Speaker 1: 0:08

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.

Speaker 2: 0:49

Hello everyone, I am so happy to share some time with you today. Welcome to Season 3, episode 2 of our One Good Thing Media podcast. For those of you who are new to our program, my name is Gerald Spear and I am the creator and host of One Good Thing Media. Each week, I share new and noteworthy podcasts that I absolutely love and are pretty sure you're going to love them too. For this episode, I'll be talking about several podcasts that I listen to on the regular that are entertaining, steady my mood and offer a respite from this crazy world we're living in one hour at a time.

Speaker 2: 1:28

Before we get going with our news and quickie segment, here is an important reminder about our newest podcast, skirting Danger, that focuses on keeping all women and girls in our lives much safer during these tumultuous times. Please take the time to follow this invaluable podcast. We assure you it will be very much worth your while. We're also playing a bit of our theme song, which is by Brad Poirier. I'm in love with this song, the lyrics that he created, the music itself. We're just so privileged to have it on our show.

Speaker 4: 2:32

Brad's contact information, by the way, is in our show notes.

Speaker 2: 2:37

Sometimes we all have a great notion that we just can't stop thinking about. For me, I've actually had what I think is a great idea for two years. It was triggered by the world becoming more violent, especially the uptick of lawlessness on the streets of large cities and even small towns. Because I wanted to feel safe again, I wanted to feel confident that I could take care of myself, and the same sentiments that were echoed by so many women that I talked to I decided to launch a new podcast called Skirting Danger, and it's all about women's safety. I promise we are not going to be focusing on how you can box your way out of a situation, at least not physically, rather how to avoid danger in the first place, how to read body language, how to vet people online and find out if they really are somebody that you want in your life and that goes for people you've just met or maybe somebody who's lived with you for a very long time. We feature experts on a variety of safety issues, and we also feature crime survivors. The link to our new podcast is listed in our show notes, which are right below the title of this particular episode. You can also check us out on Facebook and if you'd like to have safety tips delivered to your email box, you can subscribe to our free newsletter. The link is also included in our show notes for this episode.

Speaker 2: 4:21

And now let's get going with our show. Our first segment is News and Quickies. My first bit of news today is about Hyperfixed, a new Hyperfixed and Radiotopia podcast by host Alex Goldman. Hyperfixed focuses on solving small challenges submitted by listeners. Two examples one adult listener living in New York City confesses she can't drive without crying and asks Alex to help her become a better, less stressed driver. I want to add, alex is perfectly suited for this task because in his younger days he worked as a delivery truck driver in New York City.

Speaker 2: 5:12

There's another story that is all about public toilets. One of the listeners of the show wrote in about how we need solutions to public toilet sanitation and how these restrooms are not only nasty to visit, but they're also echo chambers that magnify, hmm, personal sounds. Just as an aside, while listening to the toilet episode, I learned there is an official American Restroom Association, or ARA, that advocates for the availability of clean, safe and well-designed public restrooms. If you want to check it out which of course I did immediately the website is AmericanRestroomorg. Here's a trailer from the show.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Hi, my name's Alex Goldman. I'm a radio producer, journalist and overconfident idiot and in my new podcast, hyperfixed, I'm here to help you. Have you ever found yourself dealing with a problem? Maybe it's just a quiet annoyance you grudgingly learned to put up with. I started Ask your.

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Album I was surprised how many people had not heard of Passion Fruit, when I just thought it was a staple everywhere in the world or things that feel a little more serious.

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I have been receiving anonymous text messages, from annoying all the way up to harassive, for well over a decade.

Speaker 1: 6:44

If you're stuck on a problem and can't let it go, I'll help you not only solve that problem but explain the larger unseen forces that caused that problem in the first place. Or like I'll do my best, but like, even if I don't solve the problem, like the episodes will be interesting, I promise okay. So if you have a problem you can't figure out, or you just want to hear stories from other satisfied listeners week after week, join me on Hyperfixed from Radiotopia and PRX. Learn more about the show at hyperfixedpodcom.

Speaker 2: 7:18

My second bit of news today is about a veteran podcast that you might not know about, especially if you're fairly new to this medium. It's called Something you Should Know, which debuted way back in the dark ages of podcasting in 2016, and continues to drop multiple shows per week to this day, unlike the celebrity-hosted podcasts or the true crime sagas that seem to dominate the airwaves right now.

Speaker 2: 7:49

Something you Should Know is a low-key show that includes multiple topics per episode, has unusual guest experts and whets the appetite of avid information seekers who love to know more about the minutiae of life. I'm going to be playing two short clips for you so that you can really feel the spirit of the show. The first one is why we Like Cute Things and how to have a Great Conversation from January 23, 2025. The second is why we Are Obsessed With Butts and the Best Way and Worst Way to Apologize, which dropped on January 28, 2025.

Speaker 8: 8:37

Today on Something you Should Know why sarcasm and email really don't mix well, then why we love cute things and why cuteness is so powerful. Cuteness attracts our attention very quickly within one seventh of a second. Then it acts as a releaser of social emotions like well-being and empathy and compassion and things like that. Also the biggest reason car tires blow out and how to prevent it. And the anatomy of good conversation and why every conversation is important.

Speaker 4: 9:16

You never know what you could uncover, even in a seemingly sort of shallow conversation, and you never know when something that seems like a small talk conversation could become something more all this today, on something you should know today, on something you should know, why you might want to deliberately lower the pitch of your voice.

Speaker 8: 9:44

Then, um butts, why does there seem to be such fascination with them, people?

Speaker 4: 9:50

often think like having a big butt or a small butt means something, so like, oh, women with big butts, they are more fertile. That's a really commonly held, really myth about butts. Yeah, lots of people say that to me have you ever heard.

Speaker 8: 10:05

Also, should you calculate the tip on a restaurant bill before or after the tax, and how to apologize, because a good apology is golden.

Speaker 4: 10:15

The steps for making a good apology are so easy and yet actually doing them is so hard, because our brains are not wired for this. Apologizing is a really brave act.

Speaker 8: 10:31

All this today on Something you Should Know.

Speaker 2: 10:35

I would like to add that Something you Should Know has hundreds of shows and thousands of segments and, by the way, most of them are evergreen. So if you ever get bored, want to learn something, need better conversation for a cocktail party or just ways to improve how you navigate life, check out Something you Should Know. It's now time for our new segment, epic Episodes. This week, I devoured a single episode of the Locked In with Ian Bick podcast On this show. While no topic is taboo, it does have one very important caveat that sucks me in. Every time, Each guest is chosen based on their personal metamorphosis. Based on their personal metamorphosis. This is key to each of the episodes, because host and creator Ian Bick was convicted of a felony in his youth and spent several years in a federal prison. Fortunately, ian learned his lesson early in life and, once released, turned his life into one filled with positivity and purpose. While going through the locked-in playlist, which is really fun all by itself, there were so many episodes that piqued my interest, but one stood out above the rest. It's called Inside the Brutal Whirl of an Undercover Narcotics Detective, matthew Griffin, and that's G-R-I-F-F-I-N. The episode, which dropped on January 29, 2025, is two hours and six minutes long. So what really hooked me into devoting two hours of my free time listening to Locked In with Ian Bick?

Speaker 2: 12:52

The interview with Matthew Griffin didn't focus on shootouts and acts of heroism in the traditional sense. Rather, this burly-looking dude talked about the emotional price he paid for working undercover in order to bust cartel members, major dope dealers and other dangerous criminals that operated in his city and state. He lays bare how he felt during life-changing moments in his career and why he ultimately left the police force after many years and became a noted author and speaker. Matthew Griffin has also written a book. It's entitled Journey to Midnight. Now I've already purchased it on Amazon and as soon as I finish reading it, I am going to invite him to our show. The man is absolutely fascinating. Here's a short clip from the Ian Bick interview with Matthew Griffin.

Speaker 9: 13:55

And if you follow the opioid epidemic, fentanyl really kind of attacked two states to begin with, and that was Ohio and New Hampshire, and these kids that I was mentoring at the high school were wound up getting addicted to pills and they wound up, you know, overdosing, getting getting hooked on all the different things, and remember it. Just it hit me hard, the I mean people were overdosing left and right. And so you know, every day I woke up and it was a battle. It was a battle because I knew that people were waking up putting poison into kids bodies and I was waking up trying to catch them. But yet I've got to abide by the law and I've got to abide by the certain dynamics of what we're doing inside of the drug task force and the Haida group and everything else that comes along with that, and they don't have to abide by that. And you know like I remember this one time I was sitting in we started the search warrant early on that week and wound up kicking the door and getting like a bunch of fentanyl and gun like 70 000 in cash. What people don't understand about the undercover life is it's like it's like 10 minutes of fun for like two weeks of paperwork, right, and and. So we had the 10 minutes of fun and and we kicked the door, we got everything else, we got all the dope and everything else and and, and now I'm doing paperwork.

Speaker 9: 15:02

It's a friday afternoon, it's like 6 o'clock and I'm sitting in this bar in downtown Keene. I'm having a burger and a beer. Before I went home, for me it was kind of like that congratulatory, like man, I'm just going to veg out for a minute. And I see the door come open and a dude walks in and kind of out of your peripheral. You kind of notice, like he sees me and he stops and and like where he was going now pivoted and was walking towards me and I couldn't picture who this dude was and so I slid my chair back, my barstool back a little bit and he was like you're, detective Griffin, right, you're that undercover cop.

Speaker 9: 15:34

I was thinking like not so undercover. And he said what are you doing? I said I'm having a burger and a beer. He said on a Friday afternoon on a Friday evening. I said yeah, a beer. He said on a friday afternoon on friday evening. I said yeah. So maybe if you weren't having a burger and beer, my son went overdosed and died. I said damn. I said I'm sorry to hear that.

Speaker 9: 15:54

I remember how that hit me. I'm like why was I having a burger and beer on a friday night? Like what? People weren't selling dope on friday night? Why am I not out here hustling? Why am I not doing the things that I need to do to stop people from overdosing and dying? And I remember how that made me feel and it was like huh, I made you right. I said I'm sorry, I'm sorry for your loss. And I paid my bill and I got up and you know, things started to really kind of change at that point, like it's, like you're right, and really kind of got like heavy into the undercover life and really started to own every aspect of it, from a personality to you know, to a full sleeve of tattoos, to a lip ring, to cornrows. To you know, I was trying to do anything I could to take these fentanyl dealers off the streets and, you know, just live in it. I mean, my phone was on 24-7. What I forgot to do was be a husband and a father.

Speaker 2: 16:43

If this has piqued your interest, like it did mine, head on over to Locked In with Ian Bick, and that is B-I-C-K. And scroll down just a little ways to Inside the Brutal World of an Undercover Narcotics Detective, Matthew Griffin jerald oh no, not you.

Speaker 2: 17:28

What are you listening to? Are you spying on me 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.

Speaker 2: 17:45

This week I discovered Finding Mr Fox by the BBC. It's a part of their podcast World of Secrets. It's actually season five of World of Secrets and it's a highly praised investigative podcast with a compelling narrative about a complicated international cocaine smuggling operation, embracing all the facets of a well-researched, true story. Finding Mr Fox delivers a smooth listening experience that allows you to listen to a true, high-stakes crime story and still remain at least fairly calm. It's also packaged in six compact episodes and runs for a total of about three hours, making it an easy binge for all podcast addicts, including me.

Speaker 2: 18:42

The tale begins when two serious sailing enthusiasts are hired by the mysterious Mr Fox to sail his large and impressive sailboat, aptly named the Rich Harvest, from South America to Europe. After hiring and then firing an inept captain who the young crew privately called Mr Catastrophe captain who the young crew privately called Mr Catastrophe a fire in the engine room, faulty equipment that needed repair and an hours-long shakedown by several different law enforcement agencies. The young crew members and a new captain embarked on their transatlantic sail to Europe. But what they didn't know, from the moment that they sat sail, they were being surveilled by authorities. I'll leave you with that plot teaser because, after all, I don't want to give away the entire story. What I can tell you is that Finding Mr is that Finding Mr Fox is an immersive story with great delivery and production qualities. Honestly, if you're a binger like I am and I suspect you are you're going to love Finding Mr Fox.

Speaker 5: 20:01

Here's a short clip from the first episode, entitled the Adventure of a Lifetime it's not long after dawn and at a marina in northeast Brazil, a scattering of boats are anchored off the coast.

Speaker 6: 20:25

The water's calm and the harbourside is still quiet. But on board an old white sailing boat, one of the crew, daniel, is already up and about.

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I'd just woken up. I was only wearing shorts. I hadn't even put a t-shirt on.

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In his small cabin below deck. He's making his bed when he hears a commotion.

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I look around and see a police boat coming towards us.

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Then I hear them Documents, passports his younger crewmate, rodrigo, is already up too. He's at the back of the boat, in the kitchen, which is small but neatly organised, everything is stored in its proper place.

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Ahead of a long Atlantic crossing, they're about to set sail on.

Speaker 7: 21:12

I'd just finished breakfast and I was washing the dishes and Daniel shouted Rodrigo, Rodrigo, the police are here. I managed to get close to the window and I could see a boat full of police officers.

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Rodrigo drops what he's doing plates still covered in the remains of that morning's scrambled eggs. He rushes up the narrow steps to reach the deck, just as the officers board the yacht.

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First federal police, all in black, all armed, then officers from the port authority, then military police in camouflage with a sniffer dog.

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The sailors are ordered to stay where they can be seen. The yacht is about three times as wide as a car and five times as long, and soon it's swarming with people in uniform.

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One of the cops, a particularly aggressive man dressed all in black, swaggers over to Daniel and squares up to him.

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You guys are in trouble, he says because there's something on this boat.

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Daniel appears nonplussed. What's he talking about?

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A smaller, more polite police officer starts to question Rodrigo, how did?

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you get here, when are you going? And I was thinking to myself a guilty person would be really scared. They'd look nervous.

Speaker 5: 22:37

So he tries to play it cool despite the heavily armed police, some with machine guns drawn around him. Rodrigo does what he normally does when he finds himself in a strange situation he takes out his phone and starts filming the search. Soon becomes clear they're looking for drugs. The officer's turnout drawers, empty the fridge, lift up sections of the floor.

Speaker 7: 23:06

It really looked like a scene from a movie, a long movie.

Speaker 6: 23:11

For more than six hours, police combed the yacht. They cut through plastic pipes, open water and fuel tanks, scattered the contents of the sailors' backpacks all over their beds.

Speaker 7: 23:22

I was thinking like whoa, they messed up the whole boat. Then, after they'd opened everything up, they said okay, now let's bring a sniffer dog for the rest of the inspection. Now let's bring a sniffer dog for the rest of the inspection.

Speaker 5: 23:36

The dog is led along the deck, then moves from room to room, running its nose along the dark wooden surfaces the communal seating area, the cabins, the storage tanks.

Speaker 6: 23:54

Everyone seems to be holding their breath, but the dog finds nothing.

Speaker 2: 24:00

I was really blown away by the story, the acting, the fabulous narrations, but, honestly, equally impressive is the sound engineering for this series. Our first main feature for this episode focuses on a podcast named Dead Sleep True Crime Bedtime. Would you believe Dead Sleep is specifically designed for true crime insomniacs? I kid you not. True crime insomniacs, I kid you not. Apparently, there is a large group of people that like to go to sleep while listening to true crime stories. Now, you would think that would give them nightmares at least, but apparently not Soothing and hypnotic.

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Nancy Miller, a former deputy editor of Los Angeles Magazine and current host and journalist for multiple HBO cable and podcast projects, has the ability to calm everyone, from a fussy baby to Donald Trump. Dead Sleep also happens to be Miller's passion project. That's ad-free and is choose graphic details, jarring sounds and calling killers by their names. After discovering this podcast about a month ago, I decided to take it for a test drive by going to bed wearing my most comfy pajamas and headphones, setting the snooze timer for 30 minutes and listening to the Dead Sleep True Crime Bedtime Podcast. Now I'm convinced that every episode I listened to was fascinating, but I can't say for sure because I never got past the 15-minute mark before falling into a deep sleep. Here's a clip from the show.

Speaker 3: 26:26

Good evening and welcome back to Dead Sleep, true Crime for Bedtime. I'm Nancy Miller, the creator and narrator of Dead Sleep. I'm Nancy Miller, the creator and narrator of Dead Sleep, and if you're new to the podcast, dead Sleep is a true crime podcast that has all the thrills and chills of a real life mystery told with the soothing intimacy of a bedtime story. I can promise you there will be no blaring, obnoxious ads blasting you awake in the middle of the show, and I'm hoping that peace of mind is worthy of your investment. We're grateful to all of you who have signed up to be subscribers on Spotify, patreon and Apple Podcasts. And, by the way, if you're oversubscribed or you don't want to subscribe, that's fine Because, as we'll learn in this episode, money isn't everything. Well, wait a second, that's not quite right.

Speaker 3: 27:22

The people at the center of this story did believe money was everything. Money was above all things, even, it turns out, human life. But before we get into what happened, let's talk about the difference between having money and being wealthy, because there is a difference and you want to know how you can tell the difference. You don't need to count the number of zeros in a bank account. One quick way you can tell if someone is truly wealthy is assessing the distance between someone's house and the street.

Speaker 3: 28:04

People who have money, they have big houses, mcmansions, right there, front and center for everyone to see. But those who are wealthy with real money, well, you never know what their house looks like because the home is located way way far back, so hidden. You don't even know their house or all that wealth is even there. One night in November of 2012, there was a house at the end of a long road and there were three men who knew and they knew very well that the home was there. As they made their way down a series of S-curve streets and pitch black roads, they knew what was at the end the home of a 66-year-old businessman named Ravi Kurma and Ravi's house. It was real money and they wanted all of it.

Speaker 2: 29:06

That's it for this episode. I hope you've enjoyed my reviews and recommendations, and if you want to know when we drop again, please tap on the notifications. Also, you are following us, aren't you? If you're not, give us a follow. Give us a nice, beautiful rating and we will see you in two weeks. Love you guys.

Speaker 7: 29:36

Love you guys. One Good Thing Media is brought to you by our host and creator, gerald Spear.

Speaker 1: 29:42

All things technical are by David Dodd and our announcer is Robert Spear.

Speaker 7: 29:47

Our theme song is Force by HGST.

Speaker 3: 29:49

Thank you Bye.