Reporter Leon Neyfakh is taking the third season of his “Fiasco” podcast to Boston, looking back on the 1974 busing crisis and its lasting impact on racial equality in America. Get an exclusive preview of “Fiasco: The Battle for Boston” in the video above.
This new season of “Fiasco” debuts Aug. 13 on Luminary, and Neyfakh will examine the cultural and historical ramifications of the violent riots that erupted in the city over school desegregation, which many white Bostonians severely opposed. This led to violent altercations at Boston City Hall and across the city as white and black residents clashed over the issue.
Neyfakh had worked at The Boston Globe from 2011 to 2014, and the paper has extensive archival coverage on the riots in Boston throughout the 1970s.
Neyfakh previously co-created the Slate podcast “Slow Burn” while employed a staffer at Slate. “Slow Burn” was given a television adaptation, and Neyfakh now hosts the streaming docuseries for Epix.
The prior two seasons of “Fiasco” covered the Iran-Contra affair and the Bush v. Gore election. The second season on Iran-Contra won two 2020 Webby Awards for best podcast writing and best documentary podcast.
“Like ‘Slow Burn,’ ‘Fiasco’ gives perspective on our current era without making explicit connections to it — and, somehow, manages to revive an excruciating political moment without making it excruciating to relive,” New Yorker critic Sarah Larson wrote in a recent review.
17 TV Shows Based on Podcasts Ranked, From 'Homecoming' to '2 Dope Queens' (Photos)
"Desus & Mero" is going strong with its third season and "The Shrink Next Door" premiered just last month. Here are other TV shows based on successful podcasts, with their Metacritic ranking (as of December 3, 2021).
Epix, IFC, Matt Sayles/Netflix, Showtime
"Up and Vanished" (2018 - )
Metacritic score: n/a
Payne Lindsey's true-crime podcast first became a successful two-part special on Oxygen, exploring the disappearance of Georgia schoolteacher Tara Grinstead. And then it became a series, with Payne and his team exploring a new cold case in each episode.
Oxygen
Song Exploder (2020 - )
Metacritic score: n/a
Based on the acclaimed podcast of the same name, the Netflix docu-series takes a look at how the world's greatest musicians have created their songs, while exploring their various creative processes and inspirations.
Matt Sayles/Netflix
Equinox (2020 - )
Metacritic score: n/a
Based on the Danish podcast "Equinox 1985," this Netflix thriller follows a young woman investigating the suspicious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a group of kids, one of whom was her sister.
Tine Harden/Netflix
Slow Burn (2020 - )
Metacritic score: n/a
The true-crime podcast hosted by Leon Neyfakh is now a docuseries on EPIX. Similar to the podcast, Neyfakh dissects historical figures and events and outlines how the lesser-known subplots behind the stories have changed history.
Epix
"Alex Inc." (2018)
Metacritic score: 49
Zach Braff plays a journalist who quits his job to start his own podcast business -- in a short-lived ABC sitcom very loosely based on Alex Blumberg's "StartUp" podcast about the founding of his own Gimlet Media podcast network.
ABC
"StarTalk" (2015 - )
Metacritic score: 55
Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson adapted his hit podcast into a long-running talk show on NatGeo, with a wide variety of guests beyond the science (and even sci-fi) field.
National Geographic
"Dirty John" (2018 - )
Metacritic score: 58
Connie Britton and Eric Bana starred in the first season of this true-crime anthology series based on the Wondery podcast about love gone wrong. The second season starred an ill-fated coupled played by Amanda Peet and Christian Slater.
USA
"Lore" (2017 - 18)
Metacritic score: 60
Aaron Mahnke's podcast exploring the true histories behind horror legends like werewolves and vampires inspired an anthology series that blended dramatic scenes, animation and narration and ran for two seasons on Amazon.
Amazon Prime
"The Shrink Next Door" (2021 - )
Metacritic score: 61
The dark comedy series based n the podcast of the same name premiered November 12 on Apple TV+ and follows the dysfunctional and increasingly manipulative relationship between celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf and his longtime patient Martin "Marty" Markowitz.
Apple TV+
"Limetown" (2019)
Metacritic score: 62
Jessica Biel starred in this Facebook Watch series that told the fictional story of the disappearance of 300 people at a Tennessee neuroscience facility. However, the show failed to capture the creepy immersiveness of the original podcast and lasted only one season.
Facebook
"The Ricky Gervais Show" (2010 - 12)
Metacritic score: 62
The creator of "The Office" adapted his radio show (with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington) into a podcast, and then into an animated HBO series that made its potty-humor jokes literal.
HBO
"Comedy Bang! Bang!" (2012 - 16)
Metacritic score: 64
Scott Aukerman adapted his comedy podcast into a parody talk show that ran for five seasons on IFC.
IFC
"The Case Against Adnan Syed (2019)
Metacritic score: 66
The four-part HBO documentary series follows the 1999 disappearance and murder of 18-year-old high school student Hae Min Lee and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, which was a case that was covered in the widely popular investigative journalism podcast, "Serial."
St. Martin's Press
"Maron" (2013 - 16)
Metacritic score: 71
The sitcom, which was based on the comedian's podcast, stars Marc Maron as a fictionalized version of himself, as he navigates life, trying to balance all his relationships.
IFC
"Homecoming" (2018-)
Metacritic score: 75
Julia Roberts starred in the first season of this show, based on Gimlet's fictional podcast about a secret government program to transition U.S. war veterans back to civilian life.
Showtime
"Desus & Mero" (2019 - )
Metacritic score: 78
Bronx natives Desus Nice and The Kid Mero star in Showtime's first ever talk show, which was adapted from their comedy entertainment podcast "Desus vs. Mero."
Amazon Prime
"2 Dope Queens" (2018 - 19)
Metacritic score: 87
"Daily Show" alum Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson adapted their hit comedy podcast into an HBO series that hits a broad range of topics.
HBO
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A growing number of TV shows have been inspired by audio hits
"Desus & Mero" is going strong with its third season and "The Shrink Next Door" premiered just last month. Here are other TV shows based on successful podcasts, with their Metacritic ranking (as of December 3, 2021).
Epix, IFC, Matt Sayles/Netflix, Showtime
Oxygen
