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 & 🔥
- Perfect Day with Jessica Knappett
- Naughty Corner
- Famously… On Trial
- Communicating with Ros Atkins
- Rory Stewart: The Long History of…
Fiona Sturges in the FT
- Hysterical - “The host’s trademark has been his archly quizzical tone, though Hysterical brings a distinct softening and sensitivity in his approach.”
Miranda Sawyer in the Observer
- Dangerous Memories - “These are devastating stories, told by three of the young women who were brainwashed by Craig into believing false memories. Their well-educated accents and polite cadences sound utterly at odds with the awful situations they find themselves in.”
- World of Secrets: The Apartheid Killer - “All his victims were black and one was just 12 years old. Yet he insists he wasn’t racist. ‘I was anti-crime, not anti-black,’ he says. This is one of the few investigative shows that actually interviews the killer… A fascinating story, but, God, a terrible tale.”
The Sunday Times have published their 48 best podcasts of 2024, including
- Happily Never After
- June: Voice of a Silent Twin
- A Thorough Examination
- London Review of Books
- Song Exploder
- Three Million
The Guardian’s Hear Here column recommends
- Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter - “Owen Wilson, Sissy Spacek and Schuyler Fisk star in this story about ‘the most interesting man you’ve never heard of’.”
- History Extra: Toilets Through Time - “A sponge on a stick, thunder of the bum and a devil lurking in the bowl: this deep dive into history’s U-bend turns up some fascinating nuggets.”
- In the News This Week - “As zingy and gag-packed as you’d expect.”
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Birder - “Hipster amateur ornithologist Matt Spracklen goes on a weekly walk with avian experts.”
- How to Write a Book - “First up: how to know when that idea might be worth working on.”
In the Guardian’s Guide newsletter
- Hysterical - “Is this a pathogen or mass hysteria? The first three episodes, out now, dangle this question expertly.”
Highlights from the Radio Times
- Worse than Murder - “In 1969 Muriel McKacy, the wife of a newspaper executive, was the victim of a kidnap.”
- Land of the Giants - “What is the essence of Disney?”
- The British Food History Podcast - “A kind of In Our Time for the kitchen.”
Heat’s Top of the Pods
Scott Bryan in Great British Podcasts
- How to Write a Book - "Having three different perspectives on the same process is actually a genius idea."
- Perfect Day with Jessica Knappett - “It is not the concept that keeps you listening, it is always down to the chat.”
- Quite a Good Sport - “Full to the brim of interesting sports facts, tidbits and stories.”
- Inside Briefing - “A new mini-series lifting the lid on the reality of being a ‘spad.’”
