There have been a lot of great interviews in British podcasting over the last week.
The celebrated actor David Harewood is on The Diary Of A CEO by Steven Bartlett this week, talking about his career and his acclaimed book Maybe I Don’t Belong Here. In a wide-ranging and frank interview, he talked about how he was sectioned around the age of 23 and the stages he took to rebuild his life: “That’s the weird thing about mental health and psychosis. You see somebody acting very strangely; somebody you love. It could be your son, your husband, your Mum. They start acting out of character, becoming obsessed with something. It’s like they suddenly changed.
“You know something is wrong and you desperately hope that they come back and sometimes you don’t so you have to make that call to get them sectioned. And luckily for me, my friends had been there. If they hadn’t been there I would have been in more trouble.”
The model turned entrepreneur and UN Goodwill Ambassador Sabrina Elba was on Beyond The Bathroom, a new podcast by the beauty writer Sali Hughes. It’s a podcast about what you think when you look in the mirror and the routines we all should take: “There’s a definite misconception that men’s product needs to be dumbed down, but I think men actually want good stuff.”
Also on History Hit, Professor Hakim Adi joined Dan Snow to talk about the history of African and Caribbean people within the UK, weaving in stories throughout the Romans, Stuarts and Victorians.
“Were Africans here before blonde hair, blue eyed Anglo-Saxon and Norse men?” asked Snow.
“In a word, yes,” responded Adi.
NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK
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- The celebrated actor Anne Marie Duff is on Changes with Annie Macmanus
- The standup Paul Chowdry, who you might recognise from Taskmaster, is on Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster.
- Yottam Ottolenghi is on Dish with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett.
- The French fashion disrupter Michéle Lamy is on The Last Bohemians.
- Dr Tarynne Quirk joins Dr Alex on a special episode of Stompcast, where he talks about his diagnosis as having ADHD.
Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead
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Black British Lives Matter – A new podcast hosted by Sir Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder, who have teamed up to make a new book and podcast that reflects what it means to be Black in Britain today.
Each episode explores a different topic, starting with an engaging and informative discussion on Black British fashion and identity, joined with the writer and thinker Afua Hirsch, the fashion icon Ozwald Boateng and the academic Carol Tulloch.
“All of us share a cultural heritage in which style, hair, fashion and heritage are all completely intermeshed,” says Hirsh. “If you look at all of the cultures on the African continent, the way that you style and present yourself is the most powerful expression of your individual identity, your group identity, your region, your faith, your culture, your language. It’s such a foundational part of the human experience.”
Off Air with Jane and Fi – Is the best way to say it Fi and Jane? Or is it Jane and Fi? Regardless, the broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover started their own Times Radio programme last week. And with that, comes a new daily podcast from the radio station that is recorded the moment they come off air.
The new daily podcast means that they get to have a bit more of the relaxed conversational style, away from the timed limitations of a radio show where you may have to throw a certain item to or a news headline at any given moment. It is also an opportunity to listen to interviews you may have missed on the radio, with guests during the first week including Jess Phillips and Tim Peake.
If you were a fan of Fortunately, never fear. For that podcast (with Fi and Jane rather tha Jane and Fi) will still be running into the end of the year.
The Martin Lewis Podcast – Martin Lewis has been a voice reassurance (and a voice of considerable frustration to the government) over the past two years. He’s also had a podcast providing useful financial tips and analysis for BBC Radio 5 Live, which just in the last week has had a little bit of a relaunch.
Episodes are out every Wednesday, starting with a timely conversation about mortgage rates and whether it is worth sticking with higher mortgage rates or hoping that variable rates start to calm down again. He also talks about the benefit of switching your current account in the next few months, because you’ll get money before Christmas.
The Rundown – The Rundown, by the political website Politics Home, usually provides a refreshing and analytical take into the ins and outs of Westminster (needless to say, they haven’t been finding it hard to find stuff to talk about.)
To mark Black History Month, the podcast has launched a roundtable episode discussing what it means to be Black in Britain in 2022, presented by Seun Matiluko. Guests include Black Equity Organisation Trustee Siobhan Aarons, former Conservative London Mayor candidate Shaun Bailey and Jermaine Jackson, the founding member of the Baobab Foundation.
“It is an absolute privilege to be a Black person,” says Aarons. “[I] reflect on the legacy I have been given as an Afro-Caribbean woman today that has come from a long line of Afro-Caribbean women who have hustled and made their way in order to give me what I have. And that is a privilege.”
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