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 & 🔥
- The Lulu Podcast: Turning Points
- Gold Minds with Jessica Ennis-Hill
- Fin vs History
- The Teen Commandments
Miranda Sawyer in the Observer
- In Detail… The Toxic Waste Scandal (BBC) - “There are moments in this series that I found very moving, a lot that is sad, and much that made me smile.”
- How Do You Cope? (Wondery) - “This new version is more earnest (the music’s syrupy, the sincerity has gone up a notch, plus there are bonus mini-episodes called The Gratitude List), but don’t let that put you off. The interviews are great.”
- Broken Veil (Cheese & Pickle) - “A thoroughly uncanny listen in which they investigate weird things that have happened to friends.”
Fiona Sturges in the FT
- Lucky Boy (Tortoise) - “'She’s got 900 kids there and she selects me. I thought I was something special.' These are the words of Gareth, who is recalling an alleged sexual relationship with a female science teacher at his London school in the late 1980s.”
James Marriott in the Times
- Lucky Boy (Tortoise) - “Hanging over this awful and sad story is the question of whether it really needs to be a prestige podcast series. Is it good for listeners to be “entertained” with stories of sexual abuse? And is this the best way for Gareth to deal with his trauma?”
Clair Woodward in the Sunday Times
- Start Here (ABRSM/Chalk and Blade) - “Offers an introduction to genres of music, alongside an expert guest, ideal for those who would like to explore something new but don’t know where to begin.”
- Three People (Unlocked) - “Do we really need another celebrity interview podcast? When they are as classy and entertaining as Rebecca Front’s new series, there’s still room.”
- The World of Wodehouse (PG Wodehouse Society UK) - “Marking the 50th anniversary of his death with a podcast series with celebrity fans reading and discussing his work.”
And in the Guardian’s Guide newsletter
- Embedded: Alternate Realities (NPR) - “Follows [journalist Zach] Mack across the past 12 months as he tries to get to the bottom of where dad’s fondness for conspiracy theories came from, and figure out how the spell of misinformation can be broken.”
Highlights from the Radio Times
- David Tennant Does a Podcast With… (Sony Music Entertainment) - “It doesn’t disappoint.”
- Football on Trial: The Manchester City Charges (BBC) - “The verdict will be delivered by two judges and an accountant, so the chances of us understanding it are likely to be slim.”
- Criminally Queer: The Bolton 7 - “It led, within two years, to much-needed changes in the law.”
Emily Watkins in The i Paper is looking at book club podcasts.
Heat’s Top of the Pods
Scott Bryan in Great British Podcasts
- In Detail… The Toxic Waste Scandal (BBC) - “This new BBC Sounds series from BBC Radio Northampton follows the story in-depth, featuring interviews with the people at the heart of their story and their long fight for justice.”
- The Slow Down (Brazen) - “Conversations touch on many interesting topics from how the pressure to achieve can be inherited from our parents to the irony of capitalism pushing wellness products.”
- Lucky Boy (Tortoise) - “After pressing charges years later, the people who he considered to be witnesses denied knowing about the relationship and the teacher denied sexual contact too.”
- Lunchbox Envy (QI) - “In an episode about bananas I learnt that they are made out of 75% water and that Gordon Brown apparently once ate nine bananas in a day. The more you know.”
