Untold: Toxic Legacy (Financial Times) - “It’s clearly a crisis but, as one farmer points out, why would you have your land tested if it becomes instantly worthless when lead is found? The government doesn’t compensate farmers for unusable land, so they don’t get it tested, carry on farming, and the lead, now inside the animals, is transferred to our supermarkets, and thus, our plates.”
Crying Wolf (iHeart) - “Harris’s story is completely compelling and host Dax-Devlon Ross keeps things barrelling along. This is a fine investigation.”
The History Podcast: The House at Number 48 (BBC Radio 4) - “[Anthony] Easton knew his dad as Peter, a secretive, gruff man who kept a brown leather suitcase close by at all times. But following his death, and after going through the suitcase, Easton comes to realise his father was someone else, someone he knew nothing about.”

Fiona Sturges in the FT

ill-advised by Bill Nighy (EYEPOD) - “There have been three episodes so far, each of them delightful. Nighy is hosting solo which is rare and more difficult than it sounds. This year Graham Norton and Maria McErlane have shown the fun that can be had as an agony uncle/aunt duo in the podcast Wanging On, in which they cheerfully taunt correspondents they suspect of whingeing. But it’s harder to poke fun at your listeners’ problems when yours is the only voice.”

James Marriott in the Times

The Tax Conundreum (BBC Radio 4) - “I happened on Ben Chu’s Radio 4 documentary, The Tax Conundrum, by chance. It’s not a promising title. But I became hypnotised. Britain’s tax system has attained positively magical-realist levels of zany illogic.”

★★★★☆

Rachel Cunliffe in the New Statesman

The History Podcast: The House at Number 48 (BBC Radio 4) - “It’s hard at times to remember that this isn’t fiction. Nor can it truly be called ‘history’. This is real life, after all, with real people living – and not living – at number 48. Either way, it will send shivers down your spine.”

Gerard O’Donovan in the Daily Telegraph

The Rise and Fall Of… The Sex Pistols (BBC Sounds) - “Presented by Steve Lamacq and Gina Birch, and capturing the anger and disillusionment that gave rise to punk in the mid-1970s, it features a mix of new and archive contributions from band members.”
A View from a Bridge (ind.) - “Gathering thematically linked stories from passers-by, musicians, activists and artists on subjects such as leaving home, becoming a parent or rebuilding your life after disaster.”
Cyber Hack: Evil Corp (BBC World Service) - “Hosts Joe Tidy and Sarah Rainsford outline Evil Corp’s origin story, taking listeners inside the international police operation to bring them down and speaking to FBI agents and detectives who have been hunting them for the past two decades.”

Lucy White in the Irish Independent

The Bad Articles (Felbryn Studios) - “A supernatural comedy and love letter to 1990s nostalgia and Irish folklore.”
A View from a Bridge (ind.) - “Began life on Instagram (@aview.fromabridge); snippets of longer vignettes that have now been collated into podcast form.”
No Appointment Necessary (Viral Tribe) - “Encourages open, honest conversations on health and relationships.”