My Recommendations for International Podcast Day

This International Podcast Day finds me chagrined to report that I have nothing new of my own to share or announce, apart from general intention to create new stuff for The Year of Vaudeville. I was a guest on two or three different podcast shows during 2025, but none of those programs have been released yet, if they ever will be, so here is my 2024 tally for those who missed it.

So I write today as a podcast listener. My podcast habits may surprise you. Believe it or not, I seldom listen to show biz podcasts. My daily listening habits tend to favor: news, news/opinion/ news/ comedy, straight-up comedy, science, foreign language, and history (ranging from prehistory all the way to the present). After all, I consume historical show biz media for research all day, why would I do MORE of that while I’m washing the dishes, or whatever?

There is a major exception to that, and you may know what it is. I’m a big fan (and sometime guest) of The Marx Brothers Council Podcast, produced by the estimable triumvirate of Noah Diamond, Matthew Coniam, and Bob Gassel. As big a fan as I am of these guys (and the Marx Brothers) I have not heard every episode by a long way. They have created 85 of them by now, not counting all sorts of bonuses and extras and add-ons. There is a lot to say about the Marx Brothers.

At present, I want to recommend their new episode, episode 85, in particular. It is a broad overview of the Marx Brothers’ work in radio. They have talked about the Marx’s sitcom Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, previously. This one is a much bigger survey — the Marxes were guests on many other shows over the decades. This episode couldn’t be better timed for me, as I am presently working on my book on radio and tv variety shows, so it dovetails brilliantly with my research. Believe it or not, the books have yet to be written on the brilliant performances the 20th century’s great performers gave on radio and television. It’s generally mentioned in passing, and sort of dismissively in most books and articles. I believe the reason for it is the sheer volume of the broadcast work, combined with the relative unavailability of most of it until quite recently. As just one example — I just listened to a Groucho monologue on The Big Show with Tallulah Bankhead, written for him by Goodman Ace, that’s easily as good as anything in the earlier Marx Brothers movies.

The amazing thing to me is, the MBCP has not yet exhausted the topic of the Marx Brothers, and show no sign of doing so any time soon. Whether you’re already a fan and listener, or about to become one, you have lots of pleasurable listening ahead of you. Listen here.

Speaking of Noah Diamond, another inexhaustible topic, there’s something else I want to recommend sight unseen, or rather sound unheard. Noah’s been working on a highly personal podcast series about his Jewish identity for many months now. Called Pintele, it’s threatening to rear its head sometime soon, if the trailer he just released is any indication, and it better be, since he recorded it. Among the interesting facts I learned from the trailer is how to pronounce Pintele, which is basically like bubeleh. If you’ve ever pinched a cheek, you know what a bubeleh is. As for what a Pintele is, learn all about it here: