Welcome in! According to the results of the survey I shared a few months ago to mark the 9th anniversary of this newsletter, many of you want me to infuse more personality into this newsletter. So… careful what you wish for!
If you want to see the rest of the survey results, I shared charts and my analysis of ‘em here. And if you don’t feel represented in the results, guess what! The survey will remain open.
Also, here are 6 podcasts we wish would come back from perma-hiatus.
This issue of EarBuds is curated by Aileen Day. Let’s have an earful👂
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For real. All I’m asking you to do is hit “Join for Free” on Patreon
Hysterial History Podcasts🤭
These podcast episodes, along with their descriptions, were curated and written by our curator, Aileen Day. Learn more about her work here.
1) People of Agency
Hosts Aileen and Maia unpack the surprising connections between U.S. Postal Service history and today's battles over public institutions.
Through stories of train robberies, postal inspectors hunting outlaws, and civil service reform sparked by a presidential assassination, this podcast reveals how the fight over who controls public agencies has shaped American democracy from the beginning. Think of it as the origin story for every debate about privatization and government workforce you're hearing right now.
2) Well, I Laughed
A public school teacher and an engineer tackle a new topic each episode, from how birth control came to be to pirates and expired cyanide, making each one equally hilarious.
Award-winning hosts Grant and Maia get into unexpected, fascinating topics each week, uncovering the humor in everything from medical patents to Uganda's $100 entry fee. It's oddly educational, effortlessly funny, and guaranteed to give you your next strange story to tell at a party.
3) What’sHerName
Sister-professors Dr. Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle are on a mission to put women back into world history, one overlooked genius at a time.
Through beautifully crafted interviews with expert scholars, they resurrect forgotten figures like Genghis Khan's daughters, Victorian ghost-hunting novelist Catherine Crowe, and the 5,000-year-old "Ivory Man" who turned out to be an Ivory Lady. Academically rigorous without being stuffy, funny without sacrificing depth, this podcast proves that women have always been making history.
4) The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong
Host Mark Chrisler celebrates humanity's spectacular failures with sharp wit and meticulous research. From overlooked women scientists whose work was hijacked to the bizarre origins of anesthesia, this podcast reveals that history isn't a march of progress, it's a stumbling, chaotic mess of bad ideas, fortunate accidents, and the occasional psychic horse causing a scientific crisis.
If you've ever wondered how we got here despite getting everything catastrophically wrong along the way, this podcast has your answer.
5) You’re Dead To Me
Hosted by Greg Jenner, this award-winning BBC podcast pairs top comedians with expert historians to make you laugh while learning about everything from Viking women to the invention of cornflakes. Jenner's witty scripts tackle subjects ranging from the famous (Marie Antoinette, Shakespeare) to the wonderfully weird (the history of timekeeping, Victorian bodybuilding), proving that history lessons don't require homework when they're this entertaining.
With over 130 million downloads, it's the perfect blend of rigorous research and irreverent humor.
History doesn't have to be boring! These 5 podcasts prove that the past is filled with absurd scandals, overlooked heroes, and wild stories that somehow shape our present.
I picked shows that make you laugh out loud while actually teaching you something, whether it's about postal inspectors chasing train robbers or forgotten women who changed the world.
Suzy May Wander is a certified financial educator and podcast host who empowers families to build the personalized financial roadmap needed to turn their worldschooling and slow family travel dreams into reality!
Listen to all the inspiring travel and worldschool family adventures on the Wander Worldschool and Slow Family Travel Podcast!
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Thank you to our ✨new✨ Patreon supporters: Memo, Lucy, and Isaac. Become one.
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Community
📣 In Podcast The Newsletter, Lauren Passell writes about The Idiot from Serial Productions:
You will like Allen, despise Allen, pity Allen, but mostly despise him, and also despise his mother, you’ll worry for his kids, and you’ll fear for Priscilla’s life when Allen gets out of jail, because by the way he’s in jail and currently suing The New York Times for the podcast.
🛳️ Considering a cruise vacation? We’ve got five podcast recommendations for you to help you plan. Thank you to Mikkel Woodruff of Sometimes Sailing for curating this list!
🏀 Listen to these podcasts to prepare for the NCAA Final.
📰 Workshop: From Radio Boot Camp how and why to write a newsletter for your podcast - April 14th (online).
📈 Workshop: From Well, It Depends Event Series what’s working for podcast growth in 2026? - April 17th (online).
Spotlight Podcast
…is show that features nerdy discussions about the movies, telly, music, comics, and more that Stacey and guests have been enjoying (or, occasionally, not enjoying) of late.
Grab a cuppa and a slice of cake and head to the parlour!
Podcast news from Podnews
Newsletter platform Beehiiv has launched a full podcast hosting platform.. It contains full transcripts, distributes to Apple, Spotify and more, and comes with a full website; analytics are built “to IAB standards”, and you can bundle your podcast for paying subscribers to your newsletter; Beehiiv will take no additional fees.
The Podcast Show in London has announced a new set of speakers. The event is in mid-May; here’s a discount.
Spotify has published a report called “The Sound-On Era”, promoting the advantage of audio. The company, which trumpeted video as the future as little as two years ago, describes audio as actively engaging fans “in ways visual formats cannot match”, says that “while screens distract, audio accompanies”, and highlights that podcasts are a medium rooted in audio.
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