PODCASTS WITH BACK CATALOGUES THAT ARE ALL KILLER, NO FILLER - December 2023

SOME PODS YOU DIP IN AND OUT OF, OTHERS YOU LISTEN TO RELIGIOUSLY. HERE’S OUR LATEST SELECTION OF PODCASTS THAT ARE WELL WORTH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION.

60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE 90'S

The ongoing 90s nostalgia-thon shows no signs of abating, and there’s no better way to understand the never-ending decade than through the music it gave us. Music critic Rob Harvilla goes under the bonnet of a different mega-hit each time, from ‘You Oughta Know’ to ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)’ via Chumbawumba’s ‘Tubthumping’, to try to understand a different part of the cultural landscape of the time. It’s a touch America-centric but it's still fun, enlightening stuff.

NOT THE TOP 20

If you’re frustrated by the cursory nods to anything outside of the Premier League on the biggest football podcasts, head toward the back of the terraces with Ali Maxwell and George Elek as they run through everything that’s going on in the rest of the Football League. The 72 clubs get their due focus here, with all the mini-narratives and emerging heroes which are often missed in the non-stop churn of the back pages debated and dissected at leisure.

EERIE

A series of original audio horror stories that, while hosted and produced by author and film critic Anna Bogutskaya, are each written by someone different. A well produced and beautifully paced anthology show with superb story telling and sound design. The acting and production of the second episode in particular hits enough realistic touch-points through it's ‘found-footage’ (or ‘found-audio’?) to make us terrified to listen to voicenotes from now on…

PAGE 94: THE PRIVATE EYE PODCAST

Every fortnight Private Eye throws hand grenades into the news cycle, but as the cycle revolves at several hundred RPM these days, it’s good to have a catch-up in between issues. Andrew Hunter Murray chairs discussions with editor Ian Hislop and other contributors on every big story that’s reared up since the last magazine came out, as well as throwing to specialist reporters for updates on the likes of the Covid inquiry and HS2. 

WHAT IF?

At some point in every debate, someone will wonder aloud something to the effect of, ‘Won’t somebody please think of the children?’ The problem is, that rarely leads to anyone actually asking young people what they think. So, Alisa Anwar talks to other young people as well as experts and insiders when this podcast from the Intergenerational Foundation – a charity dedicated to making intergenerational fairness part of public policy – digs into the big what ifs facing us today.

GOT A PROBLEM MATE

The agony aunt podcast is a fine and noble tradition, but invariably the last place you should ever go to actually get your problems solved. Comedians Bilal Zafar and Joey Page maintain that tradition by taking listeners’ problems and riffing amiably around it while keeping up a loose, hangout vibe. In fact, the problems people send in are basically irrelevant. It’s just a good time, with Page the pinballing loose cannon and Zafar a wry, dry foil.

KNOW YOUR CARIBBEAN

A podcast which extends the work of the Know Your Caribbean platform in spreading the culture and stories of Caribbean nations, and it’s as varied and vivid as the places it represents. There’s the surprising history of black mermaids, traditions of obeah and magic among Caribbean societies, and tales of resistance by enslaved peoples in the face of unbearable cruelty. The lingering trauma of slavery is a part of the story, but there’s a lot of joy here too.

THE REFERRAL WITH DR. KARAN

Dr. Karan brings his high-energy, simplified dissections of medical conditions from TikTok to podcasts, with each episode neatly divided into medical news updates, mythbusting interviews, and a Q&A with questions from listeners. Medical podcasts tread a fine line between being really informative and too technical but Dr. Karan’s social media experience helps him strike just the right balance in his transition to longer form content.