If you are looking for podcasts that will stimulate your imagination, try one of our recommended listens.
1. The Mainstream Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Entertainment
When British TV and radio presenter Remel London first launched her creative media platform, The Mainstream, she aimed to create more opportunities that would support creatives trying to break into the entertainment industry. And she’s doing just that with its subsidiary, The Mainstream Podcast.
Also hosted by London, this is a bi-weekly podcast series where candid conversations are had with various guests from a creative background.
They discuss the genesis of their careers, lessons learnt, and the advice they would give to those trying to break into the industry.
In this week’s episode, London speaks to DJ Ace – real name is Ashley Asomani – who is a popular radio DJ, particularly for his work in R&B music. He recently left BBC Radio 1Xtra after 21 years to join Kiss FM, where he hosts a two-hour R&B show on Sundays.
The “heavyweight champion of radio” first talks to London about learning how to DJ, the impacts of being the only child, being a BRIT school alumnus, and how he landed his first role at the BBC.
He discusses navigating the early stages of his career without social media, transitioning into TV with Channel U – which was a British TV music channel that focused on the British grime scene – and the highlights of his broadcasting career.
If you are looking for a refreshing, insightful and community-driven series, The Mainstream Podcast is a great place to start.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. Mistresses
Streaming platform: Audible
Genre: History
Brimming with dark humour and sizzling chemistry, Mistresses offers the filthy, fascinating history lessons you never knew you needed.
Actor Jameela Jamil has teamed up with historian Dr Kate Lister to unearth the scandal-soaked lives of history’s most infamous mistresses, concubines, and courtesans. These include the so-called ‘female Al-Capone’ Virginia Hill, to Wu Zhao, who rose from concubine to China’s only female emperor, and Marita Lorenz, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s lover, who tried to murder him using poison pills hidden in her moisturiser.
With Gen Z “historical gossip correspondent” Katie Kennedy chiming in with juicy tidbits, this Audible Original feels more like a gossipy girls’ night than your standard history lecture.
Expect cackles, gasps and some seriously NSFW (not safe for work) details; this six-part series is certainly not for prudes. But, if you’re curious about the secret side of history, it is a fascinating insight into the lives of women who were often shamed, disparaged and underestimated.
You have been warned, though, you might find yourself laughing out loud on the train while listening, and not just when thinking of Henry VIII’s ‘sexy era’.
(By Katharina Schulenburg)
3. The Crime Agents
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: True crime and news
The Crime Agents launches with a gripping first episode exposing the hidden reality of convicted terrorists who now live on Britain’s streets.
Hosted by Neil Basu, former head of UK counter-terrorism policing, and LBC crime correspondent Andy Hughes, this brand-new podcast begins by revealing how the 7/7 bombings changed British terrorism forever.
Drawing on data from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and counter-terror networks, Basu and Hughes exclusively reveal how more than 540 convicted terrorists have been freed since 7/7, with over half refusing de-radicalisation programmes and still holding extremist views.
Basu shares deeply personal reflections on the strains of leading counter-terror policing through Britain’s highest threat period since the IRA, including years of broken sleep and constant anxiety. He describes how it took a full year after retirement for his health to stabilise.
With exclusive insights, honest discussion, and critical analysis of one of Britain’s most pressing security challenges, The Crime Agents is essential listening for anyone wanting to understand the hidden threat posed by extremists in our midst and the pressures facing those working to stop them.
(By Katharina Schulenburg)
4. Call of the Wild
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Environment
Call of the Wild is an award-winning podcast that is dedicated to raising awareness about critical environmental issues facing the world currently.
It has now returned for a third season and WWF Ambassador, actor and presenter and host of the podcast, Cel Spellman, has teamed up this week with Grammy-awarded musician Jacob Collier to explore how nature inspires his music, how it keeps him grounded and much more.
Collier, throughout the episode, speaks of his journey to falling in love with nature as he explains that the first time he began to spend time in it, he was “struck first of all by the quiet”. “It’s extraordinary and all-encompassing,” he says.
When asked about finding that peace and quiet in a busy city like London, Collier recommends the ancient Hampstead Heath as a place to go to connect with nature, as he describes it as “the original stomping ground” for himself.
Collier goes on to talk about the impact of spending time in nature and going to “untouched places” which were crucial for his imagination and helped him to feel free.
When asked about the connection between nature and music, he explains that they are the two things he was always drawn to growing up.
It’s a great quality episode that offers a snippet of calm while listening, similar to the effects of being in nature.
(By Sara Keenan)
Spotlight on…
5. Senseless with Erika Mahoney
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: True crime
Erika Mahoney is a mum, journalist and daughter of Kevin Mahoney, who was killed in a mass shooting in the US.
On a Monday afternoon in March 2021, Mahoney’s mother called telling her that there was an active shooter at King Soopers supermarket in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. And that her dad was shopping there.
In seconds, the supermarket became the site of another mass shooting, and 10 people were killed – including her dad.
Mahoney’s new Lemonada-produced podcast, Senseless with Erika Mahoney, follows her as she navigates grief, trauma, forgiveness and moving forward after the unthinkable.
Through connecting with other survivors, meeting with a medium, and going on a grief retreat, Mahoney begins to rebuild her life, all while facing a high-profile trial.
Along the way, she interviews shoppers, employees, first-aiders, first responders and so many others affected by the tragedy in Boulder to highlight the deep, lasting impacts of gun violence.
She also sits down with a grief therapist, Claire Bidwell Smith, and musicians Aly and AJ, who survived a mass shooting themselves.
Senseless with Erika Mahoney is a tragic yet beautiful listen that allows listeners to join Mahoney on her healing journey.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
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