The British Podcast Awards (powered by PodPod) unveiled their 2023 shortlist this week. And there’s a great array of audio nominated across 27 categories; from gripping investigative series to fantastically told fiction. The winners will be unveiled on Thursday 28th September, in a ceremony hosted by comedians Stephen Bailey and Zoe Lyons.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting and amplifying some of the nominees in this newsletter. You can also head to our Podcast Rex website to see the full list of nominees. By clicking on any of the nominees, you’ll be taken directly to their podcast feed so you can listen to them straight away.
And remember, there is still one award with a winner still to be determined…
The Listeners’ Choice is the podcast chosen by British podcast listeners (that’s you) and you have until the 5th September 2023 to select your favourite. All you need to do is head to the British Podcast Awards website and search and select your top show.
This week we’ve also released our first podcast. It’s called Your Next Podcast and it’s all about helping you find, well, your next podcast. Each week Lauren Layfield recommends a show AND includes the first episode of it too. If you follow Your Next Podcast it’ll mean there’s always something new to listen to in your favourite podcast app. Follow along here.
NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK
If you have listened to a great guest on a podcast, let us know by filling in this form and it might get featured in an upcoming newsletter.
- The musician Hal Baker is on 101 Part Times Jobs, a podcast where artists tell about how they have managed to reach their creative pursuits.
- BLACKPINK’s Jennie is on Dua Lipa: At Your Service.
- Podcaster Olly Mann is on 90 Minutes or Less Fest, talking about his love for the Todd Solondz film Welcome to the Dollhouse.
- Katie Price is on Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake with Kathy Burke.
Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead
If you want your podcast featured, or you have an excellent recommendation, all you need to do is fill in this simple form. It might get featured in this newsletter!
The Referral with Dr. Karan – You’ll instantly recognise the voice of the host of this podcast if you spend a couple of minutes a day scrolling on TikTok. Dr Karan’s health and medical related videos usually discredit misinformation from other viral videos, or provide you with facts and info about your body that you might not know.
Now Dr Karan, who is a surgeon working in the NHS, has got his own podcast series that allows him to delve into these subject areas a little deeper. There are episodes that explore sleep myths, discredit fat loss tips and highlight symptoms about our body that you should not ignore. He also gives space to people to talk about their lived experiences, such as the reality of living with a stoma. Additional episodes are available with a paid subscription.
How The UK Changed Hip Hop Forever – A new BBC Radio 1Xtra podcast series to mark the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, presented by Ashley Walters from Top Boy. Each episode of the series, with all episodes currently able to listen to, looks at a different major moment with the help of a contributor, including Tiffany Calver, Estelle and music exec Cookie Pryce. Similar to the BBC Radio 6 Music podcast on Britpop that we featured in this newsletter two weeks ago, the series also unearths the BBC’s rich music and interviews archive.
Mission Imagination: Summer Special – Earlier in the year we featured this great kids podcast put together by the books publisher Puffin. In each episode, young listeners are transported on an immersive adventure that helps encourage their own imagination.
I just thought to let you know that they have now returned with a summer series special, where Babatunde Aléshé and his helpers Darcey and Tylan explore one of the most famous rabbits of them all: Peter Rabbit.
The Courage to Speak – There are a lot of podcasts that feature people speaking out about an important topic. This new podcast, fronted by communications skills coach Leonie Mellinger, looks at the process of doing so and how to gain the courage to do it. What you’ll learn is that whilst some people are natural speakers, many have gained the ability to do so after experiencing setbacks and failure.
There’s four interesting episodes so far, featuring the journalist Jon Snow, acclaimed actor Juliet Stevenson and the cricketer David Gower.
