Right, this list is likely to say a lot about me. I hope it’s good.
In the past, when I had a lengthy commute I devoured podcasts. I think it was the combination of distraction from a monotonous journey and – with the podcasts being mainly speech-based – feeling like I had a car full of people whose opinions I found interesting.
Today, the list is a lot shorter as my commute involves walking to my home office, and I can’t concentrate on speech-based podcasts when I’m working. So I tend to listen when I’m being domestic – washing-up, cooking, cleaning etc.
Anyway, with that caveat in place, here’s my list of some podcasts I recommend. All can be found in the usual places – Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify etc.
The Mystery Hour – every Thursday James O’Brien’s radio show on LBC has this feature. An hour where people can ring in and ask questions that have always bugged them and, hopefully, get an answer from someone else who calls in. It’s funny and educational at the same time. Especially if you’ve always wondered “who invented the suit?”, “why won’t my kitten listen to me?” or “how do spiders get in and out of a bathtub?”
Electoral Dysfunction – from Sky News, and presented by its political editor Beth Rigby, Labour’s Harriet Harman and Conservative Ruth Davidson, it’s an interesting and irreverent look at what’s happening in politics in the UK and abroad.
Add to playlist – a BBC Radio 4 production, each week the guests take as a starting point a song chosen by one of the presenters (writer and lecturer Jeffrey Boakye and musician Anna Phoebe), which they then use to suggest a song of their own. They can take inspiration from the topic of the music, its lyrics, its rhythm, its key… anything basically. The result is a fabulous mix of genres and styles, with the majority of the music probably new to you.
The Rest Is Politics, The Rest Is Politics Leading and The Rest Is Politics US – a trio of podcasts, the first two presented by Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell, the US one by Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci. The format of the “non Leading” versions is similar, insights into the latest political news. Leading is an in-depth interview with people like (recent guests) Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, former Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Gareth Southgate the former England manager talking about leadership. Well worth a listen.
Sodajerker on Songwriting – Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor are Sodajerker, a songwriting team from Liverpool who, since 2011 have interviewed people such as Sir Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Alicia Keys, Paul Simon, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Tori Amos, Nile Rodgers, Jon Bon Jovi, Lindsey Buckingham and Diane Warren… as well as lesser-known songwriters about their process. If you’re a musical anorak like me, it’s essential listening.
Rockonteurs – Gary Kemp (ex-Spandau Ballet) and Guy Pratt (ex-Pink Floyd and session musician for pretty much everybody) have got a contacts book to die for and they regularly sit down and chat about everything under the sun with someone famous: producer Steve Lillywhite about making “Fairytale of New York”, Robert Plant about all things Led Zep and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott about his love for the (then) recently-departed Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople and Bad Company.
That should keep you going for now.