Guests so far include The Psychopath Test writer Jon Ronson, Cognitive Neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott, British-Zimbabwean social media star Munya Chawawa, novelist Robert Harris, and impersonator extraordinaire Armando Iannucci.

From the man who took a 25% gender pay cut, reportedly yelled ‘Fuck the Tories’ at Glastonbury and apparently was tempted to shoot dictator Idi Amin himself, is there anyone else you would rather get your political and social commentary from? Jon kindly took time out from learning how to podcast and launching his new book, The State of Us, to answer a few of our questions.

How would you like listeners to react to the podcast?

I want people to learn something new but I also want them to enjoy themselves while listening. I want a podcast to be worth the investment, the time you’re going to give to it. I want it to be a joy to learn something that you never knew before.

Why podcasting? What is it about the format that appeals to you vs. television?

It’s just you. No director in your ear. When I was working in the news it was: “Three minutes Jon, that’s all you’ve got time for…Ten, nine, eight, seven…”  I want to go on talking…and now you can! I didn’t know podcasting could be so much fun: no clutter, no grumbling. I just want to wallow in the conversation. We get it all and we enjoy it. It’s sensational. And you get to meet people you never thought you would.

Will you be freer to be even more vocal now that you have, in your own words, ‘fewer rules’? What will you be able to say that you perhaps couldn’t previously?

I’m off the leash! No more prying and querying what I’m doing. “Have you seen the lawyer yet? Have you run this by them?”

Before, I spoke to a lawyer every single day. They were always sweeties but there were always things that legally I couldn’t say. Not any more. The great thing about podcasting is that you can say what you like, within reason. And I’d hope that I’m permanently within reason.

Do you have a dream guest for the podcast?

I’d love to interview the King. I hope that, around the Coronation, he’ll do a few interviews. And I’d love to be one of them. That would be wonderful.

Expectations are high for this podcast. What’s that pressure like?

I felt the pressure of learning a new format that I never dreamed of doing before. But I’m really enjoying it.

Have you got any other projects in the pipeline?

My new book has just come out, The State Of Us. Snowcast and the book are keeping me busy right now.

Finally, just how many ties do you have exactly?

I may have over 100 but I’m past counting. And I must start whittling them down.

Listen to Snowcast now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

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But maybe you’re looking to get some metal, punk, hip hop and ska into your earholes. These are some of my favourite alternative music podcasts – bonus points for diversity in music culture!

Shout Louder

Originally an online punk magazine, founder Sarah Williams added the Shout Louder Punk Podcast to her repertoire of projects. She brings ‘the view from down the front,’ for those of us missing the mosh pit right now. Check out the recent live episode if you want to see if Robin Leitch from Random Hand and Dani Rascal from Faintest Idea can resolve their differences over a game of thumb war. Listen now >>

Hell Bent for Metal

Just as it is refreshing to hear female voices finally from the punk and metal scene, it is also invigorating to hear those from the LGBTQIA+ community. This weekly podcast will grab you from episode one, adorably entitled Gay Satanic Love Songs. Hell Bent for Metal gives you the LGBTQIA+ perspective on metal, and metal moments that have touched this community, and of course, lots and lots of Rob Halford (the Judas Priest frontman who, for an age and a half, seemed like the only gay metaller). Listen now >>

The Bridge: 50 Years of Hip Hop

This podcast makes it to the list because of the undeniable influences and amazing collaborations between the worlds of hip hop and rock. Who doesn’t love Walk this Way (Run DMC/Aerosmith)? Or Numb/Encore (Jay Z/Linkin Park)?! Hosted by Nas (one of the greatest 90s rappers) and Asian American journalist Miss Info, and with guests such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Mary J. Blige, Cypress Hill and Salt-N-Pepa, this podcast is a nostalgic walk through the 90s on the path that hip hop took from underground resistance genre to worldwide phenomenon. Listen now >>

That’s Not Metal

Although the title of this podcast puts me in mind of those guys who demand you name three songs of the band whose t-shirt you’re wearing to prove you’re a real fan, this podcast is anything but toxic masculinity. For a start, their occasionally changing line up of hosts includes the wonderful Sam, the non-binary metal fan. Launched in the early era of podcasts (yes, all the way back in 2015), it is the perfect place for honest album and festival reviews. Don’t know where to start out of their 435 episodes and counting? Try one of their annual Albums of the Year episodes. Listen now >>

The Dummy Room

With a Ramones-style theme tune and a tagline referencing veterans Screeching Weasel, it is clear off the bat that you are going to get some classic, 3-chord, fast-paced punk from this podcast. As hosts Jody and Nate play full songs (sure they are punk songs, so on average about 1:28 mins long), this podcast feels more like listening to a pirate radio station. Discover your next favourite underground punk band, support their work by buying their merch and look super cool at your next gig/embarrass your kids at the next parent’s evening. Listen now >>

Ska UK

If you love when metal and ska meet, treat yourself to Play Some Ska by Random Hand. Yes, that’s the second Random Hand mention, and yes, I might be obsessed with them. But also, check out this podcast. Hosts Lester and Sandra wrap up all the ska music, culture and fashion each month and tie it up with a bow in the form of musical interludes, again making it sound more like a radio station. There have been no episodes in 2023, so let’s hope this isn’t the end of ska in the UK. Listen now >>

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Rae shared anecdotes of what they don’t teach you at university. We followed her battle with both e-coli and imposter syndrome – I am not sure which was more crippling. And what do you do when you are the only female in an expedition in the jungle and you run out of period products? Listening to this regressed me straight back to my first field study in the wetlands of Guyana during rainy season, when I really wished someone had told me to cover my butt with mosquito spray too, as that particular snack would be very much on display when I visited the outdoor toilets.

Oddly, Rae highlights that it was when her work took her to Kenya, which was her first time in a predominantly black country, that she was the only female, black scientist in her team. Race was continually in the forefront of the discussion, and she constantly has to prove herself and explain herself before she could get on with just doing her job.

Rae very effectively compares the micro-aggressions she received to mosquito bites. One mosquito bite a day is tolerable, but one a day in the same place every day, over and over again, will drive you bananas. Outsiders, who haven’t had the daily dose of mosquito bites, and might not even have noticed that you have been bitten, will only see someone (female, of colour) kicking off for seemingly little or no reason.

The most offensive example she gives is the time she was walking up to a stage to receive an award and someone handed her a plate, thinking she was catering staff.

After bringing these inequalities to light in season one, the second season of Going Wild kicked off on 27th September with a question many women are forced to deliberate: “How will having children affect my career?”

Sure, Rae has a more extreme career path than many. Most of us do not spend three months at a time tracking bears in the wild… But getting married and having children still disproportionately changes the path of life for women. Rae wanted more than a desk job, she didn’t want to settle, and what her husband would have to sacrifice or compromise on never seems to have come into the equation.

Episode two features Christine Wilkinson, a hyena expert (I didn’t know that was a job, and now I want it) who echoes Rae’s experiences in the field. It was only when she arrived in Kenya that she was, for the first time, like Rae, the only female black scientist on the team. Being half black, she felt like the outsider regardless of who she was with. This feeling of lack of belonging will strike a chord in many.

Although the show addresses some big cultural topics, there is fun stuff in this podcast too. Listen to find out what a meat tree is, for example, and learn the endearing story of Smiley the hyena…

But the ultimate lesson is clear: let’s get more people of colour involved in science, so the next generation see more people like them in roles – such as ‘hyena expert’ – that they might want to achieve for themselves.

Listen to Going Wild on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps.

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For those of you who missed Root of Evil, this 2019 hit saw hosts and sisters Rasha Pecoraro and Yvette Gentile unravel their own family secrets. They set about exploring their grandfather Dr George Hodel’s involvement in the 1947 Elizabeth Short case, The Black Dahlia Murder. And now Pecoraro and Gentile are back with Facing Evil, delving into a different case each week with a touching affinity to families also hit by tragedy.

This podcast starts as an ode to Hawaii, where the hosts are from. And this is where the first case takes place. Lisa Au left her boyfriend’s sister’s house in Honolulu one night in 1982, and no spoilers, but it did not end well for her.

Pecoraro and Gentile go through the various suspects (it’s always the boyfriend, right?) and discuss the chilling possibility that it was someone posing as a police officer who pulled her over to the side of the road that night.

Episode 2 covers the 1998 murder of 21-year-old gay student Matthew Shepard. He was approached by two men at a bar and inexplicably left with them. He was found the next day tied to a fence, and died six days later as a result of his injuries.

Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were caught and charged, and this case brought hate crimes to the forefront of the public’s mind. The suspects even used homophobic slurs during their testimonies to the police.

Pecoraro is gay. Gentile is clearly an ally. Pecoraro came out at 30 (she is now 43), and says she would have come out sooner if not for this murder, which took place while she was in high school. The direct impact of this murder on these sisters is tangible.

The first two cases addressed by Facing Evil led to changes in US legislation. In the Lisa Au case, police officers are no longer allowed to use blue lights on top of civilian-appearing cars, because it is too easy to impersonate. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced and signed into law by President Barack Obama. It aims to protect people from hate crimes at any time, and not just while partaking in protected activities like voting or going to school. Byrd was also murdered in 1998 and dragged for three miles behind a pickup truck because he was black.

This podcast series carries a higher message of promoting a better understanding on gender, race and homosexuality. This may be a bit intense at times – there is none of the light relief you get from a true crime comedy podcast such as Wine & Crime or Murder Most Irish – but remember, they are coming from a country that has just overturned abortion rights, and they’re coming for the gays next. And while there are still people out there scared to come out, or preferring to be dead, keeping these topics in the public eye is super important. Pecoraro and Gentile embody this message with sympathetic treatment of victims and stories and without being too preachy.

Listen to Facing Evil on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps.

Diana Safieh hosts We Knew The Moon podcast, on all things empath, spiritual, witchy, unexplained, creepy and spooky. She is a co-founder of The Goddess Temple, Twickenham, which holds guided meditations and workshops, like Tea & Tarot. And Make Your Own Smudge Sticks. She hosts a monthly webinar series on the situation in Palestine/Israel for The Balfour Project charity.

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