fun podcast with lots of information that even I didn’t know (and I’ve listened to quite a few podcasts on the Gardner heist).
Blind Landing
I’m not exactly sure what I was doing in 2000 at the time of the Olympics, or, perhaps I missed all this because the Games that year were in Sydney, Australia and so a weird number of hours ahead of the US. So, even though I’m usually hooked into any and all sorts of weird happenings in sports, I had no idea the vault drama that went on that year.
A quick recap for others who didn’t catch everything in 2000. The vault was not the right height, and, in something like the vault, it can really get people hurt. And simple inches (or, it’s Australia so it was probably centimeters) changed so much about so many gymnasts’ lives that year. (Also, I definitely had some ‘ouch’es while I was listening to the podcast. Ouch).
There is also a second season of this podcast which is just as interesting. It’s about Figure Skating and some of the figure skaters who took on the norms of the sport in different (sometimes way different) ways. Just as interesting and great a podcast season.
Twin Flames
This was a crazy podcast. The subject of it is a cult where the theme of Twin Flames (sorta soulmates, sorta not, I’m still unsure what exactly it means outside of the couple of movies in which I’ve seen the term used), is at the center. People finding, being in a relationship with, becoming more ‘twin flamey’ mostly with others in the group.
The podcast explains how the cult sucked vulnerable (in different ways) people in, got them stuck, and then… this was the most disturbing part of the podcast, how some of the people who got stuck there and started changing not just hair or clothes or stuff like that, but, who they were on a base level, trying to do it on a psychological level even. This story was so very, very disturbing.
But, what wasn’t disturbing was how well it was put together. The narrative was always moving forward, and the narration by Stephanie Beatriz was awesome.
International Infamy
This is a short form podcast from the Parcast (aka Spotify) stable of shows. This one only has 15 episodes in total (if you’re looking for something that is complete). In each of those episodes a different murder from a different country is presented. We get to see how all murderers are alike and how they are different.
Not surprisingly, I had never heard about most of these murders. Personally, I found the best episode, as well as one of the most intense ones the one set in Iceland. But, all of them were really well done, and the host, Ashley Flowers was awesome as usual as well.
Don’t forget to check out our previous podcast recommendation posts too:
Nevinsbuzz 
Pingback: From Fortune to Christmas – Four Great Podcasts | Nevinsbuzz