Skip to main content

The best new podcasts for the week of October 19, 2019: Tunnel 29 and more

The best thing about podcasts is that you can listen to them while you’re doing other things: Washing dishes, going for a run, coloring, and especially, driving. But there are so many podcasts these days that it’s simply impossible to keep up. There are new ones debuting all the time, and it’s hard to know whether they deserve a spot in your feed.

Every week, we highlight new and returning podcasts we couldn’t put down. Whether you’re looking for the latest and greatest or you’re just dipping your toe into the vast ocean of podcasts, we’ll find you something worth listening to. This week, we’ve got podcasts about a brave town, escape via tunnel, NYC schools, Dolly Parton, and asteroids.

Related Videos

If you’re looking for something Halloween-y, check out our roundup of scary (and not-so-scary) podcasts.

History podcast

City of Refuge

City of Refuge Podcast

In a 17th-century brick-and-stone building in Oslo, you’ll find the Norwegian resistance museum. Its exhibits depict not only overt acts of sabotage, like assisting in the destruction of German warships, but underground actions as well — like the 5,000 men and women who published underground papers full of news obtained from banned radios.

There were similar resistance movements in France, many of which are more well-known than those in Norway. But City of Refuge takes an intensive look at a tiny town, Chambon-sur-Lignon, that has a remarkable but somewhat less familiar history. Host Bryan Farrell recounts how a pastor and his wife, André and Magda Trocmé, led the town’s efforts to hide thousands of Jewish refugees during World War II. At considerable danger to themselves, the citizens helped many of them flee to neutral Switzerland.

History podcast

Tunnel 29

Tunnel 29 Podcast

In the book Captive Witness, teen sleuth Nancy Drew has to slip behind the Iron Curtain to help a group of children escape. As a kid, I pictured a sturdy rod stretching across the sky, holding a very long, heavy set of drapes.

A very real boundary was quickly erected in August 1961, dividing Berlin. In some cases, families and friends found themselves on opposite sides. As the wall became more impenetrable, those seeking to flee East Germany had to think of new ways to escape. Joachim Neumann made a run for it, but once safely in the West, he decided to go back for his family. He and a few other engineering students decided to build a tunnel. Helena Merriman tells their story.

Culture podcast

School Colors

School Colors Podcast

Chicago Public Schools teachers went on strike this week, demanding smaller class sizes, as well as budgets for a nurse, librarian, and social worker in each building. It’s a city that has tried to deal with “broken” schools by simply closing them, then opening new ones — even as student populations decline.

New York City has its own under-enrolled schools. Bed-Stuy is undergoing gentrification, and District 16 is feeling the effects. In School Colors, community organizer and journalist Mark Winston Griffith and teacher Max Freedman untangle the complexities that shaped the fates of Brooklyn schools. Throughout the 1960s, a number of strikes took place as people of color tried to get some control over their children’s education.

Music podcast

Dolly Parton’s America

Dolly Parton's America Podcast

There is, evidently, some argument as to whether or not Dolly Parton’s Hard Candy Christmas is a Christmas song. Maybe because, per the lyrics, it’s only “like” a Hard Candy Christmas. By that logic, though, Low’s Just Like Christmas is also not a Christmas song, but both are on my Spotify holiday mix and there they shall remain.

Dolly Parton having a Christmas song that’s not a Christmas song is just so Dolly. As Jad Abumrad says in the first episode of his new podcast, she seems to transcend the divisiveness that’s gripped the U.S. and can bring together a multitude of people that may not agree about much else beyond a love of the singer. It’s a nine-episode journey, so the podcast will devote more than half of what Ken Burns spent on decades of country music just on Dolly.

Science podcast

On a Mission

On a Mission Podcast

If you’ve ever played a rousing game of Meteorite/Meteor-wrong (just me?), then you know that asteroids, meteors, and meteorites are easy to mix up. Asteroids are rocks that are too small to be a planet, meteors are bodies that enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up (they’re commonly called shooting stars), and meteorites survive the trip to actually reach the ground.

Season 2 of NASA’s On a Mission podcast is all about asteroids. In the first episode, Leslie Mullen heads up Mount Lemmon to the Catalina Sky Survey. There, astronomers like Richard Kowalski keep watch for asteroids. He’s been the first to notice some before they hit the Earth. In 2008, one hit Sudan. A KLM flight witnessed the glow as the meteorite sailed through the atmosphere before landing in the Nubian Desert.

Editors' Recommendations

The best new movie trailers: Gemini Man, Deadwood, Godzilla, and more

Crafting the perfect movie trailer is hard work. There must be enough intrigue to get the audience excited while not revealing too much about the film's plot points and key moments (even then, things don't always work out perfectly). Because of the sheer volume of new movie trailers being released in a given week, we've taken the liberty of rounding them up and separating the good from the bad for you. Check out the latest must-see trailers below, whether you're looking for action, horror, comedy, or something else.

It probably goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway: Spoiler alert! Tread carefully, friends. (Note: All release dates are for the United States.)
Gemini Man
Gemini Man (2019) - Official Trailer - Paramount Pictures

Read more
The best new podcasts for the week of March 9, 2019
theranos walgreens breakup elizabeth holmes  turtleneck and blazer

The best thing about podcasts is that you can listen to them while you’re doing other things: Dishes, going for a jog, coloring, and especially, driving. But there are so many podcasts these days that it’s officially impossible to keep up. There are new ones debuting all the time, and it’s hard to know whether they deserve a spot in your feed.

Every week, we highlight new and returning podcasts we couldn't put down. Whether you’re looking for the latest and greatest or you’re just dipping your toe into the vast ocean of podcasts, we’ll find you something worth listening to. This week, we’ve got podcasts covering the threads of history, a bloody mess, and things you feel but cannot see.
News and Politics podcast
The Dropout

Read more
Best new shows and movies to stream: ‘Marvel’s Runaways,’ ‘Godless,’ and more
best new shows and movies to stream fences marvels runaways 2

Online streaming is bigger than ever, and with so many streaming services adding new shows and movies every week, it can be nearly impossible to sort through the good and the bad. If you need something to watch and don’t want to wade through the digital muck that washes up on the internet’s shores, follow our picks below for the best new shows and movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon, and other services.

On the list this week: A new, younger superhero squad, a former athlete grappling with the wreckage of age, and more.

Read more