Podcast recommendations this week

I've not found the need to engage with many of the hard journalism podcast takes on the coronavirus, but I would recommend listening to BBC World Service's daily Coronavirus Global Update podcast. It tells you everything you need to know about the coronavirus related headline stories around the world that day, and it's under ten minutes.

Another podcast that caught my ears this week would be the BBC's Now Wash Your Hands, which is best described as a kind of aural Zoom slumber party for comedians, and, while having a funny almost cuddly tone to it, can wrong foot you sometimes with it's content. As such, it is definitely not suitable for children.

Taking a more analytical, policy and economic lens to corona is this weeks Reasons To Be Cheerful, in which Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd discuss economic bailouts, and how they could be done better.  One word: Denmark.

In 'Masking for a friend', design podcast 99% Invisible (which has podcast queen Amanda Litherland's seal of approval) takes a long look at Chinese society's relationship with the face mask.

Speaking of Amanda Litherland, last week's Podcast Radio Hour focused specifically on educational podcast content, and is well worth a listen if you either want to educate yourself or have children at home who you are currently home schooling.

And finally, the excellent We Are History recently ran an episode on the Suez Crisis. It should tell you everything you need to know about the tone of the series if I tell you that one of the main protagonists of the crisis is described at one point as being "Off his tits on amphetamines". Their episode on the Siege of Paris also feels most apt at the moment.

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Podcast recommendations this week

Kangaroos don't have to worry about physical distancing

If you're looking for some engrossing distraction, last weeks Podcast Radio Hour showcased UK independent comedy drama podcasts, acting as a taster for four different ones. It's well worth a listen and you might find a new favourite.

This past week I've been finding that the BBC World Service's Coronavirus Global Update podcast is perfect for telling me everything I need to know about coronavirus each day, condensed into five minutes.

That aside, I haven't really been looking to podcasts for coronavirus information this week, but I have been listening to a couple of podcasts that touch on pandemics.

Firstly, Reasons To Be Cheerful looked at crises of the past and discussed whether pandemics and other large scale crises do really act as moments of fundamental change.

Secondly, Anna Codrea-Rado and Tiffany Philippou over on Is This Working? continued their look at how the coronavirus is impacting work, with a thoughtful and inspiring take on letting go of productivity guilt, with the always excellent Harriet Minter.

And finally, if you'd like a glorious slice of escapism however, you could do a lot worse than listen to Best Pick's deep dive on the 1968 Oscar winning musical, Oliver!

Same time next week...

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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.

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Podcast recommendations this week

In lockdown, I'm experimenting with doing the occasional blog post recommending podcasts. Again, this is something I tend to do more on an annual basis but, given a lot of you currently have more time on your hands than you would usually, I've again decided to write more frequently about this.

That said, the queen of podcast recommends would be Amanda Litherland, who presents Podcast Radio Hour over on BBC Radio 4Extra, and who has introduced me to a lot of the podcasts I currently listen to. Podcast Radio Hour is itself available as a podcast, via BBC Sounds, and is definitely well worth a listen.

Two episodes of ongoing podcasts have caught my attention in the past couple of weeks, namely Best Pick's episode on The Apartment and We Are History's episode on Nuclear fall-out shelters. What both have in common is a fantastic combination of expert knowledge and enthusiasm. In the case of Best Pick, the three presenters were talking about one of their favourite films, and their enthusiasm was palpable. In the case of We Are History, Angela Barnes is known to be a massive Cold War geek with a strong affection for nuclear bunkers, so it was always going to be a great episode. Both podcast episodes are all absorbing and fascinating in equal measure, and guaranteed to take your mind off current affairs.

It you really want to disappear into another world entirely though, may I also recommend binge listening to the entirety of Victoriocity?

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