22 New podcasts you must listen to this April

Pod Bible aims to be the essential guide to podcasts. To keep your download list full of the best podcasts, and help you find the next podcast sensation, we’re bringing you the latest releases in our New This Month feature.

We’re heading into a long weekend, and should you be in need of soundtracking your journeys, cooking time or awkward silences, we have some new podcasts for you. With lots of big-production fiction shows, as well as interesting indys and influencer pods, there’s something here for everyone…

New Pods

Stories of the Stalked

This Audible series comes with a content warning for distressing themes (stalking and mental health) and it covers the personal, true story of the host. Filmmaker, performer, producer and choreographer Lily Baldwin gives us an insight to the experience of being stalked over a staggering 13-year period. The sound design that couples deep droning and realistic folly gives an unnerving base to Lily’s story of legal challenges, survival techniques and physical and mental health issues when a stranger fixates on her after seeing her at a gig. Well worth a listen if you have the emotional capacity. Listen now >>

American Hostage

Jon Hamm’s podcast drama debut is a scripted psychological thriller based on a true story. It’s 1977, local radio reporter Fred Heckman is looking for a big story – but as the opening narration tells us, Fred accidentally becomes the story. A hostage-taker, Tony Kiritsis, demands to be interviewed on Fred’s popular radio news program, and by the end of the first episode we know that Kiritsis has his hostage attached to a ‘dead man trigger’ leaving Fred no choice but to arrange an interview…  Listen now >>

Who Killed Avril Lavigne?

This sci-fi comedy podcast will take you straight back to the noughties. Set in the not too distant future, it follows the story of typical “angsty teen” Derek Walker. Walker is sent back in time to rescue Avril Lavigne from an “abduction and replacement” but begins realizing his own pop-punk destiny… It also has a full pop-punk album to accompany it, and the title music will get stuck in your head! Listen now >>

Let’s Make a Sci-fi

After listening to Who killed Avril Lavigne, you could take a listen to this one to think about how it may have come to be… In this show, three comedians are trying to make an actual sci-fi show from scratch. From the initial bad ideas to the final production, we can eavesdrop on the process. Along the way, they consult experts who worked on Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, and other names in science fiction, such as actor (and podcaster) Rainn Wilson and writer (and podcaster) Emily VanDerWerff. Listen now >>

Goodniks

We all want to do good in the world, but Goodniks are the people that make their lives about doing good. This podcast actually describes itself as an ‘audio project’ and has a really interesting format. Each episode is less than 20 minutes long, and merges several ‘Goodniks’ answers into a collage over music. Episode one explores how Goodnik’s weaknesses, personality quirks, or neuroses serve the work they do. I think this show will be a good short injection of inspiration for many people trying to change the world for the better. Listen now >>

Accidental Activist

This is actually another show asking people how they are doing the good work. Journalist Isha Sesay never envisioned becoming an activist herself, but in Accidental Activist, she sits down with others who have found themselves unexpectedly inhabiting a role as “activist.” Her conversations with cultural icons like actress Alyssa Milano and author Baratunde Thurston are supported with sound effects, which is an interesting idea. Listen now >>

Is it my ADHD?

Writer Grace Timothy explores what it’s really like to live with ADHD. Diagnosed with ADHD when she was 37, and Grace is still getting her head around what it means for her, in terms of her past, present and future. This podcast is a great way for those unfamiliar with ADHD to comprehend the condition. It’s really interesting to listen in to the conversations where Grace and her guest can find solidarity in their experiences. Listen now >>

SOLAR

Another one to keep sci-fi fans entertained, but in a more intense way. A disaster on board a spacecraft leaves crew members isolated from each other and fighting for survival. Those back on Earth try to fathom what’s happened, whilst spinning the press a story that won’t cause panic. With massive stars voicing the parts (Alan Cumming, Stephanie Beatriz, Jonathan Bangs and Helen Hunt), this is compelling listening – and I very much appreciate how the adverts have been linked to the story.  Listen now >> 

Other pods for your list:

Jazmyn Gives Bad Advice – TikToker, HR expert, and comedian Jazmyn W. is your new agony aunt. These short episodes start with a sketch before Jazmyn interprets a listener question and gives her best (she only says it’s her worst so you can’t blame her if it doesn’t work!) Listen now >> 

Founder Stories – A business podcast with a twist, Founder Stories turns an interview with a successful business starter into a monologue about their journey. With basic sound design behind the monologue, this is an appealing way to learn about entrepreneurs. Listen now >> 

Call Me Curious – In Wondery’s latest podcast, actress Nikki Boyer gets curious about things we’ve heard about “but don’t really know about.” The first episode asks, “can aphrodisiacs really turn you on?” Listen now >> 

#Matter – This fiction podcast from the US is presented like an investigative documentary, and tells the story of a father, Gerald Hayes, who ended up barricaded in a restaurant with a police officer after his son’s brutal beating by the police. Listen now >> 

No Harm in Asking – A new podcast about podcasts, but this one isn’t about recommendations. Instead, it aims to help people podcast well by reviewing the shows that everyone’s listening to and asking what people like about it. Listen now >> 

ZOE Science & Nutrition – ZOE is a healthcare science company helping people understand their body’s responses to food (and they also run the world’s largest covid study). This podcast unpacks some preconceptions on nutrition. Listen now >> 

Downton Abbey: The Official Podcast – There’s a brand-new weekly Downton re-watch podcast released to coincide with the release of the second Downton film, which comes out at the end of the month. Interestingly, this is the first official podcast from the series. Listen now >> 

Fast Enough: Ramadan Running – This weekly podcast drops 30 minutes before sunset and is set to 120bpm. Hosted by Olympian Lutalo Muhammad, it features other famous faces from Britain’s Muslim community, each episode gives expert advice to optimise training during Ramadan.  Listen now >> 

A Hit Dog Will Holler – A very meta new audio drama from Radiotopia, this follows a podcaster called Gina, who is having trouble recording episodes because of the noise from the monster outside. But is the beast really there? Or is it 400 years’ worth of racism, oppression, and trauma threatening to come in? This is actually adapted from a play by Craig-Galván . Listen now >> 

New Seasons:

A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail – Season 2

A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail proves that you can dive very deeply into science and still be entertaining. From Festival of the Spoken Nerd (aka. Matt Parker, Steve Mould and Helen Arney) A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail takes things that you wouldn’t believe could be interesting, and makes them fascinating by drilling down to the nitty and / or gritty details. We caught up with the three Spoken Nerds to ask them for the nitty-gritty on their podcast. Listen now >>

Dead and Gone – Season 2

This podcast explores one of the elements of darkness surrounding the Grateful Dead. Over the past five degades, there have been many mysterious cases of murdered and missing “Deadheads”. Season 2 takes a closer look at some of these forgotten cases. Hosts Payne Lindsey and Jake Brennan return with a focus on three tragedies that took place from the 1980s – 2004. Listen now >>

The Line Up – Season 3

A Pod Bible regular, Shaun Keaveny is back with the third season of  The Line Up.  The show gives its music-loving guests the chance to curate their very own dream festival from start to finish, showcasing each guests’ true passions and musical spirit. The season kicked off with Kiefer Sutherland, and later episodes are due to feature the likes of Ed O’Brien, Kae Tempest, Johnny Marr, Paddy Considine and Self Esteem. Listen now >>

The Breakup Monologues

Working on the premise that ‘tragedy plus time equals comedy’, Rosie Wilby speaks to esteemed guests and asks about their tales of breakup and recovery. The podcast stems from a trilogy of solo comedy shows, and Rosie has heard monologues from celebrities including Richard Herring, Dolly Alderton, Katy Brand and Ayesha Hazarika. The new series starts with a number of live shows recorded at Poplar Union. Listen now >>

Untold Killing

The first series of this award-winning podcast looked at the Bosnian genocide at the start of the Bosnian War in 1992, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak-Muslims were murdered in Srebrenica, a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Season 2 expands on this and explores the story of Prijedor – one Bosnian municipality’s descent from a peaceful, multi-ethnic society into a collection of burning towns and torture-filled concentration camps. It highlights how these things do not happen in isolation. Listen now >>

—

If you listen to these podcasts, please tell us what you think! Tag us on social media @PodBible. Read more of our New This Month editorials for the newest podcasts to listen to.

Do you have a show for our new podcast list? Email  info@podbiblemag.com with the show description, release date and artwork. We will share as many launches as we can.