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Recommendation Engine: Alan’s back in his oasthouse

To universal acclaim...

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.

Platforms

Apple Podcasts: New Shows

RISE with Roxie (Bauer)

True Criminals (Audio Bleach Global)

The Big Pitch (Netflix/BBC Studios)

The Persuasion Game (The Forge/18Sixty)

The Chunkz Show (Upload)

Spotify: New & 🔥

Service95 Book Club (Service95/Persephonica)

The Crime Agents (Global)

The Wargame (Sky News/Tortoise)

Rylan: How to Be In Love (BBC Sounds)

Many Rivers (Warner Music Entertainment)

Amazon Music: Best Podcasts of the Week

Stick to Cricket (The Overlap)

You About? (BBC Sounds)

Wanging On (Listen)

Call To Stage (W!ZARD)

The Rise and Fall of… Oasis (BBC Radio 6 Music)

Pocket Casts: Featured

Gabriel: Born (Voyage)

Nice News Today (ind.)

Science Friction (ABC listen)

Mushroom Case Daily (ABC listen)

Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club (Hello Sunshine/iHeart)

Reviews

Miranda Sawyer in the Observer

Fiona Sturges in the FT

  • From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast (Audible) - “While the unedited rambling of podcast hosts is one of the curses of the medium, here it is welcome, allowing glimpses into the complex psyche of a local celebrity as he relays his inner thoughts, reflects on his surroundings and makes occasional clumsy attempts at human interaction.”

Patricia Nicol in the Sunday Times

  • Havana Helmet Club (BBC Radio 4) - “While it is great to have Forde and Bungey back, this is not a podcast series that feels as original, or uniquely their own, as West Cork.”

James Marriott in the Times

  • The Crime Agents (Global) - “Both men are a little wordy. Hughes, perhaps, is used to filling airtime on live radio. Basu, I suspect, has spent too long on the other side of the microphone. He comes over as formal and cautious, littering his speeches with apologies to the families of victims and statements of regret over terrorist incidents as if a wrong step will prompt furious listeners to start emailing complaints. Indeed, the effect is often remarkably like listening to a senior police officer being interviewed on Today. Podcasts only work if the hosts assume enough good faith on the part of their listeners to be able to relax.” ★★☆☆☆

Lucy White in the Irish Independent

  • The Art of Dying Well (ind.) - “Palliative care has become a key part of political debate in recent years but James Abbott’s poignant episode Caring for Pa is a personal story of Matt Parkes whose father Jeff – suffering with a rare neurodegenerative palsy – was actively suicidal, which came into conflict with Matt’s Catholic faith.”
  • Bedside Manners (ind.) - “Many admire actress Miriam Margolyes for her unbridled candour. Many find her uncouth. She’s certainly a gift from the gods for Dr Oscar Duke on the inaugural episode of Bedside Manners.”
  • The Next Five (FT Partner Content) - “Opposition voices of biotech worry it could create ‘designer babies’, biological weapons and other Frankenstein-like scenarios – but it appears to be too late to return the genie to the bottle.”

Listings

Clair Woodward in the Sunday Times

The Guardian’s Best Podcasts of the Week

In the Guardian Weekly

In the Saturday Guardian magazine

And in the Guardian’s Guide newsletter

In the Radio Times

In i Weekend

Plus Emily Cope speaks to Karen Carney about her new show Long Story Short (Crowd Network)

Heat’s Top of the Pods

Woman Magazine’s Listen Up section

Scott Bryan in Great British Podcasts

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