Podcasts for the inevitable long waits this Christmas period
A couple of friends confessed the other day that they didn’t know where to start with podcasts, and asked for recommendations. I sent them this and and thought I’d share.
This is by no means a definite list of my top and all-time favourites, more of a selection of brilliant content for different moods that came to my mind. There are many brilliant ones missing from this list so do comment / tweet me with more suggestions.
Blue Planet II: The Podcast
This is something new from the radio team and it’s a fun, entertaining listen. It topped the podcast charts when it launched and it shows how good a creative audio-take on a television giant can sound like.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05jv4yz/episodes/downloads
Tracks
Romola Garai was amazing in the first season of Radio 4’s conspiracy thriller Tracks, which is still available as a podcast, and now there’s a new season underway. It’s a gripping listen. Plus if you start from the beginning, you already have something to fill the void when you finish with the first series — the second one. I also spotted this on the Tracks website on other great storytelling podcasts, including The Reservoir Tapes and The Moth Radio Hour.
Tracks link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09g0css/episodes/downloads
20 great storytelling podcasts to download: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3gMfYLsQ4PzHzg8pR5kFhjK/20-great-storytelling-podcasts-to-download
Slow Radio
This is a recommendation from a colleague of mine. Apparently this makes any journey in an overcrowded bus/train/tram/tube feel (and sound) slightly unusual. It’s Radio 3’s Slow Radio podcast and the Life on a Shanty Boat episode, a 20-minute watery odyssey idling down the Tennessee River.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05n42q6
Revisionist History
I really enjoy this one — it’s the Revisionist History podcast from Malcolm Gladwell. There are two series of RH now up so quite a few episodes to choose from, but I like how surprising they are about the past and how revealing they are about today. The storytelling and production are great. Not for golf fans, though.
Tomorrow’s World
The one episode to listen to if you want to get an idea of how they explore science is the Hope Floats one, looking at whether we should be investing in floating cities if the current way we live become uninhabitable with climate change, overpopulation and so on. Two great new presenters too in Britt Wray and Dr Ellie Cosgrave .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05h5sw6/episodes/downloads
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
I wanted to mention one of the BBC newcomers which we now do as podcast-only, rather than broadcast as part of a specific station’s schedule. Whilst we hear Nick Robinson Radio 4 regularly as the host of the Today programme, his Political Thinking podcast removes all the constraints of schedules and formats and what we end up with are great longer interviews and discussions, both thoughtful and revealing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04z203l/episodes/downloads
Podcasting House
For general podcast sampling I thought I’d flag up this new sampler feed — it’s works for those who might be new to podcast listening, or if you don’t know what you fancy listening to and want to try a few different ones. We launched it a few weeks ago and it includes episodes of different BBC podcasts — so just skip to the next one if what you start with isn’t what you want to continue with.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ltqxn/episodes/downloads
Arsecast
And finally, I couldn’t really not mention Arsecast — I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but oh well. It’s just a brilliant podcast with all the Arsenal views a fan might ever want. And that includes me.
