Radio
Why do I find sketch shows – even the better ones – so embarrassing and charmless?
On sketch shows, the wisdom once was that you needed a punchline. That is, a slightly hammy, summative sign-off to…
A podcast that listens to what anti-vaxxers think rather than lecturing them
Work is our new religion. There are people whose primary job is writing listicles of celebrity gossip, illustrated with gifs…
Floods you with fascinating facts: Trees A Crowd reviewed
Listening to Trees A Crowd, a podcast exploring the ‘56(ish) native trees of the British Isles’, solved one of childhood’s…
The best theatre podcasts
All the world’s on stage again so where to go to for insight into what to see and why? Podcasts,…
Wallace Shawn's Designated Mourner feels like watching the news
Pity the aesthete, the flâneur and the opera-goer. Those who find the contents of their own heads so dull and…
Much smarter than your average podcast: Passenger List reviewed
Passenger List opens with a carefully structured ripple of breaking news bulletins: a mysterious catastrophe, an unconvincing official explanation, the…
The best food podcasts
You have to hand it to Ed Miliband. After bacon sandwich-gate, he might never have eaten in public again, but…
The worst idea ever for a podcast – and it's great: Our Struggle reviewed
Our hosts are Lauren and Drew and they want to talk about Karl Ove Knausgaard. Or rather, they want to…
The best podcasts to be enjoyed at 4 a.m.
Now that all of the billionaires are going into space, the night sky holds a special new kind of allure.…
The joy of Radio 4 Extra
The best thing on the radio last week was, without question, Kind Hearts and Coronets. You may have missed it…
The podcast that makes the world strange, mysterious and compelling again
It’s interesting that we have decided shaming and yelling are the easiest ways to change people’s minds. Which is not…
Insane and fascinating: BBC World Service's Lazarus Heist reviewed
The narrative podcast remains a form in search of a genre. The template set by the hit show Serial —…
Seldom less than gripping: Banged Up podcast reviewed
Prison-based podcast Banged Up, now in its second series, is far more uplifting — and less soapy — than its…
This is the golden age of the grifter – and there's a podcast for every con
Truly we are living in the golden age of the grifter. From Fyre Fest to the WeWork empire to Theranos…
It's almost touching that the NFT world see itself as radical
Some things are explained so many times that they become unexplainable: we can only relate to them as something complicated…
Refreshingly unfettered: LRB Podcast's Close Readings on Patricia Highsmith
I’d forgotten what a rich and deep and characterful voice John le Carré had. Listening to author and lawyer Philippe…
My favourite failed podcasts
The promise of the internet was supposed to be thus: you could be your own bizarre, inappropriate self, and you…
Why In Our Time remains the best thing on radio
In Our Time is the best thing on Radio 4, possibly the best thing on the radio full stop. It…
Barack Obama will make you cringe: Renegades: Born in the USA reviewed
Barack Obama wants the world to know how much he loves singing. In his new podcast, which takes the form…
Claudia Winkleman’s new Radio 2 show gets off to a brainless start
Last Saturday on Radio 2 Claudia Winkleman was inaugurated as the host of what was formerly Graham Norton’s mid-morning spot.…
Why I'm obsessed with this podcast's merciless little romps: Browned Off reviewed
Everything is too long these days, isn’t it? Every series is at least two episodes too long, podcasts go on…
The funniest current affairs show since Brass Eye: Into the Grey Zone reviewed
It was something a friend said to me about The Revenant, Leonardo diCaprio’s bloody-minded and brutal Oscar vehicle: ‘The problem…
It’s not easy running a stately home: Duchess podcast reviewed
The Duchess of Rutland, Emma Manners (née Watkins), grew up on a farm in the Welsh Borders before becoming proprietress…
Enjoyably tasteless: Power – The Maxwells reviewed
This year marks three decades since Robert Maxwell fell naked to his death from the deck of his yacht, The…
Is the hottest new podcast, The Apology Line, worth sticking with?
With the arts world still largely in hibernation, the launch of a big podcast is as close as we get…
