Let’s start this podcast with a look at podcasts covering The Ashes. Now, I don’t need to tell you how well we are doing in The Ashes. I’ll let you do your own research on that one.

The Bugle Ashes Urncast, hosted by the British comedian Andy Zaltzman and the Australian comedian Felicity War, has analysis in a wry style that The Bugle is renowned for. Zero Ducks Given (no, that isn’t a typo), presented by England cricketer Steven Finn, Radio X’s Toby Tarrant and cricket commentator Daniel Norcross, is out on a weekly basis with witty observations of the competition from both the UK and Oz. There’s also Round The Wicket, presented by the cricketers Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad too.

As you would expect, many places have set up podcasts feeds providing the latest on the action in case you can’t be bothered to stay up late. The BBC’s Test Match Special is releasing episodes on a daily basis. So is The Final Word Ashes Daily from The Guardian and BT Sport’s Ashes Daily.

P.S. If you have been listening to the Sweet Bobby podcast, which tells the horrific and bewildering story of how a catfish took over someone’s life, there’s now a new episode where Alexi and Kirat answer questions that they’ve been sent in from listeners. This episode is currently not free, though. You need to be a subscriber to Tortoise+ through Apple Podcasts for the time being.

NOTABLE NAMES ON PODCASTS THIS WEEK

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Here are our podcast picks for the week ahead

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Reclaimed & Rewritten – Gal-dem, a great online publication written by women and non-binary people of colour, are also behind a fantastic podcast interview series called Growing Up. They’ve now got a compelling history podcast too, presented by Clarkisha Kent. It aims to explore well-known (and not so well known events from our past) in all of its complexity, whilst also getting rid of assumptions and myths that are associated with the event.

Their first set of episodes look at the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, in which a white mob attacked Black residents and destroyed their homes and businesses, 100 years on. “What role did the media, politicians and law enforcement play in the destruction of Black Wall Street?” asks Kent. “And how does Tulsa fit into the wider social history of Black communities in the West, and the cycles of perseverance and persecution they face?”

The Imposters ClubThis podcast about how to get through your twenties and thirties, whilst being in a pandemic, is worth a listen. Presented by Sinéad Kennedy Krebs and Melissa Murdock, The Imposters Club is a ten part guide through a myriad of issues that many of us will face, from trying to deal with change to getting the confidence to ask what you want. All of this is with the idea of trying to shake off those imposter feelings that usually come with these issues. They learn and share their findings as you listen, so it never feels too preachy. “You do deserve to make a world for yourself that is based around what you want to get out of it,” says Murdock.

Their latest episode explores money – how we use it as a way of reflecting our self worth and how not being on top of money is seen as a bad thing. They are joined by Ellie Austin-Williams, from the This Girl Talks Money financial website, about how to overcome financial fear.

Spotify Podcast of the Week: JaackMaate Happy Hour – Award-winning comedian Russell Howard will be joining Jack for tomorrow’s episode of Happy Hour!

For any new listeners, Jack, better known online as JaackMaate, hosts this podcast twice a week with Stevie White. They invite an array of the internet’s best celebrities, and dissect the good, bad, weird and awful things that online personalities do week in and week out. This show continues to build one of the most loyal and dedicated podcast followings in the UK.

Produced by Stakhanov, this podcast is available exclusively on Spotify. New episodes are released every Monday and Thursday.

The Hundamental Guide To Life –  This new podcast about ‘Hun’ culture is a spin-off of a popular Instagram page. Yep, that’s right. That was one of the most 2021 sentences I could have written.

It’s quite hard to explain Hun culture if you don’t already know about it. At its heart, it is pretty much an unapologetic celebration of British culture in the 90s and 00s. In this podcast Gareth Howells speaks to a celebrity about this period of time and the memes and talking points that still get talked about. Episodes so far include Drag Race’s Elektra Fence, H from Steps and Rosie Ramsey.

Tom Allen’s Room of GiftsYes, last week we featured a podcast with Tom Allen. But the moment we told you about that one, I was told that I must mention his other podcast, where comedians and guests talk about the unwanted gifts they have received. The concept is very well suited for Christmas, when gift giving anxiety is high (if any of my family is reading this, please return my messages and tell me what you actually want for Christmas).

The fact that there are several guests per episode and they are all able to interact throughout gives the podcast a Graham Norton chat show feel (this is a good thing) and Allen is in his element, able to react to comments with lightning speed. Just a reminder, as always, that as this Audible podcast is on their platform, you’ll need to be a subscriber to listen, but it doesn’t come out of your credits.

I was back on Podcast Radio Hour with Chris Pearson on BBC Radio 4 Extra this week with some more podcast recommendations, many of which you may have read in this newsletter and you can hear about in this show. This includes Paul McCartney: Inside the Songs, Not Another Love Song, Power: Hugh Hefner, Doomsday Watch with Arthur Snell and The Long Time Academy. We also spoke to Alexi Mostrous about the success of the Sweet Bobby podcast

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back next week with another edition.

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Categories: Weekly Picks