Radio

How the good intentions of Title IX ended up punishing the innocent

18 September 2021 9:00 am

How do we have difficult conversations? Especially in an age of polarisation, where everything is immediately politicised? But also where…

A podcast that will rescue your relationship: Where Should We Begin? reviewed

11 September 2021 9:00 am

Let me give you a free piece of relationship advice: just break up. If it’s more work than pleasure, if…

Must all history programming be 'relevant'?

28 August 2021 9:00 am

When it comes to history programming, television’s loss is increasingly audio’s gain. People moan to me most weeks over the…

Contains moments of spellbinding banality: Radio 4's The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed reviewed

21 August 2021 9:00 am

The interview podcast is a genre immoderately drawn to gimmicks, as the logical space of possible formats is gradually exhausted.…

Why do I find sketch shows – even the better ones – so embarrassing and charmless?

14 August 2021 9:00 am

On sketch shows, the wisdom once was that you needed a punchline. That is, a slightly hammy, summative sign-off to…

A podcast that listens to what anti-vaxxers think rather than lecturing them

7 August 2021 9:00 am

Work is our new religion. There are people whose primary job is writing listicles of celebrity gossip, illustrated with gifs…

Floods you with fascinating facts: Trees A Crowd reviewed

31 July 2021 9:00 am

Listening to Trees A Crowd, a podcast exploring the ‘56(ish) native trees of the British Isles’, solved one of childhood’s…

The best theatre podcasts

24 July 2021 9:00 am

All the world’s on stage again so where to go to for insight into what to see and why? Podcasts,…

Wallace Shawn's Designated Mourner feels like watching the news

17 July 2021 9:00 am

Pity the aesthete, the flâneur and the opera-goer. Those who find the contents of their own heads so dull and…

Much smarter than your average podcast: Passenger List reviewed

10 July 2021 9:00 am

Passenger List opens with a carefully structured ripple of breaking news bulletins: a mysterious catastrophe, an unconvincing official explanation, the…

The best food podcasts

3 July 2021 9:00 am

You have to hand it to Ed Miliband. After bacon sandwich-gate, he might never have eaten in public again, but…

The worst idea ever for a podcast – and it's great: Our Struggle reviewed

26 June 2021 9:00 am

Our hosts are Lauren and Drew and they want to talk about Karl Ove Knausgaard. Or rather, they want to…

The best podcasts to be enjoyed at 4 a.m.

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Now that all of the billionaires are going into space, the night sky holds a special new kind of allure.…

The joy of Radio 4 Extra

5 June 2021 9:00 am

The best thing on the radio last week was, without question, Kind Hearts and Coronets. You may have missed it…

The podcast that makes the world strange, mysterious and compelling again

29 May 2021 9:00 am

It’s interesting that we have decided shaming and yelling are the easiest ways to change people’s minds. Which is not…

Insane and fascinating: BBC World Service's Lazarus Heist reviewed

22 May 2021 9:00 am

The narrative podcast remains a form in search of a genre. The template set by the hit show Serial —…

Seldom less than gripping: Banged Up podcast reviewed

8 May 2021 9:00 am

Prison-based podcast Banged Up, now in its second series, is far more uplifting — and less soapy — than its…

This is the golden age of the grifter – and there's a podcast for every con

24 April 2021 9:00 am

Truly we are living in the golden age of the grifter. From Fyre Fest to the WeWork empire to Theranos…

It's almost touching that the NFT world see itself as radical

17 April 2021 9:00 am

Some things are explained so many times that they become unexplainable: we can only relate to them as something complicated…

Refreshingly unfettered: LRB Podcast's Close Readings on Patricia Highsmith

10 April 2021 9:00 am

I’d forgotten what a rich and deep and characterful voice John le Carré had. Listening to author and lawyer Philippe…

My favourite failed podcasts

27 March 2021 9:00 am

The promise of the internet was supposed to be thus: you could be your own bizarre, inappropriate self, and you…

Why In Our Time remains the best thing on radio

20 March 2021 9:00 am

In Our Time is the best thing on Radio 4, possibly the best thing on the radio full stop. It…

Barack Obama will make you cringe: Renegades: Born in the USA reviewed

13 March 2021 9:00 am

Barack Obama wants the world to know how much he loves singing. In his new podcast, which takes the form…

Claudia Winkleman’s new Radio 2 show gets off to a brainless start

6 March 2021 9:00 am

Last Saturday on Radio 2 Claudia Winkleman was inaugurated as the host of what was formerly Graham Norton’s mid-morning spot.…

Why I'm obsessed with this podcast's merciless little romps: Browned Off reviewed

27 February 2021 9:00 am

Everything is too long these days, isn’t it? Every series is at least two episodes too long, podcasts go on…