Activist DeRay Mckesson and his blue vest stop by to chat about the origins of his activism and his first newsletter. We explore the untold stories of the Civil War with the folks behind the podcast, Uncivil. Award-winning journalist Trey Kay helps us bridge our American divides in Us & Them. And hear about a college oral history project turned podcast called Ferguson Voices. Keep reading...

America’s hat is turning 150 years old! To celebrate Canada Day and our neighbors to the North, we talk to the women behind Love Me, a CBC podcast about the messiness of relationships, and we get a more realistic look at Canadian history with Canadaland's Jesse Brown. Then we catch up with Canadian-American hybrid Jonathan Goldstein, the self-styled mealy-mouthed mensch behind Wiretap and now Heavyweight. Plus: Native storytelling from the world's first indigenous podcast network. Keep reading...

CNN political firebrand and dyed-in-the-wool activist Angela Rye talks with us about her new podcast, On One with Angela Rye, which features in-depth conversations with black changemakers. Note To Self’s Manoush Zomorodi helps us live in harmony with our digital devices in her new book, Bored and Brilliant. We learn the finer points of giving advice from Slate’s Dear Prudence, Mallory Ortberg. Plus, we make a shocking discovery about robot voices in the D.C. Metro with Dallas Taylor of Twenty Thousand Hertz. Keep reading...

What's more meta than a concept album about concepts? Not much. The women of Invisibilia explain the idea behind their third season concept album (it's like Lemonade, but with less dancing). We also delve into self-help books with the hosts of By The Book and explore the world of radionovelas with the creator of Celestial Blood/Sangre Celestial. Plus: a Swedish true crime podcast that actually uncovered a truth and helped exonerate a wrongfully convicted man.

Abbi Jacobson gets artsy with her podcast A Piece Of Work; Leila Day and Hana Baba of The Stoop dialogue about the diaspora; YouTube provocateur Dylan Marron confronts his online bullies and Kathleen Barber dishes on her debut suspense novel, Are You Sleeping. Keep reading...

Want to hear Broadway babe Jonathan Groff sing in a musical, but don’t want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a ticket? Then check out the delightful podcast musical, 36 Questions, in which he stars. Also on the show, we dish about drugs of all kinds with the host of CBC’s On Drugs. And we listen to some foreign language radio stories with the help of Radio Atlas. Plus, writer Jes Skolnik’s New York Times op-ed on how listening to true crime podcasts can help survivors of violence. Keep reading...