Let’s look at podcasts that are helping kids look forward to Christmas this year.
Armchair Adventures has just released the first of its two part Panto special. In the episode host Connie visits a pantomime for the very first time (“oh no she hasn’t, oh yes she has etc etc etc.”) The podcasts encourage listeners to use their imaginations, so within the first five minutes you’re transported up a beanstalk, then five minutes later into a television studio.
Meanwhile, The Santa Daily has started up again. Brought to you by his elves and the radio station Fun Kids, each episode features Santa informing listeners how his preparations are coming together, broadcasting from the North Pole. The first episode also featured number crunchers revealing that he will be delivering 1.6 billion presents, making 640 million stops and consuming 130 million litres of milk (me: what about the alcohol?) There’s also an “Ask Santa Anything” feature, although I don’t think he will be revealing what present he has in store.
The bedtime stories podcast Koko Sleep have festive episodes to help the little ones get to bed. Also listen out for Super Great Kids’ Stories for new and delightful stories on the run up to Christmas.
NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK
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- The television legend that is Alison Hammond is on a special bonus episode of Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware this week.
- The My Dad Wrote A Porno (that’s Alice Levine, James Cooper and Jamie Morton) team were on Off Air… with Fi and Jane this week.
- Dawn French was the first guest on Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake, a podcast where Kathy Burke asks guests about their ideal funeral.
- Georgia Pritchett, the celebrated screenwriter who most recently worked on Succession, is on Comfort Eating with Grace Dent this week.
- Dr Gabor Maté, one of the world’s most celebrated physicians, is the latest guest on Full Disclosure with James O’Brien this week.
- Letitia Wright is on Radio Times: View from the Sofa this week, talking about their television viewing habits and traditions.
- Jameela Jamil was on Pop Culture with Chanté Joseph this week, talking about why women’s bodies are always scrutinised in our popular culture.
Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead
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Book Chat – Author Bobby Palmer and broadcaster Pandora Sykes (who you might recognise from popular podcasts such as Doing it Right and Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV) have teamed up for a new podcast all about books.
The concept is simple. They both bring a book each, which must be at least two years old and discuss how it made them feel. In the first episode Bobby brings “Tin Man” by Sarah Winman, leading to a discussion about masculinity, stoicism and the difficulty in men opening up about how they really feel. Pandora brings “Tales of the City” by Armistead Maupin, a celebrated and funny series looking at a group of friends living in San Francisco from the mid 1970s. Their conversations are thoughtful and articulate, making it an engaging 45 minutes. It’s a new podcast to look out for.
| Disruptors |
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The Disruptors podcast interviews movers, shakers and change makers. Fast approaching 1,000 episodes, host Rob Moore handpicks interesting, disruptive guests like Jordan Peterson, David Goggins, Andrew Tate, Caitlyn Jenner and Floyd Mayweather and allows them space to speak on subjects you’ve not heard them talk about on other podcasts. A mix of distilling contrarian success principles, fascinating stories, some controversial moments and challenging issues such as who controls the world and free speech. If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything. |
On The Record at the National Archives – This podcast has achieved positive reviews for how it has used the resources at the National Archives to tell us interesting and illuminating stories from our past.
Now this podcast has launched a new three part season looking at assassination attempts of monarchs through history, from Queen Elizabeth I to King George III. The podcast is full of interesting facts and insights, as you would expect.
Bad Money – A new storytelling podcast, delving into the world of criminal masterminds, armed robberies and the authorities who desperately tried to track them down.
Narrated by Jason Wong, the story is an illuminating and sometimes baffling game of cat and mouse set in Hong Kong. The story follows Cheung Tze-keung, who was known as Big Spender, whose crimes became increasingly notorious and extreme in order to get larger payoffs, until he incurred the wrath of the Chinese government.
Working It – This Financial Times podcast has already won many plaudits for the way that it manages to navigate issues within the workplace, from dealing with internal politics to a deep-dive into explaining the purpose of the HR department.
There’s now this new four part series looking at companies that have decided to try out a four day work week, whilst keeping employees on 100% of their usual pay. Are these companies able to maintain the same levels of productivity? What challenges does this throw in terms of planning holidays and unexpected situations? And how can employees get over the temptation to look at their phones and work on Friday anyway?
Episodes launch on Monday 5th December (that’s tomorrow), with new episodes launching each day between Monday and Thursday. See what they did there?
