In today’s podcast roundup, Luminary drops a three-part interview with the late Bob Saget; “Too Hot to Handle” and “The Circle” star Chloe Veitch is launching a sex and dating podcast; USG Audio’s first scripted podcast, thriller “The End Up” from executive producer Sam Esmail, is premiering at the Tribeca Festival; and more.
DATES
Luminary, the subscription-based podcast and audio entertainment platform, this week premiered one of the last interviews with comedian and actor Bob Saget on its original show “Til This Day With Radio Rahim.” Saget, who died in January, sat for the interview with Radio Rahim in May 2021. Across three chapters, totaling about one hour, the duo cover topics including Saget’s deep love for friends and family, his dreams and future goals for his career in film, his unfiltered thoughts about Hollywood elite and his unique relationship with Tom Hanks. “I found out how much love that I had given to receive so much love from people,” Saget says in an exchange about a surprise 60th birthday party that “Full House” co-star John Stamos threw him. In another emotional moment, he says, “When one [of my daughters] is struggling, I’m able to lock eyes and we’re able to be at the same place at the same moment. Because I get them. I know what they’re going through.”
In a statement, Radio Rahim said, “It’s surreal and humbling to have had the opportunity to sit down with Bob in the months before his tragic and sudden passing. With the family’s permission, we think it’s important to share his brilliant, moving and honest words with the world.” Guests on “Til This Day With Radio Rahim” have included Questlove and Sam Jay; upcoming guests are set to include Jon Stewart, Rosie Perez and “Saturday Night Live’s” Michael Che.
Chapter 1 of Saget’s interview on “Til This Day” is available to listen to for free on YouTube or Luminary’s website; the second and third installments are available only to Luminary subscribers.
“Bangin’ With Chloe Veitch” — hosted by the British star of Netflix reality shows “Too Hot to Handle” and “The Circle” — is set to premiere Tuesday, June 14, available on major audio platforms and YouTube. Veitch touts the podcast as “the ultimate sex and dating talk show.” Each week, she’ll sit down to interview celebrity guests from reality TV and beyond — and she promises she won’t shy away from juicy questions. “It’s very like me to just go there. You know me, babes,” Veitch says in the trailer. The podcast is part of Forever Dog Productions’ EVE podcast network featuring social media influencers and tastemakers.
“The End Up,” a cerebral thriller from executive producer Sam Esmail that is the first scripted podcast from Universal Studio Group’s USG Audio, will have its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival on Saturday, June 11, and soon after that will be available on major podcast platforms. “The End Up” takes place in a “tilted near-future” where terminal cancer patients who wish to end their suffering must attend a weeklong boot camp. Two best friends wrestle with their goodbyes after one enrolls in the program — and the other grows skeptical. The podcast stars Himesh Patel (“Station Eleven”), John Reynolds (“Search Party”), Merritt Wever (“Unbelievable”) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Homecoming”). “The End Up” is written, directed and executive produced by Will Weggel (“Station Eleven,” “Made for Love”) and Danny Luber. Also executive producing are Esmail (“Homecoming,” “Mr. Robot”), Chad Hamilton of Esmail Corp, and David Wiener (“Brave New World”). Sarah Matte of Esmail Corp and Gregg Tilson serve as producers. “The End Up” is produced by Esmail Corp in association with QCode Media and USG Audio.
New York Times Opinion premiered “First Person,” a new podcast hosted by journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, on June 9. In each episode, Garcia-Navarro — an NPR veteran who most recently hosted “Weekend Edition” — sits down with people living through the headlines for intimate conversations to answer the question: “If you were asked to explain your life, what would you say?” The first episode is a conversation with writer Merritt Tierce, who at 19 was not planning to become a mother when she discovered she was pregnant — and tells the story of the abortion she didn’t have. “First Person” is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn and Amazon Music. New episodes drop on Thursdays.
Cavalry Media’s Cavalry Audio premiered the first two episodes of limited-series podcast “X Marks the Spot: The Legend of Forrest Fenn” on June 6. The nine-episode show follows the story of Forrest Fenn, a New Mexico art dealer who, in 2010, reportedly buried $2 million in gold somewhere in the Rocky Mountains with clues to its location hidden in the text of a six-stanza poem. After Fenn’s death in 2020 and the subsequent discovery of the treasure’s location, the story continues to be dissected by those who were obsessed with the hunt for the gold — which cost five people their lives and spawned at least three lawsuits in the wake of the treasure’s discovery. “X Marks the Spot: The Legend of Forrest Fenn” is written and narrated by Branden Morgan, who was the host of true-crime podcast “The Devil Within.” Morgan produces along with Jason Seagraves, with Dana Brunetti and Keegan Rosenberger serving as executive producers.
Spotify’s Parcast studio premiered “Healing With David Kessler,” a weekly podcast about dealing with grief and trauma exclusively on Spotify, on May 31. Kessler is the best-selling author of six books, including “Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief” and is the founder of Grief. New episodes will be released each Tuesday, covering stories of facing difficult life challenges ranging from job loss to the death of a loved one and from divorce to betrayal. Guests including actor William Shatner; “GMA” correspondent Will Reeve; medium Tyler Henry; Dr. Edith Eger, Holocaust survivor and author of “The Gift”; and author, activist and spiritual thought leader Marianne Williamson.
DEALS
Crooked Media announced a partnership with Adobe to use Adobe Premiere Pro’s Speech to Text technology to caption popular video content interviews and clips from “Pod Save America,” the political podcast hosted by Crooked founders and former Obama staffers and speechwriters Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor, as well as “Lovett or Leave It,” “Offline,” “Pod Save the World,” “Keep It” and “X-Ray Vision.”
