^^ I can do without the surface hype though. I'd love if they could focus on telling skating fans who enjoy and follow the sport something that we don't already know instead of surface trivialities and status quo think. I understand this particular podcast is set up not to ruffle any feathers. Hanging in to listen through the end of the pairs review, it got better but I'm not so interested in the surface gushing.
Regarding pairs which they covered first, what in the world did Ashley Wagner mean when she said she often finds pairs skating to be
'abrasive and jarring choreographically..." 
And then she praises Sui/Han as
"starting to give ... shades of Savchenko/Massot..." What does Ash mean by that?? S/H are not like S/M, despite recent suggestions that S/H are trying to adopt some of the musical and movement themes of S/M's Olympic fp.
S/H have their own unique look, style and approach to their skating. S/H have been kicking it for awhile with their bravura elements, and in recent years they've stepped up their game aesthetically under the tutelage of Shen/Zhao and with the ongoing efforts of their long time choreographer, Lori Nichol. What Ash might better have pointed out is that S/H's sp is somewhat of a departure for them stylistically, yet they did a fairly decent job exploring a different genre. Plus, Ash and Ice Talk co-hosts could have also pointed out that this season marks Sui/Han's first return to the GP in three seasons at a transitional time during which several top teams have retired, other veteran teams are currently taking a break, and a number of new young Russian teams are on the rise, whilst Tarasova/Morosov have been struggling.
I disagree with Jackie Wong's suggestion that what marks K&M's progress this season is Michael
"becoming more and more of a good pairs partner." I still think Michael has a way to go to be a comparatively good pairs partner. It's true that they've come together far as a team, but Michael is still the weaker link, and compared to other top pairs guys, he's not as strong. Sure Michael has improved every season. It would be a problem if he wasn't improving every season. The difference this season is that K&M have better programs and they didn't have the slow start due to injury that they had last season. Plus, K&M are more confident with the Canadian #1 status, which in fact they may not necessarily hold indefinitely should Luba & Charlie continue building a strong and exciting partnership.
Jackie also said that K&M "should have medaled" at last season's NHK, but came in 4th. It's not that they
should have medaled, they hoped to medal... The key thing which Jackie neglected to mention is that it was the Knierims who snatched the bronze medal ahead of K&M at last year's NHK with a strong performance. That led to Canadian fans commiserating about K&M's weak 3-twist, which likely is why they retooled it, and it's looking better. IMO, it's rather significant that the Knierims grabbed the bronze last year, but then failed to even come in fourth this season with some great programs. The tables have turned a bit, and the turning started at the first Challenger event between K&M and the Knerims where K&M won and the Knerims placed second. It seems to me that it's the Knerims' confidence which is lacking and needs to be rebuilt.
I'm not so sure Boi/Koz will necessarily overtake S/H at GPF, as Jackie seems to hint. Yes Sui has to clean up the jump errors, but Boi/Koz are still a young team on the rise, and are only becoming Russia's #1 this season due to T/M having so many problems. Anything can happen in figure skating, but I don't see Sui faltering when push comes to shove. We shall see. S/H carry a lot of badass rep and the judges love them. Boi/Koz may not necessarily get as high marks as S/H on PCS. But at least we should have a more intriguing, closely fought battle than we've had during the entire GP season in pairs!
I disagree with Ash that Tarah & Danny did what they needed to do at NHK. Nope, they could have done better actually. Still, 5th is not bad when 5th or 6th were about what was expected for them in this field. Still, had K/O skated better, 4th place was possible against Efimova/Korovin once the Knierms faltered. K/O did not step through that open door. I do agree with Ash that K/O's fp is not strong enough this season to hold up at Nationals against a stronger Cain-Gribble/LeDuc and Denney/Frazier's boffo fp. Neither has K/O's skating improved very much this season to keep up with the competition.
Ashley W mentions the need for U.S. teams 'building confidence' just as I stated, and I typed that thought before I heard her say that. At least the pairs review got a little better as it went on. However, I would have emphasized how Ash & Timothy got off to a great start this season and how they improved so much over the off-season. That's a fact that shouldn't be given short shrift just because Ash & Timothy didn't live up to the build-up of expectations for Skate America and IDF. I agree with Ice Talk's commentary about the Knierims. Ashley was spot-on in her assessment and how she phrased it. I'm glad Jackie favorably mentions Miura/Kihara.
Maybe I'll listen to the rest later.