In today’s podcast roundup, the Clone Club returns for “Orphan Black: The Next Chapter” Season 2; “The Sesame Street Podcast With Foley and Friends” gets two more seasons on Audible; “The Paris Review Podcast” returns for a third season; and more.
DATES
Audio entertainment company Realm premiered “Orphan Black: The Next Chapter” Season 2 on Friday, Oct. 29, the next installment in the sci-fi podcast series set eight years after the conclusion of the cult-favorite TV show. Newly announced: Actor Kristian Bruun reprises his role as Donnie Hendrix, joining his original “Orphan Black” castmates for Season 2 of the podcast series including Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany (who voices all the clones, aka “sestras,” in the show), as well as Jordan Gavaris and Evelyne Brochu. Realm also announced that AMC Networks, parent company of BBC America (the U.S. home of the TV series for five seasons), is co-producing the second season of the podcast along with Boat Rocker.
Season 2 picks up eight months after the events of the first season, with the Clone Club facing backlash from anti-clone protesters after being outed to the world. Plus, there are new developments for Cosima and Delphine; new drama for Alison and Donnie; new purpose for Sarah; a return to action for Helena; unexpected turns for Rachel; trouble for Charlotte; new misadventures for Felix; the return of clone CIA agent Vivi Valdez; and the introduction of several prominent new clones. Season 2 is written by the same crew that penned the first season: Malka Older, Madeline Ashby, Heli Kennedy, E. C. Myers and Lindsay Smith.
“Orphan Black: The Next Chapter” Season 2 is available on audio platforms including realm.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, with new episodes dropping on Fridays starting Nov. 19. Watch the trailer for the new season:
NBCUniversal’s Telemundo and The Story Lab launched true-crime limited series “Fort Hood: The Vanessa Guillén Case” on Oct. 28. Narrated in English and Spanish by actor Cecilia Suárez (“Netflix’s “La Casa de Las Flores”), the podcast examines the 2020 murder of 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier Vanessa Guillén. Investigators said she was killed by a fellow soldier who later fatally shot himself as police tried to take him into custody; Guillén’s family has alleged she was sexually harassed before she was killed. The seven-part series is available on major podcast platforms including Spotify (in English and Spanish) and Apple Podcasts (in English and Spanish) as well as Telemundo’s site at this link.
SiriusXM’s Stitcher debuted “The Paris Review Podcast” Season 3 on Thursday, Oct. 28. Each of the five new episodes blends archival interview audio with performances by actors and authors of fiction, poetry and nonfiction in a hostless format. The new season features interviews with Rachel Cusk, Robert Frost, Edward P. Jones and George Saunders, as well as readings by Jericho Brown, Molly McCully Brown, Yohanca Delgado and Monica Youn of their works. Season 3 also showcases singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers reading poet Natalie Scenters-Zapico and singing her “Garden Song,” actor Amber Grey channeling Edward P. Jones’s story “Maria,” actor Jessica Hecht reenacting Joan Didion’s classic “Art of Fiction” interview, Connor Ratliff reading a story by Bud Smith and Aisha Sabotini Sloan presenting an original essay commissioned for the podcast. “The Paris Review Podcast,” first released in 2017, is led by producers John DeLore and Brendan Francis Newnam. The production team for Season 3 includes DeLore and Newnam, along with senior producer Helena de Groot and producers Craig Morgan Teicher and Lori Dorr from The Paris Review. The show’s executive producers are Peter Clowney and Daisy Rosario at Stitcher, and Emily Stokes at The Paris Review. The show is available on Stitcher (at this link) and other major podcast platforms.
iHeartMedia premiered “Haileywood,” a podcast that explores what happened when Bruce Willis bought an entire town in Idaho, on Oct. 26. Author and podcast host Dana Schwartz goes back to the ’90s to speak with residents of Hailey, Ida., and local politicians about the impact of the Hollywood star taking over the small town. The show is available on iHeartRadio and major podcast platforms, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday.
RENEWALS
Amazon’s Audible and Sesame Workshop are bringing “The Sesame Street Podcast With Foley and Friends” back for two more seasons. The first Muppet-hosted podcast for kids features original music, interactive games, jokes and visits from friends like Elmo, cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and Grover in every episode. Season 2 is slated to debut Jan. 27, 2022 with 15 new episodes, alongside a Spanish-language version of Season 1 on the same date. “The Sesame Street Podcast With Foley and Friends” is available exclusively on Audible. Watch the Season 2 trailer:
DEALS
Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries and iHeartMedia entered into a production deal with “Talk Easy,” the weekly interview show hosted by writer and director Sam Fragoso. Since 2016, Fragoso has hosted conversations with artists, activists and politicians over 270 episodes. Upcoming guests are slated to include Nick Offerman, Janaya Future Khan, Melanie Lynskey, Wole Soyinka, and Noam Chomsky. Executive producers Janicza Bravo and Karoline Ribak will continue working with Fragoso on the show, along with illustrator Krishna Shenoi, whose creates original paintings of each guest. Pushkin manageing producer Justin Richmond will provide production support. The deal was negotiated by UTA, which reps Fragoso. “Talk Easy,” distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network, is available on major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartRadio.
Stitcher signed a multiyear distribution pact with “The Ed Mylett Show,” a business interview podcast featuring “peak performers” across industries, including business, health, collegiate and professional sports, politics, entrepreneurship, science and entertainment New episodes of the series come to Stitcher beginning Tuesday, Nov. 2. The agreement marks the show’s first network representation deal; previously “The Ed Mylett Show” was independently released. Recent guests have included Barbara Corcoran, Michael Imperioli, Vivica Fox, Alex Rodriguez, Daymond John and Aurbrey Marcus.
PodcastOne extended its podcast production partnership with Reelz to launch “Sex, Lies & Murder,” the latest true-crime podcast in a series of shows co-produced by the two companies. The show features the real stories of sex-driven crimes that have rocked communities: a suburban housewife who becomes a killer; a cheating church pastor whose wife joins the dearly departed; a soccer mom who is found dead is found to have a double life as a midnight escort.“Sex, Lies & Murder” premiered Wednesday, Oct. 27, on PodcastOne, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and other platforms.
