These are my podcast recommendations

Keir Harper ⭐️
Aug 22, 2017 · 3 min read

Friends, acquaintances and workmates often ask me to recommend some quality podcasts. Instead of retyping the same Facebook message over and over, I thought I would create this instead.

Every podcast described below is either one within my regular listening repertoire, or one which I have listened to in its entirety more than once.

I’ve chosen not to include any links in my list. I recommend just searching the title in your preferred podcast app.


People interviewing people

Guys We Fucked — Two New York standup comics interview their friends about their lives, sexual histories and hang ups. The weekly episodes can sometimes vary depending on the strength of interview and interviewee. But the way in which Corrine and Krystyna manage to talk candidly — but never titillatingly- about themselves every week is funny and disarming.

Longform — Journalists and writers talk about their work and practice. This can be a bit Brooklynite or east-coast-intellectual in tone, but the skilled way with which the interviews are handled is top drawer, and each episode is distinctly different.

The Adam Buxton Podcast — Comic Adam Buxton interviews famous people. This podcast is worthing listening to just for its jingles. However, Dr. Buckles is developing into that special kind of interviewer who can manage to get other cagey participants to open up to talk about their passions, and eventually, themselves.

I Was There Too — American man Matt Gourley meets actors who had small roles in the biggest moments in cinema and television history. A shorthand I use to give people a sense of the brilliant scope of this podcast: there is a episode where each of the actors who were extras in the bus in Speed are interviewed.

True Crime

1995 — A podcast about some events of 1995 in Canada, starting with the trial of serial killer Paul Bernarndo — one largely overlooked by wider culture as it was overshadowed by the concurrent O.J. Simpson trial. Presenter Kathy Kenzora’s delivery and style has a particularly nineties TV newscaster tone to it, which is a welcome change to the infectious cadence of other, more popular true crime shows.

Body on the Moor — Short and self-contained, this compelling BBC production investigates the story of unidentified (and unidentifiable) man was discovered dead on a desolate moor in the Peak District.

Who Killed Elsie Frost? — Another BBC podcast that revisits the unsolved case of the young girl who was murdered in 1965 in North Yorkshire.

Accused — Created by the Cincinnati Enquirer, this story of a 1976 murder of an Ohio student is complex and layered, but the journalists involved help us make sense of the details over ten long episodes.

What Happened to Vishal? — A quietly sad and murky story of a boy who goes missing in central London on the day of the royal wedding in 1981. This is short and could be listened to in a oner.

Miscellaneous

Scriptnotes — Two Hollywood screenwriters discuss movie industry news, and offer hugely insightful advice to aspiring screenwriters. While I’m not in their target audience, as a film goer I enjoy the different perspective they bring to filmmaking process.

Missing Richard Simmons — When America’s answer to Mr. Motivator suddenly and unexpectedly withdraws from public life, the podcast creator, a close friend of Simmons, records his investigation into what happened. This is a story about fame, privacy and the dubious morals that are the basis of many investigative podcasts.

God Tier

Mystery Show — Each instalment of this short-lived podcast attempts to solve a mystery. For example, a boy finds a worthless belt buckle in the street — who owned it?

S-Town — A writer travels to a rural town in Alabama to investigate tales about unsolved murders. But this isn’t a true crime podcast or similar — there are few twists, cliffhangers or easy solutions. Its big strength is that the creator, Brian Reed, just follows where the story takes him.

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