Two Ear-Worthy Local Podcasts: Jersey's Best & The Perrysburg Podcast

 When podcasting was first being formed in the early 2000s, the medium was first envisioned as a niche communications device. In effect, narrowcasting to a small yet targeted audience. In the early days, podcasts about local communities were common enough to be a trend. Gradually, as the industry changed and corporate raiders elbowed their way in, these types of podcasts have withered.

 Today, I'm happy to review two local podcasts that excel in their mission statement -- to offer news and entertainment to their local audiences. To be transparent, I live in New Jersey, so my objectivity is somewhat sketchy. However, after listening to several episodes of The Perrysburg Podcast (It is a town of 25,000 on the Maumee River in Ohio), I think I'd like to move there!

***********************************************

Jersey's Best Podcast

 Here is the marketing pitch for the podcast: "New Jersey is America’s greatest state — so why wouldn’t it have the best podcast?"

NJ.Com says: "Introducing Jersey’s Best Podcast, a weekly deep dive into everything that makes New Jersey spectacular, bizarre, beautiful, maddening, and, ultimately, the best. This weekly podcast is hosted by me, NJ.com food and culture reporter Jeremy Schneider — join me and a cast of very Jersey guests as we demystify the Garden State’s obsessions, from the Shore and Springsteen to pizza to pork roll and everything in between."

Host Jeremy Schneider explains: "We’ll go deep on topics like ranking New Jersey Turnpike exits, the ultimate Wawa versus QuickChek showdown, and which New Jersey animals I can defeat in hand-to-hand combat."

Jersey’s Best Podcast launched April 2 and features new episodes every Wednesday. Its host, Jeremy Schneider, is a food and culture reporter with NJ.com and The Star-Ledger. He covers everything relating to food in New Jersey, ranging from the latest fast food items to fine dining reviews and everything in between. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in journalism in 2012 and began writing for NJ.com that summer.
He won a Society for Features Journalism award for his feature on Santillo's Brick Oven Pizza in 2020, and his food writing portfolio earned him an honorable mention in 2022. He hosts the Emmy-nominated video series "NJ All Day." 

Schneider is an excellent host and fits the show's tempo and DNA nicely.  He's a fast talker with a Jersey-like enthusiasm in his tone. He's a cheerleader for the state, but he does recognize the uniqueness of the state and its reputation. I applaud him because he emphasizes a few key points. First, New Jersey is not like The Sopranos. Second, New Jerseyans don't sound or act like the "New Yawkers" from Jersey Shore TV show. Third, New Jersey has some amazing vistas. Despite popular convention, it's a beautiful state.

My favorite episodes so far have been the one about the worst NJ Turnpike exits, the show on Jersey slang (It's pork roll, not Taylor ham), and the show on Jersey's ugliest places.  

You don't have to be from New Jersey to check out Jersey’s Best Podcast. The show has some basic goals that it accomplishes. It's fun, informative, and self-reflective about the state in which most of the listeners live.

 *************************************

The Perrysburg Podcast

Podcaster (and pharmacist) Kim Newlove is the creator/host of The Perrysburg Podcast. I found this podcast when actually searching for her primary podcast, The Pharmacist's Voice, which we will review in June.

When I listened to the trailer, Kim laid out three simple goals for the show. Provide information on Perrysburg for current residents, new residents, and people thinking of moving to Perrysburg. As I mentioned, after listening to several episodes, I'm thinking of moving there. The town sounds like an oasis of sanity inside a maelstrom of political insanity, social upheaval, and vindictive culture wars.
On the website, Kim states: "It's an informational podcast for prospective, new, and current Perrysburg, OH residents. We talk about what’s in Perrysburg and why people like to live here."

Creator/host Kim Newlove is a pharmacist, voice actor, podcast host, volunteer, wife, and mother of two young men. She and her family live in Perrysburg, OH.

Kim earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmacy from The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy in 2001. She founded The Pharmacist's Voice ®, LLC in 2017, and launched The Pharmacist’s Voice ® Podcast in 2019. Her voiceover website is https://www.thepharmacistsvoice.com.

Among other things, she narrates audiobooks for pharmacist authors, provides medical narration to clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and continuing medical education industries, and narrates content for explainer videos and eLearning projects. Her delivery style is confident and trustworthy.

In her spare time, Kim enjoys spending time with family, playing Ticket to Ride Switzerland, swimming at the Ft. Meigs YMCA, and riding her BMW motorbike.

Kim Newlove is, not surprisingly, a terrific host. Her narration is impactful and always interesting, and her interviews spark to life no matter how mundane the topic may appear.

What kind of episodes are there in
The Perrysburg Podcast? With over 90 episodes released to date, Kim has done episodes on the town's 2025 summer recreation program, the municipal park on Elm Street, volunteering opportunities in the area, bars and breweries in town, interviews with several town pastors, the public library, and the local coffee shops.

Here's who I think would enjoy The Perrysburg Podcast beyond new, current and prospective residents. Indie podcasters searching for a template for their own hyper-local podcast. People wanting lessons in podcast hosting skills, and any moderate-sized town that wishes to duplicate this podcast. 

I'd write more, but I'm going to stop at Lola's on North Dixie Highway in Perrysburg for some frozen yogurt. I hear it's the best.