As I’ve gotten older and my friends have started going out less, we’ve begun to swap boozy nights out for increasingly bizarre murder mystery parties. Usually, an industrious volunteer will choose a theme (space cowboys, the set of a 1970s porn film, a 1950s office party, that sort of thing…) and proceed to write a murder mystery plot line so nutty and so ridiculous that the group will spend the evening in fits of laughter. At the start of the night, we’ll usually gather in one room as the writer reads out a painstakingly detailed opening narrative as the rest of us wait in giddy anticipation for the clues that will form the night’s plotline.

I had that same feeling – of giddy anticipation – when I listened to the first episode of COLD TAPES: Winter Over from Free Turn. A murder mystery set against the backdrop of Antarctica’s six-month Winter Over, COLD TAPES centres around the suspicious death of a 33-year-old behavioural scientist Andrew Fairfield. The story is told through a series of ‘found’ tapes including phone calls, police interviews and personal recordings. We start with the moment DCI Tessa McCallister of the Met Police is invited to investigate a murder 9,000 miles away due to the ‘jurisdictional nightmare’ created by The Arctic Treaty. As the story unfolds, the listener becomes privy to the intertwined lives of a small group of international scientists and crew stationed on a remote research base, Bowers Wilson.

A nice idea for a fictional true crime podcast, sure. But what makes this show all the more interesting is the chance for audience participation. Inquisitive listeners are given the chance to win a £10,000 cash prize as well as earning the esteemed title of British Super Sleuth 2024 at Crime Con London 2024, described as ‘the ultimate True Crime event.’

To win the prize, participating detectives will need to explore up to 20 hours of audio content including the victim’s audio diaries, police interviews and other evidence. They’ll also need to demonstrate their ability to notice subtle clues, discrepancies and anomalies as well as showing their critical thinking skills. At a time when internet sleuthing is at an all time high (to a point where it’s even begun to hamper the investigation of real murders) COLD TAPES: Winter Over seems like the perfect outlet for a population hooked on true crime.

As I begin to make my way through the ‘found’ tapes, I find myself wanting to scribble down clues in a tiny policeman’s notebook. The victim’s finger appears to be fractured, there’s an untranslated tattoo written in Chinese script on the victim’s body, an inkling of a love triangle between crew mates… I’m in. To make the series, Free Turn worked with police officers, polar adventurers, and researchers to ensure the experience was as authentic as possible. And, even a casual listener would be able to tell they’ve taken the same meticulous approach to all elements of the show, including the immersive sound design. We hear phone calls cut in and out due to the poor Antarctic internet signal, latex gloves rustle their way through the autopsy and a body bag shuffle as the victim’s body is moved onto a gurney.

Also helping to bolster the show’s believability is an incredible performance from the actor behind DCI Tessa McCallister. Her persistent yet firm approach helps guide the listener through a number of difficult conversations with begrudging scientists, each with an acute case of cabin fever and many of whom are growing increasingly suspicious of the ominous sounding ‘Keony Industries’ funding the entire Antarctic mission. This story, which dances between unexplained mysterious psychotic events, interpersonal drama and strange global conspiracy theories clearly wants to be more than your average fiction podcast.

In fact, Gemma Batterby, COO and Founder of Free Turn, describes COLD TAPES as ‘a cerebral challenge and an intricate puzzle’ and that’s definitely what this is. So much so that the lengthier episodes, made to sound unedited, occasionally leave too much room for the listener to lose the thread. 20 hours of content will no doubt prove too much of an undertaking for some. But, then again, there’s nothing like the promise of £10,000 to keep people listening. A truly creative way to increase your listen-through rate.

Even more innovative than the £10k prize pot, though, is the podcast’s exclusivity model. A £5 ticket to enter the competition gives listeners the chance to binge the series ad-free, as well as giving them access to exclusive additional content. The only question that remains is how many listeners will actually be hooked enough to pay the £5 entry fee?

No matter what the outcome, Free Turn is clearly thinking of creative ways to incentivise listeners to pay for podcasting. Which, in such a turbulent time for industry, feels desperately needed.

COLD TAPES: Winter Over is out April 15th. The competition to solve the case closes on Friday 6th September, 2024. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

—

Beth Watson is a freelance writer and full-time podcast enthusiast, currently working as a Content Discovery Manager for BBC Sounds. Prior to the BBC, she was Marketing Lead at Message Heard where she worked on launching and growing impactful podcasts such as Conflicted, Power Lines and Who Robs a Banksy.

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Described as a ‘sonic scrapbook and a passport to roam’ Lowlines follows Petra Barran as she travels solo through the Americas. What pulled me to listen to the series was the production process – the original audio was recorded on the fly by Petra, who’s described as a ‘novice presenter and producer… without an itinerary to record’. It was only in post-production that Social Broadcasts and Scenery Studios used the (sometimes very) raw tape to pull together a narrative.

Producer Lucia Scazzocchio, Host Petra Barran and Executive producer Lina Prestwood

This style of production was sold as unusual, but it’s something a lot of novice presenters/producers – myself included – will recognise, particularly when it comes to travelling through your headphones. The resulting mix of musings, field recordings, original music and conversation is a style we find in a lot of travel podcasts. But if I draw comparisons to a more intentionally crafted production – such as QCODE’s Thru series, which has a similar ‘journey of discovery’ premise – Lowlines feels more like a reflection on a trip rather than a story of a trip. Whilst thru-hiker, Cody Hofmockel, went into his journey as a journalist wanting a narrative, Petra set out to find a narrative after her journey.

I recognise this need to seek understanding after the process, rather than letting the recording process add a shape to your trip itself. The result with Lowlines is that Petra’s recordings do invite escapism to the Americas, but not the type of escapism that allows the listener to forget the world. Instead, it asks us to imagine ourselves in the location as a whole: in the first episode ‘Second Line’ we don’t just get the tourist view of New Orleans with the Jazz parades, we get the reminder from a resident that this is a funeral procession. We get to really hear the heart of the city with a conversation in someones’ living room.

Despite the focus on soundscapes, the moments that stick in my mind are the parts with very little noise: it is Petra’s description of New Orleans from the air as ‘a mass of tiny little scabs’ – something that could be offensive but paints the image perfectly; it is the man working on a Louisiana levee who sounds slightly defeated as the almost unspoken threat of a Katrina-level disaster lingers in the conversation.

It’s the weight to these kinds of conversations that stops the listener from sinking into the soundscapes too deeply. Host Petra does acknowledge this heaviness to the content: at the end of the second episode, she ends an audio diary by going to watch The Kardashians in her hotel room. It’s a needed moment, because I found certain layers of sound and conversation quite intense.

Overall, the description of a sonic scrapbook feels like an apt one – listening to the series as a whole could be a bombardment of too much to take in, and there’s pieces that I found more interesting that others. But we get a collage of moments that are important to Petra. Listeners might not find resonance in everything they are offered, but everyone would be able to take something away.

The first episode of Lowlines, ‘Second Line (New Orleans)’, is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other popular podcast apps >> 

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Podcasts based on scandals are so ubiquitous that it takes a juicy story to stand out nowadays. Thankfully, Wondery has really upped the ante with Hooked on Freddie, the true story of a dolphin sex scandal set in a sleepy English town in the late 1980s.

The podcast tells the story of animal rights activist Alan Cooper, who developed a close friendship with a wild bottlenose dolphin (nicknamed Freddie by locals) when the mammal appeared in Amble Harbour in Northumberland. The quiet town was concrete and grey before Freddie turned up but soon became a vibrant tourist trap, with B&Bs selling out for the first time in years and everyone from New Age digeridoo players to the Blue Peter team turning up to get a look at Freddie.

As well as the friendship with Freddie, we hear about Cooper’s rivalry with Peter Bloom, dolphinarium manager and head trainer at Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire. Both men claim to be animal lovers, but Cooper rails against the idea of exotic animals in captivity and hates everything Bloom stands for. The feud will threaten one of the men’s livelihoods and destroy the other’s life.

The six-part podcast series is hosted by Becky Milligan, who first covered Freddie’s appearance in the North Sea as a student journalist. Milligan, who once reluctantly swam with Freddie herself, draws on original interviews from the late 1980s and early 1990s and new reporting — including interviews with Cooper and the Bloom — to tell the tale.

I had family local to Northumberland who lived through the scandal, so I’d heard about the “man who loved a dolphin a little too much”, as my older cousin tried to describe the story. However, I knew little beyond the tabloid headlines and nothing of what happened next. Hooked on Freddie is a podcast that benefits from knowing as little as possible, so I suggest you don’t Google the case before diving in.

But it is worth saying that Cooper became the subject of nasty rumours about potentially inappropriate behaviour with Freddie in 1990. Cooper laughed these off, but by 1991, the animal rights activist faced criminal charges of sexually assaulting a dolphin — setting off a tabloid storm.

The first unfounded accusation changed the course of Cooper’s life, and the series details the aftermath of his arrest for, as a police officer couldn’t bring himself to say without laughing, “wanking off a dolphin.”

The accusation seems barely credible to Cooper’s friends, but the case goes to the crown court, where the animal lover faces a deeply humiliating trial. The charges could hardly be more disgusting for a vegan animal rights activist. And however unbelievable the accusations are, they cause other activists to distance themselves for fear of guilt by association.

Wondery is known for its incredible range of true crime podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door, and Hooked on Freddie features the same levels of suspense, intrigue and twists we’ve come to expect from the network. With vivid soundscapes scoring the story and Milligan’s excellent reporting, the episodes (clocking in at under 40 minutes) whiz by. I greedily gobbled up the first three episodes and now face the prospect of waiting weeks for the story’s conclusion.

It’s a ridiculous story that you wouldn’t imagine having lifetime consequences, but the ripple effect on Cooper’s life after the accusations add a layer of tragedy. The episodes may have a heavy subject matter but feature real moments of genuine levity to break the tension. Milligan gets some great quotes from her interviewees, and her delivery is full of wit. Hooked on Freddie is a great and sometimes tragic story of love and rivalry, truth and rumour and the relationship between humans and the natural world. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Listen to Hooked On Freddie on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

—

Catherine Renton is a freelance journalist specialising in lifestyle and culture. Her work has been featured in the likes of The Guardian, the i, Metro, Vogue, Refinery29, PodPod and Empire Magazine. She regularly appears on live radio and as a guest on BBC Radio podcasts, including Woman’s Hour and the Digital Human. When she’s not writing, she will likely be walking her dog while listening to one of the hundreds of podcast episodes she refuses to delete from her phone. Find out more about Catherine >>

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Ian is a wonderful host. If you have listened to some of his own interviews (especially his appearance on Desert Island Discs) it is evident that he himself is a great storyteller, and this comes across in his interview style. He is not rigid and when he wants to find out more, it is done in an inquisitive nature. He sounds like a friend who really cares when you are catching up – not like a reporter wanting the next headline.

This approach creates the perfect environment for trust, which always results in an honest interview. In episode one, simply titled ‘Chris’, Ian sits down with Chris Brannigan, who talks about walking the length of Britain barefoot, to raise money for treatment of his daughter’s CDLS diagnosis, a rare genetic disease. When Chris mentions walking to Downing Street in so much pain, Ian goes back and encourages him to go into detail. This is a nice and subtle touch really reflecting how much Ian cares that Chris’ story is fully told.

Ian also shares his own personal stories to connect to the interviewee’s story – from vulnerable moments from his difficult childhood to his failures and triumphs throughout his football career. This is a great reminder that despite our different paths – whether you are a poet, musician, academic or athlete – we are all connected because we have been through difficult moments and somehow have come out of the other end.

I also noticed that the beautiful sound and mixing allows the guest’s story to be fully indulged by the listener through carefully selected pauses, which heighten the emotional parts. An example of when this is done well is episode two  ‘Mel’. Mel is a mother who takes us through the night when she found out her son had been assaulted.  Many times these stories are told through the headline of the assault but here, we hear about how 25 year old Jordan Sinnot loved football, had the biggest smile in the room and how he sang ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ to his partner.

There are plenty more episodes like this that remind us that there is a person behind the tragedy, like Munira, mother of two, who lost her home in the Grenfell Tower fire and had to start again. With moving from one temporary accommodation to another Munira was determined to hold on to her love of cooking and as a result curated a space where the community can come together to enjoy food and/or just have a chat.

Ian Wright’s Everyday People has a simple format of people sharing how they got through their most difficult moments. Where the beauty lies is that these stories of resilience are always needed and can help us reflect on our own trials and tribulations. Bring on season 2.

Listen to Ian Wright’s Everyday People on ACAST, SPOTIFY or your favourite podcast app.

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If you watched any UK TV in the 90s, you are likely familiar with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. As comedy double-act French and Saunders, they are memorable for parodies of films such as Titanic, Silence of the Lambs and Lord of the Rings. Now, a French and Saunders podcast brings them back together for their Audible Original series, French & Saunders: Titting About. And there is something incredibly joyful about hearing them together again.

The duo take a relatable topic and playfully riff comedy from it. From stories on airport shopping, to the scandalous reveal of which of the pair snogged Brad Pitt! As with all good celebrity podcasts, the topics would be mundane in other hands – but I seriously want to find out what Saunders’ top-three vegetables are…

Launched at the end of 2020, this series of six episodes has been described by listeners as “exactly what is needed right now”. 

And listeners aren’t alone in they’re excitement. It’s clear that the pair enjoyed themselves in the making of it. When talking about her experience making the podcast, Dawn French said:

 “Titting About with Fatty is the best fun I’ve had without my incontinence pants on. Which, on reflection, was a mistake. Some soft furnishings were damaged in the making of this series.”

Saunders added:

 “I can’t imagine anything I’d rather be doing than titting about with Dawn. We both have tits, after all”.

Photo by Rachel Manns, courtesy of Audible

Audible shared some of the things you can look forward to in each episode:

Episode 1: Passions and Hobbies

Dawn and Jennifer explore their passions and hobbies, including Jennifer’s love of football. Plus, find out which of them has a fondness for kissing (…Brad Pitt).

Episode 2: Holidays

They may seem like a thing of the past now, but the glamorous world of holidays centre stage in Episode 2. Dawn recalls dribbling on a stranger whilst asleep on Concorde, whilst Jennifer remembers childhood holidays swimming in sewage.

Episode 3: School 

Talking about their time at school, Dawn and Jennifer remember frightening teachers, the awkwardness of sex education and – that dreaded word that brings fear into children and adults alike – ‘liver’.

Episode 4: The Seven Deadly Sins 

From Lust to Greed, Dawn and Jennifer examine their lives, through the moral compass of the Seven Deadly Sins. Subjects covered include Idris Elba, road rage and elastic waistbands.

Episode 5: Food 

Some say that food is the ingredient that binds us together. Let’s see if that’s the case as Jennifer reveals her top-three vegetables and Dawn shares what her last meal would be.

Episode 6: If We Were Alive Now 

In the final episode of the series, Dawn and Jennifer look back at their careers. From early gigs as a double act with one functioning microphone to considering which shows they would parody now

This French and Saunders podcast is an entertaining and exclusive insight to the warm, mischievous friendship of two much-loved performers, leaving no stone unturned for laughs.

French & Saunders: Titting About is available to download now, only on Audible. Every month, Audible members get one credit to use on any audiobook regardless of price or length, plus unlimited access to Audible Original Podcasts at no extra cost.

Listen for free with your 30-day trial. From £7.99 / month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

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Stay with me here. You really haven’t heard it all when it comes to talking about race.

CA Davis, host of A Latto Thought. Photo by Joe Martinez Photography.

I imagine that you’ve been signposted to a few podcasts on this subject this year, and the usuals do the rounds – for good reason, we need them. But perhaps you’re tired of ‘learning.’ I get it. I think that we have reached a stalemate when it comes to race-based podcasts, which happens when any subject is thrust into the forefront of our everyday lives in a short space of time.

Following the BLM protests this summer we were overwhelmed with reading lists, more lists on how to be antiracist and podcast recommendations (my own show included). And I did wonder what everyone did with all this information. It was a lot to process. Maybe too much. And now it’s all died down, maybe it’s time to reflect on what content is not only available, but also dynamic and accessible. Podcasting needs to improve the dialogue on race and make the content more diverse, not only in terms of who is hosting, but also in terms of the content they cover. We don’t have too many podcasts on race – but they seem to be at each end of a spectrum with nothing bridging the gap.

We have shows that share personal accounts of racism – the anecdotal stories. We have the heavyweight conversations telling historical accounts of how we’ve got to where we are and what we need to do about it – the serious and instructive shows.

What’s missing is the engaging content that accompanies you through the events that have created the complex structures and misconceptions surrounding race, alongside real stories of people who were affected by these events… without leaving you feeling exhausted by the end of it. If you’ve yet to find a show like this, I’ve found one for you.

CA Davis, Host of A Latto Thought. Image by Joe Martinez Photography.

A LATTO thought is hosted by filmmaker, digital storyteller and producer, CA Davis. CA works at Northwestern University in a small department that supports humanities research and pedagogy. His role is to take professors’ research and locate the stories within their work to create films that both academic and non-academic audiences can enjoy.

CA takes you on a huge ride through some of the most important events in the history of racial stereotyping, including – importantly – contemporary mixed-race misconceptions. In the episode ‘takin’ it back’ you will hear why we have achieved a “false sense of progress” regarding mixed-race people (especially those in positions of power). Our bodies are used as momentary vapours to veil over the truth about how much we have progressed, in part due to the ‘cultural firsts’ such as electing a Black president and a Black female Vice President, or having a Black Royal Family member. Yet, these individuals are mixed-raced. And it’s mixed-race bodies that are wrongly used as markers of a racially progressive society.

In the latest episode ‘kinfolk, not skinfolk’, CA draws you right into the falsehoods of DNA testing until you are rewinding to hear every word. Just as you’ve grasped a new and complex idea, he pulls you right out of feeling comfortable with a thud of a great bassline, witty quip and lighter chat. The balance of sound, narration and the super-high, cinematic production quality, makes it an engaging listen.

A LATTO Thought is stimulating and educational. You’ll finish the show feeling contemplative but energised. That’s a rare thing in this genre of podcasts.

Listen to A LATTO Thought on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and on the A LATTO Thought website.

—

Lou Mensah founded Shade Podcast to create a safe space for rigorous & inclusive conversations on Representation within the Arts.

Before launching Shade Lou worked on various commissions as a photographer, including stills for Directors Anthony Minghella & Sundance winner Marc Silver plus Mike Figgis; gaining awards for her work from Nick Knight and the late Alexander McQueen.

Launched just over a year ago, Shade Podcast has been received well by both the audience and press. Miranda Sawyer (The Guardian) said of Shade “Every episode gave me something new to think about. Inspiring!” – whilst Esquire has listed Shade as one of the ‘Best 2020 Podcasts you can listen too.”

Season 4 is due to be launched in Jan 2021. Listen on Acast, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. 

Read more reviews by the Pod Bible team.

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Photo from brianjackson.net

The first episode is a reflection on this years Independence Day, which Jackson describes as “One of the most unusual Independence Days ever.” They discuss the disconnect between the national holiday, and the African-American experience. We are led into the 34 minute chat as they read passages from Frederick Douglass’ Independence Day speech “This Forth of July is yours, not mine” as they move on to candidly share their thoughts on education, and how it’s failed children in part by its focus on everything over and above the valuing of the human experience. They both came late to learning about Douglass’, long after their traditional learning experience at school. LaMar muses over this and declares education as the “Mis-education system.”

“They teach you the value of money. They should teach you what real value means.”

The music section follows, focusing in this episode on John Coltrane. The hosts explore their adjacent healing journey’s through Coltrane’s work. LaMar’s situation comes throttling to the fore here:

“You have my body. I’m gonna take this pain and communicate it on the highest level. I can go back to my cell and put on John Coltrane and I’m on a completely different vantage point.”

These conversations are an invitation to explore this reckoning point in our history, honing the lens on the Judicial system which has failed us, and the music that has saved us.

“We’ve got lessons to learn and contributions to make. This was John’s contribution. I just want it to be said that I loved somebody. That’s what John Coltrane is saying.”

Jackson concludes “This universal consciousness that we’ve been through, is the understanding that we are all connected. If there is going to be a next evolutionary step, then this is it.”

As I revelled in the beauty of this conversation, I was pulled right back out of it with a reminder that the recording is taking place through the phone line from a prison. We hear an abrupt “You have one minute remaining” message interrupt the call. LaMar continues “Education strips us of the knowledge that we are connected. Strips us of who we are. To ourselves or each other. That’s the tragedy. We are being reminded of our connection by people like John Coltrane.”

And that was it. The call is cut off with an automated “Thank you for using GTL” (the inmate telephone service) as Jackson wraps the show. The conversations will stay with you, lift you and offer a re-connection with the work of both Coltrane and Jackson. But with the abruptness of that final phone click, a part of me is certainly reflecting on where we are as a society following this year’s resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement. As I do so, my heart is right there with LeMar in that cell.

Lou Mensah founded Shade Podcast to create a safe space for rigorous & inclusive conversations on Representation within the Arts.

Before launching Shade Lou worked on various commissions as a photographer, including stills for Directors Anthony Minghella & Sundance winner Marc Silver plus Mike Figgis; gaining awards for her work from Nick Knight and the late Alexander McQueen.

Launched just over a year ago, Shade Podcast has been received well by both the audience and press. Miranda Sawyer (The Guardian) said of Shade “Every episode gave me something new to think about. Inspiring!” – whilst Esquire has listed Shade as one of the ‘Best 2020 Podcasts you can listen too.”

Season 4 is due to be launched in Jan 2021. Listen on Acast, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. 

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That’s what you find in the “about” section of LAist Studios content, including Walter Thompson-Hernandez’s show California Love. The recent flight of shows from LAist Studios includes programs like Hollywood, The Sequel which explores how the entertainment industry can (and should) evolve, and Tell Them, I Am where host Misha Euceph speaks with guests who are Muslim to intimately discuss their experiences.

Amidst a host of strong programming, Thompson-Hernandez’s voice tells a quiet, powerful story. Most recently, he explores an imaging some of us only recently saw for the very first time: Black horseback riders from Compton. In reality, the Compton Cowboys have existed as a vital part of their community long before the rest of America saw photos of them on social media. And Walter is the perfect person to show us; he literally wrote the book, ‘The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America’s Urban Heartland’.

But the episode isn’t just about the recent wave of internet awareness around the Cowboys. It’s about their relationship with their community, and how the organisation is trying to survive in a world has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to support the organisations of Black men and women. It’s about what the Compton Cowboys provide to the members of their community who are often presented as one thing, one lifestyle, one stereotype.

Beyond the intrigue of the Compton Cowboys as a topic is Walter’s voice, his own experience being raised in LA and his perspective on the California stories the world needs to hear. Episodes of California Love are gentle, they’re enticing, they’re emotional and beautiful. The team that creates this programme do it tenderly, and their affection for their topics and their purpose is evident in each moment. What more can we ask for from podcast creators, except to leave everything in our headphones, not hold anything back – confront us, envelope us, and carry us forward.

And those are stories that need to be told to the world.

California Love is available on the LAist Studios website, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcasts.

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The friend who mentioned Caroline’s show also mentioned Episode 28 specifically, in which the host interviews Danni Mullen, the proprietress of Semicolon Bookstore in Chicago. Over the past month, Semicolon has gained attention not only as a bookstore run by a Black woman, topping lists of Black-owned businesses to support as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, but also because of the store’s charitable work with #ClearTheShelves. This initiative allows school children to come into the store and select books for free, while also providing them the dignity of experiencing a transaction with a receipt upon making their selection.

The conversation between Danni and Caroline covers everything from the attention the store has gotten over the past month to the support the GoFundMe that financially backs the initiative has received. Overall, however, the one word best used to describe the conversation is “uncomfortable”. This is not to say the show isn’t brilliant, the episode isn’t powerful and funny, it’s all of those things and more. But what is important for everyone who listens to take away is how they feel, alone in their homes or their cars, as Danni explains the interactions she and her staff have had as more white patrons come into her store, looking for books by Black authors, about racism, and the things they feel empowered (and also entitled) to say. The shame and second hand embarrassment felt by the listener as she details the ignorant and offensive things these shoppers say is inescapable. Don’t give in to the desire to shut off the podcast; this is important.

It takes a lot of courage on the part of both women to create something like this. As podcast fans, we know that a well-crafted interview is much harder than it looks. What may be even more difficult, however, is to recognise that the measures of a so-called “good interview” are irrelevant when you are confronted with a situation in which something honest is allowed to play out. 

There is nothing cruel or unusual about the interaction between host and guest. It is simply a true conversation between two individuals during a highly electric, emotional and important time. Danni presents her truth, her lived experience and what happens between the stacks at her bookstore, knowing how uncomfortable her host and many of the listeners will become. But this does not stop her because it is not the responsibility of people who experience racism to make people who have benefited from a racist society feel better. Acknowledging this discomfort, existing in it, and then moving forward in a thoughtful and actionable way are all parts of how human beings learn. To Caroline’s credit, she acknowledges how awkward she feels, but she doesn’t cut all of those parts out of the interview. As podcasters, we often value beautiful soundscapes and precise timing over the honesty of painful pauses and the stutter-step of embarrassment. Instead, Caroline envelopes us in it, like an immersion therapy in audio form.

This is not to say the podcast is 50 minutes of being hammered over the head. Danni Mullen has an incredible laugh, and both she and Caroline offer plenty of humour (in particular, her item at the end of the episode had me in tears.) What makes this conversation so real and recognizable is that it contains both bold honesty and fits of giggling. This is how we speak to one another in our everyday lives, because life exists in those moments in between the deeply serious and the levity. Learn your lessons. Hear from people who are different from you. Really listen to what they are sharing with you. Connect over a mutual point of humour. Descend into uncontrolled laughter. Regroup. Support their endeavours. Amplify their voices. And repeat.

Gee Thanks Just Bought It drops new episodes on Fridays on Spotify and everywhere you get your podcasts. Check out their website, their Instagram, or you can follow Caroline on Twitter.

Semicolon Bookstore is located in Chicago, IL. Visit their GoFundMe page to support the #ClearTheShelves initiative.

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While Reni’s recommendation was for Blacticulate’s eponymous podcast, it was Stories That Stick that caught our attention. We at Pod Bible love a programme that offers something new not only in topic but in production. We were immediately drawn to the structure of founder Ade’s show, which invites guests to tell their own story and share stories that have impacted them. 

Each episode begins at the end. The guest is first asked to speak about death, which may seem an odd place to start but perfectly establishes a person’s thought process for how they live their life. If we know how someone imagines, copes with, or theorizes death, we better understand the parameters they exist within today. From there, our host asks that his interviewee breaks their life into decade-long chapters, beginning with their first ten years.

Not only does this make for an easily digestible podcast, but it creates a shared nostalgia when paired with story recommendations from the episode’s guest, spotlighting a different book in each “chapter” of their own story. It’s hard not to fall into one’s own reminiscences during the first chapter, often peppered by beloved children’s books or familiar stories from religious texts.

When exploring shows that are new to us as listeners, creating a structure that we can easily latch on to helps to ease us into unfamiliar territories. Structures based in Q&A sessions, particularly those that remain consistent from episode to episode, create an excitement as we begin to imagine our own answers and build a sense of familiarity and camaraderie with the guests – their answers ebbing and flowing with our own.

An excellent podcast structure is reliant on its host. A quality host creates consistency for their listeners, while still remaining flexible for their guest. Ade’s soft-spoken guidance feels gentle, steering the conversation expertly without editorializing someone else’s experience. In episode 15, with Christina Moore of Don’t Skip Media, his guest off-handedly mentions the experience of growing up as the child of immigrant parents. Ade thoughtfully encourages her to explore that experience, and she opens up beautifully, allowing the listener a much deeper insight regarding her childhood. The deft way with which he supports her examination of what, moments earlier, seemed like an off-handed reference to something many listeners may not have experience with shows us how seriously Ade takes his work. It is always easy to allow a guest to move beyond something – especially something they have a shared understanding of, or something the guest may have explained in a pre-interview – but it does not serve the audience to allow those moments to pass us by.

We suggest you also don’t let Stories That Stick to pass you by, either. You can explore the podcast’s page on the Blacticulate website, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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During Pride Month, many interesting, emotional, and powerful queer stories are being told across podcasts everywhere. But this story about performer Stormé DeLarverie, born to a Black mother and white father in New Orleans 100 years ago this December snuck into my ears when I was not expecting it.

Before moving to Quibi earlier this year, The Nod had been using podcasts as their medium of choice since the summer of 2017 to tell stories of Black life in America. Each episode takes you somewhere new, winding through history and geography, covering facets of everyday life and the pop culture that influences it. In amongst their first twenty episodes is the story of a drag king from the deep south who moved north in the 1940’s and lived her young life as a straight man.

Stormé’s journey, including her time as the only woman in a traveling drag show called The Jewel Box Revue, is staggering. Anyone familiar with the history of the Stonewall Riots may know what she went on to become an integral part of New York City’s queer scene. But if you don’t know anything about Stormé, or about the intersection of queerness and race, you need to give this episode a listen.

The team behind The Nod, Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, weave masterpieces of quality podcasting in every episode. In the case of “The Cowboy of the West Village”, Brittany guides us through the life of a mixed-race lesbian who was born into a deeply unaccepting time and found a way to fight not only for herself and her queer community, but to love unendingly. That is the takeaway, to keep fighting and to keep loving with your whole heart.

Episodes of The Nod can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. You can check out The Nod with Brittany and Eric now on Quibi.

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Allow me to be clear: this is a highly successful, beautifully produced and well-researched podcast that does not need or seek our recommendation. And frankly, it would be lazy and thoughtless of me to simply drop the suggestion you listen to a two year old podcast on the topic of anti-racist activism as though that were enough.

It’s not enough.

The topics that Ms. Eddo-Lodge covers are important and relevant, but they were always important and relevant. The show may seem particularly poignant today, even though it was released in early 2018, but that only serves to highlight how late so many of us are to the table. As the programme once again climbs the podcasting charts, Reni commented via her Twitter account that a large podcasting company she and her team had pitched to once called it “broccoli”.

I have no idea what kind of vegetable this podcast would be (and frankly I love broccoli) but I do know it is a stunning piece of audio. Before we even get the chance to dive into the discussion and context, we are first confronted with incredible production quality and an opening sequence I will not likely forget any time soon. Opening credits and theme music are often overlooked in podcasting, and producer Renay Richardson sets about giving the listener a British history lesson in racism right from the moment you press play.

Over the course of the series, each topic brings us new guests, experts in their fields and participants from moments in anti-racist (and some wholly racist) moments of a nation’s history. Both host and producer offer the listener not only context and shape the takeaway of each discussion, but allow them to breathe – not so that we may relax, but in order to make us uncomfortable. There are moments when the last lines of an interview seem to hang in the air and the hair on the back of my neck stood as I waited for the catharsis of correction or rescission. Neither came – and that is the reality of the discussion of racism.

The concept that anyone ever called About Race “broccoli” is mind-boggling. Discussions of race and activism are not some unappealing item on our plate that we have no choice but to take in if we want to grow big and strong. A quality podcast is one that is created to either inform or entertain, but deftly uses its own medium as a tool to tell the story. About Race offers layers, not only in the language of the speakers, but in removing the visuals – and what we as listeners must confront about ourselves and our own deeply learned racism when Reni casually mentions the race of the person to whom she is speaking.

About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge is not recommended, it is required. You can find out more about the team of Black creators behind the podcast on the show’s website, and you can listen to all nine episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts.

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Your friendly neighborhood Pod Bible folks joined the team behind GIANT last week for a listening party on Twitter where we explored their first episode, “Ronaldo: A Superhero Origin Story”, about the Brazilian football legend’s time playing for PSV in Holland. If you haven’t given all six episode a listen yet, we can’t recommend it enough, whether you’re a football fan or simply a lover of great podcasting production and storytelling. There’s something in there for everyone.

When listening to yesterday’s drop, fans of the programme will be reassured to hear as Mundial features editor Owen Blackhurst once again introduces us to another brilliant episode. Blackhurst, alongside Seb White and executive producer Tayo Popoola, comes together with We Came to Win’s Nando Vila to discuss the thing that brought the global game to its knees only three short months ago: the coronavirus.

In two equally beautiful but heartbreaking stories, we experience the impact the virus has had on the football community on both a small town and global scale. The GIANT gang take us to the Hampton & Richmond Burough Football Club, part of the National League South. Here we meet coaches, staff, players and fans, all of whom passionately describe the screeching halt that ended their season, and how important the football club is to the surrounding community.

In the second half, Nando introduces us to broadcaster Kike Mateu, who covers Valencia and was deemed “patient zero” after contracting coronavirus at the Champions League match in Milan between Valencia and Atalanta. The story of how the virus spread throughout players and fans alike reminds us all why we are enjoying the podcast from the safety of our homes, and not on the way to a packed stadium.

Though the tentatively scheduled Premier League season will be played behind closed doors, far from the raucous, singing, screaming throngs of fans that are so integral to the vibrancy of football, the underlying message of yesterday’s GIANT stories rings more true than ever. While some games are played, the football that fans truly love is still a long way off. So until then, we look forward to more stories of intensity, victory, heartbreak, and redemption.

GIANT is a Spotify Original podcast, produced in partnership with Mundial. We Came To Win is a Gimlet Media Production.

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The fun, upbeat career discussions of Sarah and Helen were something I stumbled upon while scrolling seemingly infinitely through podcasts on my preferred platform, not unlike how I hunt for series and films to watch. Their brightly-colored branding jumped out at me, and I was immediately struck by the title: what is a squiggly career? I know what a squiggle is, a random line, going all over the page in circles, hills and valleys, doubling back on itself, straightening out before possibly curving around again. This actually felt like a great visualization of the modern career: straight upward trajectories, at whatever rate, have become a thing of the past.

The Squiggly Careers podcast is an Amazing If production, the University friends’ company helping people and organizations to develop skills, feel empowered, and “make work better for everyone.” Episodes vary from bite-sized tips for specific problems (Ep. 13, A Fear of Being Too Young) to powerful interviews (Ep. 94, How to Manage Your Future and Your Finances With Heather McGregor). Most importantly, our fun and funny hosts give us the sense of a friend offering advice based on their own experience, coupled with a vital (yet increasingly uncommon) awareness that there is no quick fix, and what worked for them may not be suitable for the listener’s unique situation.

For those looking to dive into the Squiggly Careers back catalogue, I urge you not to be overwhelmed by their extensive back catalogue (135 episodes to date at writing) but instead to search titles for topics that relate directly to your needs. Or, do as I did, and start with the aptly named “New to Squiggly Careers” episode from two years back. Wherever you decide to jump in, Sarah and Helen will welcome you with open arms, and the kind of laughter you only hear shared between two true friends.

Learn more about Helen, Sarah, and Squiggly Careers on the Amazing If website.

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When Jenny Falconer appeared on Episode 2 of the Pod Bible Podcast, I was in the perfect mindset for her recommendation. After weeks of watching Good Omens and Broadchurch, I was primed to hear her suggest listeners check out David Tennant Does a Podcast. But really, her recommendation didn’t come from a love of an actor, it came from her own research for her show RunPod, a podcast for runners.

As someone who was on the cusp of releasing her own new podcast, I identified with Falconer’s discussion of what she found admirable about DT’s program. At only 14 episodes, each running at just about an hour, it’s easy to consume. It’s also easy to be drawn in by Tennant’s guests, with actors like Jennifer Garner and Sir Ian McKellan, and even former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Of all the things to love about the podcast, though, what sticks out is the format. Each episode begins with an outtake of Tennant and his guest getting set up, checking their levels, and becoming comfortable chatting in front of a live mic. Clearly our host is prepared, regularly referencing his own research and notes, but speaks to people with a sense of camaraderie that feels unparalleled.

Often times, podcast hosts fall into habits of talking too much about themselves (a crime I am too often guilty of, myself) or sounding so detached they appear more like judge and jury than interviewer. David Tennant manages to come across as both friend and fan and biographer with his interviewees, allowing each person he speaks with to steer the conversation and delve into the subjects they have a passion to discuss. 

In my two favourite episodes, with Olivia Coleman and Michael Sheen, our host never attempts to dig a juicy story out of them, but instead goes along with them for the journey. Coleman’s self-awareness and Sheen’s passion left me with a great deal to think about, and a desire to share both episodes with everyone I know.

Listening to a gifted speaker and interviewer like Tennant has helped me to better understand the role of a podcast host, and driven me to work harder on improving my own hosting skills. Thanks to Jenny Falconer for this wonderful suggestion.

Jordan Rizzieri/The Lady J is a podcast host, writer, wrestling fan, and dog mom based in Washington, D.C. You can listen to her I Never Told You What I Do For A Living podcast, or follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

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