THE BOOK OF JOE – Recent Podcast Highlights #002

Each week, guest writer Joe Ducarreaux picks out his recent podcast highlights in an effort to provide yet more wonderful content for your ears. Joe is an avid podcast listener who has been known to listen to over 40 episodes in just one week. To be honest we’re surprised he found time to write this column…

THIS WEEKS MUST LISTEN:

 ABROAD IN JAPAN

This week’s recommendation is inspired by my lifelong desire to visit the Land of the Rising Sun. I subscribed to this podcast when it first debuted last year and dip in and out where my pangs to visit the East fluctuate. Celebrated YouTuber, Chris Broad, discusses different parts of Japanese culture each week, with veteran podcast host and Absolute Radio presenter Pete Donaldson. Topics range from customs, traditions and etiquette; to Chris’ mammoth cycle across Japan and the sights he discovers along the way. Chris and Pete’s affability and chemistry shines through in their light-hearted discussions and they surely convince everyone that Japan is an absolute must-see destination. The podcast is a supplement to the also excellent Abroad in Japan YouTube channel, which features incredible editing, in-depth features and high-quality photography. An absolute must listen to lovers of travel and, of course, all things Japanese.

EPISODES WORTH A DOWNLOAD:

FILMS TO BE BURIED WITH – #34 RUSSIAN DOLL’S LESLYE HEADLAND

Brett doesn’t know this, but he has accompanied me to every Thursday night weekly trip to Tesco ever since he launched his amazing podcast. In Episode 33, (Chris Hewitt) Brett set us the homework of watching brand new Netflix show Russian Doll before listening to his discussion with one of the shows’ creators Leslye Headland and it is pretty much essential that you do so before listening to this. What follows is an in-depth critique of the show as a whole before discussing its finer points and nuances and I adored it. Leslye is one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing discussing cinema and genuinely introduced me to concepts that hadn’t ever entered my psyche before (in much the same way that Dane Baptiste had way back in episode 23). This conversation is a shining example of why podcasts must exist. Listen on Spotify

THE EVOLUTION OF HORROR – FOLK PT 16 – GREEN ROOM & GET OUT

This one is quite niche. I’ve been in love with horror films since I was a teenager and devour the latest scary releases. With each series, host Mike Muncer looks back on key texts within different sub-genres of horror; his second series featuring Folk Horror. Discussion topics include classics such as The Wicker Man, but in this conversation with fellow film critic (and other half!) Rhianna Dillon, they dissect (appropriate verb) the recent hits Green Room and Get Out. As with Films To Be Buried With, the joy for me is hearing the minutiae of each texts’ key successes, with particular attention to the script of Get Out, which they discover holds more than one meaning with every single line. Green Room is held under the microscope within the social context of the rise of the Far Right and the approach of Trump’s America. Films truly give back to us what we bring to them. Listen on Acast

Joe Ducarreaux is a podcast host, film enthusiast and gardener. For more of his ineffectual and disposable opinions, you can listen to him here or follow him on Twitter and Instagram.