? ALERT ?

This is your last opportunity to shape the shortlist for the Best International Award (supported by Podfront UK) at the British Podcast Awards 2021! The awards, which celebrate the best podcasting can offer, are asking readers of the Great British Podcast Newsletter (*cough* that’s you) to put forward your favourites.

The podcast you can nominate can be literally anything: from news, to entertainment to fiction, providing it wasn’t made in the UK! All you need to do is head to our website, simply search for your fave international podcast and follow the quick instructions.

Speaking of the British Podcast Awards (which are powered by Amazon Music), many of your favourite shows are currently beavering away on their entries, as they’ve only got until Monday 29th March at Midday (that’s tomorrow if you’re reading this email on the usual Sunday). There are twenty categories they can enter, including several new ones including Best Documentary and the Best Lockdown Podcast. 

Remember the age old rule of entering awards… if you think there’s a good chance you will win, enter! If you think other podcasts must be better than yours and you surely won’t win… enter! That’s how this works. All the rules and how to enter is available on the British Podcast Awards website.

GUESTS ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK

If you have heard a great guest on a podcast, let us know! Fill in this form and it might get featured in an upcoming newsletter.

  • The first episode of Obsessed with… Line of Duty launched this week, a podcast that explores each episode of the show. The first guest is Sarah Millican (if you’re a fan of Line of Duty, Shrine of Duty are also doing episodic recaps).
  • Vick Hope from Radio 1’s Life Hacks is on Fortunately… with Fi and Jane.
  • Comedian, writer and broadcaster Eshaan Akbar is a guest on Great Green Questions, a new podcast that looks at ethical questions we all think when we’re trying to be more environmentally conscious, such as whether we should consider veganism, or whether we should give up flying. 
  • Jon Sopel, the BBC’s North America editor, is the guest on Table Manners.
  • Mo Gawdat, the former Chief Business Officer at Google X (and host of the Slo Mo podcast) is the first guest in the new series of 40 Minute Mentor, a podcast that is hoping to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs. He talks about how to find happiness at work.

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.

The Solo CollectiveWorking at home by ourselves has been a reality for many of us over the last year, but for many, such as freelancers, it’s been a way of life for years. Whilst it does have its benefits (the best being there no office politics because there isn’t one!) it certainly comes with its downsides. In this new series Rebecca Seal, author of “Solo – How to Work Alone and Not Lose Your Mind” explores a number of issues solo workers face, from keeping productive when there’s nobody telling you off, to dealing with your biggest critic (yourself). The guests that have been chosen are really interesting too, from Anne Helen Petersen (who wrote this viral article about generational burnout) to Dr. Laurie Santos, host of the The Happiness Lab podcast.

“I think imposter syndrome weirdly … gets louder the more you have evidence for being good at something,” says author Emma Gannon, in a frank discussion about self-sabotage. “A little bit of self-doubt is amazing, like when you are editing a book … but when your inner critic is so loud that it turns into this troll, that is just getting in the way.”

Dead Parent ClubThere are so many great podcasts that can help support you through a difficult and isolating issue. This podcast, presented by Kat and Emma, is for those who have experienced the death of a close one, with relatable anecdotes about coping with the immediate aftermath, to dealing with the practicalities afterwards. One thing that gets pointed out is how grief can come in so many different forms.

An interesting discussion in one of their new episodes was about ‘high-functioning grief,’ where you immediately push yourself back into normal life either because you don’t want to make a fuss, you’re not thinking rationally, it’s a comfort or you don’t know what to do with yourself. Kat immediately went into training for a new job after the death of her mother. “Looking back I wish that I had taken a little bit more time,” she says. “But at the same time that training helped me forge friendships and relationships that helped me as well, when I needed it the most, so it’s sort of swings and roundabouts.”

Spotify Podcast of the Week: Sorted with the DyersDani and Danny are joined in the annexe (remotely of course) by Romesh Ranganathan this week for a very funny episode of Sorted with the Dyers. Whilst answering a listener question about baby names, Romesh inadvertently reveals what his real name is, and he also asks the Dyers for some marital advice…which leads Danny to explain how he once built himself into a wardrobe. Exclusively available on Spotify!

Grow, cook, eat arrange with Sarah Raven and Arthur Parkinson – Just last week we saw the return of “Gardeners World”, which had a hugely successful year in light of the lockdown. This podcast has been a popular favourite too, where gardeners Sarah and Arthur give advice on the best time and techniques for planting, how best to pick flowers, how to grow your own food and how to deal with the sheer amount of gardening terms that won’t make sense to a newbie. It’s a reliable, accessible and engaging series, with new episodes out each week.

All The Best (& Worst) with Mr and Mrs HinchThis podcast has been firmly at the top of all the podcasting charts in recent weeks. Mrs Hinch aka. Sophie Hinch is an influencer who has built a considerable empire from her cleaning hacks and down-to-earth Instagram stories. She’s now launched her new podcast, with her husband Jamie, where they talk frankly about their relationship and whatever is on their mind. Such podcasts, such as Sh**ged Married Annoyed, have been enormously popular over the last couple of years, able to get you closer to someone you admire beyond just following them on social media. Whilst this podcast might not appeal necessarily to new fans, this podcast does a lot for those who already do.

Finally, there have been a lot of memorials and tributes on the anniversary of the first national lockdown, but one piece of audio that really stopped me in my tracks this week was the BBC Newscast podcast. Instead of focusing on what happened after March 2020, listeners sent in clips from what they were doing on the weeks leading up to lockdown. You hear sounds of parents recording their children at the softplay centre, parents watching their children performing in orchestras and church bellringers taking part in a rehearsal.

It’s a poignant reminder of those moments we’ve lost over the last year, but it’s also a subtle reminder of all of the things we have to look forward to.

Categories: Weekly Picks