The summer holiday months are upon us and it’s the perfect time to settle back and soak up some of those rays – more than likely abroad – while listening to a podcast.
But what to listen to? The podcasting world has exploded over the past decade, and with new shows released almost daily, it can be hard to know where to find the ones worthy of your ears.
That’s where we come in, with our round-up of the best new releases. Plug in and sit back.
The Spy Who…
This show serves up fascinating stories of spycraft that are well worth tuning in for. Most recently, the show (with different stories narrated by Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey) has examined the life of Aimen Dean, an Al-Qaeda jihadist who turned informant for the UK and helped stop multiple terrorist attacks – with a final episode interviewing Dean himself.
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Continental Garbage
A spinoff of the beloved podcast Sentimental Garbage, CG is a series about travel and films that feature travelling in which hosts Jen Cownie and Caroline O'Donoghue discuss everything from Eat, Pray, Love to Before Sunrise, and go off piste to take in Taylor Swift’s newest album and whether stripy v-necks will ever disappear from our wardrobes. And don’t worry, the laughs are very much still there.
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White Devil
In 2021, Jasmine Hartin (the daughter-in-law of Tory peer Michael Ashcroft) shot dead a police officer in Belize. What unfolded afterward is a sinister story of corruption, bribery, shifty dealings in dark corners and several plot twists you certainly won’t see coming. An interesting deep dive into the power that money can buy.
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If I Speak
This Novara Media podcast sees hosts Ash Sarkar and Moya Lothian-McLean sit down to discuss some of the weirdest stuff society is obsessed with. Should you ever shag a Tory? Why are people so angry these days? And why is skinny back in fashion again? Complete with eye-opening interviews (guests include Shon Faye and Chimene Suleyman)
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How to be in the Spotlight
X-Factor contestant turned TV host Rylan has been on quite a journey in the past few years – and now he’s rounding up a list of celebrities (pals and otherwise) to chat about the trials and tribulations of fame. With guests including Ainsley Harriot and Jameela Jamil, it’s an eye-opening look into just how toxic the limelight can be, but also how to thrive in it.
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Buried: The Last Witness
Michael Sheen flexes his skills as an investigative journalist in this sobering BBC Radio 4 investigation. Joining up with hosts Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor to investigate the environmental legacy of Monsanto, an American chemical plant which ended up dumping much of its surplus product in landfills around South Wales… only to cause horrific birth defects and a ticking time bomb for its residents.
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Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?
Comedian Joanne McNally dives head-first into what she has dubbed the ‘Avril Lavigne Replacement Theory’: the idea that the pop-punk singer has for several years now been replaced by somebody called Melissa Vandella. This obviously isn’t true, but it provides a springboard for McNally (and some celebrity pals) to do some very amateur sleuthing at a variety of Lavigne-related places.
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Kicking Back With the Cardiffians
Singer Charlotte Church takes to the microphone for this series celebrating all things Wales and Cardiff. It’s a very personal view into what makes her area tick: there are conversations with the landlord of her local pub, the Robin Hood (where she met both of her husbands), her 86-year-old grandad and her best friend, who talks about the days in which their nights out made tabloid headlines on the regular.
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The Price of Paradise
Alice Levine is becoming quite the podcasting guru: her latest collaboration with Wondery sees her narrate the true story of ex-Bunny girl Jayne Gaskin, who sells her home in order to move her family to a remote island in Nicaragua. A Channel 4 TV crew follows them out there, but they’re all in for a nasty shock when it turns out (surprise) that this dream opportunity is maybe not quite what it first appears.
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Miss Me?
Lifelong friends Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver team up for this filthy, frank and very funny podcast series in which they discuss pretty much every topic under the sun, including their first times having sex, stories from within the music industry and tales about the paranormal. Listener involvement is very much encouraged: the overall vibe is sitting down with your best mates in a pub for a long and slightly drunken chat.
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Brave New World
Whether you're curious about the secrets to longer life, the mysteries of sleep, or the future of medical technology, it’s all here in Brave New World. In this podcast, hosted by Evgeny Lebedev, the show dives deep into the ideas of thought leaders, scientists, and intellectuals who are shaping the future and transforming our culture. Recent episodes include discussions with Jim Kwik, offering tips to boost your brain, Mark Hyman on the rise of longevity medicine and Ryan Holiday on what we can learn from Marcus Aurelius. The podcast brings in depth discussions into fascinating subjects with fascinating people.
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Bronwyn
Remember podcasting mega-hit The Teacher’s Pet? Well, Australian broadcaster Hadley Thomas is back to examine another long-buried cold case: this time, that of Bronwyn Winfield, who mysteriously vanished from her home in Byron Bay in 1993. She left her two young children, and ex-husband, behind – what happened to her? Thomas investigates.
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Queer the Music
This rather lovely podcast by Jake Sheers examines the queer dancefloor anthems that have shaped peoples’ lives, and interviews the artists behind them. The resulting lineup is impressive – ranging from Self Esteem to Olly Alexander – and the chats are informative and surprisingly intimate.
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Green Wing: Resuscitated
Good news for fans of the cancelled Channel 4 show Green Wing: it’s back, in podcast form! Seventeen years after the TV show ended, the original cast – including Olivia Colman, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan return – for a new audio series. Of course, the medics of East Hampton hospital have aged disgracefully, and hijinks abound.
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Sixteenth Minute (Of Fame)
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Memes: they’re a laugh, aren’t they. But what does it do to the people who (unwittingly or not) become them? This fascinating pod takes to the streets to interview those who were immortalised on Tumblr, Twitter and TikTok and find out what that brief glimpse of fame did to their lives. What do you do when you get more attention and judgement than any one person is built to handle?
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Polyester Podcast
The hard-working staff at Polyester Mag. Ione Gamble and Gina Tonic turn a feminist lens on modern society in their discussions of all things pop, which veer between their secret love of Jojo Siwa to why Saltburn perhaps isn’t everything it’s made out to be. “Have faith in your own bad taste!” the tagline reads, and it’s a real hoot.
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