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Welcome back to Insider Pix, where we uncover what entertainment and culture insiders are watching, reading, and listening to! Next up:
Steve Raizes
Steve Raizes has spent 15 years in audio, working on shows like 48 Hours, The Daily Show, and RuPaul's Drag Race. He covers podcasts for Pix Media, where he writes Worth the Listen. When he's not listening to podcasts, he's raising a 6-year-old and a ragdoll cat (possibly not in that order).
Worth the Listen
As the podcast expert at Pix Media, Steve is well-equipped to help you find your next binge listen in Worth the Listen—part of the Pix Plus subscription bundle. Each week, Steve picks one podcast to dive deep into, a few brief picks, and a real verdict on where to start. Start your 7-day free trial!
Steve’s 5 Picks
Your go-to weekly podcast?
All the stuff from Puck and Ankler. Fun, smart, not afraid to poke at the sacred cows (less fun when you are a sacred cow).
A 5-star-worthy book you’d recommend to anyone?
Podcasters don’t read books.
I kid. What is a book again? Really enjoyed Long Island Compromise. Fun, smart, really great prose and a narrative that continued to twist and turn in interesting directions.
Best TV show you’ve watched recently?
I got pulled into Summer House. Was it the “best” TV show I have watched? Probably not. Was it deeply compelling? Yes, yes it was. I also watched Big Mistakes, which I thought was great. Maybe we do that one. Let’s do that one. Don’t tell anyone about Summer House. Why are you still typing?
Best movie you saw in theaters recently?
Saw Toy Story 5 with my kid and it blew his little mind. Strongly recommend (although now I’m having a lot of residual guilt over the amount of iPad the kid is getting, so…will need to reconcile that at some point in the future).
Unexpected side complication: Now having extended discussions about which of his toys should be able to talk and whether we, as a family, need to start better encouraging them to speak up.
A hidden gem you wish more people knew about?
Worth the Listen by Steve Raizes. That guy is super talented.
OR
No, no, I think it’s still Worth the Listen by Steve Raizes.
Pix: We’ll get our most controversial question out of the way first: What speed do you listen to podcasts at?
SR: 2x for all non-narrative pods—so anything that is purely informational in nature. For things that are story-driven, I definitely want it at 1x. If I am asked about this directly ever again, I will lie and say I listen only at 1x, as god intended, and that anything else is sacrilege.
(But once you get used to 2x, it is amazing how much you can consume, and it really doesn’t feel fast at all.)
Pix: You revealed in Worth the Listen your love for reality TV (and even a brief stint as a reality star). If you had to choose, which reality show would you join today?
SR: My greatest sadness in reality TV life is that I have never been able to play on Survivor. For a while, I was employed by Paramount, which fully prohibited me from playing on Survivor. Now I think I can play. However, now I would be the guy on Survivor playing with grey hair and reconciling his youth on national TV, so that’s a bit of a wrinkle I need to consider.