Marianna in Conspiracyland 2 (BBC Radio 4) - “As the series continues, it gradually expands its remit to other reprehensible anti-medicine influencers, such as, you know, the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who at one point had been advising US citizens not to get vaccinated against measles. Our new Donald Trump-Musk world ‘makes it much easier for other people to peddle false views’, says a doctor.”
Live, Laugh, Luke (Colour It In) - “Just 30 minutes long, the show is packed with pretty obvious single entendres… its heart is in the right place, but the humour is just campery, rather than actual jokes.”

Fiona Sturges in the FT

We’re Doing The Wiz (Radiotopia) - “But there is also a sense with this series that, after a propulsive first half, he doesn’t quite know where to go with it… What is a formative experience for the cast members proves anticlimactic for the listener. Clearly, you had to be there.”

Patricia Nicol in the Sunday Times

Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud (ind.) - “It is a strong format, instantly conferring structure and intimacy. Clothes can offer our first shot at self-expression and have a transformative, talismanic effect. But outfits can be what we hide behind too. Even celebrated beauties, you learn here, lack confidence and have complex relationships with their bodies.”

James Marriott in the Times

Easy Money: The Charles Ponzi Story (Apple Music) - “An air of unignorable jadedness hangs over proceedings. [Maya] Lau’s drawl is probably supposed to sound cool, but just ends up communicating (understandable) boredom with the subject of post office coupons. [Sebastian] Maniscalco does his best to gee things along, but ultimately gives the impression of an actor hamming away at an ill-attended matinee at an airless provincial theatre. Can you blame him? The script he’s working with has an air of AI-generated banality.” ★★☆☆☆

Lucy White in the Irish Independent

Mistresses (Audible) - “Jamil and Lister make a fine double act and occasionally throuple up with The History Gossip’s Katie Kennedy for added deadpan wit.”
Lady Swindlers (BBC Radio 4) - “Fellow historians, authors, comedians and journalists help [Lucy Worsley] unpick crimes of yore, many of which were acts of survival, such as the so-called headline-grabbing Bob-haired Bandit, 20-year-old New Yorker Celia Cooney, who with her husband went on a robbing spree to help provide for their small family.”
History Rage (ind.) - “It’s either the best or worst time to hear historian Iain MacGregor discuss the flawed narratives surrounding the atomic bomb.”