The Podcasts You Need To See To Believe
I’m a big fan of podcasts. I love the way you can truly lose yourself in a great story, an interview or comedy moment. I spend hours a week listening; I’ve laughed (Louis Theroux Singing I can Boogie on Adam Buxton), cried (Sheryl Sandberg’s Desert Island Discs) and changed my mind multiple times as to ‘who dunnit’ in a True Crime pod (currently Death In Ice Valley).
BUT, I need more from my shows.
To get more, I Google as I listen. Is it just me? Maybe it’s because i’m nosey, maybe it’s because i’m a screen obsessed millennial or maybe it’s because I want it all. I want to see pictures of the suspects, buy tickets to my favourite comedian’s show, add my favourite songs from Hip Hop Saved My Life straight to my Spotify Playlist and sometimes I even want to buy the products advertised to me!
Luckily, some podcasts are more helpful than others. So if you’re like me and need a multi-sensory experience, listen to the below shows alongside their accompanying websites.
99% Invisible
In each episode of 99% Invisible, creator and host Roman Mars points out the nearly invisible and unnoticed design processes behind the everyday things and happenings around us. It’s fascinating-from the carefully engineered clicks of a keyboard to the prototypes behind Trump’s border wall, you’ll see the world differently after listening to this podcast.
But what’s the point of a design and architectural podcast if you can’t see what’s being spoken about? Helpfully on the 99% invisible website the publisher adds images, links and videos to help the stories come to life.
The Teacher’s Pet
The complex web of friends and family behind the disappearance of Lyn Dawson in the Teachers Pet is more complicated than the Kardashian family tree. This brilliant show from The Australian tells the story about a woman that went missing with no trace in January 1982. It’s a gripping story but within minutes you want to know what all the key characters look like. Luckily The Australian has a comprehensive page of images and descriptions of everyone involved so you can put faces to names.
Serial, Season 1
Serial arguably put podcasting on the map. Launched in 2014 it was the blockbuster True Crime show that followed the trial of Adnan Syed who was accused of murdering his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee. It was such a hit that it’s due to be turned into a TV Series.
One of the key pieces of evidence were all the logs from Adnan’s cell phone but it’s very easy to get your wires crossed and to remember all the potentially incriminating incoming and outgoing calls. Luckily Serial has a great website for Series 1 and 2 that has a lot of case related material for you to get stuck into.
Caliphate
Caliphate follows journalist Rukmini Callimachi, who covers terrorism for The New York Times, on her quest to understand ISIS. Over ten thrilling episodes, she interviews returning ISIS fighters, visits Mosul and uncovers a wealth of classified documents.
Now I bet you want to see the documents and pictures from her journey, right? Luckily you can over on the New York Times’ website.
Next Generation Podcasting?
Whilst it’s great to see all the extra content on these websites, I really wanted was to see this whilst i was listening, within my podcast player.
That’s why I joined the founding team of Entale, a podcast app that allows you to see all the rich media associated with the audio as you listen. We’re still building and growing as a business but if you’re interested in testing our a more full experience, download our app or get in touch with feedback at hannah@entale.co — i’d love to hear from you.
