Story of the Week with Joel Stein

About Story of the Week with Joel Stein

On Story of the Week, “journalist” Joel Stein chooses an article that fascinates him, convinces the writer to tell him about it, and then interrupts a good conversation by talking about himself. Sometimes the story will be the one everyone is talking about, like the New Yorker article on smoking hallucinogenic toads. Other times we’ll find a story you might have missed, like the one in the Verge about the rock groupie turned hacker who had huge corporations at her mercy. These are stories you’ll tell your friends about. Stories that stick with you long after you forget whatever headline you just doom-scrolled through. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Publisher

Pushkin Industries

Category

arts · news · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Oct 2022

Latest episode

4 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

33 of 85 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   4 Jun 2026

   David Remnick on the Stories That Shape Our Time

   Where have you been, what did you find, and who did it make you? On the new podcast Traveling Through, host David Prior, travel writer and founder of immersive travel company PRIOR, invites culture makers like Jenna Lyons, David Remnick, Deborah Needleman, and Athena Calderone to unpack the places, objects, and experiences that have changed their perspective, influenced their work, or marked a turning point in their lives. Because the best stories aren't about the destination; they're about curiosity. David Remnick, Pulitzer Prize winner and editor of The New Yorker for 27 years, joins to recount his own travels – from Moscow to Tel Aviv to campaign trails and tour buses – and to reflect on what nearly three decades of dispatching the world's finest writers has revealed about history, cultural connectedness, and the vast breadth of stories to be found. Find Traveling Through on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts (http://lnk.to/TTDrop). New episodes release every other Thursday. Photo Credits: - Mona Museum Images (in order of appearance) - Museum of Old and New Art. Photo Credit: Mona/Stu Gibson. Image courtesy of Mona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia - Girls Rule, 2016-18, Tom Otterness. Photo credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artists and Mona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia - Snack 1970 - 72. Sir Sidney Nolan. Photo Credit: MONA/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia - Museum of Old and New Art. Photo credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy Mona, Hobart, Tasmania - Siloam tunnels, Museum of Old and New Art. Photo credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona, Hobart, Tasmania - Unseen Seen, 2017. Artist: James Turrell. Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona, Hobart, Tasmania - Museum of Old and New Art. Photo credit: Mona/Rémi Chauvin. Image courtesy of Mona, Hobart, Tasmania See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

2. 

   27 May 2026

   From Medal of Honor: James Fleming’s Impossible Vietnam War Rescue

   In 1968, in the dense jungles of Vietnam, a team of Green Berets was pinned down by an overwhelming North Vietnamese Army force. Their last hope was a young Air Force pilot named James Fleming. Despite being low on fuel and facing a wall of enemy fire, Fleming refused to turn back. The rescue mission seemed destined to fail, but a split-second decision would earn Fleming the nation’s highest military honor. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscriptions. Sign up on the Medal of Honor show page in Apple or at Pushkin.fm/plus (http://pushkin.fm/plus) and use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. Connect with the team! Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods (https://www.instagram.com/pushkinpods/) Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez (https://www.instagram.com/iamjrmartinez/) Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm (mailto:medalofhonor@pushkin.fm) Episode resources: “SOG Combat in Cambodia: Under the Gun at Tango Five-One” by Randy Harrison, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, August 1982 (https://archive.org/details/soldieroffortunemagazine/Soldier%20of%20Fortune%20%5B1982%2708%5D/page/n29/mode/2up) Green Hornets: The History of the U.S. Air Force 20th Special Operations Squadron by Wayne Mutza (https://schifferbooks.com/products/green-hornets?srsltid=AfmBOorsKqPAliqQPUbzvBBdSeBrGADXJt6LSYIWIsCHSXDax8u_YIHd)(Schiffer Military History, 2007) Secret Green Beret Commandos In Cambodia: A Memorial History of MACVSOG's Command and Control Detachment South (CCS) And Its Air Partners, Republic of Vietnam, 1967-1972 by Fred S. Lindsey (https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Green-Beret-Commandos-Cambodia/dp/1477273085)(AuthorHouse, 2012) See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

3. 

   19 May 2026

   Introducing Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music

   Visionary music producer Robert Margouleff shares his stories of pushing the boundaries of musical innovation, art, and technology in the new immersive audiobook, Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music. In legendary studios like Electric Lady and the Record Plant, Margouleff became a pioneering producer and engineer for artists like Billy Preston, Jeff Beck, DEVO, The Isley Brothers, and David Sanborn. A true sonic innovator, he was an early adopter of immersive audio and surround sound, developing new mixing techniques for home theaters that brought some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters to life. Travel deep into the world of a music maker who created some of the most significant and influential music of our time. Here's a preview. Find the full audiobook at Pushkin.fm (https://www.pushkin.fm/audiobooks), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/7gfep1zMIWiMWxRcTRY7na?si=545af272cf064c27), Audible (https://www.audible.com/pd/Shaping-Sounds-Audiobook/B0G3J8RBNB?eac_link=H6g64tkZM0Kj&ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B0G3J8RBNB&qid=QWF1iMFw2x&eac_id=138-0895112-0129720_QWF1iMFw2x&sr=1-1), Apple Books (https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/shaping-sounds-stevie-wonder-devo-the-synth/id1854288708) or wherever you get audiobooks. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Inside a recent episode

Introducing Drilled: Carbon Cowboys

Published 12 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] But since 2021, she's been living here with her husband and children. She sells acai bowls in front of the parking lot of a multinational grain company. Acai is a fruit typical of the Amazon. Isabella buys it from suppliers and sells it to truck drivers who load and unload grain here. […]

Who has been a guest on Story of the Week with Joel Stein

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Grace Blest-Hopley
• Maya Shankar
• Michael
• Lidia Jean Kott
• Shuyu Wang

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

812,267

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

399 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

271 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 84 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

92

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

96

Contact Story of the Week with Joel Stein

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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