Best Sideshow Sound Radio Podcasts (2026)

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Salsa Star Rubén Blades on Acting, Politics, and the Power of Music 28:42

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3d ago28:42

28:42

For roughly half a century, the singer Rubén Blades has been spreading the gospel of salsa music to every corner of the globe. “You could say that Blades did for salsa what Bob Marley did for reggae,” says The New Yorker’s Graciela Mochkofsky. “He brought it into the global consciousness.” This year, Blades’s record “Fotografías” is up for a Grammy…

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Elaine Pagels on “The Historical Mystery of Jesus” 26:02

7d ago26:02

26:02

Thirty years ago, David Remnick published “The Devil Problem,” a Profile of the religion scholar Elaine Pagels—a scholar of early Christianity who had also, improbably, become a best-selling author with “The Gnostic Gospels,” from 1979. Pagels’s latest book, “Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus,” is a summation of her lifetime of r…

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The Company Behind the A.I. Boom 24:07

10d ago24:07

24:07

Across the country, data centers that run A.I. programs are being constructed at a record pace. A large percentage of them use chips built by the tech colossus Nvidia. The company has nearly cornered the market on the hardware that runs much of A.I., and has been named the most valuable company in the world, by market capitalization. But Nvidia’s i…

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Graham Platner Is Staying in the Race 49:41

17d ago49:41

49:41

The Republican Susan Collins has held one of Maine’s Senate seats for nearly thirty years, and Democrats, in trying to take it away from her, have a lot at stake. Graham Platner, a combat veteran, political activist, and small-business owner who has never served in office, seemed to check many boxes for a progressive upstart. Platner, who says he a…

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Poetry as a Cistern for Love and Loss 24:10

21d ago24:10

24:10

Gabrielle Calvocoressi’s most recent collection, “The New Economy,” was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry this year, and one of their poems was included in “A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker,” an anthology volume published this year on the occasion of the publication’s hundredth anniversary. The magazine’s poetry editor, Kevin Y…

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Leon Panetta on the Trump Administration’s Venezuelan Boat Strikes 26:21

25d ago26:21

26:21

In the course of his long career, Leon Panetta was a lieutenant in the Army, a congressman from California, Bill Clinton’s White House chief of staff, Barack Obama’s director of the C.I.A., and later, his Secretary of Defense. David Remnick talks with Panetta about the current Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the legality of the ongoing Navy str…

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Marshall Curry and Judd Apatow on “The New Yorker at 100,” a Documentary 32:30

28d ago32:30

32:30

This year marked a hundred years since the birth of The New Yorker, and a documentary about the magazine’s past and present, “The New Yorker at 100,” is now streaming on Netflix. The director is the Academy Award winner Marshall Curry, and Judd Apatow served as an executive producer. They sat down to talk about the process behind the film with Jela…

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Chloé Zhao on “Hamnet,” Her Film About William Shakespeare’s Grief 23:38

30d ago23:38

23:38

Chloé Zhao was the second woman to ever win an Oscar for Best Director, for her 2020 film “Nomadland.” After taking a wide turn to create the Marvel supernatural epic “Eternals,” Zhao has taken another intriguing change of direction with “Hamnet,” based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about how William Shakespeare coped with the death of his only son. …

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Senator Adam Schiff on How the Trump Administration Targets Its Opponents 27:15

1M ago27:15

27:15

As a California congressman, Adam Schiff was the lead manager during the first impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. He later served on the January 6th committee. Trump has castigated him as “Shifty Schiff” and demanded that the Justice Department investigate him. In a conversation with David Remnick, Schiff discusses the current inquiry in…

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Noah Baumbach on “Jay Kelly,” His New Movie with George Clooney 20:53

1M ago20:53

20:53

The filmmaker Noah Baumbach can recall when he may have fallen out of love with his craft. He was shooting “White Noise,” based on Don DeLillo’s novel, “on a deserted highway in Ohio at 4 A.M. with a rain machine.” “Oh, God, I don’t know that I like doing this,” he recalls thinking. “Am I doing this”—making movies—“only because I do it?” He channel…

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Ian McEwan on Imagining the World After Disaster 29:20

1M ago29:20

29:20

In his latest novel, Ian McEwan imagines a future world after a century’s worth of disasters. The good news in “What We Can Know” is that humanity still exists, which McEwan calls “nuanced optimism.” He and David Remnick discuss the tradition of the big-themed social novel, which has gone out of literary fashion—“rather too many novels,” McEwan the…

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Why Is Leaving MAGA So Difficult? 22:53

1M ago22:53

22:53

Only thirty per cent of the American public identifies with the MAGA movement, according to a recent NBC poll, but that coalition remains intensely loyal to Donald Trump in the face of scandals and authoritarian measures. Defections seem rare and come with the risk of reprisal, even from the President himself. Rich Logis is trying to make them less…

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Senator Chris Van Hollen on the Epstein Files, and the Leadership Crisis in Washington 27:18

2M ago27:18

27:18

Both major parties are experiencing a crisis of leadership in Washington. President Trump’s flip-flopping on the Epstein files acknowledges that, on this issue, at least, he has lost control of MAGA. For the Democrats, the collapse of their consensus on the government shutdown deepens a sense that the current leadership is ineffective. For all the …

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Rewriting Art History at the Studio Museum in Harlem 16:12

2M ago16:12

16:12

The curator Thelma Golden is a major presence in New York City’s cultural life, having mounted era-defining exhibitions such as “Black Male” and “Freestyle” early on in her career. Golden is the Ford Foundation director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, an institution, founded in 1968, that is dedicated to contemporary artists of th…

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Andrew Ross Sorkin on What 1929 Teaches Us About 2025 34:05

2M ago34:05

34:05

When President Donald Trump began his tariff rollout, the business world predicted that his unprecedented attempt to reshape the economy would lead to a major recession, if Trump went through with it all. But the markets stabilized and, in recent months, have continued to surge. That has some people worried about an even bigger threat: that overinv…

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Patti Smith on Her Memoir “Bread of Angels,” Fifty Years After Her Début Album, “Horses” 40:01

2M ago40:01

40:01

Patti Smith’s album “Horses” came out fifty years ago, on November 10, 1975, launching her to stardom almost overnight. An anniversary reissue came out this year, to rapturous reviews. Yet being a rock star was never Smith’s intention: she was a published poet before “Horses” came out, and had also written a play with Sam Shepard. Music was an afte…

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What Resistance Means to Governor J. B. Pritzker 27:08

2M ago27:08

27:08

Few Democratic officials have been more outspoken in opposition to the Trump Administration than J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. He seems almost to relish antagonizing Trump, who has suggested Pritzker should be in jail. Meanwhile, ICE and Border Patrol have targeted Chicago, and elsewhere in Illinois, with immigration sweeps more aggress…

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From In the Dark: “Blood Relatives” 44:27

2M ago44:27

44:27

The New Yorker contributing writer Heidi Blake has been investigating a new story for the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast In the Dark. This season is about one of the most notorious crimes in modern British history: the Whitehouse Farm murders, in which five members of a family were killed at a rural estate in England in the mid-nineteen-eighties. J…

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Jon Stewart on the Perilous State of Late Night and Why America Fell for Donald Trump 46:22

2M ago46:22

46:22

Jon Stewart has been a leading figure in political comedy since before the turn of the millennium. But compared to his early years on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”—when Stewart was merciless in his attacks on George W. Bush’s Administration—these are much more challenging times for late-night comedians. Jimmy Kimmel nearly lost his job over a r…

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It’s Not Just You: The Internet Is Actually Getting Worse 21:36

2M ago21:36

21:36

“Sometimes a term is so apt, its meaning so clear and so relevant to our circumstances, that it becomes more than just a useful buzzword and grows to define an entire moment,” the columnist Kyle Chayka writes, in a review of Cory Doctorow’s book “Enshittification.” Doctorow, a prolific tech writer, is a co-founder of the tech blog Boing Boing, and …

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Zadie Smith on Politics, Turning Fifty, and Mind Control 28:19

2M ago28:19

28:19

Since Zadie Smith published her début novel, “White Teeth,” twenty-five years ago, she has been a bold and original voice in literature. But those who aren’t familiar with Smith’s work outside of fiction are missing out. As an essayist, in The New Yorker and other publications, Smith writes with great nuance about culture, technology, gentrificatio…

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Score Guide – Casper (1995)

3M ago

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In this heartwarming Score Guide finale for spooky season, Wend and Will revisit James Horner’s beloved score for Casper (1995). They’ll explore how Horner weaves together a never-ending well of hauntingly beautiful melodies, tender emotion, and spectral playfulness to bring this ghostly tale to life. From the film’s ethereal emotional beats to its…

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Score Guide – Casper (1995) 1:40:03

3M ago1:40:03

1:40:03

In this heartwarming Score Guide finale for spooky season, Wend and Will revisit James Horner’s beloved score for Casper (1995). They’ll explore how Horner weaves together a never-ending well of hauntingly beautiful melodies, tender emotion, and spectral playfulness to bring this ghostly tale to life. From the film’s ethereal emotional beats to its…

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Richard Linklater on His Two New Films, “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague” 21:11

3M ago21:11

21:11

Richard Linklater is one of the most admired directors working today, and yet moviegoers may admire him for very different things. There are early comedies such as “Slacker” and “Dazed and Confused”; there’s the romance trilogy that started with “Before Sunrise,” starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy; and the crowd-pleasers like “School of Rock” and…

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How the Trump Administration Made Higher Education a Target 29:26

3M ago29:26

29:26

The swiftness and severity with which the Trump Administration has tried to impose its will on higher education came as a shock to many, not least university presidents and faculties from Harvard to U.C.L.A. But for conservatives this arena of cultural conflict has been a long time coming. The staff writer Emma Green has been speaking with influent…

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John Carpenter Picks Three Favorite Film Scores 12:25

3M ago12:25

12:25

The filmmaker John Carpenter has a whole shelf of cult classics: “They Live,” “The Thing,” “Escape from New York,” “Halloween,” and so many more. And while he hasn’t directed a new movie in more than a decade, Carpenter has continued working in the film industry, composing scores for other directors (Bong Joon Ho recently approached him about a hor…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #16 – Dies Irae: The Leitmotif of Death

3M ago

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The Dies Irae — it’s one of the most recognizable melodies in history, and it’s haunted our screens for generations. In this episode of The Sideshow Theme Show, Lasse and Will trace the journey of this ancient requiem chant through film, TV, and beyond. From classical roots to blockbuster reinventions, the duo unpacks how the Dies Irae continues to…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #16 – Dies Irae: The Leitmotif of Death 50:55

3M ago50:55

50:55

The Dies Irae — it’s one of the most recognizable melodies in history, and it’s haunted our screens for generations. In this episode of The Sideshow Theme Show, Lasse and Will trace the journey of this ancient requiem chant through film, TV, and beyond. From classical roots to blockbuster reinventions, the duo unpacks how the Dies Irae continues to…

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Zohran Mamdani Says He's Ready for Donald Trump 48:19

3M ago48:19

48:19

Next month, New York City may elect as its next mayor a man who was pretty much unknown to the broader public a year ago. Zohran Mamdan, who is currently thirty-three years old and a member of the State Assembly, is a democratic socialist who won a primary upset against the current mayor, Eric Adams, and the former governor Andrew Cuomo, who was tr…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #15 – You’ll Float Too!

3M ago

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Spooky season continues on The Sideshow Theme Show! This week, hosts Will and Lasse take a closer look at one of the creepiest uses of a children’s chant in modern horror: Benjamin Wallfisch’s treatment of the old English nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” in the IT film series. We explore the history of the rhyme itself, its unsettling connection …

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The Sideshow Theme Show #15 – You’ll Float Too! 36:06

3M ago36:06

36:06

Spooky season continues on The Sideshow Theme Show! This week, hosts Will and Lasse take a closer look at one of the creepiest uses of a children’s chant in modern horror: Benjamin Wallfisch’s treatment of the old English nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” in the IT film series. We explore the history of the rhyme itself, its unsettling connection …

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How Lionel Richie Mastered the Love Song 30:41

3M ago30:41

30:41

By WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

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A Conservative Professor on How to Fix Campus Culture 26:02

3M ago26:02

26:02

Robert P. George is not a passive observer of the proverbial culture wars; he’s been a very active participant. As a Catholic legal scholar and philosopher at Princeton University, he was an influential opponent of Roe v. Wade and same-sex marriage, receiving a Presidential medal from President George W. Bush. George decries the “decadence” of secu…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #14 – They Will Never Stop Hunting You

3M ago

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Spooky season marches on, and this week Will and Lasse descend into the darkness of Middle-earth to face one of Howard Shore’s most chilling creations: the Ringwraith (Nazgûl) theme from The Lord of the Rings. The hosts unravel how Shore conjures terror through ritualistic choirs, dissonant pitch cells, and heavy orchestration, turning the Nine int…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #14 – They Will Never Stop Hunting You 34:18

3M ago34:18

34:18

Spooky season marches on, and this week Will and Lasse descend into the darkness of Middle-earth to face one of Howard Shore’s most chilling creations: the Ringwraith (Nazgûl) theme from The Lord of the Rings. The hosts unravel how Shore conjures terror through ritualistic choirs, dissonant pitch cells, and heavy orchestration, turning the Nine int…

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Jimmy Kimmel and the Power of Public Pressure 43:58

3M ago43:58

43:58

The Political Scene’s Washington Roundtable—the staff writers Jane Mayer, Susan Glasser, and Evan Osnos—discuss how, in the wake of the reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel’s show, public resistance has a chance to turn the tide against autocratic impulses in today’s politics. They are joined by Hardy Merriman, an expert on the history and practice of civ…

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Ezra Klein’s Big-Tent Vision of the Democratic Party 50:02

3M ago50:02

50:02

The author and podcaster Ezra Klein may be only forty-one years old, but he’s been part of the political-culture conversation for a long time. He was a blogger, then a Washington Post columnist and editor, a co-founder of Vox, and is now a writer and podcast host for the New York Times. He’s also the co-author of the recent best-selling book “Abund…

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The Cartoonist Liana Finck Picks Three Favorite Children’s Books 11:38

3M ago11:38

11:38

Liana Finck is a cartoonist and an illustrator who has contributed to The New Yorker since 2015. She is the author of several books, including the graphic memoir “Passing for Human.” Like many of her forebears at the magazine, Finck has also published works for children, and her recent book, “Mixed Feelings,” explores the ways that emotions are oft…

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Track Swap Halloween Special: Favorite Spooky Tunes 1:12:26

3M ago1:12:26

1:12:26

n this special episode of Track Swap, Sideshow Sound Radio co-host Will Dodson joins Lasse Vogt to talk about some of their favorite spooky themes and tracks from Films, TV Shows and Video Games. Come along and celebrate the Halloween Season as well, with music by selected composers Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, Jerry Goldsmith, Benjamin Wallfisch, …

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Track Swap Halloween Special: Favorite Spooky Tunes

3M ago

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n this special episode of Track Swap, Sideshow Sound Radio co-host Will Dodson joins Lasse Vogt to talk about some of their favorite spooky themes and tracks from Films, TV Shows and Video Games. Come along and celebrate the Halloween Season as well, with music by selected composers Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, Jerry Goldsmith, Benjamin Wallfisch, …

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Is The 2026 Election Already in Danger? 37:32

4M ago37:32

37:32

“The Constitution gives the states the power to set the time, place, and manner of elections,” the election lawyer Marc Elias points out. “It gives the President no [such] power.” Yet, almost one year before the midterms, Donald Trump has called for a nationwide prohibition on mail-in voting, an option favored by Democrats, as well as restrictions …

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Kevin Young on His Book “Night Watch,” Inspired by Death and Dante 17:39

4M ago17:39

17:39

Kevin Young is the poetry editor for The New Yorker, and the author of many books of his own poetry. His newest work, “Night Watch,” focusses on death, while also drawing upon his wide view of history, from the end of slavery in the U.S. to Dante’s seven-hundred-year-old poem “The Divine Comedy.” Young tells David Remnick that Dante actually played…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #13 – Something Wicked This Way Comes

4M ago

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Something wicked this way comes! In this week’s episode, Will and Lasse shine a spotlight on one of John Williams’ most enchanting creations for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: the choral spell Double Trouble. They’ll explore how Williams adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth witches’ chant into a mischievous, medieval-flavored theme, why it capt…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #13 – Something Wicked This Way Comes 36:36

4M ago36:36

36:36

Something wicked this way comes! In this week’s episode, Will and Lasse shine a spotlight on one of John Williams’ most enchanting creations for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: the choral spell Double Trouble. They’ll explore how Williams adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth witches’ chant into a mischievous, medieval-flavored theme, why it capt…

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How the “Dangerous Gimmick” of the Two-State Solution Ended in Disaster 38:27

4M ago38:27

38:27

For decades, the United States backed efforts to achieve a two-state solution—in which Israel would exist side by side with the Palestinian state, with both states recognizing each other’s claim to contested territory. The veteran negotiators Hussein Agha, representing Palestine, and Robert Malley, an American diplomat, played instrumental roles in…

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Jeff Tweedy on His New Triple Album, “Twilight Override” 28:27

4M ago28:27

28:27

Jeff Tweedy is best known as the front man of Wilco, the rock band he formed in Chicago in 1994. In recent years, he’s been working more often as a solo artist, putting out records under his own name as well as a memoir and essays on songwriting. Amanda Petrusich sat down with the singer-songwriter to talk about “Twilight Override,” which comes out…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #12 – Stabby Strings 36:07

4M ago36:07

36:07

This week – on the Spooky Season debut of The Sideshow Theme Show, Will and Lasse dive headfirst into one of the most iconic pieces of film music ever written: Bernard Herrmann’s “Prelude” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. We talk about how Herrmann’s bold choice to score Hitchcock’s thriller entirely with strings created a sound world that was stark…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #12 – Stabby Strings

4M ago

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This week – on the Spooky Season debut of The Sideshow Theme Show, Will and Lasse dive headfirst into one of the most iconic pieces of film music ever written: Bernard Herrmann’s “Prelude” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. We talk about how Herrmann’s bold choice to score Hitchcock’s thriller entirely with strings created a sound world that was stark…

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Anna Wintour Embraces a New Era at Vogue 39:30

4M ago39:30

39:30

Speculation, analysis, and commentary circulated all summer, after the announcement, in June, that Anna Wintour would step back from her role as the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. This changing of the guard is uniquely fraught, because Wintour’s name has become nearly inextricable from the magazine, to a degree almost unknown today. And, as New…

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Fred Armisen on “100 Sound Effects” 18:11

4M ago18:11

18:11

The comedian Fred Armisen has a thing for sound. He’s a former punk musician and a master of accents, and he is now releasing a new album of sound effects. “I was lamenting that there aren’t sound-effects albums in our lives as much,” he tells Michael Schulman. “I feel like they just used to exist more or they were more present. . . . And instead o…