Radio

Enjoyably plummy and male: Battleground – The Falklands War podcast reviewed

14 May 2022 9:00 am

The Battlegroundpodcast on the wars of the 20th century, said presenter Saul David happily, ‘will have lots of bombs and…

A podcast with real emotional heft: Philippa Perry’s Siblings in Session reviewed

7 May 2022 9:00 am

Have you ever taken a piece of advice? I’m not asking a rhetorical question. Have you ever once in your…

A wonderfully unguarded podcast about the last bohemians

23 April 2022 9:00 am

Ordinarily, if a podcast purports to be revelatory, you can assume it is anything but. There’s a glut of programmes…

Why we drink

26 March 2022 9:00 am

‘I like to have a martini,/ Two at the very most./ After three I’m under the table,/ After four I’m…

New Marr is very much the same as the old Marr: LBC's Tonight With Andrew Marr reviewed

12 March 2022 9:00 am

Andrew Marr got his voice back this week. That may come as a bit of a surprise to everybody who’s…

Some of the best social commentary around: Celebrity Book Club with Steven & Lily reviewed

5 March 2022 9:00 am

When I was ten years old I had a babysitter who was a beautiful graduate student at an Ivy League…

If you like First Dates, you'll love This is Dating

26 February 2022 9:00 am

The tagline of This is Dating, a new podcast from across the pond, is ‘Come for the cringe, stay for…

Glorious and bracing interrogation of the world's smartest people: Conversations with Tyler reviewed

19 February 2022 9:00 am

Tyler Cowen is a man who leaves you at once in awe and perturbed. He is the Holbert L. Harris…

The dark world of illness influencers

12 February 2022 9:00 am

I have heartburn. I probably have heartburn simply because both my parents also had a lot of heartburn, and I…

A strange blend of farce and tragedy: Wild Things – Siegfried & Roy reviewed

5 February 2022 9:00 am

The prestige podcasting era began in 2014, when the true-crime Serial gripped us with the ‘did-he-dunnit’ mystery of whether Adnan…

Disappointingly conventional and linear: BBC radio's modernism season reviewed

29 January 2022 9:00 am

This week marks the beginning of modernism season on BBC Radio 3 and 4, which means it’s time for some…

The best podcasts about dying, or almost dying

15 January 2022 9:00 am

If there’s any form of entertainment that I will reliably find time for, no matter how big the to-read pile…

Mild at heart

8 January 2022 9:00 am

It’s a sweet, green, glowing dawn in north-west Scotland. All around us are empty hillsides of rock and heather. The…

Radio 4's Moominland Midwinter restores Moomintroll's innocence

18 December 2021 9:00 am

Moomins do not like winter. In one of Tove Jansson’s stories, Moomin’s Winter Follies, young Moomintroll bumps his head when…

Brought me to tears: Tortoise Media's Sweet Bobby podcast reviewed

11 December 2021 9:00 am

Eleven years ago, Kirat Assi received a message on Facebook from a man named Bobby. There was a family connection…

When will the Nineties revival end?

4 December 2021 9:00 am

We’ve been living through a nostalgia for the 1990s that has lasted longer than the decade itself. That was back…

It's amazing how little insight Paul McCartney has into the Beatles' genius

27 November 2021 9:00 am

The Paul people are out in force these days. A New Yorker profile, a book and a new documentary have…

The astonishing stories behind today’s culture wars: Radio 4’s Things Fell Apart reviewed

20 November 2021 9:00 am

Martin McNamara, the writer of Mosley Must Fall, a play on Radio 4 this week, must have had a jolt…

The best podcasts about money

13 November 2021 9:00 am

Stories about money are never about money. They are about pain, about family, about atrocity, about luck, about health, about…

The genius of Caveh Zahedi

6 November 2021 9:00 am

365 Stories I Want To Tell You Before We Both Die is a podcast that experimental filmmaker Caveh Zahedi started…

In 1980s Bennington it was a badge of dishonour not to have slept with your professor

6 November 2021 9:00 am

It is incredibly hard to convey the fleeting invincibility and passionate self-significance that we feel on the cusp of adulthood.…

The best podcasts to help you become a better painter

30 October 2021 9:00 am

There’s a great documentary film on Netflix at the moment about the late artist Bob Ross, he of the happy…

The best podcasts where girls sit around talking about ghosts

16 October 2021 9:00 am

‘I’ve actually seen ghosts.’ This statement comes less than ten minutes into the first episode of Dark House, a limited-series…

The Sunday Feature is one of the most consistently interesting things on Radio 3

9 October 2021 9:00 am

The story is likely apocryphal — and so disgraceful I almost hesitate to tell it — but it goes like…

Made me buzz like an electron: Science – Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda reviewed

2 October 2021 9:00 am

Given my affection for M*A*S*H, I can’t think why I haven’t listened to Alan Alda’s podcasts before now, besides the…