What’s new to listen to
Ximena Smith rounds up the best of recent podcasts.
Fair Game
This new six-episode RNZ investigation looks at the structural barriers preventing Pacific rugby teams from flourishing. Hosted by comedian James Nokise and former professional and journalist John Daniell, the show examines reasons behind the disparity between the high number of Pacific players in elite world teams and the underperformance of nations like Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. Subtitled Pacific Rugby Against the World, the series also has an episode dedicated to the state of women’s rugby in the Pacific, hosted by sports journalist Talei Anderson. It’s thorough, thought-provoking and wellresearched, and you don’t need to know that much about the politics of rugby. Nokise’s background as a comedian adds a nice lightheartedness to the show. The first two episodes are available now, with new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Havana Syndrome
This eight-part podcast released last month by Vice World News examines the bizarre illness that began affecting American diplomats and spies in Cuba in 2016, causing them to feel dizziness, headaches and memory loss. While the cause of ‘‘Havana syndrome’’ isn’t yet known, many of those affected say they heard a strange buzzing sound before their symptoms started. The show is hosted by the journalists Jon Lee Anderson and Adam Entous, who, in 2018, jointly authored a detailed New Yorker piece about the phenomenon and their deep knowledge and connections add significant heft to the series, especially given the secrecy that surrounds the subject. They travel to Havana, Vienna and London looking for answers, and along the way they and speak to former spies, diplomats, neurologists and more. Coincidentally, another podcast examining the Havana syndrome has just been released at the same time, and is worth a mention here too – hosted by the British journalist Nicky Woolf, The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome is similarly entertaining and engrossing. All episodes of Havana Syndrome are available to listen to now.
Real Money
Tortoise Media seems to be on a roll lately with highly-produced, investigative series and its latest offering looks into the cryptocurrency Tether, a so-called stablecoin. The idea with stablecoins is that, unlike regular cryptocurrencies, they are designed not to fluctuate in price by being tied to more stable assets, like gold or national currencies. In Tether’s case, the cryptocurrency is tied to the US dollar, so theoretically, for every Tether that exists, a US dollar is in a bank somewhere (in total, there are more than 70 billion Tethers in circulation). However, Tether has never actually disclosed where it keeps its billions, which leaves reporter and Real Money host Aleks Krotoski incredibly suspicious. Told in the same breezy style as Tortoise Media’s other investigative series, this six-part tale follows Krotoski’s quest to track down Tether’s elusive billions.
New episodes every Tuesday.