Picks of the week
Queen of Hearts
All episodes widely available from Tuesday
“Dating is a drag, but this queen has your back,” proclaims Drag Race graduate Jujubee, before promising to rescue would-be romancers from the harsh world of apps. A provocative batch of games follow, with the fearless wing-woman taking contestants to the Bone Zone and asking them to make dull phrases titillating. But there’s a twist: they can only see each other at the end, when Jujubee decides if they’re worthy of a date. Hannah Verdier
Welcome to Provincetown
Widely available, episodes weekly
Mitra Kaboli follows seven people in a seaside town that swells into an iconic LGBTQ+ community in the summer in this heartwarming podcast. Friendly and determined characters such as Brian the newly divorced bear and Qya the “It Girl” help Kaboli adjust to a new way of life with gossip, fun and touching moments. HV
First Person
Widely available, episodes weekly
New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro goes beyond the hot take to find out what truly informs people’s opinions. She talks to those directly affected by what’s in the news, starting with Merritt Tierce who shines a light on what overturning Roe v Wade really means, sharing her experience of teenage pregnancy. HV
NonCensored
Widely available, episodes weekly
Rosie Holt is the unstoppable Harriet Langley-Swindon, flanked by Brendan Murphy and Eshaan Akbar in this glorious satirical podcast. She’s the kind of “famous opinionist” who likes to fire unchecked Brexit statistics at a game James O’Brien and debate how problematic taking the knee can be, because it could give false hope of a marriage proposal. HV
Smoke Screen: Puppy Kingpin
Widely available, episodes weekly
Peddling pups like drugs is a cruel move, but during the pandemic the demand for pets gave scammers a new opportunity. Here, Alex Schuman uncovers the Marty Byrde of the puppy world, Jolyn Noethe, who exploited potential owners. It is, as Schuman says, a “scuzzy” tale – and just one of many. HV
There’s a podcast for that
This week, Hannah Verdier chooses five of the best podcasts about scandal, from a look at the Rooney v Vardy ‘scousetrap’ to canoe fraud and the infamous Profumo affair
It’s … Wagatha Christie
From an Instagram sting to the high court, Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy’s libel case gripped millions, including Abi Clarke, whose BBC podcast is devoted to the shenanigans. “It’s like the cursed child of my two loves: true crime and hot, hot celeb gossip,” she says, nailing the exact reason why it’s so compelling. Clarke treats the subject with a justified amount of gravity, bringing in tabloid pun-writing experts and commentators on the landscape in which the Wags thrived. The case delivers twists, turns and more shade than a stray toe peeping out the edge of a tanning booth.
HeidiWorld: The Heidi Fleiss Story
The tale of the notorious “Hollywood Madam” (TM) is a predictably juicy one – and telling it has become a labour of love for journalist Molly Lambert. There’s a lot of detail before the main event, with Fleiss’s bohemian LA childhood and the emergence of her entrepreneurial skills when she took a cut of the profits from a babysitting circle. If you want to skip to the big guns, start on episode four, Little Black Book, in which Fleiss shuns “fusty Hollywood glamour”, bringing in a new type of sleek, 90s It Girl to satisfy her clients.
British Scandal
Despite its rather grand title, this show is not just packed full of posh people doing terrible things. Alice Levine and Matt Forde bring a touch of My Dad Wrote a Porno-style side-eye to their retelling of scandalous stories involving sex, money and power, but resist making the tasteless jokes that could be so easy. Lord Lucan, the Profumo affair and the News of the World’s phone-hacking each have a brace of episodes, along with tales of everyday folk such as “Canoe Man” John Darwin, the famous faker of his own death.
You Must Remember This
If old-school scandal had a voice, it would be Karina Longworth’s captivating, LA vintage, cocktail party tone. The narrator and writer documents Hollywood’s golden – but often murky – age in meticulous detail, from Frank Sinatra and Mae West through to MTV and Bo Derek. A thread of misogyny runs through many of the stories, and she doesn’t shy away from the gory details. The season on Charles Manson helped the podcast gain ground, thanks to its forensic detail and Longworth’s knack of unearthing hidden facts without going too far down the road to true-crime exploitation.
Disgraceland
Music meets true crime in Jake Brennan’s genre-spanning podcast, which is packed with corruption, sleaze, murder and lost songs. Brennan has the tone of an insider who eats anecdotes about Oasis’s hedonism for breakfast – and with more than 100 episodes under his belt, his unshockable style makes for great listening. From Jerry Lee Lewis and Sid Vicious through to the milder and more modern anguish of Taylor Swift, there are plenty of tall tales to choose from. You might know the story of Tupac, but it’s equally fun to be reminded of the numerous and varied scandals surrounding the likes of Derek and the Dominos.
Why not try …
A thrilling hunt to turn a Russian cybercriminal into a US asset in Hack Me If You Can.
More tear-jerking, sideways stories from the world of romance as Modern Love returns for a new series.
Dystopian, eclectic audio drama inspired by the work of Karel Čapek in Newts!
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