The UK’s political landscape can be confusing at the best of times. We continue to gain and lose party leaders quicker than it takes a lettuce to wilt, and when it comes to election season, UK politics can be downright impenetrable. Trying to keep up with local elections, general elections, by-elections and party-internal-elections, it can be easy to be overwhelmed, angered or downright bored by what’s happening in the news.

Luckily, there are podcasters out there doing the good work of picking apart just what is happening. From roaring entertainment to shows that carry out important reporting, these podcasts can help you unpack what’s really happening in politics and current affairs.

The Bugle
Recommended by Suchandrika Chakrabarti

Launched in 2007 by Andy Zaltzman (Radio 4’s The News Quiz) and John Oliver, who co-hosted until 2015, when Oliver sadly disappeared from public life. The podcast was originally on Times Online, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International, but the podcast has never been afraid to bite the hand that feeds it, particularly during the 2011 News International phone hacking scandal. The Times dropped The Bugle at the end of that year for completely unrelated reasons… Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell could never. It’s proudly left-wing, bitingly satirical and filled with inventive cricket-related imagery: the perfect politics podcast. Listen here >>

Trendy
Recommend by Tom Nicholson

It can often feel like politics and the idea of ‘what people are really talking about’ is just something to be booted around by pundits, but if you’re a bit sick of the Westminster machine Trendy plants itself sturdily on facts and evidence rather than personality and narrative. Each time a big topic in British or international politics – social mobility, populism, net zero – is examined through polls and data. It could be a bit wonkish and dry, but the nation’s favourite pollster Sir John Curtice and former Downing Street advisor Rachel Wolff keep things moving smoothly. Listen here >>

The Bunker
Recommended by Zainab Amer

Finding a politics podcast disseminating news away from the mainstream is tricky. Thankfully, I stumbled across The Bunker. This podcast delivers daily reporting alongside a weekly round-up of hot topics. The mix of bite-sized episodes and under-reported stories offers a unique perspective on traditional political discourse. Hosted by a diverse array of commentators, from comedians to academics, The Bunker explores fascinating topics from across the globe. Standout episodes include expert analysis of illegal mining in South Africa and the proliferation of digital nomadism, including its connection to racism. While some reporting indeed toes political lines, it provides fresh outlooks on others. Listen here >>

Oh God, What Now?
Recommended by Katie Stokes

When keeping up with British politics, I find myself using the title phrase of this podcast more and more frequently. Oh God, What Now?, formerly known as Remainiacs, is a bi-weekly panel show making politics entertaining and bearable. If you hadn’t guessed from the former name, the show is left-leaning so don’t expect impartial views. But the chemistry of the panel is fun and they have great segments including ‘Stories under the radar’ and ‘Heroes and villains of the week’ alongside their central question and commentary on the latest developments in UK politics. An engaging and digestible listen! Listen here >>

Paper Cuts
Recommended by Francesca Turauskis

I find it really difficult to read newspapers – not just because of the space it takes to sit down with them (mental space, time space, and physical space if we’re talking about broadsheets…) but also because I can’t help but see the agenda of the various papers, rather than the stories. If you’re the same, Paper Cuts is the perfect podcast to help – I find the tagline “we read the newspapers so you don’t have to” very accurate. A mixed panel of writers, political commentators and comedians riffle through the headlines of the British Press every week day, explaining, analysing and applauding the wit of the best headlines. It’s very entertaining, with just enough information. (Ed. note – I’m realising as I upload that this makes a Podmasters triple for this list, alongside The Bunker and Oh God, What Now?) Listen here >>

Recommendations from our Newsletter:

The Trouble with Politics – Marverine Cole explores the state of the UK’s political system with a focus on “perspectives often skimmed over on mainstream news programmes”. This gives a much-needed discussion on the racist comments made about Diane Abbott by a Tory donor, and Marverine unashamedly promotes the need to vote, with one of her television friends announcing this at the end of episodes. Listen here >>

Media Storm – Media Storm is a news podcast that starts with the people who are usually asked last. “Migrants”, “criminals” and “sex workers” are some of the biggest stars in the headlines, yet we rarely actually hear from them. This show hands them the mic. Listen now >>

Pod Save The UK – Our cover stars from Issue #027 have remained chart-topping since it launched a year ago. As host Coco Khan explained best, Pod Save The UK is a “progressive politics podcast from an outsider’s perspective, where the listener isn’t talked down to and instead lifted up and encouraged to engage in politics – all through the prism of hope and humour.” Listen now >>

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Congratulations on your 1000th episode! How are you celebrating?

Ha – the curse of the daily podcast means our celebrations involve recording, publishing and planning – the juggernaut never stops! We may allow ourselves a reflective hour or so – unless there’s breaking news – in which case, back to the grindstone!

More than 3 years of daily episodes – have you ever missed a day?

Aside from Bank Holidays no – and we make up for those by doing some special bonus episodes. That’s the thing with news annoyingly, it’s never ending!

What are you most proud of?

I think to be a small independent publisher in news is extremely tough – so I’m really proud we’ve taken on the giants and often beaten them! Our size means we are far more nimble and can make decisions a lot faster than our peers – which really helps. They have the budget and the teams, we have agility and personality.

Does the 7 minute limit make it easier or harder to do a daily show?

At first it made it incredibly difficult. How could we possibly fit all the news in (Especially as we launched on the day Boris came out of hospital after Covid). But as we found our feet, it’s become a real feat of engineering – we are probably the most efficient sub-editors on earth! Not an ounce of flab is allowed in our episodes – there’s no time!

Tell us about the survey -where did that idea come from?

I live on social media and therefore constantly feel I’m trapped in a bubble of my own making. Hopefully this survey will give us at the Smart 7 a real sense of where our listener’s heads are at, what they’re concerned about and what their hopes are for the future of the nation. Not only will this help us make the podcast better – the results will definitely be of interest to everyone.

Listen and subscribe to The Smart 7 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

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Could you whittle your favourite podcasts down to a top 5? We asked Nikesh Shukla – Author, Screenwriter and Host of the Brown Baby podcast – to do just that. Here’s his selection…

1. BROWN HISTORY PODCAST

Spinning out of the .Brown History Instagram account, these are in-depth interviews with South Asian academics, thinkers, artists and historians about South Asian diaspora history. Listen now >>

2. GOOD ONE: A PODCAST ABOUR JOKES

The host plays a comedy routine from a comedy writer or performer, and then sits down with them to discuss how they wrote the piece, giving us a real insight into how comedy is written and formed. Listen to Taika Waititi talk about his scripting of Thor Ragnarok. Listen now >>

3. INTO THE ZONE

Novelist Hari Kunzru is a master of super specific research that forms the majority of his work. And here he presents the research as investigations into opposites and borders, taking us on a sometimes trippy journey into fascinating topics like punk rock and stasi, Stonehenge, the originators of MP£ and more. Listen now >>

4. LITERARY FRICTION

Hosts Carrie Plitt and Olivia Bright have in-depth discussions with writers about their books, and find deeper truths in words. These are also followed by booklists related to the main interview. An engaging listen. Listen now >>

5. OFFICE LADIES

I love the US The Office, and any excuse for rewatching it. So this re-watch podcast is hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey who played Pan and Angela on the show, and each week, they deconstruct an episode, talk about how it was written and filmed, and gives us an insight to the making of the best sitcom that ever was. Listen now >>

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We hope you enjoy these podcasts recommended by Nikesh Shukla. Read more For The Love of Pod articles in the Pod Bible magazine, which you can read online or buy in our shop.

The post Nikesh Shukla’s Top 5 Podcasts appeared first on POD BIBLE.

The Team at Pod Bible have been looking through the magazine back catalogue with more than a hint of nostalgia. With so many great articles and interviews, we thought it was time to make our archive accessible by sharing them here on the website. Here is a For The Love of Pod article from Issue #007 of the Pod Bible magazine.

Which podcast do our favourite celebrities listen to?  We asked actor and comedian Tez Ilyas for the 5 podcasts he could not live without. 

THE ARGUMENT

The New York Times podcast sees a liberal, a centrist and a conservative have an engaging, articulate and balanced debate on two of the big US news stories of the week. It’s massively informative and leaves you feeling optimistic about our ability to engage with each other despite our differences. A must listen. Listen now on Spotify >>>

QUOTAS FULL

In a medium that lacks diversity, I present to you Quotas Full. A brilliant no-holds-barred pod, that sees a group of comedians (who are good friends) get together to discuss everything from racial injustice to wedding etiquette in a hilarious way, completely infiltered. Bonus: I’m on it occasionally! Listen now on Spotify >>>

IN THE DARK

My favourite true crime pod. and that’s saying something because I love that genre! The second season in particular is spectacular and leave you in awe of just how corrupt the American justice system is, but also how amazing investigative journalism can be. Listen now on Spotify >>>

SLEEP WITH ME

Okay… so this one is specifically for insomniacs, or anyone who has trouble sleeping for any reason. It sees our narrator drone on in the most monotonous of voices for about an hour. I rarely get past 15 mins before I’m asleep. It works! Listen now on Spotify >>>

TEZ TALKS

Ok, this one is mine. It’s my BBC Radio 4 stand-up show. Am I biased? Yes. But… it’s bloody good. There’s sixteen 15-min episodes, split over 3 series and I couldn’t be more proud of them. I satirise and poke fun at a range of different subjects and everyone who’s heard it raves about it. Let me know what you think! Listen now on Spotify >>>

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We hope you enjoy these podcasts recommended by Tez Ilyas. Read more For The Love of Pod articles in the Pod Bible magazine, which you can read online or buy in our shop.

The post Tez Ilyas’ Top 5 Podcasts appeared first on POD BIBLE.