Each episode

27/05/2022

Did you know that Loretta Lynn’s 1975 song about birth control, ‘The Pill’, was banned from radio stations when first released? These are the kinds of factoids you'll learn about when listening to ‘Cocaine and Rhinestones’, a fascinating dive into the history of twentieth-century country music. And if you’re not into country, don’t worry – there are awesome music podcasts out there for all tastes.

27/05/2022

Not all crimes involve a severed head in a forest. ‘The Shrink Next Door’, one of the most shocking – and funniest – stories of manipulation you’ll ever hear, is the second kind. It’s about a New York psychiatrist who takes his relationship with one patient way, way too far. It’s full of swanky country pads and amazing New York Jewish accents, and it will leave you saying ‘oy vey’ like you really mean it. Once you’ve finished, check out Apple's new adaptation starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd.

27/05/2022

Comedian Chris Gethard spends one hour on the phone with an anonymous caller – on the air. On ‘Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People’, no topic is off-limits, which leads to surprisingly interesting conversations – including one with a mass-shooting survivor who called to share his experience.

27/05/2022

NPR’s popular podcast wrapped up about four years ago without literally telling us how to do everything. But there’s still a treasure trove of knowledge stored in its archive, as hosts Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag solve problems that you hadn’t previously realised were problems: from mounting an impassioned defence of weasels, to tips on bluffing your way through a conversation about golf. Its 265 episodes are all standing by to help enhance your brainy parts.

27/05/2022

Emmy-winning journalist Jemele Hill has always come off as a person who knows a lot about everything, and her witty, insightful, often hilarious Spotify pod furthers that notion by covering a wide swath of topics relating to film, journalism, music, literature and beyond. The show has included interviews with Lisa Ling, Dan Rather, Tiffany Haddish, Kamala Harris, Stephen Colbert Michael B Jordan, Jill Scott, Chuck D and many other luminaries exploring the weight of their work and the larger cultural diaspora in depth with one of the best interviewers in the game.

27/05/2022

This is a monthly podcast hosted by Willa Paskin, the television critic at Slate. She is an outstanding journalist who examines a single object, habit or cultural question in each episode. Here are some of the questions ‘Decoder Ring’ has explored in the past: why do gay people love Judy Garland so much? Who is afraid of Bart Simpson? How do you start a conspiracy theory?

27/05/2022

Think that fantasy drafts are limited to armchair quarterbacking? Think again. Comedians Ian Karmel, David Gobie and Sean Gordon dive deep into fantasy drafts for a different topic every week, from sandwiches to soups to ‘dad stuff’ and ‘animals who can f*ck right off.’ As with all things fantasy, things get weirdly heated and increasingly hilarious as things go along.

27/05/2022

At the end of 2019, seeking to shed light on the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship landing on American shores, the New York Times launched the 1619 Project. The effort was a multimedia one, tackling the topic in print, online, television and audio. The latter initiative took the form of a podcast, ‘1619’.

27/05/2022

Actor and comedian Laci Mosley presides over a true-crime podcast that revels unashamedly in the most twisted, tenacious and cunning hustles on record and analyses them as works of art. Part-con investigation, part-comic riff-along, ‘Scam Goddess’ drags enjoyably-monikered scammers like ‘the Deutschland Duper’ and ‘the Hoodwinking Hipster’ into the light. Mosley and a guest will chew over these devious schemes with a forensic eye and the odd entertaining tangent.

27/05/2022

27/05/2022