Reply All, Fugitive Waves, and More of the Week’s Best Podcasts

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Each week I share the juiciest tidbits from a few recent podcasts I felt were well worth my time. Need more recommendations? Peruse the archive.

YOUR VOICEMAIL CAN REVEAL A LOT ABOUT YOU.

Fugitive Waves, Episode 14

As a tribute to actor Taylor Negron, who died Jan. 10, the podcast airs a beautiful montage of entertaining answering machine messages Negron saved over the years. It wraps with a message spoken by Negron himself, which was found on his phone after he died.

PHOTOGRAPHING CEREAL INVOLVES LOTS OF HAIR TONIC AND MASHED POTATOES.

How To Do Everything, Jan. 27 episode

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A listener asks whether photographers really use glue instead of milk when they snap pics of breakfast cereal, so the hosts do some research. It turns out hair products and other unappetizing items are integral to the process.

TOBEY MAGUIRE ONCE SHOWED UP TO A POKER GAME WITH $10,000 IN CASH.

Food is the New Rock, Episode 128

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The bulk of Food is the New Rock is devoted to music and food (as you’d expect), but the latest episode takes a delightful detour in the first few minutes with a story about a Hollywood poker game and at least one celebrity guest stashing stacks of bills beneath his shirt.

SOMETIMES, TROLLS APOLOGIZE.

This American Life, Episode 545

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In a riveting and horrifying piece, writer Lindy West shares some of the worst Internet comments she has received. Surprisingly, one troll who committed a shocking offense—he posed as West’s recently deceased father on Twitter—apologizes and agrees to speak with her on the phone.

MARGARET CHO JUST WANTS TO SHARE A MILKSHAKE WITH SOMEONE.

Death, Sex & Money, Jan. 28 episode

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The comedian has never been afraid to talk about sex, especially when it comes to her own colorful past. But in this conversation, Cho says she now craves the simpler things. “[I’m] retired from swinging, sex parties, orgies, huge group sex situations,” she says. “The weirdest thing was I realized now I just want someone to hold my hand.”

MANY NEW PARENTS COULD BENEFIT FROM A TRIP TO AMSTERDAM.

The Longest Shortest Time, Episode 48

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As part of the podcast’s new “Sex & Parenthood” series, guests Dan Savage and Jane Marie offer frank, NSFW advice that addresses everything from finding time for sex to dealing with childbirth-related injuries. Savage suggests parents try to make time for themselves when they can, noting he and his partner traveled to Amsterdam when their son was a baby. (Though Savage is usually very candid, he refuses to divulge what exactly he did there.)

ERROL MORRIS’ BROTHER MAY HAVE HELPED INVENT EMAIL.

Reply All, Episode 11

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In this week’s ep of the Internet-themed podcast, filmmaker Errol Morris does what he does best: investigates. The mystery involves whether Morris’ brother may have helped invent email, which has a winding and debatable history on its own. (Noel Morris died in 1983.)