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Welcome to One Good Thing Media, your official podcast review channel. Welcome to One Good Thing Media, your official podcast review channel. We search the vast digital landscape on a daily basis to discover the best shows that podcasters have to offer. Are you ready to discover new favorites to add to your playbook? Stay tuned and listen to host Gerald Spears' latest podcast reviews.

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Happy New Year, loves. It is January 2025 and we have a whole new year ahead of us. Let's all hop on board and enjoy the wild ride. For those of you who are tuning in for the first time, my name is Gerald Spear and I am the creator and host of One Good Thing Media. Our podcast is devoted to the eclectic listener, who may love one genre more than others, but still crave variety in their lives, including their podcasts. We specialize in sharing exceptional podcasts that we're sure you're going to love. One Good Thing Media also specializes in podcast news, including exciting updates on popular shows, changes in how we listen to or manage our playlists, and upcoming events that we're sure you'll want to know about.

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Ladies, have you ever found yourself in a tight situation and were uncertain how to get out of it? Have you ignored warnings or even failed to recognize they were signs of impending danger in the first place? Our newest podcast, skirting Danger, is devoted to sharing tips and strategies for women of all ages to help keep them and their loved ones safe. Everything that Skirting Danger has to offer is free to our followers, including our new twice-monthly newsletter that keeps you up to date on proven strategies for your physical and financial safety, and ways to keep your most valuable possessions in the hands of their rightful owner you. Each episode features a subject matter expert who will guide you toward a safer path when it comes to dating, driving, traveling long distances and much, much more. Follow Skirting Danger today and sign up for our newsletter. The links to do this are included in our show notes section, which is located right below the title of this episode I'm on my own path, Skirting Danger.

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If you want to know more, check out Skirting Danger wherever you listen to podcasts.

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And now on to our news and updates segment.

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And now on to our news and updates segment. Our first news alert for this episode is about three changes we've made to our One Good Thing media format for 2025. First off, because we recognize that all of us lead busy lives, we will be airing 30-minute episodes to save you time without compromising the quality of our information. Two, while we'll continue to recommend standout podcasts, as we've always done, we're adding an epic episode of the week segment. This portion of our program will highlight a single standalone episode of a great anthology series. And lastly, starting the first week in March, we will be including 10-minute interviews with podcast hosts who are involved with some of the most interesting shows on the planet. More about this new addition to our program in the weeks to come.

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In other news, I have an update on the Old Gods of Appalachia, one of my favorite podcasts. I know I've spoken about it before, so if you've been a longtime listener, you know that I am over the moon that they dropped Season 5 starting in December 2024. And I promise you Season 5 does not disappoint. Co-created by Steve Schell and Cam Collins, both natives of the hills and hollers of Wise County, virginia, old Gods of Appalachia takes place in an alternate universe where ghosts, haints, witches and cryptids freely roam among mere mortals who may or may not be blessed with a few magic powers of their own. The podcast covers several families and individuals who call Appalachia home and, in its magical style, hopscotches across decades and even centuries, while following the bloodlines of Appalachian ancestors that eventually and I do stress eventually weave cohesive tales of culture, survival and much-needed cleverness to survive the challenges of this dark forested region of the southern United States. Elegantly written and based on the archetypes who have inhabited the southern area of the Appalachia Mountains since they were first colonized many centuries ago, Old Gods of Appalachia Mountains since they were first colonized many centuries ago, old Gods of Appalachia echoes the superstitions and folklore that was once believed and now often passed on as tales of caution to the young folk in order to keep them safe and, yes, scared out of their wits to venture too far or do something too foolhardy that really would put them in mortal danger. Please know that I'm strongly attracted to Old Gods of Appalachia for many reasons, including its exquisite storytelling and production values, the authenticity of the co-creators and many of the cast members who also hail from that region of the country, and the fact that my father was born and raised in Kentucky, deep in the dark forests and hollers of Appalachia, and even though I was raised in Southern California, I was also privy to many of his stories about ghosts and haints and witches and even one headless horseman that terrorized the kids as he ran through the woods every full moon. So, at least by proxy, my blood runs deep in that mystical place.

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There are four complete seasons and a fifth one that's in progress right now. I strongly recommend that you start from the beginning, as the characters and plots build on each episode and quite often other seasons. Just one example of this is season two that introduces a group of kids, including Cowboy andie, and season five that picks up with that story 60 years later. I also recommend that you not multitask too much while you're listening to the show. It's meant to be immersive and if you become distracted you're going to have to stop and think okay, where was I before I started making my grocery list, thinking about when I had to pick up the kids, or maybe even take a quick mental trip to Bermuda or St John's. Here are two quick clips from the podcast.

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I don't want these hills, leave these dark valleys when I can't stay, down in the lands unknown. There are these hills of love I will walk so often I can feel the winds now on your ghost.

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Appalachia, a word stolen from more than one language. It conjures images of the beauty of God's creation and the darkness of man's various poverties. The simpler way of life here bespeaks a time past of purity and piety. But turn over a stone, You'll find the underbelly of suspicion and clannishness. Folk who live here don't trust easy. This whole graveyard's full of what we've learned about outsiders.

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And before you judge us as backwood hillbillies or opioid-addicted rednecks, take a minute to understand how we got here. I mean how we really got here. There are places in this world that humanity was never supposed to see, Walled in by mountains of burning black rock, isolated by a choking canopy of poison flora, woods where tooth claw and hunger still sit atop the food chain. And long before our kind ever set foot in these mountains, when the peaks of the Blue Ridge towered above the stars and the heart of the plateau still rolled with ridges tough as pine knobs, Darkness was brought here in cages made of fear. Our tongues do not have the the shape to speak the true names of what they are, and that's our, not were.

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The second clip is from episode 25, the Siege of Pleasant Evenings.

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Old Gods of Appalachia is a horror anthology podcast and therefore may contain material not suitable for all audiences, so listener discretion is advised.

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An uncustomary hush fell over pleasant evening, a tense, bow-strung anticipation as Marcy and her sister and all those who called that establishment home, stood ready. Tish was not the only woman at pleasant evenings that knew how to handle firearms no sir, though none could match her marksmanship. So they had armed the most competent among them For everyone else. They had improvised Iron skillets, a billy club, knives aplenty, although hopefully no one would need them. Marcy and Ellie had crafted those wards with great care, had layered them and strengthened them over time. They should be fine, and of course the sisters themselves were there to back them up, as promised, the strange man in the charcoal suit and his compatriots returned at dark. With them they brought jerry brotherton, who, to be fair, seemed even more reluctant to be a part of this whole affair than before, and boys whose faces were troublingly familiar to Marcy.

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She might not know their names, but there that boy Didn't? He used to work at the general store in O-Stars. She'd hired that young man on last summer to do some yard work when his mama was sick. The townsfolk looked and felt odd to Marcy. Their faces hung slack, their eyes heavy-lidded. They almost swayed on their feet and to her senses they felt muted, somehow almost empty. Ms Walker, we have come Thrice. Now I ask you will you surrender the girl?

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As her shotgun blast tore a hole into his chest. Marcy heard Tish call out In this house we only got one answer for folks who don't listen when a lady says no. As they watched, the man from the railroad, looking only mildly perturbed, reached long fingers into the wound, fishing around for a moment, pulled the lead pellets from his chest, dropping them one by one onto the ground at his feet. Blood it is then Miss Walker Blood. It is then miss walker. Blood it is.

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The railroad man clenched his fist around the last metal slug and squeezed hard. Blood welled up and poured forth an ever-flowing crimson river spilling between his top fingers and onto the ground. And it should have vanished there, should have been soaked up by the thirsty ground or boiled to a hissing steam by the wards woven into the earth by will and water, earth and stone. But instead the blood pooled and spread, growing outward from the man in the charcoal suit's feet like a dark sigil of corruption. The man laughed and opened his hand and instead of the projectile that Tish had launched into his chest, he held a shiny black business card, just like the ones he'd handed out to the assembled throng of workers and travelers who had followed him to this place. He paced among them the bloodstain he had birthed, following him like a second shadow.

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My friends called the man lifting the black-edged blood-smeared card into the air it is time to go to work. The business card flashed in a pulse of violet fire and was gone. All around the assembled mass of men, similar flashes appeared in hands, pockets, hat bands, wherever these fell, invitations had been stowed. And with each murmur of grease-smeared light the men began to change. It started with a quiver in the belly and a wild itching of the skin, but soon eyes went wild and their shapes distorted, bones stretched and joints doubled. Big men grew taller and their muscles shifting like tectonic plates and rupturing through skin like broken continents. This dark remaking, turning normal men into discarded leavings from the lathe of some dark god.

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Hmm, I think the only thing that's going to work against that crew is the magic of the Walker sisters. In other news, the Heavyweight podcast, which was canceled by Spotify due to production costs in late 2023, has announced that it's close to making a new deal with another network. I, for one, am crossing my fingers that this happens sooner rather than later. Heavyweight features real people who have a true story to tell and are longing for answers. If you type in heavyweight in the search bar of any major podcast player, it should pop right up. There are 58 evergreen episodes waiting for you to enjoy right now. Make sure to tap the heavyweight notification button the bell icon, of course so you will be notified the minute that heavyweight announces its new home.

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One thing that's never lost its relevance is the tried and true music chart, like Billboard's Weekly Hot 100, that significantly influences which songs are played on the radio, featured on playlists and highlighted in media coverage. What many digital users don't realize is that podcasts also have their own charts. There are several companies that produce these charts, but, as usual, I have a favorite Podchasercom. Podchaser posts the latest Apple and Spotify top nine podcasts overall and by genre, at no charge to users, If you're interested in checking out Podchasers as well as other companies that provide these charts, scroll down to this week's show notes, which is right below the title of this episode, where I've provided the names and website links to several of these companies.

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Here is our very first epic episode of the week. This week's epic episode involves the Mystery Hour, formerly called Nighty Night, by Cast Media, and Cast is with a K and Rabia Chaudhry. It's called the Children Taken, an original story which dropped on September 7, 2021. The Children Taken is about a family that seems to forget one of the most important rules when going on vacation when, in Rome, do as the Romans do or at least heed their warnings.

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For those of you who haven't yet listened to the Mystery Hour, again formally called Nighty Night, rabia Chaudhry, the host and creator of the show, is also an attorney, author and advocate. Her Nighty Night podcast was reimagined as the Mystery Hour on October 31, 2023. Prior to that time, nighty Night told original bone-chilling tales. Since the end of Nighty Night, rabia has read classic stories written by noted authors such as Charles Dickens, bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe. I absolutely am smitten with her voice and her narrative style. If you feel the same way as I do, follow her podcast Mystery Hour same way as I do. Follow her podcast Mystery Hour. Parentheses nighty-night and tap the notification button so that you can be alerted when new episodes drop.

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The next couple of days passed well, with hikes on local trails and hours by the pool. In the backdrop, though, was Edgar, who turned up at all hours of the day. It seemed glaring at the children. He seemed intent on catching them misbehaving, though he never managed to. They watched movies together in the evenings and ate piles of candy from the hotel gift shop. Sarah made sure the kids weren't left unsupervised anywhere. She admitted to herself that she was just a little bit afraid of Edgar and didn't want to give him any excuse to kick them out. Things were going great and she wanted to keep it that way.

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One morning, a few days into their vacation, the family had just arrived at the pool when Jeremy announced that he'd forgotten his book back in the room. Tom and Sarah were both half covered in sunscreen and told him to wait so one of them could go back inside with him. Jeremy bounced around and moaned it's okay, I can go, I'll be fast. I promise I won't even use the elevator. I'll just go up the stairs. Come on, it's not a big deal, I'm not a baby. Sarah looked around. They were alone at the pool, and Edgar was nowhere in sight. She sighed Okay, just don't go through the lobby. Don't use the elevator and be quick. She handed him a key and watched as he took off, disappearing into the building.

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And how do you think all of that is going to turn out? I'm betting on not good, not good at all. Again, it is the Mystery Hour, parenthesis, nighty Night, by Cast Media and Rabia Chaudhry, and the episode is called the Children, taken on September 7th 2021. Gerald, oh no, not you again. What are you listening to? Are you spying on me? Oh, ais, you can't trust them. But, yes, welcome to. What Are you Listening To? A segment where I share what I've binged this week, and it's a good one. It sounds like a perfect script for a made-for-TV movie, but every snarky detail of this week's binge is true Deadly Mirage. I was attracted to this podcast from the moment that I read the title. It's by Dateline and one of my favorite hosts, Josh Mankiewicz. So what did I have to lose? It takes place in the Silver Lakes enclave of Hellendale, a lush, man-made Eden in California's Mojave Desert. Here's a clip from the show.

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They called it the happiest place on the high desert, the perfect place to raise a family.

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It was sort of Palm Springs light the big spacious houses, families with kids running around bikes in the streets. It looked like kind of the American dream neighborhood.

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It was a desert oasis, lush and green home to a tight-knit group of 30-somethings who liked to party and took to heart the biblical commandment to love thy neighbor.

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My wife and I and Rob and Sabrina would engage in sexual activities.

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If that's what a couple agrees with in their marriage, then that's their business.

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Then one day a handsome outsider crashed the party, I started getting text messages saying I would love to come hang out with you guys soon discord descended on this eden east of los angeles. The people were so cruel I had to get a restraining order and a sudden death reveals the happiest place to be a mirageage.

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I need someone here to talk to me he knew his attacker.

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That's somebody who knew intimate details about his life.

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Our latest podcast takes us to a railroad outpost on the edge of California's high desert, where passion leads to murder and a killer seeks God's help with the cover-up whatever the crime lab has found. God, please help this to be a method, a mode that keeps our stories being told. It's a story about love and betrayal. Does she know? You guys cooperated.

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Yeah, I didn't trust her from day one, from the first time I met her, I did not trust her.

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It's about indiscretions and a string of bad choices.

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Her frustrations became my frustrations. Her demons became my demons. Do you make?

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decisions on your own at any point.

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Yes, I sure do. Apparently many bad ones.

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Most of all, it's about the danger of indulging delusions and allowing daydreams to become nightmares. It had sex, religion, the seemingly perfect beautiful family that had all these secrets. It had everything.

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And indeed it did. You can listen to Deadly Mirage wherever you listen to podcasts. All episodes have dropped and you can binge it from beginning to end in one go. Although it wasn't intentional, I was drawn to two podcasts this week that were based on true crimes One I just mentioned, deadly Mirage, and one other, city Confidential, by A&E forward slash podcast. One, city Confidential, exudes a modern noir style-wire style which, I have to confess, I absolutely love. I also love that City Confidential strictly focuses on the victims, the victims' families and the communities where the victims lived and also where they took place.

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A true crime podcast. It got me upset because this is someone's kid and someone knows she's gone.

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That takes a different approach. It was shocking for something like this to happen in our little town. Focusing on the communities affected by life-shattering crimes, it made news throughout the entire region that these two people had been shot while they slept in such a safe community. To give a new perspective on the devastation crimes can cause, it was shocking for something like this to happen in our little town, featuring cases from quiet towns to bustling cities and interviewing the people closest to the case.

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My first thought was that it's an unusual location for us to have a homicide.

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Listen to the true crime podcast, city Confidential, and step beyond the yellow tape to learn just how far a crime can reach.

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There are certain cases in the history of Boston that I think sort of define the city. I think this is one of them.

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New episodes of the City Confidential podcast are available every Thursday. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

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City Confidential launched in June 2024. And there's currently approximately 30 episodes that you can binge on. It's an excellent podcast. If you're into true crime, I definitely recommend City Confidential. That's it for our first show of 2025. From all of us at One Good Thing Media, thank you so much for following our podcast. You are, aren't you? If you're not, stay informed by tapping the follow and notification buttons right now. As for the new year, may you dream big and do even greater things this year. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode of One Good Thing Media, your top stop to discover what's hot in the podcast world. Until we meet again, please know that we love you. Talk soon.

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One Good Thing Media is brought to you by our host and creator, Gerald Spear. All things technical are by David Dodd and our announcer is Robert Spear. Our theme song is Force by HGST. Thank you,