The explosion of interest in Chioke I’Anson’s Resonate festival is only one indication that Richmond has become a hotbed of podcast production.
“More and more producers are moving here,” I’Anson said in a recent interview. “I think we are the future of serious audio, especially in the South and hopefully, in the nation.”
But even with a lot of activity going on, many people aren’t aware of shows that are being developed and produced here. In an effort to rectify that, Style Weekly will be offering a regular critical roundup of local pods you might consider adding to your playlist.
Given the breadth of the podcast landscape, we’ll be breaking them down by category. Recommend pods for future reviews by dropping us an email at activelisteningrva@gmail.com.
True crime
True crime stories spurred the podcast boom ten years ago and remain a dominant force in podcast popularity. For a long time,”Southern Nightmare,” the 2018 series looking at the “South Side Strangler” murder case and the revolution it spurred in using DNA evidence in criminal prosecutions, was the gold standard of local true crime podcasting.
But last year, a worthy successor was released that audaciously pushes the medium forward. “Admissible: Shreds of Evidence” kicks off with a mention of the Strangler story but quickly delves deep into the misuse of evidence by a lead forensic scientist in the Virginia state crime lab.
Mary Jane Burton, who worked in the lab starting in the 1970s, was hailed as a hero when crime scene samples she had kept in her notes ended up being usable in exonerating convicted criminals once DNA profiling technology was available. When Burton’s work came under closer scrutiny, however, “Admissible” host and reporter Tessa Kramer outlines how it was riddled with everything from sloppy protocols to outright fraudulent results.
Impeccably produced, the show features the perfect mix of archival audio samples, live interview snippets, and explanatory narration. Given the subject matter, it’s not surprising (but still fun) that author Patricia Cornwell makes an appearance. Kramer and her reporting partner, Sophie Bearman, deliver compelling context with endearing personality.
After six episodes digging into Burton’s story, “Admissible” takes a revelatory turn, spending the next six episodes exposing the broader systematic ramifications of Burton’s problematic work. Though released in 2023, the pod’s relevance persists, as confirmed in a follow-up episode dropped this past July that reports on the foot-draggy response to the show’s findings by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.
Another season of “Admissible” doesn’t seem likely but executive producer Ellen Horne says the team is monitoring the ongoing response as fodder for additional material, making it a feed worth keeping active even after listening to the enthralling initial series.
Sports
Marc Cheatham has been a lynchpin of Richmond’s cultural scene for years thanks to The Cheats Movement, a hub of hip-hop culture, politics, and community activity. On his original podcast starting in 2015, he brought a quick wit, infectious enthusiasm and an activist focus to his interviews with insiders around town.
Starting late in 2022, Cheatham’s focus shifted to “The Black Baseball Mixtape” (TBBM), which quickly gained nearly 10,000 followers on Instagram and peaked at #40 among all baseball podcasts according to Chartable. Most of the episodes are short, quick-hit interviews with professional baseball big-wigs. Cheatham brings an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball history to bear, making his longer, in-depth conversations intriguing for even the most pedestrian baseball fan.
The TBBM feed will be fun to tune into as the baseball postseason revs up. It also has a corresponding comics series, “Black Kids Play Baseball,” that gives the show multimedia appeal.
Two other locally-produced sports pods are worth a mention, for different reasons. “Rivercity 93” provides weekly updates on everything related to our United Soccer League franchise, the Richmond Kickers. Hosts Elliot Barr and Chenier Durand II are clearly superfans and their depth of knowledge is impressive. However, the podcast is hampered by often-marginal sound, inexcusable in a world where high-quality audio production has become more and more accessible.
The hosts also fall prey to the occasional ramble and don’t make a lot of allowances for newcomers. A lack of context, particularly in recapping games, inhibits a full appreciation by the more casual listener.
A lively contrast is “The Funnville Nine,” the official podcast offering from the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Hosted by stalwart play-by-play broadcaster Trey Wilson, the show’s pre-game interviews provide a nice introduction to the people and personalities behind our hometown baseball squad. While the interviews sometimes slide toward insider minutia, their brevity, and the fact that they’re delivered ad-free, make them manageable for even the casual fan.
Collegiate sports generate a whole universe of podcasts, perhaps to be discussed in future columns. In the meantime, these summer sports shows should give listeners an adequate supply of ear candy as they wait for the imminent arrival of football season.
