Just when I assumed that we wouldn’t get a more A list guest on a British podcast than The Duchess of Cambridge (on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum, Happy Baby), we now have a guest as equally high profile – her husband, The Duke of Cambridge, on the That Peter Crouch.
The conversation between Prince William,Tom Fordyce,Chris Stark and Peter Crouch is a surreal one to listen to at first. For one thing, they ordered an Uber Eats to Kensington Palace and then ate a curry on silver plates.
But it is an engaging conversation too. William talks about the importance of opening up about our mental health (“it’s a strength to talk about your mental health, it is not a weakness,” he says) and they all discuss how sport is a bit like meditation, it keeps our minds in check. A good reminder at a time such as this.
The only more high profile guest yet to happen in British podcasting is The Queen. I reckon that it will happen, seeing that she was spotted having a conversation on Zoom this week (and she looked as bored as we all are on Zoom). Her own podcast, surely, must be around the corner.
(And whilst not a British podcast, I thought I should mention that Michelle Obama has launched her own this week, which will be exclusively available on Spotify. In the first weekly episode the former First Lady interviews her husband, Barack.)
There are a lot of big guests on podcasts this week:
- Rickie Haywood-Williams and Melvin Odoom are the first guests on Dating Hall of Fame, hosted by Laura Whitmore, where guests and listeners talk about the worst date they have ever been on.
- Nesrine Malik is the latest guest on The High Low Podcast.
- David Harwood is the latest guest on The Joe Wicks Podcast.
- Lennie Goodings is a guest on Ourshelves, a podcast by the feminist writing house Virago.
- Award winning writer Stephen Beresford, behind The Last of the Hausmanns, is a guest on The Poetry Exchange, where guests talk about a podcast that is close to their heart.
If you have heard a great guest on a podcast that you think we should mention, let us know by filling out this form.
Here are some podcasts worth listening to in the next week.
The Bomb – We all know what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and how the two deadliest bombs ever unleashed in humanity resulted in the instant deaths of ten of thousands and many more in the days and weeks after. What isn’t as well known is the story of the Hungarian scientist Leo Szilard. He desperately tried to stop the bomb’s development, even though he was crucial in its invention, having worked on the theory of a nuclear chain reaction. In a new seven part podcast by the BBC World Service, journalist Emily Strasser retells his story, by talking to biographers, historians and authors.
I was lucky enough to visit Hiroshima a couple of years ago whilst travelling through Japan, and was moved beyond words from hearing stories of those who had survived the bombing at the memorial. You realise that even though many of the survivors are now well into their nineties, the area is still healing from the event 75 years ago. After listening to this podcast, you’ll learn that the ethics of nuclear weapons and using them are far more complex than you might first expect, and it might just change your view on whether we actually need them.
Desert Island Dicks – We have all got our Desert Island Discs tracks in our mind (admit it, you do) but what about a list of people you absolutely despise? This podcast series, which already has a legion of fans, features well-known guests admitting the people they would loathe to be stuck on a desert island with and why. Recent guests have included Zing Tsjeng talking about her hate for Mr Blobby, Jo Caulfield talking about people who only talk about themselves and Babtunde Aleshe expressing his absolute hatred of cheese. As you can imagine from the podcast’s title and contents, this is not a podcast suitable for young ears.
The Receipts – Tolani, Milena and Audrey, aka #TheReceiptsPodcast, have been bringing their unique brand of candid chat to the podcast world since 2016, and have been exclusively available on Spotify since July 2019. They’re celebrating their 100th episode this week so if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, now is the perfect time to start! (Chosen By Spotify).
Book & Rhymes: The Podcast – This books podcast has a unique and interesting concept, where authors pair music from their own books or from their favourite authors to highlight the emotions you will likely get from reading their work. The second season has just started, where host Sarah Ozo-Irabor interviews all of the shortlisted writers of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writers, most recently Jowhor Ile, behind And After Many Days.
Tom Read Wilson has words with… – Britain has so many great accents and slang that it can take a lifetime to learn about them all. So it’s good that Tom Read Wilson, who you might recognise from Celebs Go Dating, has already made a great start. His podcasts feature conversations about regional dialects and lexicon, with rabbit holes on different topics that would delight any language nerd. An added joy too is that each episode doesn’t overstay its welcome, each episode only lasting around 20 minutes, even with a celebrity guest in tow. A standard that more podcasts should follow. We just don’t have the time!
f you are looking for more British podcast recommendations, I was back on with Amanda Litherland on BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Podcast Radio Hour earlier this week to talk about our favourite British podcasts from this month. These podcasts include The Harrowing, When Someone Great Is Gone, The Town That Didn’t Stare and Real Dictators.
We also chat to Lou Mensah, the presenter of the podcast Shade, discussing anti-racism through creativity and activism. We also talk about the continuing importance and relevance of independent podcast creators, in an age of big brands and acquisitions.
That’s all from the newsletter this week. If there is a podcast that you think we should feature, all you need to do is fill in this form and let us know.
Oh and finally… to fans of The Missing Cryptoqueen, more episodes on the investigation is on its way. We’ll be taking a look at it in a future edition of the newsletter.
See you next week (and subscribe below if you want this free to your inbox every Sunday)
