If you want to laugh, learn about the history of equity or start watching anime, then this week’s podcast picks are for you.
1. The Point Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Culture and society
Good friends Afo and Michael – the latter who recently celebrated his 32nd birthday – speak about how to tackle male loneliness and managing friendships in this week’s episode of The Point Podcast.
But before they get to that, they discuss why it’s challenging to commit to fitness goals when the sun is out, what they are grateful for at this current point in their lives, and the Canadian music producer and rapper Kaytranada’s upcoming London gig.
It was interesting to hear Afo and Michael talk about why it gets harder to have deep and meaningful friendships with people as you age, how they handle the change in dynamics, and what their parents have taught them about friendships – particularly when it comes to quantity.
Eventually, the co-hosts get into “deeper waters”, and Afo asks Michael – who is a self-proclaimed social butterfly – if male loneliness has become a bigger epidemic, and if he’s feeling lonely at the moment.
They go on to speak about why loneliness is also a part of the human experience, highlighting its difference from solitude, how we can combat loneliness in our lives, and why being a part of a community is still important.
Even though The Point Podcast only made a return to the podcasting airwaves in March, it’s safe to say that the camaraderie between Afo and Michael is something special.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Culture, comedy and society
Amy Poehler chats to the creator of the hit comedy show ‘Abbott Elementary’, Quinta Brunson. Poehler kicks off the interview by chatting to friends and colleagues including Kate Peterman, Zack Evans and Ash Perez, who all met Brunson working at the digital media company BuzzFeed, about what they expect from Brunson’s interview.
Unlike a lot of celebrity interviews, Poehler steers clear from overtly deep or self-congratulatory topics with Bruson, instead offering a light and easy listen.
Brunson and Poehler chat through the surreal experience of being the face of a hit network show, her deep respect for sitcoms and the hazards of being petite in a world built for tall people (spoiler: microphone stands are not her friend).
The two women gently roast the absurdities of showbiz in a warm but refreshingly unfiltered way – making the podcast feel like you’re eavesdropping on a conversation between two friends who are just as over hustle culture as the rest of us.
(By Lara Owen)
3. Second Wind
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Society and culture
In the latest episode of Second Wind, former Olympian and American track and field athlete, Marion Jones, and Suzanne Evans, NY Times best-selling author, speak to American sports writer Jemele Hill about her career in journalism, NFL, and American film director, Spike Lee.
One of the first questions they ask Hill is what piece of advice she would give to her 20-something-year-old self about sports journalism – and everything in between.
Professionally, Hill wouldn’t change much. However, she does caveat by saying that things are so different for young journalists today – especially if they are Black women – and that you need to be “multifaceted”.
Personally, Hill would change a lot. She admits that her credit was destroyed by the age of 21, and she would learn how to handle money better. Relationships? “I was really in a disastrous place… but also a good place,” says Hill.
But the conversation starts to get really interesting when the hosts ask Hill about her weekly sports and politics podcast, Spolitics. Particularly, questioning whether athletes have a moral obligation to take a stand on culture, politics and world views.
Before, Hill was of the mindset that if you have a platform, you should use it. But now, she doesn’t think sportspeople have that same obligation anymore.
Second Wind is the podcast where setbacks meet comebacks. If you enjoy having deep conversations that both challenge and inspire, then have a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. The Slow Down
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Culture, comedy and society
The Slow Down is hosted by Tijana Tamburic, the co-founder of the creative agency Female Narratives and a Tedx 2019 speaker. The podcast is described as “your time to define success for yourself in our ‘growth at all costs’ capitalist culture – with a little inspiration from others.”
This week’s episode, the last of season one, featured Sharmadean Reid, MBE, entrepreneur and author best known for founding WAH Nails and The Stack World – a platform that helps women through networking and business tools.
Throughout the episode, the two women cover several topics including Reid’s love for London and how, through her businesses, she feels like she is giving back to the city – which she says is important to do.
They also touch on Reid’s first idea of what it means to be successful, which she describes as beginning in her Jamaican household where she had a deep interest in TV and magazines.
Reid also explains how her goal was never to start her own business, and how that changed from her initial move to London to where she is now.
The also women touch on how important it is for women to have equity in today’s society. They briefly go through the history of equity, who the changemakers were, and how women can now begin to have their own investments.
An interesting and refreshing part of the episode was Reid sharing some tips she wished she had known at 25, which included living near friends and building communities throughout adulthood.
(By Sara Keenan)
Spotlight on…
5. Do You Watch Anime?
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Culture, comedy and society
Do You Watch Anime? is so much more than the simple premise of its title.
It’s the first question Canadian host Adam Corky asks his guests, and if your own answer is “Does Luffy wear a straw hat?” then this freewheeling fanfest for the world of Japanese animation is going to be a delight.
Corky interviews voice actors and others involved in the direction and dubbing of the distinctly styled cartoons into English.
For those new to anime or manga comics the shows are based on, this podcast will give you tips on where to start in a graphic medium with an unlimited and potentially overwhelming range of characters, stories and styles.
This week’s guest Bree Han, who plays Xiaolan in The Apothecary Diaries, shares how she went from business school to voice actor, what it’s like to hear your own voice in your favourite series, and the benefits of playing a small part that can turn into a much bigger character.
It’s nerdy in the nicest way.
(By Amy Crowther)
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