- Find That Pod
- Posts
- Find That Pod #305
In partnership with
Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.
🎙️Welcome to the 305th edition of Find That Pod 🎙️
This week, we’ve got some new podcast discovery resources over at the FTP blog you should check out:
This week, I’m continuing our experiment by augmenting each podcast with additional info to help you decide whether this is a podcast you want to listen to or not. This info is courtesy of our new partner, DeepCast.
Let me know what you think these added summaries are helpful in the poll at the bottom of the newsletter. ⬇️
Here are this week’s recommendations:
HISTORY
History Dispatches
History Dispatches is a daily history show hosted by father and son duo Matt and McKinley Breen. The show covers people, places, events and even objects from throughout history. While any topic is fair game, Matt and McKinley hold a soft spot for the offbeat and wacky stories that most people don’t know about.
Website | Listen: Episodes.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Castro
Not sure where to start? Start with this episode: Library of Alexandria
In its recent episodes, History Dispatches” has delivered a captivating tour through pivotal moments and surprising narratives that reshape our understanding of the past. From bloody medieval battlefields to cultural revolutions, the podcast expertly weaves together diverse historical threads that reveal how singular events can alter the course of societies.
KEY TOPICS & FIGURES (last five episodes)
People: Harold Godwinson (King of England), William of Normandy (Norman conquerer), Harald Hardrada (Norweigan king), Edward the Confessor (English king), Richard II of Normandy, Charles E. Bowles (Black Bart), Mary Elizabeth Johnson (Black Bart’s wife), James B. Hume (Wells Fargo Detective), Elizabeth Magie (Original Monopoly creator)
Concepts / Events: Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066), Norman Conquest, Stonewall Riots, Ice Bowl, “Doomsday Defense”, Monopoly
Books mentioned:
1066, the Year of Conquest
Gentleman Bandit: The True Story of Black Bart, the old West’s Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber
The Stonewall Riots
Works by Snorri Sturlsson (Medieval historian)
Top 5 topics: History, Conflict/Confrontation, Notable Individuals, American Culture
HISTORY
Scratch & Win
Never in American history has it been so easy to gamble, legally at least. We’ve got casinos, sports betting, online poker, keno — but it was all made possible by state lotteries, which brought gambling out of the shadows and into the public square — into the government itself.
“Scratch & Win” follows the unlikely rise of America’s most successful lottery. We begin in 1970s Boston, with state bureaucrats going toe to toe with mafia bookmakers, and each other, as they struggle to launch the state's greatest innovation: the scratch ticket. But the story reaches all the way to the present moment. How do we feel about the gambling industry that lotteries helped summon into being? And should the state be in this business at all?
Website | Listen: Episodes.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Castro
Not sure where to start? Start with Part 1: The Instant Ticket
In its recent episodes, the "Scratch & Win" podcast delivered a captivating exploration of the Massachusetts Lottery's transformation of American gambling culture. Host Ian Coss chronicles how the lottery reinvented itself in the 1980s through innovative marketing strategies that tapped into economic anxieties and dreams of sudden wealth, turning failing lotto games into cultural phenomena. The narrative seamlessly transitions to the political machinery behind the scenes, focusing on Treasurer Bob Crane's 1986 reelection campaign, where he defended his lottery patronage system against reform-minded challenger Joyce Hampers in what became known as "the dirtiest race in the Commonwealth." This political battle serves as a microcosm for the broader evolution of Democratic politics from personal relationship-based machines to technocratic organizations—a transition historian Lily Geismer suggests has produced complex tradeoffs between efficiency and community connection.
KEY TOPICS & FIGURES (last five episodes)
People:
Ian Coss (Host, appears in all episodes)
Bob Crane (Massachusetts Treasurer, central figure)
Jonathan Cohen (Gambling historian)
Jack Connors (Hill Holiday executive)
Dawn Hayes (Lottery drawing personality)
Seamus McGuire (Creative director)
Joyce Hampers (Political challenger to Bob Crane)
William Galvin (Crane's campaign manager)
Eugene Mercutt (Food broker with Crane connections)
Barney Frank (Former congressman)
Organizations: Megabucks (Lottery game), Scratch Ticket, Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), Massachusetts Miracle (State's economic turnaround), Machine politics (Political patronage system)
Books/Media mentioned:
The Art of the Deal" (Trump book)
"Trump: The Game" (Board game)
"Losing America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling"
"Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals Since 1960" (Lily Geismer)
"Don't Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party" (Lily Geismer)
"Drift and Mastery"
"The Gambler"
Top 5 topics: Gambling/Lotter, Politics, Patronage, Addiction, Economics/Capitalism
CLASSIFIEDS
Meet Dr. Angela Sturm, a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Houston. On ‘Beauty Unveiled,’ she explores the art of facial surgery, sharing insights and answering your questions about achieving natural results. Listen to ‘Beauty Unveiled’ here.
Women shouldn’t silently endure menopause. Dr. Terri-Ann Samuels’ The Menopod breaks taboos, empowering women through shared experiences of symptoms like hot flashes and dry skin, helping them thrive in their next chapter. Check out this podcast today.
Powering the top newsletters in the world, Beehiiv is a powerful, feature-rich way to own your own audience and start earning money today. Check them them out today!
DRAMA
Someone is Killing the Wolfhounds
Based on a true story. A group of soldiers in Vietnam decide they need to murder their rogue lieutenant, if they’re going to make it home alive. Training Day meets Platoon!
Website | Listen: Episodes.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Castro
Not sure where to start? Start with the first episode.
The arc of "Someone Is Killing The Wolfhounds" delivers a brutal, unflinching portrayal of the Vietnam War through the harrowing experiences of John Quintrell and his fellow soldiers. What begins as a devastating Viet Cong assault on their base in Episode Six—where explosive tactics and close-quarter combat leave most of their unit dead—transforms into a story of moral degradation and revenge against incompetent leadership. The survivors, psychologically shattered by witnessing the deaths of comrades like Doc and collecting macabre "souvenirs" from the enemy, find themselves increasingly fixated on their reckless Lieutenant Ritter, whose poor decisions they blame for their mounting casualties.
KEY TOPICS & FIGURES (last five episodes)
People: John Quintrell (Main character/narrator), Lieutenant Ritter (Problematic officer), Tong (Vietnamese man who kills Ritter), Big Sally (Soldier), Merlin (Soldier), Doc (Soldier who dies), Ho Chi Minh (Historical figure)
Locations: Vietnam, Cambodia, Flint, Michigan, Alaska
Books mentioned: “My 365 Days with the Wolfhounds in Vietnam, 1968-1969: A Combat Veteran’s Journey”
Top 5 topics: Vietnam War, Trauma, Survival, Family, Murder/Death
TRUE CRIME
Scam Factory
You know those messages that you get all the time, the ones that pop up out of nowhere? They could be real, but something about them seems fishy. You likely dismiss these texts and emails as mere annoyances, thinking you’ve stopped some random stranger from ripping you off. But the shocking truth is, the person behind that message might be trapped inside a “scam factory” on the other side of the world and forced to scam others against their will. From Wondery, comes a new series about the brutal reality behind these operations, where one family discovers a horrifying truth: the only way out is to scam their way out.
Website | Listen: Episodes.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Castro
Not sure where to start? Start with the first episode.
In a harrowing five-episode arc of "Scam Factory," host Denise Chan unravels the intricate web of international scam compounds through the compelling story of Charlie and her brothers, Max and Josh. What begins as Charlie's reluctant participation in a human trafficking operation—recruiting unsuspecting victims like Yuki and Jella into what they believe are legitimate jobs—spirals into a desperate rescue mission when her own brothers become trapped in a Myanmar scam compound. The episodes expose the brutal reality inside these facilities, where workers face violent punishment for failed escape attempts, are forced to perpetrate online scams and sextortion schemes, and exist in conditions that blur the line between victim and perpetrator. The narrative reaches a critical turning point when Jella and fellow workers contact Colonel Dominador Matalang from the Philippine Embassy, initiating a dangerous escape plan that eventually leads to their freedom.
KEY TOPICS & FIGURES (last five episodes)
Organizations: International Justice Mission, Philippine Embassy (Implied through Colonel Matalang)
Top 5 topics: Trafficking, Scams, Escape, Recruitment, Family
HISTORY
REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana
Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. Each week, Luke Lamana, a Marine Corp Reconnaissance Veteran, pulls back the curtain on what once was classified information exposing the secrets and lies behind the world’s most powerful institutions.
Website | Listen: Episodes.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Castro
Not sure where to start? Start with this episode: Ben Franklin: Secret Spy
In recent episodes of REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries, host Luke Lamana has taken listeners on a harrowing journey through some of history's most unsettling government operations and unexplained events. From the shadowy corridors of Cold War experimentation to a mysterious tragedy in the Siberian wilderness, these stories reveal the darker side of authority and the human cost of secrecy. The series exposes how the U.S. military subjected its own soldiers to dangerous chemical and biological weapons testing during the Cold War, causing lasting trauma that would only be partially acknowledged years later. Meanwhile, the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration demonstrated how governmental powers could circumvent congressional oversight to pursue covert international operations with far-reaching consequences.
KEY TOPICS & FIGURES (last five episodes)
People: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay (Led committee on conspiracies), William Tryon (British loyalist governor), David Matthews (New York City mayor), Gilbert Forbes (Local gunsmith), Isaac Ketchum (Imprisoned counterfeiter), Thomas Hickey (Washington's lifeguard who was executed), Ronald Reagan (President during Iran-Contra)
Concepts/Events: Operation Greylord (FBI sting against corrupt courts). Cold War, American Revolution, Iran-Contra Scandal, Project Shad (Biological weapons testing), Infrasound (Potential explanation for Siberian deaths), Novichok chemicals
Books/Media mentioned:
"Operation: The True Story of an Untrained Undercover Agent and America's Biggest Corruption Bust"
"The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington"
"The Unmaking of the President"
"Chemical Warfare Secrets, Almost a personal story of medical testing of army volunteers"
"Biology of Doom"
"Late Nights with Nexpo" (Collaborative episode)
Top 5 topics: Espionage/Intelligence, Government Corruption/Abuse of Power, Military/National security, Justice/Law, Mystery/Conspiracy
industry news
📊 - The Podglomorate has made it onto a list of the Boston Globe’s list of New England’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2025.
🧑💻 A new free webinar is coming on May 1st to help audio producers to wrestle with what they really need to know about video podcasting.
📇 5 Tips on how to find contact details and pitch your podcast to guests.
🏆 The Signal Awards for podcasting are now open to submissions.
🇯🇵 According to this report, YouTube is the #1 podcast listening platform of choice for the Japanese.
🇬🇧 The BBC are reversing course on including ads in their podcasts in the UK.
💰 According to Magellan AI, these companies were the top sponsors of podcasts in February 2025.
🎙️ Evolutions 2025 the podcasting conference is happening next week. Are you going?
📈 Strategies to grow your podcast quickly…
🥇 This podcaster is chasing a world record… to host more podcast guests on a single episode than anyone else.
USE THIS WIDGET TO REFER SUBSCRIBERS:
Advertise with Find That Pod for as little as $50 / newsletter mailing.
What do you think of the new podcast summaries from DeepCast? |