I hope you are having a good Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend. To keep everyone (hopefully) happy, I have done three different intros.

IF YOU ARE A ROYALIST… There are many podcasts exploring the Jubilee. The Historic Royal Palaces, a series that looks at the history of the six Royal palaces, contains a lot of interesting facts and tidbits (for example: the next Jubilee will be if the Queen serves for 80 years, and it’ll be referred to as the Oak Jubilee). It also explores the Superbloom moat being built at the Tower of London, which will be open to the public later this year.

There are also podcasts delving into the history of the Royal Family (and Jubilees) in general. Short History Of… has got a two-part special on the life of Queen Elizabeth II, whilst Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook’s The Rest Is History has an episode looking at the jubilee celebrations of George V, Queen Victoria and George III. Meanwhile, NBC’s Keir Simmons has just launched Born to Rule: When Charles is King, which will look at the future of the Throne and the challenges the monarchy will face in the future.

There are also podcasts for younger listeners. Everything Under The Sun, a podcast where experts answer questions sent in from children, is celebrating its 100th episode this week. Dame Joanna Lumley (!!!) joined the episode to answer the question “Does the Queen carry money around with her?,” sent in from 9-year-old Isabelle. The Fun Kids podcast Activity Quest has a Jubilee special, exploring the history of London’s Westminster Abbey.

IF YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN… The Retrospectors, a podcast that looks at this event in history, has an episode on the history of the iconic anti-establishment Sex Pistols record ‘God Save The Queen’. If you’re also watching the Danny Boyle Pistol series, charting the history of the band, listen to the British Scandal series on the band too.

IF YOU DON’T CARE EITHER WAY… Funnily enough there are many podcasts that don’t feature the Queen at all, including all of the podcasts below in this newsletter! Fancy that.

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.

Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead

If you want your podcast featured, or you have a great recommendation, all you need to do is fill in this simple form and might get featured in a future newsletter.

POLITICO’s Westminster InsiderThere has been a lot of (well deserved) praise for this new series, hosted by Ailbhe Rea, which delves into how political journalism works and operates in Westminster. It is a tell-all guide to “the lobby” (aka. an area of Westminster where journalists try to work out what politicians are saying and plotting beyond public debates), and the history of the briefings that take place there.

It also explores the traditions that take place, the lack of pitfalls of lobby journalism, from their use of anonymous sourcing in their stories to poor inclusion of its membership. The result is a podcast that is equally revealing and thought provoking. If you only have forty minutes to listen to a podcast, make it this one.

Legit Classics “You don’t need a cravat, a rare wine collection, or a villa in Tuscany to sample the delights of the Greco-Roman world,” says classicist Jasmine Elmer at the start of her new podcast delving into the Classics. 

In each episode, she is joined by an expert in their field who knows a lot about a topic associated with a Classics topic, such as maths or philosophy, and they share their own knowledge. The idea being that Classics can be such a wide topic it is impossible to know it all, but also that the legacy and influence of these subjects are evident in all aspects of our society. There are two episodes so far. One features University Challenge legend Bobby Seagull talking about maths, and Aleesha Hansel talking about the history of wine. Cheers!

A Life More Wild – After a year, the delightful A Life More Wild has returned for a new series. The podcast, hosted by Christopher  Wilson-Elmes, is about how being outdoors can top up our mental and emotional wellbeing, whilst also highlighting the different ways we can engage with nature, from coastal foraging to wild swimming. With the sounds of nature a constant background companion in each episode, this podcast can also provide a bit of a nature break if you are tied to your desk during the working week.

In the first episode of the new series, the podcast heads to Devon to find out about a campaign to make access to nature a human right. You also learn about Amira Patel, founder of The Wanderlust Women, an adventure and hiking group for Muslim women that provides empowerment and campaigns for better inclusion for the countryside.

Life of the Party with Jodie HarshThis podcast by the renowned DJ and producer Jodie Harsh is a deep dive into how club culture and nights out reflect and shape our identities. The series first debuted in the middle of the pandemic, providing an opportunity for guests to reminisce about what made them so great and to advocate for their return. Now that clubs have reopened, the series is now skewing more towards the current joys of the scene, starting with the headline DJ Joel Corry.

Thanks so much for reading. We’ll be back with some more great podcast suggestions next week (and no more Royalist podcasts, I promise).

Categories: Weekly Picks