Podcast Picks

Words by Su-Ertekin-Taner

The Terry Jaymes Show

“Welcome to The Terry Jaymes Show” reverberates with a familiar voice. An original rock-esque theme song created for the show shortly follows. The Terry Jaymes — yes, the famed national radio co-host of Lex and Terry, podcaster, and comedian — then delivers a 20- to 30-minute monologue/rant/standup comedy act/audio column. Thinks the “Ask Amy” column for the “Washington Post” column meets David Sedaris comedy piece. 

Much like each installment of “Ask Amy” and each Sedaris composition, episodes of “The Terry Jaymes Show” are nothing if not diverse in content. In his weekly podcast episodes, Jaymes gives listeners advice on how to approach mainstream, highly discussed topics like people-pleasing, shame, soulmates, finding a passion and negative self-talk. Yet our host certainly does not shy from those more niche worries like the rise of Elon Musk, stalkers and how to change a smoke detector. Of course, this advice is frequently coupled with much needed mid-episode pep talks and witticisms. 

But the podcast surpasses the traditional rhetoric-heavy advice media in entertainment value. Each episode is imbued with the signature Terry Jaymes charm. As a seasoned talker, Jaymes is an expert — like many advice givers — at discussing the ideas and stories he has collected in his lifetime. His experiences and insights add to the listeners’ wisdom. But this information would hardly be digestible without Jaymes’ comedic flair, the aforementioned charm. And Jaymes certainly deploys his comedy at every opportunity — after his introduction, between stories, to close out the episode. This thought-provoking, but also comedic content makes for an engaging listener experience. In the moments that a listener isn’t absorbing Jaymes’ insights, they’re laughing at his experiences and admittedly frequent “unsuccess” stories and vice versa. 

Overall, while Terry Jaymes is the sole wielder of the podcast microphone with “The Terry James Show,” he never fails to single-handedly entertain his devoted listeners with his vibrant personality. In this way, though, our host mentions in episodes that he hopes to rename his podcast. But I find the “The Terry Jaymes Show” to be adequately named. “The Terry Jaymes Show” embodies everything that Terry Jaymes is: relatable, hilarious and utterly, unforgivingly candid. 

Listen to “The Terry Jaymes Show” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, Castro, iHeart, TuneIn, Audacy and terryjaymes.com among other locations. 

Reelism The Podcast

Those of you avid movie-goers, cinema fanatics or shameless at-home movie streamers know that watching a film is only half of the movie experience. The real insight, revelation, or even change of opinion comes in the moments after the watching and is often facilitated by extensive internet researching, Reddit perusing and conversations with other movie watchers. “Reelism The Podcast” — its name a play on movie “reels” — makes this post-movie digesting entertaining. 

Hosted by Christian Spivey, “Reelism The Podcast” is engrossing because it is a comprehensive resource for everything movie-related and movie adjacent: Spivey conducts full-bodied, 45-minute film reviews of both recent releases and classics. These episodes summarize films, note significant scenes, consider casting and actor performances, grapple with the main themes and rate a film — all in true film-review fashion. Occasionally, Spivey invites guests — film buffs and casual viewers alike — to contribute their personal takes on a movie or the general movie zeitgeist. 

But “Reelism The Podcast” also addresses topics on the margins of the movie-watching experience. Spivey gives advice on how to resist film FOMO, analyzes directors’ contributions to the film industry, makes Oscars predictions, investigates Black cinema history and creates auditory listicles of movies centered around a given theme. Episodes on such topics vary in length; while some episodes feel like quick pick-me-ups, others are thorough, post-movie ritual necessities. Regardless, Spivey’s advertised passion about “the film world and all the universes within it” spills through the screen. 

So, when those movie credits roll and the reel has come to its end, know that “Reelism the Podcast” beckons. Spivey promises to scratch your post-movie research itch and keep your cinema fervor going. 

Listen to “Reelism the Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout, Podbay, Bullhorn.fm, Listen Notes and Jax Podcasters United, among other locations, or follow Reelism the Podcast on Instagram at @reelismthepodcast.