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Nicholas Quah

Podcast Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@nwquah
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Nicholas Quah has been Vulture and New York Magazine's podcast critic since 2021. Prior to joining Vulture, he wrote the Hot Pod newsletter. He is a juror for the Peabody Awards.

  1. reality tv
    Whoever Starves Least, WinsBehind the making of Alone, the most genuinely perilous show on television.
  2. 1.5x speed
    What Rachel Maddow Is Listening To“There is a part of me that’s still in grad school.â€
  3. 1.5x speed
    What Seth Meyers Is Listening To“I’ve had my time with true crime. I enjoyed it more before I had children.â€
  4. finales
    The Jinx: Part Two Ignores the Full StoryYou can’t complete the Robert Durst saga without reckoning with the phenomenon the original doc wrought.
  5. 1.5x speed
    A Spoofy Podcast Builds Upon Its Poopy First Season“We might go back to fecal matter every other season.â€
  6. 1.5x speed
    Jamie Loftus’s Main Characters“The No. 1 request I get, and the episode I fear the most, is ‘Bean Dad.’â€
  7. vulture sports
    Super Bowl LVIII - San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs
    ‘NetFLix’ Confirms Expensive Deal With NFLIt likely costs the streamer less than the WWE, but more than JLo in space.
  8. today in dystopia
    Tim, Just Crush MeIf you’re going to make ads that are depressing, you should go even harder.
  9. endings
    The Contestant Turns Away From RealityAfter raising approximately 1 million messy, fascinating questions about reality TV’s impact, the documentary opts for tidiness.
  10. 1.5x speed
    How Should Documentaries Use AI?One group is trying to answer that question.
  11. podcast review
    Return to GuantánamoA fourth Serial season dusts off American terror’s old machinery.
  12. what kind of american are you?
    Jesse Plemons’s All-American HorrorThe actor’s Civil War role exploits a talent he has honed for years: being the most terrifying presence onscreen.
  13. #blariko
    ShÅgun’s Lost ’ShipIt was never going to happen, but I’ll sure miss pretending it could have.
  14. trailer mix
    It’s a Trap!M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller starring Josh Hartnett has a killer twist.
  15. 1.5x speed
    Ready to Go Back to Lonely Island?Very early impressions of a new podcast that turns out to be a potent slice of nostalgic millennial history.
  16. tv review
    In Fallout, the Joke Is on HumanityNot quite the raucous comedy it’s billed as, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s heady new video-game adaptation is basically Westworld 2.0.
  17. hear me out
    Spinoff Tokyo Vice Into Industry, You CowardsTrust me, it’ll work, and the vibes will be major.
  18. in conversation
    The One and Only Benedict WongSpy. Scientist. Sorcerer Supreme. Finally, with 3 Body Problem, the actor plays someone like himself.
  19. movie review
    Wicked Little Letters Should’ve Been for the SickosThere’s a great psychosexual drama lurking inside this otherwise serviceable trifle starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley.
  20. movie review
    Netflix’s Shirley Chisholm Biopic Never Matches the Power of Its SubjectThe Regina King-starring drama about the first Black woman presidential candidate doesn’t do its subject (or the star who plays her) justice.
  21. 1.5x speed
    JJ Redick, Ur-Athlete Podcaster, Takes His Biggest Shot YetHis new show Mind the Game, co-hosted by LeBron James, tests the limits of how much NBA fans want to nerd out.
  22. achievement in tv yelling
    ShÅgun’s Class ClownAs the volatile John Blackthorne, Cosmo Jarvis is high-key giving the comedic performance of the year.
  23. mug shots
    Manhunt Knows What to Do With Tobias Menzies’s FaceNever has a hair-and-makeup team so perfectly framed an actor’s most compelling asset.
  24. let’s go
    The 100 Fights That Shaped Action CinemaWhether the scenes featured fists, firearms, or blades, the result was always the same: The crowd was pleased.
  25. the industry
    ‘Is He Going to Ruin My Day?’How Matthew Belloni became the must-read columnist for Hollywood’s executive class.
  26. on location
    Where the Cold Looms Over EverythingProduction designer Daniel Taylor breaks down how True Detective: Night Country took Ennis, Alaska, to Iceland.
  27. vibe squad
    We’re Going to Miss Vibing With Tokyo ViceSeason two of Max’s yakuza drama seems likely to be its last, so let’s celebrate its ineffable appeal while we still can.
  28. the industry
    Spotify’s New Joe Rogan Deal Brings the Company Full CircleAfter years of splurging and expanding, the audio platform’s podcast strategy has backtracked.
  29. vulture recommends
    Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Brings the Vacation to YouThe Yakuza series’ fidelity to real-life locations is staggering, even if the latest entry emphasizes sprawl over density.
  30. 1.5x speed
    The Case of the AI George Carlin Comedy PodcastIs this what the future of podcasting looks like?
  31. tv review
    Masters of the Air Skims the SurfaceApple TV+’s WWII miniseries soars when it’s in flight but gets weighed down attempting to cover too much narrative ground.
  32. 1.5x speed
    What Will Podcasting Look Like This Year?Five questions (and some attempted answers) about what the medium will look like in 2024.
  33. reality tv
    The Traitors Needs NormiesWith mere mortals banished from season two, the game loses out on a grand possibility.
  34. 1.5x speed
    Who? Weekly Makes a Fake Sydney SweeneyHosts Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber tell us about their AI bit.
  35. vulture recommends
    The Gold Is Worth Its WeightThe British heist drama pulled off a great first season by sticking to the genre fundamentals.
  36. survey says
    The Best Podcasts of 2023, According to People Who Make PodcastsHundreds of hosts, producers, creatives, and executives reveal what they heard and loved this year.
  37. 25 days of reality
    The K-Reality WayNetflix’s Korean unscripted slate offers American viewers a reminder of all the other ways reality television can be.
  38. the industry
    The Podcast World’s Year From HellDozens of hosts, producers, and executives vent about a tough year for the audio industry — and cautiously look ahead to 2024.
  39. emergency discussion
    Squid Game’s Next ChallengeThe results of this twisted reality-TV experiment have us wondering where it goes from here.
  40. best of 2023
    The Best Podcasts of 2023Despite a tough year for the industry, the podcast world remains vast in its pleasures.
  41. overnights
    Squid Game: The Challenge Season-Finale Recap: Rock, Paper, Scissors … Shoot!Without scale and spectacle to lean on, the finale has little more than chance and cruelty left at its disposal.
  42. the industry
    Heavyweight Down, Stolen GoneSpotify dropped two critically adored podcasts this week.
  43. overnights
    Squid Game: The Challenge Recap: A Game of Civil DecencyWe have our final three.
  44. overnights
    Squid Game: The Challenge Recap: Collective Organizing and Its DiscontentsThe Glass Tile challenge is still haunting me.
  45. overnights
    Squid Game: The Challenge Recap: I Like the Chaos of Their GameParanoia is ramping up as the competition’s challenges and twists lead to more cutthroat gameplay.
  46. overnights
    Squid Game: The Challenge Series-Premiere Recap: The Ol’ Golden TicketNetflix’s newest reality competition is just as shockingly cruel as the Korean hit series it’s adapted from.
  47. exit interview
    A Big ‘What If’How the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off co-creators reclaimed the element of surprise.
  48. tv review
    Oh No, Is Squid Game: The Challenge … Good?The adaptation of Netflix’s capitalism-skewering phenomenon is so openly venal it might just reinvent reality TV.
  49. tv review
    Nothing Is As It Seems in Scott Pilgrim Takes OffThe word adaptation isn’t precise enough to describe what’s going on in Netflix’s new anime interpretation.
  50. tv review
    Something’s Missing From A Murder at the End of the WorldBrit Marling and Zal Batmanglij applying their signature extravagant weirdness to a murder mystery is both too much (complimentary) and not enough.
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