Happy Easter Listening! Plus Rachel Parris, Grace Petrie, Will Young, Gabby Logan and Self Esteem

Happy Easter 🥚🐤🐰!

Earlier this week (late at night on Thursday 14th April and the early hours of Friday 15th April, to be precise) marked exactly 110 years since the sinking of the Titanic. There are a few podcasts marking the occasion and providing some insight into the tragedy.

The great storytelling series Short History Of… podcast series has a special episode, narrated by Paul McGann, looking at why so many deaths were caused by the Titanic’s sinking and why the ship’s crew were not able to avoid the iceberg quick enough. Meanwhile, Dan Snow’s History Hit has a three part special looking back at the disaster, starting with a dramatic retelling of the disaster and ending with some insight into why the ship’s sinking has captured the world’s imagination for more than a century.

Meanwhile make sure you listen to this episode of History Extra Podcast, the podcast by BBC History magazine, which looked at whether a band really did perform on the deck of the Titanic as the boat on the day it sank, why so many third class passengers died compared to first and second class. Also insight into whether the boat had so few lifeboats when it had so many passengers.

NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK

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• Singer Grace Petrie takes Matthew Bannister round on a tour of Leicester in the latest episode of Folk on Foot.
• The musician Self Esteem is on the latest episode of Lou Sander’s Cuddle Club
• BAFTA nominated comedian Rachel Parris is on the latest episode of Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner, the podcast where Rayner takes a guest out to lunch with the mindset that a good meal can mean a good conversation.
• There’s a new series of The Mid•Point with Gabby Logan, a podcast that changes our perceptions of what life is like in our middle age. The latest guest on Gabby’s podcast is Will Young.
• Former rugby player Ugo Monye joins Jamie Laing on Private Parts.
• Graeme Hall, commonly known as ‘the dogfather,’ returned to Walking The Dog with Emily Dean to talk about his new book.

Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead

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War on Truth – Last month we featured Death by Conspiracy, a podcast presented by the BBC’s specialist disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring, which looked at why people believed conspiracy theories during the pandemic. There’s now a new series that looks at a different form of disinformation, the disinformation that is shared by the Russian state and through their news operations in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Marianna has a great knack of taking one big topic and exploring it in a multitude of different ways. There’s an episode that looks at a Ukrainian fleeing Kyiv whose relative is based in Russia does not believe what is going on because she watches Russian news. There’s a story about a Russian influencer who is using their existing platform to share news of what is really happening in Kyiv. And there’s also an episode of looking at conspiracy theorists who believe that the pandemic and the Ukraine War don’t exist. 

+44 Presents: The Noughties – Here’s another podcast looking back at the noughties. That’s right, a decade that feels a lot closer than it actually is (don’t check your calendars). In each episode of the series, only available on Amazon Music, Nadia Jae and Eddie Kadi look back at how it was a defining decade for Black British culture. But instead of reminiscing, they are also joined by someone who helped to define that decade, starting with the rapper Lethal Bizzle.

Never Have I Ever with Joel Dommett and Hannah Cooper – Another new podcast from Global, where Joel Dommett and Hannah Cooper (who are married) try things out of their comfort zone by trying things they haven’t done before, decided by recommendations sent in by their listeners. 

So far, they have been weightlifting and have been to a strip club together. Yep. You heard me.

Luke’s ENGLISH Podcast – Finally, quite a few readers of Great British Podcasts have put this podcast forward in recent weeks because of how much it has helped them. It is easy to see why. In each episode Luke Thompson helps others learn English through conversations and monologues on different topics. It’s a way to familiarise yourself with English topics  “​​It’s entertaining, interesting, various and there are so many episodes to choose from,” one listener told us.

Before we go, just to let you know that entries for British Podcast Awards (powered by Audible) have closed for this year! A special edition of this newsletter later in June will be revealing all of the nominees, so make sure you keep an eye out in your inbox.

Entries however have just opened for the inaugural Irish Podcast Awards, celebrating the best of Ireland’s thriving audio industry. Like the British Podcast Awards there are many different categories that you can apply for – everything from Best Documentary Podcast to Best Podcast in the Irish Language.

To find out more details about how to apply, just head to the Irish Podcast Awards website.