Let’s have a quick round-up of new pop culture and arts based podcasts to kick off the month of November.
Pop Culture with Chanté Joseph kicked off this week. Produced by The Guardian, the series will explore pop culture and why certain aspects of it continue to resonate so much with us. It starts with a deep dive into Rhianna’s influence and her comeback after six years away from creating music.
View from My Sofa, a new series by Radio Times, delves into the TV habits of some of the most interesting people in the UK today. Presented by Kelly-Anne Taylor, recent episodes include Helen Fielding, Stephen Fry and Louis Theroux.
Acting for Others Presents… is a new series where stars of the stage and screen interview each other to talk about the theatre. And just look at the cast! It features Noma Dumezweni, Sir Derek Jacobi, David Tennant and Dame Judi Dench. The podcast is also an initiative to raise money for 14 different charities relating to the theatre.
The official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast has also started up again, which of course will be of interest to many as the competition is going to be held in Liverpool next year. Listen out for Steve Holden’s updates on how preparations for the 2022 Contest, held in honour of Ukraine, are coming together.
Also before we crack on with the rest of this week’s recommendations, just to quickly mention the Story Quest podcast. They are now bringing kids’ stories to life by asking children to tell them their story concepts, which they then produce each week.
NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK
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- The actress Taj Atwal is on The Capsule #inconversation podcast this week, talking about self-love and the big moments in her career and accepting what heads your own way.
- Ed Sheeran is on That Peter Crouch Podcast this week, talking about the challenges he has faced in being a parent.
- Professor Linda Bauld, public health specialist, is on The We Society podcast with Will Hutton to talk about the lessons we have learnt from the Covid pandemic and the things we need to consider before the next one.
- Christian Angermeyer, Founder of Apeiron Investment Group, is on Secret Leaders this week to talk on how his use of psychedelics has helped him with his decision making.
- Richard Norton-Taylor, who worked at The Guardian for more than 40 years reporting on defence, is on Warrior Nation this week. He talks about how defence journalism works and how intelligence agencies influence what is and isn’t published in the British press.
- Sunyi Dean is on The Failing Writers Podcast this week, talking frankly about the difficulties getting her book, The Book Eaters, published.
Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead
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Disaster Trolls – What is it like to have been involved in a traumatic event, such as a terrorist attack or shooting, and then be faced with people who think that the event you have been through was fake and that you were an actor in a government conspiracy?
This is a troubling growing trend in the US, with the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones recently being sued by nearly a billion dollars over false claims about the Sandy Hook school shooting. But disturbingly, it also appears to be a growing trend in the UK too, with victims of the Manchester concert bombings also being contacted by such trolls.
Hot off the heels of the successful War on Truth podcast, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring investigates the additional hurt this causes victims and why people end up believing such conspiracy theories. And what, if anything, can be done about it?
Ghoul Guide with Rachel Fairburn – Yes, Halloween is now behind us, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get into listening to something rather spooky. In a genius idea for a podcast, supernatural enthusiast Rachel Fairburn is told three different spooky stories whilst staying somewhere that has been claimed to be haunted.
The twist is that only one of the stories is actually true, the other two spooky stories have been totally made up. She has to guess which one is the real one, based on her gut feelings and superstitions from staying there. The series plays on our gut feelings, fears and second guessing. Her observations are also pretty damn hilarious.
Away From Home – A new series from The Athletic launching Monday 7th November (that is the day after this podcast newsletter arrives in your inboxes) looks into Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian football team that are in the Champions League.
The team have not been able to play in Ukraine during the Russian Invasion but have been capturing the imagination and hopes of millions by representing their country and continuing to play in Warsaw. Journalists Adam Crafton and Joey D’Urso have unprecedented access to the team, who are all balancing sport commitments whilst coping with the personal impact of war.
Lateral with Tom Scott – You might recognise Tom Scott from his fascinating fact based YouTube videos filmed all over the world (or the parodies of the introduction to his videos from all over the world.) He’s now got a new podcast, a quiz one, which leans on his strengths by providing questions that have a sideways answer, basically a lateral one. Think of it as a mixture between Only Connect, QI and University Challenge.
If you’re on the lookout for more podcasts, listen out for Podcast Radio Hour on BBC Radio 4 Extra. It’s the last ever episode, so Amanda Litherland, Chris Pearson and Laura Grimshaw have pulled out all the stops to highlight some of their favourite podcasts and guests over the 250+ episodes they have recorded.
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