Alison Rosen, Profiles, and More Notable Recent Podcasts

Is your daily commute putting you to sleep? Shake it up with some of my favorite podcasts from the last seven days. For more listening suggestions, head to the archive.
THERE ARE 100,000 AIRLINE PASSENGERS IN THE AIR AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
StarTalk Radio, Season 6, Episode 4
One can learn a lot from a podcast session with Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, and in the latest StarTalk episode, they both share insight about rocket science (and other stuff). At one point, Nye shares this fact about air travel and notes how far it has come.
NEW YORKER EMPLOYEES ARE CLEANING OUT THEIR OFFICES.
Don’t worry, they’re not fired; they’re just moving to a new building. The latest episode of this New Yorker podcast uncovers some of the wacky things employees have found while packing (hate mail, an old lawsuit) and touches on excellent entertainment about office culture, like Mad Men and The Office.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY DIRECTOR JAMES GUNN TRULY IDENTIFIES WITH ROCKET (THE RACCOON).
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Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend, Feb. 8 episode
You might think Gunn would cite another Guardians character as the one he feels closest to, but it’s the raccoon he understands best. In this conversation, Gunn also reveals he has started working on the sequel, and he recalls his pre-filmmaking days, when he worked in a hospital and was told he’d never accomplish anything noteworthy.
MICHAEL KEATON’S REAL NAME? MICHAEL DOUGLAS.
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In this candid interview, the Oscar nominee chats about making Birdman and tells host Terry Gross he still goes by Michael Douglas in his personal life. (Obviously, he changed it so as not to be confused with the other acting Michael Douglas.)
TWO PERCENT OF ALL INTERNET SEARCHES ARE FOR SONG LYRICS.
This episode delves into the abundance of song lyrics and lyric videos on the Internet. (Interestingly, Cee-Lo deserves a chunk of credit for lyric videos’ popularity.) Sasha Frere-Jones, executive editor of Genius, explains how the site thrives upon our hunger for lyrics.
NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO SPEND TWO YEARS OF HIS/HER LIFE ON FACEBOOK.
New Tech City, Feb. 11 episode
The podcast recaps its “Bored and Brilliant” challenge, in which more than 18,000 people vowed to use less technology. Some participants describe going through withdrawal symptoms when they stopped using social media, and one expert says that just spending 25 minutes on Facebook each day can add up to a frightening amount of time.
MERYL STREEP MODELED HER DEVIL WEARS PRADA CHARACTER ON MIKE NICHOLS AND CLINT EASTWOOD.
Each week, this show from the Popcorn Talk Network, which also airs live on YouTube, spotlights a different figure in the film industry. This week, hosts Scott Mantz and Alicia Malone celebrate Meryl Streep’s career and welcome some impressive guests, including Into the Woods director Rob Marshall and The Devil Wears Prada director David Frankel, who reveals a couple inspirations behind Streep’s portrayal.