This month, we’re diving deep into a world that is often misunderstood, overlooked, and defined by harmful stereotypes and assumptions. Deafblindness is a unique dual sensory disability that shapes how people communicate, navigate, and thrive — and it’s time we listen, learn, and unlearn. These episodes go beyond raising awareness; they challenge misconceptions head-on, amplify the voices of Deafblind individuals, and shine a light on the urgent need for advocacy, accessibility, and genuine inclusion in every area of life — from education and employment to healthcare, technology, and everyday social spaces. Whether you’re personally connected to this experience or showing up as an ally, this playlist is an invitation to expand your perspective, break down barriers, and become a more informed and active advocate. Happy DeafBlind Awareness Week (June 25 – July 1)!

This playlist was curated by Rosanna, co-lead of the New York City PBC chapter.

Podcast Playlist on DeafBlindness

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

* Listen Notes allows you to quickly download all of the episodes using a variety of podcast apps. Here is a quick demo video.

Seeing Without Limits: “Beyond Sight and Sound: Understanding DeafBlindness” (February 2026, 29 min)
This episode breaks down what DeafBlindness truly means — beyond the misconception that it is simply a combination of hearing and vision loss — exploring specialized communication strategies, adaptive skills, and the power of human connection. Through her work founding Jeri’s House, Cooper offers practical insight and compassionate guidance for Deafblind individuals, their families, and professionals seeking to build genuine independence and inclusion.
UNSW Centre for Ideas: “Haben Girma: The First Deafblind Harvard Graduate” (October 2024, 52 min)
Haben Girma, disability rights trailblazer and the first Deafblind woman to graduate from Harvard Law School, talks about overcoming barriers, championing inclusive design, and advocating for accessibility. With humor and heart, she challenges harmful stereotypes and inspires us all to move beyond awareness and into meaningful action.
The New Yorker Radio Hour: “The Poet John Lee Clark’s “How to Communicate” Brings DeafBlind Experience to the Page” (January 2024, 27 min)
Poet and scholar John Lee Clark challenges the tragic stereotypes often associated with DeafBlind life through writing that is joyful, funny, and deeply human. His National Book Award-nominated collection How to Communicate celebrates the richness of DeafBlind and Deaf literature, offering a refreshing and powerful reframe of what it means to navigate the world without sight or hearing.
The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders: “350: Full-Time World Travel as a Deafblind Latina and Smashing Disability Stigma Through Storytelling, Advocacy and Education with Catarina Rivera” (August 2025, 1 hr 26 min)
Catarina shares her vibrant journey as a Deafblind, Latina world traveler living with Usher syndrome, debunking misconceptions about Deafblind people while offering insight on how non-disabled people can show up as better allies. From solo trips with a white cane to leading travel experiences for disabled adventurers across nearly 40 countries, she powerfully demonstrates that disability is no barrier to a full, adventurous, and deeply connected life.
New Books in Communications: “Elsa Sjunneson, “Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism” (Simon Element, 2021)” (October 2022, 51 min)
Media studies professor and deafblind author Elsa Sjunneson draws on her own lived experience and cultural expertise to dismantle the myths and harmful stereotypes society perpetuates about blindness and deafness — from Hollywood portrayals to everyday ableism. Part memoir, part cultural criticism, her work Being Seen is a sharp and personal call to challenge our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability and reimagine a world built on truth, representation, and inclusion.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• The Be My Eyes Podcast: “The First DeafBlind Actor to Attend the Oscars” (April 2021, 38 min)
  Robert Tarango went from working as a kitchen assistant at the Helen Keller National Center to walking the red carpet at the Academy Awards, starring in the Oscar-nominated short film Feeling Through — a remarkable journey that highlights the transformative power of authentic representation. His story is a landmark moment for the Deafblind community and a powerful reminder of why inclusive casting and storytelling in film and TV matter deeply.
• BroadEye: An Ophthalmology Podcast: “Low Vision Rehabilitation, Deafblind International and Creating a Continuum Of Care In Ophthalmology – Dr. Walter Wittich” (May 2021, 42 min)
  Dr. Walter Wittich offers an expert look at the global landscape of Deafblind research and low vision rehabilitation through his role as chair of the Deafblind International Research Network, shedding light on the organization’s mission to serve Deafblind individuals worldwide. He candidly addresses critical gaps in communication and training while casting a forward-looking vision for the future of the field and the unique challenges that lie ahead.
• Historical Figures: “Helen Keller” (March 2018, 42 min)
  Helen Keller was far more than a symbol — she was a fearless author, activist, and advocate whose extraordinary life, shaped alongside mentor Annie Sullivan, left a lasting legacy that continues to drive disability rights and the fight for inclusion around the world.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Haben Girma prefers not to be called “inspiring” — how do we celebrate Deafblind achievements without reducing people to their disability?
2. John Lee Clark’s poetry is full of joy rather than tragedy — how does this challenge the way you personally imagined Deafblind life before today?
3. Both Haben Girma and Elsa Sjunneson challenge harmful stereotypes through their work — what stereotypes about Deafblindness did this playlist challenge or correct for you?
4. Robert Tarango’s casting in Feeling Through was a landmark moment for representation — why does authentic inclusion in media matter, and where else do we need to see it?
5. Catarina travels to nearly 40 countries as a Deafblind woman — what does her story teach us about the assumptions we make regarding what disabled people can or cannot do?

The post DeafBlindness: June 2026 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

Overtourism is a buzzword lately, but also having real impacts on the lives of both the people living in the most-visited places and anyone traveling. We live in the heart of it here in Spain, and see our city struggling with housing prices and covered in “Tourist Go Home Signs” (and being just down the coast from Barcelona, where the infamous water gun incidents and more have brought international press attention). However, as we hope the list conveys, it’s a complicated issue with many angles, from policy to practicalities and travel tips.

This playlist was curated by Shannon Martin, founder of the Valencia, Spain PBC chapter, and Jeannie Dilger, a Valencia member who helps women and queer folks over 50 travel Europe solo via AdventuringAlone.com.

Podcast Playlist on OVERTOURISM

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

* Listen Notes allows you to quickly download all of the episodes using a variety of podcast apps. Here is a quick demo video.

What Now? With Trevor Noah: “Revenge of the Tourists with Rajan Datar” (September 2024, 49 min)
This discussion with travel journalist Rajan Datar covers all the highlights and news on this topic, with a dose of humor that Trevor Noah brings. It also dives into more of the subtleties around globalization, policies, and more.

Peak Travel: “Bhutan’s Radical Approach to Overtourism” (March 2025, 21 min)
Many places allow tourists to visit with little restrictions. But Bhutan, a tiny, land-locked country has implemented a “high-value, low-impact” tourism model, including a fee that tourists have to pay each day that they visit. As more destinations grapple with the effects of overtourism, what can Bhutan teach us about how to manage it?
The Thoughtful Travel Podcast: “333 Overtourism” (January 2025, 24 min)
Overtourism is a buzz word of late, but not a good one. We’ve all read about the cities and regions being overrun by tourists, who might be damaging natural or historical sights, or making an area unaffordable for its original residents to stay in. In this episode three guests with an interest in overtourism offer their thoughts on the topic.
Vacation Rental Scale-Up: “Airbnb Reframes Overtourism-And Puts Hotels on the Defensive” (June 2025, 9 min)
Take it with a grain of salt as this podcast is for vacation rental owners, but we constantly hear Airbnb being blamed for housing cost issues as related to overtourism. This podcast shares how Airbnb has reacted and some interesting statistics around vacation rentals and hotels, which adds a perspective to consider.

National Park After Dark: “The Last Tourist with Bruce Poon Tip” (July 2022, 52 min)
Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures and Executive Producer of The Last Tourist documentary, discusses the negative impacts of overtourism, animal cruelty in entertainment, and responsible, sustainable travel that benefits local communities.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• What in the World: “Why Water Pistols Are Being Used to Fight Overtourism” (July 2025, 12 min)
  Water pistols have become a symbol of resistance against overtourism in several cities around the world. This summer local residents in Barcelona, Spain, have been using them again to show their frustration at how mass tourism is impacting their city; from housing to overcrowding.
• Peak Travel: “You Don’t Want to End Up Like Venice” (August 2024, 29 min)
  Venice has long been considered the poster child for overtourism in Europe. As ever-growing waves of tourists aboard boats and cruise ships jeopardize the delicate city, residents hope a new entry fee will offer relief.
• Reuter’s Econ World: “Overtourism” (July 2025, 38 min)
  A look at the economic trade-offs at play in mass tourism as backlash grows in places like Spain and Japan.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Have you experienced the effects of overtourism, in traveling or where you live? Where’s the “worst” overtourism you’ve experienced?
2. What do you do to avoid being part of overtourism’s effects or to be more sustainable in your travels? How has your own travel changed, or will you do anything differently after listening to this list?
3. What factors do you think are often overlooked in these discussions, or overemphasized/simplified?
4. What solutions have you seen or heard that have worked, or could be considered?

The post OVERTOURISM: May 2026 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

From graffiti and forged paintings to looted antiquities, stolen comics, and NFT scams, this playlist looks at the many ways visual art can become entangled with money, status, and crime. These episodes travel through street art, galleries, museums, private collections, and digital marketplaces, revealing how value gets assigned, who gets protected, and who gets exploited when images and objects become powerful commodities.

This playlist was curated by members of the Brooklyn chapter.

Podcast Playlist on ART CRIMES

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

* Listen Notes allows you to quickly download all of the episodes using a variety of podcast apps. Here is a quick demo video.

The Economics of Everyday Things: “26. Grafitti” (November 2023, 14 min)
A brisk look at graffiti’s origins, evolution, and economics, asking how one person’s vandalism becomes another’s public art.
Reveal: “Fancy Galleries, Fake Art” (December 2025, 58 min)
This episode investigates a massive art forgery scandal involving fake paintings sold through high-end New York galleries as works by major artists. It also follows the trail of a Nazi-looted painting, showing how questions of provenance, ownership, and accountability continue to haunt the art world.
Dynamite Doug: “Episode 1: Greatest Art Heist” (February 2023, 27 min)
This episode traces Douglas Latchford’s rise in the world of Cambodian antiquities as stolen cultural heritage made its way into elite Western collections. It shows how looting can be recast as prestige collecting when museums, dealers, and wealthy buyers help legitimize the trade.
Stealing Superman: “Episode 01 – Beads of Sweat” (November 2022, 48 min)
When a rare and enormously valuable comic disappears from Nicolas Cage’s collection, the theft kicks off a strange and compelling mystery. The episode expands the idea of art crime beyond galleries and museums, into the world of collectibles, fandom, and celebrity.
The Art of Crime: “The Adventure of the Libelous Painter (Crimes of New York)” (November 2024, 44 min)
This historical episode follows a feud between a painter and his patron that escalates when the artist creates and auctions off an insulting portrait. What follows is a fascinating case in which visual art becomes the basis for criminal libel.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• WSJ Tech News Briefing: “NFT Art Presents New Frontier for Fraudsters” (August 2021, 14 min)
  A short look at how NFT art opened up new opportunities for scams and fraud, proving that even in digital spaces, the old art-world problems still apply.
• Freakonomics Radio: “The Case of the $4 Million Dollar Gold Coffin” (May 2023, 53 min)
  A sharp, investigative look at how a looted Egyptian antiquity ended up at the Met, using repatriation, celebrity, and museum power to expose how stolen cultural heritage gets legitimized.
• Empty Frames: “New // Louvre Heist” (November 2025, 32 min)
  This episode breaks down a recent Louvre jewel heist with enough detail to feel grounded, while the hosts’ conversational style keeps the story moving.
• Hashtag History: “EP44: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft” (September 2020, 43 min)
  Despite its tangents, this episode gives the most detailed and accessible overview on the list of the infamous Gardner Museum theft, still the largest unsolved art heist in history.
• Art Crime Podcast: “The Georgia O’Keeffe 10th Episode Spectacular!” (March 2021, 47 min)
  Less focused on the theft itself than the others, this episode is most interesting for the way it connects Georgia O’Keeffe’s stolen work to larger questions about gender, visibility, and which art crimes get remembered.
• Wine & Crime Podcast: “Ep80 Art Theft” (August 2018, 1 hr 39 min)
  This loose, funny, and very long episode closes out the bonus list with a broader, boozier tour through cultural property theft and the strange stories that surround it.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Which episode best captured the relationship between art, money, and power?
2. Where in this playlist did you most clearly see exploitation at work?
3. How do wealth and status affect who gets punished, who gets protected, and who gets to profit in these stories?
4. Did this playlist change the way you think about collectors, museums, galleries, or other gatekeepers in the art world?
5. Which episode most challenged your idea of what counts as an “art crime”?
6. How does the playlist complicate the idea that art is purely about beauty, creativity, or self-expression?
7. After listening to the whole playlist, do you think the art world is uniquely vulnerable to exploitation, or just a vivid reflection of broader inequality?

The post ART CRIMES: April 2026 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

From tech billionaires and sneaker empires to Appalachian bloodlines and pop royalty, this playlist dives headfirst into some of history’s most notorious rivalries. These episodes unpack what really fuels a feud—ego, ambition, jealousy, family grudges, and sometimes escalating one-upmanship. You’ll get the messy reality behind headline-grabbing clashes, the origin stories that spiraled out of control, and the legends that refuse to die. Some of these conflicts reshaped industries and culture; others were inflated by rumor and retelling. All of them prove one thing: when powerful personalities collide, the fallout is unforgettable.

This playlist was curated by Maree, chapter leader of our Northern Virginia chapter.

Podcast Playlist on FAMOUS FEUDS

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

* Listen Notes allows you to quickly download all of the episodes using a variety of podcast apps. Here is a quick demo video.

High Steaks: “Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk: Battle of The Lizard Overlords” (March 2025, 24 min)
A sharp look at the tech world’s most headline-grabbing rivalry, unpacking ego, ambition, and billionaire brinkmanship between Zuckerberg and Musk.
Stuff You Should Know: “Selects: What Was the Deal With the Hatfields and McCoys?” (January 2021, 43 min)
It was America’s most famous family feud, but the history of the Hatfields vs the McCoys is fraught with bias and inaccuracies.
Ridiculous History: “CLASSIC: Adidas Versus Puma: A Tale of Two Brothers” (March 2025, 46 min)
Today Adidas and Puma are two of the industry’s most well-known tennis shoe makers, and people around the world prize the footwear for its unique design and reliable craftsmanship. Yet there’s a strange, bitter origin story behind these giants of the sneaker world.
Diss and Tell: “Prince and Michael Jackson | 31” (January 2024, 46 min)
Few fans are aware of the years-long rivalry brewing between Prince and Michael Jackson behind the scenes. As the Purple One’s fame escalated, so too did tensions between the two artists. They proceeded to engage in a series of increasingly bizarre one-upmanship battles, including an antagonistic concert showdown, a cutthroat ping pong grudge match, and the most outrageous quarrel claim of all time involving an alleged satanic-chant-filled shoebox left on a doorstep.
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast: “The Mozart-Saleri Feud: Did “Amadeus” Tell the Real Story?” (December 2023, 26 min)
The film “Amadeus” was a huge hit in the mid-1980s. It depicted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri as musical rivals in the Austrian court in the late 18th century, which ultimately ends with Mozart’s early death. But was anything in the film accurate? Did Salieri plot to kill Mozart? Was jealousy over musical genius really that serious?

Bonus podcast episodes:

• You’re Dead to Me: “Kellogg Brothers: a family feud and the creation of a cereal empire” (August 2025, 59 min)
  This episode tells the story of the battling Kellog brothers and their food and wellness business ventures, exploring everything from their sibling relationship and the competing stories they tell about the invention of their most famous cereal, to John’s Seventh Day Adventist beliefs and his pioneering wife with her meat-free meal replacements.
• Stuff You Should Know: “Selects: What Were the BONE WARS?” (August 2025, 53 min)
  A pair of old timey fossil hunters had a rootin’ tootin’ rivalry that spilled from academic journals into the American Wild West – where fossils were dynamited and employees turned double agent.
• History of Everything: “Feuds that ended in blood…” (February 2024, 1 hr 10 min)
  A hard look at rivalries that didn’t stop at insults or lawsuits—conflicts that escalated into violence, revenge, and deadly consequences.
• Ongoing History of New Music: “Modern Rock Feuds” (March 2022, 32 min)
  A fast-moving tour of modern rock’s messiest rivalries—ego clashes, diss tracks, public call-outs, and the grudges that shaped the sound of the scene.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. When does rivalry push people to greatness—and when does it just turn destructive?
2. Which feud on this list feels the most manufactured or exaggerated by media and myth?
3. How much of a famous feud is driven by ego versus real ideological or business conflict?
4. Do we romanticize artistic rivalries like Mozart and Salieri because they make genius more dramatic?
5. Can bitter competition between brands (like Adidas and Puma) actually benefit consumers?
6. Why are audiences so fascinated by celebrity one-upmanship, especially in music and tech?
7. Which feud do you think had the biggest long-term cultural impact—and which was mostly smoke?

The post FAMOUS FEUDS: March 2026 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

Reality TV sells itself as unscripted, but it’s one of the most carefully engineered forms of media we have. This playlist digs into how reality TV shapes identity, politics, class, and fame—revealing what these shows say about us, not just the people on screen.

This playlist was curated by Cozy, a member of our Chicago chapter.

Podcast Playlist on REALITY TV

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
This Is Uncomfortable: “Reality (TV) bites” (June 2023, 42 min)
A look at the economic machinery behind reality TV, from unpaid labor to the ways producers build and keep audiences. Looks at the impact on participants when producers inaccurately portray events to stir up drama and perpetuate stereotypes to drive ratings.
Get Queer: “Casually Queer” (May 2025, 35 min)
This episode looks at the history of how reality tv has portrayed queer and trans people and their stories and experiences. It discusses the importance of queer representation, particularly casual queerness, and also the impact of being queer and participating on reality tv.
The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism: “What Reality TV Says About Us” (May 2022, 27 min)
A cultural analysis of why reality TV endures, even as audiences claim to hate it. The discussion frames the genre as a mirror for social values around wealth, gender, and power.
Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV: “2. The Talent Show Boom: Pop Idol and The X Factor” (May 2022, 50 min)
An exploration of how talent competitions rose in popularity and became huge money-makers for networks. The episode traces how emotional backstories became just as important as talent and what happens to contestants after they’ve been on a talent show,
Outside/In: “The reality of History’s “Alone”” (November 2022, 33 min)
In this episode, two critics explore the subtext of History’s Alone, and the messages it might be sending about class, gender, entertainment, and human relationships with the natural world.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• Spectacle: True Crime: “Reality TV | 1. An American Family” (February 2021, 43 min)
  A deep dive into the 1970s series often cited as the first reality TV show. It reveals how surveillance, performance, and family dysfunction were baked into the genre from the start.
• Split Screen: Bachelor of Buckingham Palace: “Split Screen: Kid Nation, Episode 1: Dropped in the Desert” (April 2024, 36 min)
  A critical revisit of one of reality TV’s most ethically questionable experiments. The hosts unpack how the show exploited children under the guise of social science and entertainment.
• Get Queer: “The G.O.A.T.” (May 2025, 29 min)
  Revisits Season 8 of “Are You the One” – the first season with an all-queer cast. Looks at why people loved the show, how it challenged traditional dating show norms, and its importance for representation.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Do you watch reality TV? What types of shows do you tend to watch?
2. When you’re watching reality TV – do you think about how it’s being produced and what is happening off screen to make events happen? Do you tend to take things at face value?
3. What is the value in reality TV? What are the downsides?
4. Reality TV is often considered a guilty pleasure? Why do you think that is? Is that a fair characterization?
5. What changes could be made to reality TV to make it more real/ethical/friendly to contestants? Are there ways to make it more ethical and keep it entertaining?

The post REALITY TV: February 2026 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

As a new year begins, it’s a good moment to look back at a decade that quietly set the rules for the one we’re living in now. The 1990s reshaped pop culture, media, economics, and personal life in ways that still feel current—often unexamined, sometimes unresolved. This playlist revisits the ’90s not for nostalgia, but to understand how its ideas, habits, and blind spots carried forward into the present.

This playlist was curated by the Philadelphia chapter of Podcast Brunch Club.

Podcast Playlist on THE 1990s

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
60 Songs That Explain the ’90s: “Backstreet Boys—“I Want It That Way”” (December 2020, 31 min)
A breakdown of how a meticulously engineered boy-band hit became a global pop milestone despite lyrics that make no literal sense.
History of the 90s: “The One About “Friends” | 4″ (August 2019, 39 min)
Friends wasn’t just a sitcom; it was a cultural reset. This episode examines how the show defined ’90s adulthood, relationships, and urban life—while also unpacking the blind spots and contradictions baked into its version of America.
Freakonomics Radio: “Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)” (October 2024, 54 min)
A reassessment of a controversial 1990s social science claim using updated data and decades of criticism.
Decoder Ring: “The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other” (November 2023, 37 min)
A deep dive into The Rules, the infamous 1990s dating book that reframed heterosexual courtship as strategy and restraint. This episode traces how a slim self-help manual captured anxieties about gender, power, and romance at the end of the decade.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• Hey Dude… The 90s Called!: “That Guy From Everything – with Seth Green” (10/1/2025, 1 hr 10 min)
  Seth Green reflects on growing up in ’90s pop culture and how being everywhere without being the star shaped his career.
• Crimetown: “S1 E14: Renaissance Man” (4/1/2017, 32 min)
  This episode examines how power, ambition, and corruption intersected in 1990s Providence through the rise of a charismatic political operator.
• Pop Culture Retrospective: “#109 – A Conversation about 1995 with Author Zachary Downing” (5/1/2025, 1 hr 46 min)
  A focused discussion on why 1995 was a cultural inflection point, from music and movies to the broader mood of the decade.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. How do nostalgia and reinterpretation shape the way we think about past decades — whether it’s a hit song, a sitcom, policy research, or a dating manual?
2. Which episode challenged your assumptions the most, and why?
3. If you remember the 90s, do you think there was anything missing from the episodes or things that you felt they got wrong?
4. Do you think media (tv, music, and books) has ultimately changed for the better, worse, or stayed neutral since the 90s?
5. What’s the most recent huge cultural phenomenon you can remember, and how does it compare to the cultural juggernauts of the 90s.
6. What will we look back on in the 2020s with the same rose-colored glasses that we look back on the 90s with?

The post THE 1990s: January 2026 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

Climate change is often spoken about in sweeping global terms — rising temperatures, melting glaciers, unprecedented storms. But what does it actually cost us? How is it affecting our wallets already today? From the aftermath of a hurricane to the political tightrope of carbon taxes, to “”the single most impactful thing that the average American can do for climate change””, this month we’re looking at how people today are trying to measure and manage the price of a warming planet.

For an issue so often dominated by scientific reports and political debates, these stories offer a look that’s a little closer to home: the hidden calculations behind rebuilding after disasters, an extra few cents at the pump, and the investment funds that fund our dreams and retirement. So here are a few stories beneath the headlines and beyond the charts, including some that challenge conventional wisdom about what climate action truly requires, and who will ultimately foot that bill.

This playlist was curated by Sam, the leader of our Cologne/Bonn chapter.

Podcast Playlist on CLIMATE COSTS

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
Living Planet: “Part 1: How much does a hurricane cost?” (April 2025, 42 min)
A straightforward look at the real financial toll of major storms, from destroyed infrastructure to the hidden long-term economic drag.
Zero: The Climate Race: “How Canada figured out a carbon tax and gave the money back” (July 2023, 33 min)
A breakdown of how Canada pulled off a politically fraught carbon-pricing system and why refunding the revenue actually worked.
How We Survive: “ESG, Reincarnated” (April 2025, 24 min)
An unvarnished look at how ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is being rebranded after backlash—and whether any of the new promises hold up.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• Scene on Radio: “S5 E8: Last Orders” (November 2021, 33 min)
  A sharp examination of the political and cultural forces steering climate inaction, told through the lens of systems that are designed to resist change.
• 99% Invisible: “Not Built for This #6: Maximum Temperature” (September 2024, 41 min)
  A clear-eyed explanation of how heat limits push buildings, infrastructure, and human bodies past what they were engineered to withstand.
• The Newsworthy: “Special Edition: Home Insurance Crisis – LA Fires, Rising Rates & What to Know” (January 2025, 20 min)
  A quick, practical walkthrough of why home insurance is spiraling in fire-prone regions and what homeowners are realistically up against.
• Living Planet: “Part 5: What the economy gets wrong about nature” (May 2025, 37 min)
  A critique of economic models that pretend nature’s value is optional—and the consequences of mispricing the living world.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. “What surprised you most about the real cost of climate change — financial or otherwise — in these stories?
2. Did any of these episodes challenge assumptions you previously held about climate policy?
3. From your perspective, who should be responsible for paying the costs of climate change — governments, corporations, individuals, or some combination?
4. After hearing how Canada approached carbon pricing, how do you think political will is built (or lost) around climate policies?
5. Taken together, do these episodes paint climate change as primarily an economic issue, a political one, or a deeply human one?
6. What “costs” of climate change — immediate or long-term — feel most urgent in your own community?”

The post CLIMATE COSTS: December 2025 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

Multilevel marketing – or MLMs – are often presented as a chance for independence, empowerment, and entrepreneurship. But beneath the glossy surface of branding and motivational slogans lies a scheme where very few win. What draws people in, and what keeps people signing up with new direct marketing companies even when they’ve been burned before? From NXIVM’s cult of self-improvement to LuLaRoe’s leggings boom, these stories pull back the curtain on what it’s really like to be in an MLM and how they function.

Beyond the MLM scams and scandals, these episodes reveal something deeper about our hunger for belonging, women’s labor in the modern economy, and the enduring pull of the American dream.

This playlist was curated by Sam, the leader of our Cologne/Bonn chapter.

Podcast Playlist on MULTILEVEL MARKETING

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

The Dream: “S1 E2: Women’s Work” (September 2018, 39 min)
**NOTE: This episode is behind a paywall on Spotify, but you can listen to it on other platforms.**
A deep dive into how MLMs wrap themselves in the language of empowerment—while trapping millions of women in debt, hustle culture, and broken promises.
The Rise and Fall of LuLaRoe: “Ep 1: The Promise of LuLaRoe” (February 2022, 32 min)
Inside the rise of a pastel-hued empire that promised sisterhood and success, but left a trail of lawsuits, debt, and disillusionment.
Escaping NXIVM: “Episode 2: The Epiphany” (September 2018, 54 min)
A firsthand account from inside a “self-help” organization that blurred the line between coaching and control—and how it mirrors the psychology behind MLM recruitment.
Sounds Like A Cult: “The Cult of Multi-Level Marketing” (July 2021, 36 min)
A smart, funny breakdown of why MLMs tick so many cult boxes—from love-bombing to toxic positivity—and why we keep falling for the pitch.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• Life After MLM: “Episode 73: Laurie Jenks Hale” (November 2021, 1 hr 53 min)
  A raw, personal story from a former top seller who reveals how deep the deception goes—and what it takes to rebuild life after the fall.
• The Dream: “Multi-Multi-Level-Marketing” (January 2025, 46 min)
  An exposé on how the MLM model has evolved, multiplied, and infiltrated everything from coaching to crypto.
• Sounds Like A Cult: “The Cult of Digital Marketing Scams (The New MLM)” (August 2025, 1 hr 6 min)
  A sharp look at how influencer culture and “passive income” pitches have rebranded MLM tactics for the Instagram age.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Which part of these stories felt most familiar or relatable to you? Have you or someone you know ever been approached by an MLM, or been in one, or left one?
2. Many of these companies promise empowerment and independence – why do you think that message resonates so deeply, especially with women?
3. Where do you put MLMs on the ‘culty’ scale? Why are they so successful at convincing people that they will make them money, even when the facts tell a different story?
4. Many MLMs claim to have religious underpinnings – why do you think that is?
5. Do you think MLMs are uniquely American in some way?

The post MULTILEVEL MARKETING: November 2025 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

Water isn’t just about turning on the tap—it’s the hidden force shaping economies, politics, and daily survival. From shrinking rivers in the West to skyrocketing city water bills, from the global scramble for access to the surprising demands of AI, these episodes dig into how we use, value, and fight over the planet’s most essential resource. This playlist pulls together big ideas, tough questions, and eye-opening stories about who controls water, who pays for it, and what happens when there isn’t enough to go around.

This playlist was curated by Sarah, the leader of our Baltimore chapter.

Podcast Playlist on WATER

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
The Indicator from Planet Money: “The water mystery unfolding in the western U.S.” (January 2025, 11 min)
A short, punchy look at why the West keeps running out of water—and why no one can agree on who should cut back.
Water Resources Podcast: “Peter Gleick and The Three Ages of Water” (November 2024, 52 min)
A sweeping conversation with one of the world’s leading water thinkers about how humanity’s past, present, and future can be read through our relationship with water.
Liquid Assets: “Global Water Scarcity with Tess Russo from the Gates Foundation” (June 2024, 32 min)
A global lens on the scale of the crisis, where philanthropy, policy, and science collide over who gets clean water and who doesn’t.
The Maryland Curiosity Bureau: “The complex ills of water bills” (January 2022, 28 min)
A surprisingly human story about how something as mundane as a water bill exposes hidden inequities and systemic dysfunction.
Today in Focus: “Why is AI so thirsty?” (January 2025, 21 min)
A deep dive into the hidden water costs of AI, and what it means when the tech of the future guzzles the planet’s most finite resource.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Should water always be free, or do price tags keep us from wasting it?
2. If farms use most of the water, why do cities and households take the heat for conservation?
3. Would you trust AI and big tech companies to manage water more efficiently—or will they just drain it faster?
4. Is desalination a silver bullet, or just an expensive distraction?
5. Who should get first dibs when water runs short: people, crops, or industry?
6. Why are water bills so confusing—and who benefits from that complexity?
7. Should access to water be guaranteed as a human right, no matter the cost?
8. Are we headed for “water wars,” or is that just fear-mongering?
9. What’s the most surprising way climate change is already reshaping how we get water?
10. If you controlled your city’s water budget, what would you cut—or raise—to make it sustainable?

The post WATER: October 2025 podcast playlist appeared first on Podcast Brunch Club.

What can we learn from someone else’s job? Work takes up most of our waking hours, yet we rarely get to hear what other people’s jobs are really like. This podcast playlist explores work from the perspective of the people doing it. We hear from brain surgeons and New York City movers, garment workers and podcast hosts, switchboard telephone operators and press agents. Each story reveals the hidden complexities, surprises, and human moments that make every job unique.

This playlist was curated by Matt, a member of the Baltimore chapter.

Podcast Playlist on WORKING

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
What It’s Like To Be…: “A Brain Surgeon” (March 2025, 40 min)
Zapping parts of the brain to know where to cut, operating a mouth-controlled microscope that’s worth more than a house, and carrying the weight of life-or-death decisions with Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, a brain surgeon at the Mayo Clinic. How do you preserve a mathematician’s expertise when removing tumors? And how did he go from picking tomatoes to performing brain surgery?
Planet Money: “Made in America” (July 2025, 32 min)
In today’s episode: We buy a garment made by factory workers in the U.S. – a basic purple sports bra – and learn how many people it took to make it, how much workers got paid to work on it … and whether garment manufacturing is a job Americans want, or even know how, to do.
The Economics of Everyday Things: “100. Podcasts” (July 2025, 33 min)
What goes into creating an episode of The Economics of Everyday Things? And how do shows like this one make money? Zachary Crockett turns the mic on himself.
Radio Diaries: “The Working Tapes – Part 1” (September 2016, 17 min)
In the early 1970’s, author Studs Terkel went around the country with a reel-to-reel tape recorder interviewing people about their jobs for his book, “Working.” It was a surprise bestseller. But until now, few of these interviews have ever been heard before. For decades, the reel-to-reel tapes were packed away in Terkel’s home office. Over the past year, Radio Diaries, along with Project&, combed through them to produce a new NPR series. This is the first of a three-part podcast series on The Working Tapes.
Death Sex & Money: “A New York City Mover Who Carries More Than Your Boxes” (October 2023, 33 min)
Over the past 20 years, Adonis Williams has moved thousands of people in and out of New York City. With each move, he catches a glimpse of a life in transition.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• Throughline: “How U.S. Unions Took Flight” (November 2023, )
  Hot Labor Summer has continued into fall as workers in industries from retail and carmaking to healthcare and Hollywood have organized and gone on strike. Public support for the U.S. labor movement is close to the highest it’s been in 60 years. And that’s no surprise to people who work in one particular industry: the airlines. Airline workers — pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, baggage handlers, and more — represent a huge cross-section of the country. And for decades, they’ve used their unions to fight not just for better working conditions, but for civil rights, charting a course that leads right up to today. In this episode, we turn an eye to the sky to see how American unions took flight.
• What It’s Like To Be…: “A Veterinarian” (May 2025, )
  Calming scared cats with pheromone sprays, advising families how to balance their pet’s well-being with budget realities, and diagnosing mysterious animal maladies with Dr. Hindatu Mohammed, a veterinarian in Austin, TX. What breed of dog, when having its nails clipped, responds as though it’s being murdered? And how did an injured ant shape her career choice?
• Weird Work: “I’m a dream analyst.” (October 2019, )
  Jane Teresa Anderson knows how to get inside someone’s head. And her work as a dream analyst has helped countless people better understand their waking lives. That way, the subconscious becomes reality. She even reaches into Sam’s psyche to break down a dream he’s long struggled to understand.
• Criminal: “Pen & Paper” (January 2016, )
  As a young woman in the 60s, Andy Austin talked her way into a job as a courtroom sketch artist in Chicago. She spent 43 years sketching everyone from disgraced governors to John Wayne Gacy, and says she only made someone look bad on purpose once.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. What’s something about your job that people outside of your field would never guess or understand?
2. What’s the most surprising thing you learned about someone else’s work from these episodes?
3. If you could interview someone from any profession, which one would you pick and why?
4. Several of the jobs featured in The Working Tapes episode no longer exist or are radically different today. What jobs do you think will no longer exist in 20 years?

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