Last Friday was Earth Day 🌎, bringing into sharp focus the challenges humanity faces ahead and the things that we can do to protect and help the planet.
The climate and music industry podcast Sounds Like A Plan speaks to the singer and environmentalist Nick Mulvey, who talks about the Earth/Percent initiative to raise funds and awareness for the climate crisis. Meanwhile Deborah Meaden and Felicity Hannah from The Big Green Money Show interviewed Rolls-Royce CEO Warren Easy about whether zero-emission flights will ever become a reality. The podcast has a really great knack at cutting through the public relations noise.
The slow news company Tortoise and the Centre for Net Zero have joined up to launch Inside the Energy Transition, which looks at the rise of renewable energy and breaks myths about sustainable power. Climber Sasha DiGiulian joined Red Bull’s Why I Run, to talk about the healing appeal of running through nature, whilst runner Erik Ahlström talks about the trend of ‘plogging,’ which is picking up litter whilst you run.
NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK
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- David Duchovny (yep, the guy from The X-Files) is the latest guest on Write-Off with Francesca Steele talking about his new career as a novelist and how he has managed to get four books under his belt.
- Chef Thomasina Miers is on Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware this week, talking about the importance of food activism.
- Tamzin Outhwaite is on The Mid•Point with Gabby Logan this week.
- 40 Minute Mentor, a podcast that features careers advice from influential business leaders, this week features an interview with Michelle You, the CEO of the carbon removal company Supercritical.
Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead
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The Line of Fire with Ramita Navai – What are the personal costs of being a foreign correspondent and reporting from a war zone? And what can you learn about the human condition from the things that you see on the front line? These are the questions at the heart of this new podcast presented by the Emmy award winning journalist Ramita Navati. In each episode she asks a war reporter about the risks and challenges they have faced and how it has continued to affect them the moment they return home.
Her most recent interview is a moving and remarkably candid conversation with Stuart Ramsay, the Sky News foreign correspondent who has recently returned from Ukraine, after he and his team were ambushed by Russian soldiers whilst positioned in a car. The interview breaks down what happened in the ambush, minute-by-minute. It is, quite simply, unmissable audio.
“I remember it so clearly, whether it is my imagination but I swear to god I could see the bullet that hit me,” he says. “I remember saying to myself ‘I am going to die now. And I wonder if it is going to hurt.’”
Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal and Society – History podcasts are all the rage at the moment and this new series is a fantastic romp through the history of sex and scandal. It is presented by sex historian Kate Lister, who reminds listeners that sex and scandal did not start in the 1960s but way way way earlier, with the first episode looking at the Medieval era.
She’s joined by Dr Eleanor Janega to talk about why the Church was so strong on rules because the rest of society were at it like rabbits and why some of the terminology about some people assumptions about what does and what does not count as sex can be traced back to that time.
As you would expect, there are ‘adult themes and explicit words’ throughout the episode as well. Kate adds, “I think I would disappoint you if there wasn’t.”
Taskmaster: The People’s Podcast – Not to be confused with Taskmaster: The Podcast (which looks back at every single episode in the history of the show and is already well established), this new podcast hotels by Lou Sanders celebrates the superfans who have been obsessed with the show for a number of years. It is a nice little way to look at the culture the show has generated, without the podcast retreading
Her first guest is the journalist Jack Bernhardt, who not only has loads of facts about the show on hand (“half of the people who win the first episode go on to win the whole series”) but has also completed all 220 tasks in Taskmaster to work out how hard these tasks actually are.
Talking Derry Girls – Now that the third (and final – sob) series of Derry Girls has returned to television, the Talking Derry Girls podcast can go back to what they do best, which is celebrating and highlighting all the references the much loved sitcom drags up about the Northern Ireland town (from Mo Mowlam to the Good Friday Agreement). Presented by Jeanie, Pauline and Marie-Louise, the latest series also begins with a fantastic interview with the writer and creator of Derry Girls, Lisa McGee. It is a joy to listen to.
And finally, I was back on BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Podcast Radio Hour this week to give my recommendations for the last month, many of which have appeared in this very newsletter. It is a good way to listen to some great British podcasts rather than just read about them, so listen to their most recent episode to hear snippets of Rabbiting On, Putin, Eureka! and Let’s Get Frank.
We also spoke to India Rakusen about the captivating BBC Radio 4 series 28ish Days Later.
That’s all from the newsletter this week. Thanks so much for reading.
Scotty / @scottygb
