Recommendation Engine: The Lucan Obsession

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:

• Extrasensory
• Frank Off the Radio
• Begin Again
• Up In Smoke
• Rivals

Spotify New & 🔥

• Rivals
• Live and Let Dyers
• Up In Smoke
• DEEP IT!
• History’s Greatest Conspiracy Theories

Fiona Sturges in the FT

• We Live Here Now (The Atlantic) - “The empathy, humanity and depth of their reporting reveals much about these febrile times and how political adversaries can find much to laugh about if only they would sit down and talk.”

Miranda Sawyer in the Observer

• The Lucan Obsession (BBC Radio 4) - “Our host is smart historian Alex von Tunzelmann. She is excellent here, with a perfectly modulated script and some great interviews.”
• Uncanny (BBC Radio 4) - “Listeners’ tales feature a ghostly lady in a red dress; Black Shuck, the glowing-eyed dog of folklore; and a young woman who experienced being turned into a second world war soldier. Also, and this made me do a real-life LOL, a listener’s very specific nightmare, which turns out to be shared with, of all people, Rick Astley.”
• Extrasensory (Apple): “A slightly dodgy scientist makes an appearance and there are spooky details galore.”

Patricia Nicol in the Sunday Times

• Frank Off the Radio (Avalon) - “Warm-hearted, relatable, whimsical but never twee, it is light on its feet yet lands laughs that will leave listeners grinning from ear to ear.”
• Begin Again (Flight Studio) - “McCall brings her full dazzling self — probing, sharing, emoting and crying readily.”

Clair Woodward in the Sunday Times

• Chatty Natty (Cast Off) - “This is a really lovely dialogue between the generations.”
• Live and Let Dyers (Global) - “In the style of Roman and Martin Kemp’s FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp podcast, the Dyers do the same for fathers and daughters.”
• Brown Girls Do It Too: Big Boy Energy (BBC) - “While Rubina Pabani takes maternity leave Poppy Jay, her fellow host of this relationship podcast for Asian women, returns with a spin-off series featuring an all-male celebrity guest list..”

The Guardian’s Hear Here column recommends

• Brown Girls Do It Too: Big Boy Energy (BBC) - “First up is Asim “Chabuddy G” Chaudhry, who talks death, rejection and swapping Curly Wurlies for kisses.”
• Inside McKamey Manor (Audio Always) - “Is the owner a Halloween prankster or a torturer who locks people in a freezer?”
• The Art of Deciding (Podcart) - “If you can’t decide what to have for lunch, Bruce Whitfield has the podcast for you.”
• Heaven’s Helpline (NZ Herald) - “It’s difficult listening to a young woman talk about how she was pressured into marriage and motherhood, then controlled by her husband.”
• Harry and Paul’s Guide to Life (Stak) - “Who better to teach you how to get ahead in life than The Traitors’ chief villains Harry Clark and Paul Gorton?”

In the Guardian’s Guide newsletter

• Inside McKamey Manor (Audio Always) - “It’s a good on-ramp for Elizabeth McCafferty to look at the growing immersive scare industry, which seems to be getting ever more extreme.”

Highlights from the Radio Times

• Truthless (The Ringer)  - “Real people talk about the times in their lives when what began as a white lie took on a life of its own.”
• My Life with Dementia (Dementia UK) - “A must for anyone whose life has been touched by dementia.”
• News Natter (BBC) - “Three presenters, friends, and journalists come together to discuss issues big, quirky and trivial.”

Heat’s Top of the Pods

• Strangers on a Bench (ind.) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Stirring It Up (OffScript/Yaya) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scott Bryan in Great British Podcasts

• Extrasensory (Apple) - “A haunting and brilliantly well told tale, this new AppleTV+ podcast series looks at a strange story from 1950s England, all about a milkman called John Pollock.”
• Rivals: The Official Podcast (Disney+/Listen) - “Unpacking the plot of each episode in turn and featuring contributions from the cast and crew.”
• Curious Cases (BBC Radio 4) - “Ó Briain and Fry are a great broadcasting double act. I also like how each question, no matter how surreal, is treated with the same level of dedication and commitment to finding an answer.”
• The Chipping Forecast (Folding Pocket) - “Their chat is meandering and engaging, the listener emails and interaction are always entertaining and informative and the vibe is warm and consistent.”