Welcome to this week's Recommendation Engine from Podcast Rex, rounding up the week in podcast reviews. Get this in an email each week by signing up to be a supporter of Podcast Rex from £3.99.
Apple Podcasts New & Noteworthy:
Spotify New & 🔥
Patricia Nicol in the Sunday Times
- The Good Whale (Serial) - “Keiko’s Hollywood moment came in the early 1990s when Warner Bros cast him in their inspirational kids’ movie Free Willy, about the unlikely bond between a misunderstood boy and an orca with a droopy dorsal fin. The 1993 film was a hit, but soon came a backlash as journalists started reporting that the movie’s star was living in exploitative, imperilling conditions — that most Hollywood stars had bigger, cleaner pools. A children’s letter-writing and fundraising campaign started to ‘save Keiko’. Suddenly, what had looked like a feelgood hit for Warner Bros had become a PR disaster.”
Fiona Sturges in the FT
- The Good Whale (Serial) - “The Good Whale is made by Serial Productions, the company founded by the creators of hit true-crime series Serial and, as such, has the feel of a big-budget yet tastefully unshowy production. The host is Daniel Alarcón, a Peruvian-American journalist and novelist whose literary chops are clear from the writing, which is atmospheric, expansive and lyrical.”
Miranda Sawyer in the Observer
- Make Me a Mixtape (BBC Radio 1) - "Somehow, in the first few minutes of last week’s episode, A Gym Hype Mixtape for Munya Chawawa, Amfo and Stephens don’t quite manage to explain what’s going on. This is mostly down to Stephens’s off-the-wall vibe; naturally funny and quick, he’s also chaotic and therefore slightly unclear. Still, it’s all fun.”
- 16 Sunsets (TellTale/Antica) - “Space expert Dr Kevin Fong presents. He’s clearly the right person to host this show, though I have a few quibbles about his presenting style; he has a tendency to go for the same cadence in every sentence, meaning you find your attention wandering, even in the opening minutes when we hear the countdown to launch. Still, once we get into the meat of the show, and interviews with those who worked at Nasa, you’re captured.”
James Marriott in the Times
- Strangers on a Bench (ind.) - “I have listened to a number of dreadful and gushy celebrity interview shows lately and Rosenthal’s podcast is a good reminder that the public are often much better to listen to than famous people: less guarded, less self-involved, more intimate, more honest. Celebrities know interviewing is a game. The general public, in their magnificent (and commendable) naivety, say what they really think.”
Clair Woodward in the Sunday Times
- The Buckleys (Folding Pocket) - “James “Inbetweeners” Buckley and his wife, Clair, return with a new podcast after the success of their In Sickness and in Health series. The show offers the same domestic bickering as their first, but broadens out into other subjects, including their shared love of music and having a good time.”
- In the Frame - “Each week Andrew Tomlins talks to a theatrical performer or creator about their life and career, or he and an actor co-host discuss matters in the world of theatre.”
The Guardian’s Hear Here column recommends
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Audible) - “Peter Dinklage is Hercule Poirot in this stunningly cast take on Agatha Christie’s debut novel.”
- The Good Whale (Serial) - “For an iconic investigative franchise such as Serial, the whale (Keiko) who starred in the 90s movie Free Willy isn’t an obvious topic.”
- The Quilt (Aunt Nell/Queer Britain) - “Hosts Tash Walker and Adam Zmith travel the UK to collect stories, starting in Norfolk where a trans woman in her 70s makes them cry with an old photograph.”-
- Generation Barney (PBS/NPR) - “Host Sabrina Herrera is full of joy as she retells the story of the dino who, like any good kids’ television character, provoked hate in exasperated parents.”
- Lady Mafia - “Sara King earned her reputation as “the female Bernie Madoff” by allegedly loan-sharking her way to a fortune.”
In the Guardian’s Guide newsletter
- The Good Whale (Serial) - “It follows the story of Keiko, the real-life orca who starred in Free Willy. When fans of the film found out that Keiko, like Willy at the start of the film, was in captivity, a movement was formed to liberate him.”
Highlights from the Radio Times
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Audible) - “Something Very Special.”
- Candyman (CBS) - “Examines the case of Chicago’s Ruthie Mae McCoy, who in 1987 told police there was a killer behind her bathroom mirror.”
- The Old Fools (ind.) - “The eponymous duo are comedy writer David Quantick and The Thick of It writer (and swearing consultant) Ian Martin.”
Heat’s Top of the Pods
Scott Bryan in Great British Podcasts
- The Quilt (Aunt Nell/Queer Britain) - “‘Well, it was either this or Panto,’ says Frank Skinner at the start of the return of his podcast.”
- 16 Sunsets (TellTale/Antica) - “There’s a guest popping by for a meal each episode, starting with chef Dom Taylor, winner of the Netflix series Five Star Chef. Still to come are the DJ Jamz Supernova, the radio presenter Richie Brave and the celebrated chef Maureen Tyne.”
- Inside Murder Trial: A Deadly Affair (BBC Radio Scotland) - “Sticking to the ten minute episode format, each episode looks at a different animal, from pangolins to lemurs, and the people who dedicate their lives to protecting them.”
- The Factory Next Door (ind.) - “A podcast that looks LGBTQ+ parenting, the similarities, the differences and the bonds that are created between parents along the way.”
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