Podcast recommendations this week

Given the graveness of the pandemic, I've been thinking that what you might need this week is levity and quirkiness in your podcast listening rather than hard news. There are podcasts out there who are explicitly covering coronavirus, including the podcast formerly known as Brexitcast and Newscast, plus the daily update as provided by the World Service. I might look at them in a week or two but, for now, I'm going to focus on factual podcasts that are interesting, informative, a bit quirky, and a bit funny.

Last weeks Podcast Radio Hour, while focusing largely on religious content for Easter weekend, did include a mention of 99% Invisible, a design podcast that Amanda Litherland likes and has mentioned before. The episode she mentioned was 'Wipeout', which discussed the history of toilet paper. Beginning with pandemic panic buying, the episode provided a detailed, funny, informal history of the humble roll.

Taking a similarly sideways look at history and social phenomena is the '[Redacted]' episode of The British Library podcast Anything But Silent, which discussed censorship and libraries alongside weeding, library humour, and the Awful Books website. While this episode was released last summer, it's a great, timeless listen that provides a fascinating insight into library culture. Given that libraries are having to work in completely different ways under lockdown, with a much bigger emphasis on e-resources, online enquiries and social media to connect with readers, this podcast will continue to be a fascinating resource.

Image of headphones by Lee Campbell on Unsplash