Build Without Breaking; Beyond the PUSH; SuperFan Diaries Podcast; Dirt Floor Talk; Killer Marketing; Treasure Island; Sidedoor
This Week’s Indie Stars: Michael Brown Washington of Echoes In The First Person and Miriam Katz of Ex Appeal are two of the finest independent podcasters in the industry. Miriam says: “Rockin the Apple Podcasts homepage with Echoes in the First Person, an incredible podcast where I recorded a very wild monologue.”
Build Without Breaking
What’s This Podcast About: Build Without Breaking challenges and transforms damaging practices within the performing arts industry. The series will feature candid conversations with prominent industry leaders, offering insights and advocating for healthier, more sustainable approaches to artistic training and professional development.
The series will explore various facets of the performing arts, including mental health, equitable practices, and supportive environments, to promote a more positive and empowering future for artists.
Research from the Actors Trust charity revealed that poor mental health, including cases of depression, body dysmorphia, and anxiety, is above the national average among people in the performing arts. The performing arts industry has long been known for intense pressures, unpredictable career paths, and the glorification of overworking, which can create toxic environments for performers. Many within the industry struggle with mental health, yet often receive little support or recognition.
Season one features in-depth interviews with actors, directors, educators, and other influential figures who are actively working to reshape the performing arts landscape.
Who Will Enjoy This Podcast: Performing arts majors; actors; anyone in the performance industry
Creator/Host: Florence is a queer, non-binary, and neurodivergent actor and award-nominated voice actor. Born and raised in Bristol, United Kingdom, she studied Acting at Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company in London and has been working in the performing arts since 2015. She specializes in comedy and children’s entertainment and has appeared in video game titles such as Denshattack! and Knights of Fiona.
What I love about the show: I admire its advocacy. Through her show, Florence shines a light on toxic practices in the performing arts.
Recommended Episode to start listening with: The first guest was Stacia Keogh, an actor, voice actor, speaking coach, and longtime storyteller.
Stacia recounted starting as a dancer, shifting into acting, and building a diverse career through theatre, teaching, voiceover, and her podcast, Finding My Voice. On the show, they discussed topics like destructive, ego-driven teaching methods and the “break you down to build you up” approach, including Stacia’s personal experiences with unsafe, humiliating training under the tutelage of Sanford Meisner himself.
Beyond The PUSH
What’s This Podcast About: Beyond the PUSH is a new podcast from Ana Gutiérrez, the show’s executive producer and Communications Lead at the International Confederation of Midwives.
More than 45 midwives, women and advocates from around the world came together to record this 12-episode series. Through personal experiences, clinical expertise and practical advice, they explore birth choices, contraception, infertility, pregnancy loss, breastfeeding and reproductive rights.
Each hour-long episode features a different host from our team in conversation with three or four guests, followed by a debrief with American midwife Kimberly Durdin, who brings in the U.S. perspective. Midwives are part of every conversation, offering insights from their work supporting women through deeply personal decisions often shaped by the healthcare systems around them.
Who Will Enjoy This Podcast: Women, men who care about women’s reproductive rights and experiences.
Creator/Host: PUSH Campaign, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)
What I love about the show: First, you have to admire the show’s goals. Beyond the PUSH is a resource helping people understand different perspectives, make informed choices, and imagine what truly person-centered healthcare can look like. Second, they’ve identified an injustice and are trying to remedy it.
Recommended Episode to start listening with: Episode 1, “Pushing for the Healthcare You Deserve”, is designed as an introduction to the series and makes a great starting point. Ana’s personal favorite, though, is Episode 2, “Pushing for Birth Choices”. It’s a particularly moving conversation about why having a say in birth matters, and what that looks like across different countries. The guests bring personal experiences alongside practical tools to help women understand their options, ask questions, and advocate for the care they want.
Ana Gutiérrez says: “We made the show for listeners who want to understand their options and feel more confident asking questions, alongside anyone interested in how women’s healthcare could improve.”
SuperFan Diaries Podcast
What’s This Podcast About: I always wondered about the face painters I’d see at sporting events. Why would they do that? Now I know. They’re superfans. Superfans aren’t just spectators — they’re the pulse of the game. SuperFan Diaries brings their stories to life. How fan-first storytelling about real people and shared interests can help listeners connect and keep coming back. Why fandom can support belonging and mental wellness, informed by his work as founder and CEO of a company supporting rural hospitals’ mental health initiatives.
Who Will Enjoy This Podcast: Sports fans. The people who listen to sports call-in shows on the radio. The people with an entire room in their home dedicated to their favorite team.
Creator/Host: J.R. Greene isn’t just a fan — he’s a walking, talking celebration of sports culture. Known nationwide as ESPN’s “Big Orange Tux Guy” for his legendary game-day suit and unshakable loyalty to the Tennessee Volunteers, J.R. has turned his love of fandom into something bigger: a platform for superfans everywhere.
What I love about the show: Everything. I love podcasts that take a familiar — sometimes cliché — topic and do something special with it. Mr. Greene has done that. The show is both fun and informative. This is a sports podcast from the fan’s perspective.
Recommended Episode to start listening with: The Roar from 34: How “Wild Bill” Hagy Changed Baseball Forever. Wild Bill wasn’t just a spectator; he was a participant. A cab driver by trade with a big beard, a straw cowboy hat, and a pair of giant sunglasses, Bill led the “Roar from 34” by spelling out the team’s name with his entire body. He turned a baseball game into a performance, and the Baltimore Orioles — and their legendary manager Earl Weaver — fed off that energy all the way to a 1979 World Series appearance.
Dirt Floor Talk
What’s This Podcast About: Dirt Floor Talk is a conversational podcast hosted by that focuses on faith, fatherhood, marriage, men’s health, local politics, and cigar culture. Real conversations for men (“not polished floors”), blending a respectful cigar-lounge atmosphere with discussions on life, values, and community. The show covers spiritual and faith journeys, men’s roles in family and society, fitness, elections, and personal development
Who Will Enjoy This Podcast: Men who love cigars but, more importantly, men who care about real men’s issues like fatherhood, community, and everyday life.
Creator/Host: Jay Herring told us about his background: “I grew up in a small Florida county with one red light, where I developed a love for good conversation and learning about the world around me. Whether it’s theology, history, science, sports, or just life in general, I’ve always enjoyed sitting down with people and having a meaningful discussion. I studied biblical studies and spent several years in the ministry before moving into car sales. Later, during a difficult chapter in my life, a friend and I started an insurance agency, and I’ve spent the last ten years building a career in that business. Outside of work, you’ll usually find me at church, enjoying a good cigar at the local lounge, or sitting in my backyard having conversations with friends.
“Dirt Floor Talk actually started with a vision that other people saw in me long before I saw it in myself. What began as a simple idea has become an opportunity to sit down with people from all walks of life, hear their stories, challenge ideas, share a few laughs, and maybe learn something along the way.”
What I love about the show: I love that the show and Jay haven't succumbed to Joe Rogan manosphere wokeness.
Jay Herring told us: “Our show brings the atmosphere of a cigar lounge or barbershop to podcasting. We discuss fatherhood, men’s issues, politics, faith, personal experiences, and everyday life. We aren’t interested in manufactured controversy or ambushing guests. Likewise, we believe meaningful conversations can happen even when people disagree.”
Recommended Episode to start listening with: Mr. Charles on The Dirt, who talks about everything from the Air Force to his faith.
Jay added: “We’re still a small, growing show, but we’re passionate about creating something that matters. I don’t believe you need a fancy studio, a big name, or an impressive title to have something worth saying. Sometimes the best conversations happen with ordinary people who have extraordinary stories.”
Killer Marketing
What’s This Podcast About: Killer Marketing is a true crime podcast with a marketing and branding twist, hosted by Emily Rask (creator of Lies We Bought). The show explores real crimes, cover-ups, scandals, and public panics, focusing on the marketing stories, PR strategies, and corporate damage control that happened behind the scenes. It looks at how major events — such as the 1982 Tylenol murders or the Radium Girls — reshaped product safety, packaging, and how companies sell fear, trust, and recovery to the public
Who Will Enjoy This Podcast: True-crime and marketing fans. People who want something unique.
Creator/Host: Emily Rask’s LinkedIn profile says: “I’m an award-winning marketer turned podcaster with a decade under my belt, proving that great strategy and smart storytelling can sell just about anything, including the lies we bought along the way.”
Lies We Bought just won a Gold Signal Award in the 2026 Signal Awards for Creativity & Marketing.
What I love about the show: It mixes two popular genres and bakes in a wonderfully appealing, intriguing listen. Rask has the soul of a researcher and the tone of a comedian.
Recommended Episode to start listening with: The Halloween episode about how, on Halloween night in 1974, an eight-year-old boy in Pasadena, Texas, ate a giant Pixy Stix from his trick-or-treat haul and died less than an hour later. The straw had been filled with cyanide and stapled shut, and four other children were carrying ones just like it. The case of the man the press called the Candyman became America's most famous poisoned Halloween candy story.
Treasure Island
Noiser’s Treasure Island is a serialized audiobook podcast adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1883 novel, narrated entirely by actor Rupert Grint (known for the Harry Potter series). Rupert Grint voices every single character in the unabridged story, including Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, Billy Bones, and Ben Gunn.
The production features Noiser’s trademark original music and immersive sound design.
Episodes will be released weekly from December 8th.
Sidedoor Podcast Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
Smithsonian’s flagship podcast Sidedoor returned this October with a new season of stories to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary.
Season 13 takes listeners behind the scenes, featuring stories on baby elephant Linh Mai’s remarkable recovery, the unusual beetles that help scientists clean thousands of animal skeletons preserved in museum collections, and other unexpected discoveries hidden within the nation’s largest museum, education, and research complex.
The new season also marks Sidedoor’s expansion to YouTube, where audiences can access both new episodes and the show’s back catalog.
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