Happy Easter. I know, right? This year is moving quite fast (this is not a complaint).
Now that the next level of lockdown has been lifted, we can cautiously start looking ahead to a bumper (and rather surreal) summer of sport. Why is it surreal? Well a lot of this sport was delayed from last year, from the Olympics to the Euros, so there’s going to be more than usual, made weirder by the fact that 2020 is still in their official name.
A lot of podcasts have been looking ahead to the sport this summer. F1: Chequered Flag by BBC Radio 5 Live, has an episode looking ahead to the 2021 season as well as a look back at the recent Bahrain Grand Prix. The Open, which is due to return in July, has also just launched a new series of their official podcast celebrating some of their most celebrated players, starting with Colin Montgomerie OBE.
Meanwhile, The Cycling Podcast has been looking forward to the big professional cycling tournaments throughout the year including, of course, the Tour de France. On The Tifo Football Podcast, which is brought to you by The Athletic, there’s an episode on England’s hopes in the Euros. On PLZ Football? Scotland’s hopes.
For those who are getting back into sport themselves after some time off, there’s some podcasts for you too. Runner’s World UK Podcast have launched a series on how to improve your skills (without accidentally overdoing it). Going for Goal by Women’s Health UK has an episode on how best to stay active when we’re on some time off.
GUESTS ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK
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- Freddy McConnell is the latest guest on Some Families, the podcast that celebrates LGBT+ families and parenting. In the episode he talks about his journeys to parenthood and discriminations trans parents are continuing to face.
- Hilary McGrady, the Director General of the National Trust, joins The Lock In with Jeremy Paxman. They talk about the loss the pandemic has caused to their finances, as well as why the Trust looked into what historical connections their properties have had with slavery.
- Giovanna Fletcher from Happy Mum Happy Baby joins Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the latest episode of Spinning Plates.
- Taskmaster’s Alex Horne joins Emily Dean in The Times’ Walking the Dog.
- And James Blunt talks his travel adventure on Alan Carr’s Life’s a Beach
Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead
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Who Killed Emma? – In May 2005, the body of 27-year-old Emma Caldwell was found in the woods near Glasgow. Yet despite one of the biggest manhunts ever in Scotland, and 5000 statements taken by the police, sixteen years on nobody has been jailed for her murder. What happened? For the past four years the journalist Sam Poling and BBC Radio Scotland have been investigating the leadup to her death. In this series, all episodes available to hear, you’ll hear from those still grieving for her loss and an investigation that led to Poling confronting the person she believes was responsible for her death. This podcast’s focus is not just Emma. It’s also about the stigma sex workers and addicts like Emma had received by the police and the serious dangers sex workers continue to face . Poling is the investigative journalist you want to have for a story like this: full of empathy, sensitivity and a determination to seek and reveal the truth.
Banged Up – Prisons are rarely talked beyond news headlines and gritty television dramas. This podcast, which returned for a second series last week, tries to break those assumptions you have about prison life. It’s even presented by two ex-inmates, Rob Morrison and Mike Boateng, who both served time in Wandsworth prison after being convicted for match fixing and fraud. Joined by prison lawyer Claire, interviewees are asked about their conviction, their cell-mates, expectations vs reality, things that might surprise us (when in an episode on women’s prisons, there was a conversation about how inmates at one prison can work in a salon to hairdressing qualifications), their mental health and how the lockdown affected those inside.
An unexpected joy is the natural chemistry between all of the hosts. It’s not what you expect in a podcast about prisons.
Spotify Podcast of the Week: The Rugby Pod is the latest addition to the slate of podcasts at The Ringer and we’re delighted to have it on board as a Spotify Original! Andy Goode, Big Jim Hamilton and Andy Rowe cover the latest news, rumours, stories from and provide insight to the world of rugby. The latest episode features one of the players of the tournament at the recent Six Nations and TikTok favourite, Louis Rees-Zammit and looks ahead to who might be in the Lions squad later this year.
Another standout episode from the Ringer this week is the latest instalment of Wrighty’s House about Ian’s close friend and former teammate David Rocastle who passed away 20 years ago yesterday. An incredibly moving episode about a phenomenal player.
From Paper to Podium – We all know that hitting the gym is not enough if you want to get into the best physical shape. It’s all about what you choose to eat too. In this new podcast, celebrated athletes from world boxing champion Carl Frampton to Tour De France winner Geraint Thomas are asked by hosts Charlie Webster and James Morton about what they eat routines whilst training, with an expert brought on to talk about how we can tailor their regime to our own lives. Frampton needs to eat 130 grams of protein a day. Whilst that might not sound like a lot, with the average salmon fillet being about 20-30 grams of protein, I’ll let you do the maths.
Wanna Be – If you’re spending your Easter weekend working out what you want to do next with your career, or if you have high aspirations but you don’t know how to get there, this is a good careers podcast to listen for practical tips and inspiration. Imrie is joined by several guests each episode who give advice on how they managed to get where they are today. Guests have included Grammy award-winning singer Estelle, cartoonist and illustrator Tiffany Ford, travel photographer and content creator Lee Litumbe and finance expert Kia Commodore. I always enjoy podcasts that do exactly what it says it’ll do quickly and don’t stick around too long. This is one of those podcasts, packed full of advice but each episode lasting no longer than 30 minutes.
And finally… in interviews that I didn’t expect to find as enjoyable until I got stuck into it, I highly enjoyed the interview with Katie Price joining Annie Macmanus in the latest episode of Changes. It was just Katie’s sheer openness on so many things, including her recent stay in a priory after experiencing post traumatic stress disorder. “It was the best thing I ever did,” she says reflecting on it. “Now I’m assertive, now I’m in charge, people think I’m the old weak Katie and I’m not.”
“It’s amazing that you meet people in there and you’re like,’wow it’s not just me. They’re kind of going through the same kind of thing as me.’ It’s normal.”
