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
- Where Politics Meets History (LBC) - “Tuesday’s first show was a bit of a mess. Dunlop was initially quite hesitant (there was an awkward moment of silence when Dale asked her to explain who he was), and later, a little too dominant.”
- Down the Caff (ind.) - “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.”
Fiona Sturges in the FT
- IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson (Higher Ground) - “Listeners may struggle to muster an interest in the exact layout of their childhood bedrooms, or how their parents taught them to be punctual, or how they loved the smell of the cleaning fluid their mother used to mop the floors — the same cleaning fluid that is sponsoring this podcast, it turns out.”
James Marriott in the Times
- IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson (Higher Ground) - “Perhaps Obama’s eminence as a former first lady means she has to stick to banalities — any half-interesting sentence she utters is an instant news headline. Perhaps she is just an American. The podcast is certainly marked by a very American tendency to mutual self-congratulation.”
Clair Woodward in the Sunday Times
- (In)Justice: Killer Privilege (Wondery/The London Standard) - “Katie Strick presents a six-part investigation into the horrific murder of 23-year-old Alex Morgan in a luxury villa in Zurich and his mother Katja Faber’s fight for justice.”
- Bloomin’ Legends (Global) - “Radio X drivetime presenters Johnny Vaughan and Gavin Woods expand their daily three-minute history slot to a new podcast series.”
- Hold or Fold (National Prison Radio) - “Both men have first-hand experience of gambling addiction and imprisonment after stealing money from their employers, which makes them excellent hosts.”
The Guardian’s Best Podcasts of the Week
- Bloomin’ Legends (Global) - “It’s a banter-packed, laddish ramble that takes in everything from having sex on a pirate ship to why humans are the messiest creature in existence.”
- Close All Tabs (KQED/NPR) - “Tech journalist Morgan Sung, is ‘chronically online’ so you don’t have to be.”
- Spotlight: Snitch City (The Boston Globe) - “This troubling investigation shines a light on the problem the US police system has with confidential informants.”
- Hidden Histories (Audible) - “Writer and activist Nova Reid hosts this treasure trove of a podcast, profiling unsung Black women from history.”
- Gangster: Hooligans (BBC Radio 5 Live) - “Tony Bellew speaks to ‘those who fought in the name of the firms they believed in.”
And in the Guardian’s Guide newsletter
- The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs (NPR) - “This four-part podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio retells a knotty story featuring accusations of pet neglect, racism and property theft.”
Highlights from the Radio Times
- Start Here (ABRSM/Chalk and Blade) - “This excellent podcast boasts some serious credentials… it mixes scholarly insight with the passion of a true believer.”
- Hold or Fold (National Prison Radio) - “The diabolical ingenuity of the online operators and the desperate solitude of the young man who doesn’t date tell his family how much of a hole he’s in.”
- This is History: Empire of Gold (Sony Music Entertainment) - “While England was still reeling under the tumultuous reign of Edward II, one of the wealthiest individuals to have ever lived was making his way to Mecca and crashing economies in his wake.”
In The i Paper, Emily Cope speaks to Dish’s Angela Hartnett
Heat’s Top of the Pods
Scott Bryan in Great British Podcasts
- Broken Veil (Cheese & Pickle) - “Morris and Maclean are great storytellers, with the production and music akin to something from a David Lynch film.”
- Gangster: Hooligans (BBC Radio 5 Live) - “I particularly admire how it taps into the psychology of these groups and how, perhaps unsurprisingly, many hooligans don’t see themselves as being hooligans at all.”
- Gold Minds with Jessica Ennis-Hill - “Honing in on the highs and lows that can come with competing with elite sports.”
- Three People with Rebecca Front - “It’s a podcast all about giving thanks to others and for being grateful.”
