THE NEW TESTAMENT // Recent Episode Highlights

After a little post-Christmas break, Dr Buckles returns with a proper blockbuster guest. America’s Dad is on to talk about his first novel, The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece, but ends up going in depth about the possibility of him being resurrected with deepfake tech, the strange and scary experience of being the first very famous person to be known to get Covid, and his weakness for a ‘diet coke-agne’. That’s a Diet Coke, with a shot of champers. Chin chin.

The leafy, moneyed streets of Hampstead have been prime podcast territory recently. After the satanic panic thriller Hoaxed comes this tale of a scam artist who managed to turn faith healing into a million-pound grift. In the first episode, we meet fake shaman Juliette D'Souza as she worms her way into the lives of vulnerable people desperate for her to change their lives with her powers. Redhanded’s Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala host, as engaging and fun as ever.

The latest in Wondery’s run of series about companies going into meltdown – they also did WeCrashed and Business Wars – goes inside Elon Musk’s helter skelter takeover of Twitter with testimony from staff at its heart. Things take a little while to set up, as Musk doesn’t even take over the company until episode three, but this intro is a thorough dissection of quite how impossible a bind Twitter was in when its founder Jack Dorsey stepped down.

Back in 2012, 17-year-old Megan Bhari was an inspiration. Since she had been diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, her charity Believe In Magic had helped to grant the wishes of other very ill children. One Direction wore its purple wristbands, and David Cameron gave Megan an award. Ordinary people sent thousands of pounds. But online sleuths questioned her story. Was it a scam? Or had a bunch of vigilantes gone overboard? The truth was even more bizarre and unsettling.

DJ Annie Macmanus has had some wonderful guests on Changes over the years, none more so than writer, poet and recording artist Kae Tempest, who's story fits perfectly with a format discussing how change punctuates our lives and defines who we are. Prepare for an emotional and uplifting conversation as Kae discusses change in all it's forms, as well as the huge impact that coming out in 2020 had on their journey from "dysphoria to euphoria". A compelling story, beautifully told.

Not sure what to do for tea tonight? You might get an answer here, as well as food for thought on pretty much everything gastronomic. Jay Rayner’s The Kitchen Cabinet travels around the country like a more riotous version of fellow Radio 4 stalwart Gardener’s Question Time, with audiences from Plymouth to Carlisle asking chefs, historians, journalists and academics the big questions. In Northern Ireland, it’s all about how to cook brown rice, what to do with whisky, and the panel work out what to serve a giant.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? - BRIGHTON BIRTHDAYS, BANNERS AND BOULES / MAY 2023

Nine years ago, Catherine Carr put together a lovely little Radio 4 programme where she stopped random people in the street and asked one simple question: where are you going? Now it’s back as a podcast of bite-sized 10-minute episodes, and it’s as much a joy as it ever was. It’s a reminder that no matter what wild story you’re listening to, you’re as likely to come across something extraordinary talking to random people on the street.