49 episodes
Significant Others Team Coco
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- History
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4.9 • 1.6K Ratings
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Did you know that the novel "Lolita" would not exist if Vladimir Nabokov’s wife hadn’t stopped her husband from burning the manuscript? Or that Gandhi learned his legendary method of passive resistance from his wife? Or that the person responsible for Maya Angelou’s genre-defining memoir was her good friend James Baldwin? Significant Others is a narrated, nonfiction podcast about folks just beyond the spotlight of history. Each episode tells the story of a talented, difficult and little-known individual who altered the destiny of their better-known partner, child, sibling, or friend, and impacted the world they left behind. Narrated and written by Liza Powel O’Brien and featuring the voices of Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Jameela Jamil, Rita Wilson, Timothy Olyphant, Lisa Kudrow and many more.
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Daron Acemoglu on Marxism and AI
Are we, in fact, living in a time of revolution? What it means and what you can do about it, according to one of MIT’s greatest thinkers.
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The Marxes
A man who looms as large as Karl Marx needed multiple Significant Others (although when it came to wives, he only had one).
Starring Ted Danson as Karl Marx, Maddie Ogden as Jenny von Westphalen, and Patton Oswalt as Friedrich Engels.
Also featuring Katie Sharer and Matt O’Brien. -
Claire Dederer on Reckoning with Problematic Artists
What is a fan to do with unsavory intel on their idol? Is it possible to separate the art from the artist? Should we even try?
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Gala Dalí
Lover and muse to multiple artists, Gala notoriously spit on people she didn’t like—or worse. Her marriage to the renowned artist Salvador Dalí was as surreal as his paintings, which he signed with both of their names even though she never held a brush.
Starring Laura Ramoso as Gala Dalí and José Arroyo as Salvador Dalí
Also featuring Stephen K. Amos, Nigel Daly, Neve O’Brien, and Tavis Doucette -
Sandra Newman on her Retelling of 1984
Sandra Newman was given one assignment by the Orwell Estate: Re-write 1984 from the point of view of the character Julia.
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Eileen Blair
George Orwell has never been accused of being a feminist. And yet his wife Eileen left her mark on his most important works.
Starring Sally Drexler as Eileen Blair and Nigel Daly as George Orwell
Also featuring: Ben Partridge, Luke Millington-Drake, Thom Wickes, Amelia Chappelow, and Colin Anderson.
Customer Reviews
Forgotten history
As a history major in college I always wanted to know more about the people I studied. I wasn’t very interested in memorizing generals or war maneuvers or seeing the world only through the view of the men who ran countries.
This podcast tells the kind of history that fascinates me. It is behind the scenes looks at important people and their forgotten others. I love it.
Thanks for some very sound research on each topic. It’s amazing how much information your team has come up with.
Dry, unimaginative reading renders fascinating material boring
Liza Powell O’Brien’s plodding reading of well-written material is unlistenable. This show needs a director and a talented voice actor to inject a little life into it.
The concept and the material is interesting. The other voices on the show spice it up. But it needs a host.
Brilliant!
Liza Powell O’Brien is an absolute treasure. She’s intelligent, articulate and even-handed. The pod is well researched and very entertaining. Her voice is absolute perfection for podcasting. I love the follow up she does with experts on some of the episodes. I hope this lasts a long time. Of all of Conan O’Brien’s accomplishments - I think I’m the most impressed by his partnership with Liza.
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