Happy new year from all here at Podcast Rex. This could be the perfect time to add a new podcast or two to your listening repertoire. If that's what you're after, you've come to the right place; welcome to the Recommendation Engine, where we round up the week in podcast reviews across the internet and print media. 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 & 🔥
Fiona McCann in the Irish Times
- Eight Years' Hard Labour - “Eight Years’ Hard Labour does a fascinating job of documenting the political stakes and players, turning what could have been a dry, arcane exploration of some insider political machinations into a Shakespearean tale of plotting, double dealing and power grabbing featuring flawed protagonists and plot twists galore.”
Highlights from Miranda Sawyer’s 2023 favourites in the Observer
- Where Are You Going? - “Intimate, funny, anonymous.”
- Bone Valley - “True crime podcasts often disappoint, fading after the third or fourth episode. Not so this year’s standout.”
- Closet Confessions - “Candice Brathwaite and Coco Sarel are born communicators and they don’t hold back.”
- Rental Health - “Small but perfectly formed documentary series on the disgraceful state of housing in the UK.”
- Filthy Ritual - “A shocking story of trickery in north London’s genteel sitting rooms.”
The Guardian’s Hear Here column recommends
- Scottee: Self Help - “An antidote to what he describes as ‘delusional positivity.’”
- The Pirate of Prague - “A true-crime slowburner.”
- Trace of Doubt - “It’s a twisty, slick series, in which Samantha Weinberg’s views are turned on their head.”
- Moonkarta - “This surreally inventive children’s podcast has an almost Mighty Boosh-like quality.”
- Who Killed JFK? - “They speak to CIA officials and a secret service agent to follow the new leads that continue to be discovered.”
Highlights from the Radio Times
- The Prince - “How Xi Jinping came back from exile to take the top job in China.”
- My Love Letter Time Machine - “An in-depth picture of working-class life in northern England and a love story without sickly sentiment.”
- The Global Story - “Incisive takes on topics as wide-ranging as the Israel and Ukraine wars, Argentina’s controversial election and Trump’s legal strategy.”
- Tales From The Tannoy - “The many voices we hear in our everyday lives telling us to ‘mind the doors’ or that there’s an ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ are anonymous, but this warm, funny podcast introduces the personalities behind them.”
- Springleaf - “So many celebrity cameos that it seems to take most of the trailer to read out all their names.”
Highlights from Scott Bryan’s 2023 favourites in Great British Podcasts
- The Rest is Entertainment - “Fresh, confident and hugely engrossing.”
- Get Birding - “Accessible to newbies whilst feeling immersive and rich.”
- Sherlock & Co. - “Sherlock’s stories have been reimagined as a true crime series cobbled together by John Watson.”
- The Island of Brilliant - “A must listen for anyone wanting to get into writing children’s books, or are just interested in what children are currently loving.”
- Pod Save the UK - “Progressive politics, a broad range of guests and off-topic fun.”
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