First, a bit of news. This will be my final issue of Worth the Listen. However, I want to say how much fun I've had doing this, connecting with all of you (appreciate all the emails and thoughts) and how truly grateful I am to the entire team at Pix (especially Meredith Lavergne, who had to edit every one of these articles, which is...a thing). And also, wow, there are a lot of great podcasts, and it's an absolute pleasure to find new ones and revisit my favorites.

But don’t worry, Worth the Listen isn’t going anywhere! Our Pix Plus editors will still be delivering must-hear picks to help you find the best podcasts worth your time, straight to your inbox every week. 

If you want to find me elsewhere, I am, for better or worse, most prolific on LinkedIn, and you can find me HERE.

Speaking of favorites, I thought it would be good to end on a pod that is truly unique, has more to say about failing (or succeeding) in life, and about what a bit of perspective and introspection (forced or not) can do for you than anything I've listened to this year.

It’s something we can all relate to. For me, it was when I applied for a job while I was working at Comedy Central in Development. (Development is TV speak for the people who actually work with or "develop" the shows with the comic. It tends to be viewed as one of the most exciting jobs in the business because you work directly with talent to shape the creative.) I applied for an internal transfer maybe 5 years into my tenure at Comedy Central. I prepped my answers, did the work, went in, and didn't get it. And for a long time, it really did sting. But as I got older and as my career shifted, I found another path back in, and one that, ultimately, probably made a lot more sense for me (and I was far, far too green for what I was applying for).

Connor Ratliff got his part and then lost it the day before filming. His no came from Tom Hanks, which seems a lot more devastating than mine, and he has spent three seasons of a podcast (and many, many years of his life) reflecting on it.

Dead Eyes got four (robust, deeply thought-out) sentences in a Listen Next back in July, where I called it a very stupid mystery that turns into one of the warmest shows ever made about rejection. I stand by that, and it felt like a nice way to tie things up before I signed off.

The setup, in the show's own words: in the year 2000 (said, please, in the voice of Conan O'Brien's "In the Year 2000" bit), actor Connor Ratliff is fired by Tom Hanks from the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers for supposedly having “dead eyes”. It was a tiny part. He'd already been cast and was due to film the next day, and then his agent called to say Hanks had seen the tape and was having second thoughts. Two decades later he decided to talk about it, first with his friends, then with anyone who'd pick up the phone.

As to how it all ends, I'm not going to reveal that, because part of the joy is watching it all evolve, the series picking up its own momentum and bigger guests, and you begin to wonder what it will look like if he ever actually gets to Tom Hanks.

Pix Plus subscribers get Steve's pick for this week, plus three podcasts you'd never find on your own.