Have you made any wrong turns recently? Or are you a budding car enthusiast? Then this week’s podcast picks may be for you.
1. Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life and wellbeing
Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil is a hilarious new podcast hosted by the actress and activist, which shines a light on life’s awkward, messy and funny moments, featuring a lineup of well-known guests.
In the latest episode, Jamil is joined by comedy greats Simon Pegg and Richard Herring as they dive into all things embarrassing – from disastrous stand-up gigs to cringeworthy school memories.
They all share tales of public nudity, and Simon Pegg recounts a particularly awkward Christmas incident when he accidentally shared an inappropriate video with his entire family.
The conversation flows like that of longtime friends, filled with laughter as they reflect on personal failures and how the comedy world somehow turns humiliation into a career.
This “anti-inspiration and pro-commiseration” podcast features a plethora of hilarious exclusive confessions from all your favourite comedians, so if you are in need of a good belly laugh, Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil is well worth a listen.
(By Camilla Foster)
2. Work in Progress
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Wellbeing and life
Work in Progress is a podcast hosted by actress Sophia Bush, who invites people who inspire her onto the show. Within each episode, Bush asks her guests to share how they’ve arrived at where they are, and where they think they’re still going.
In this week’s episode, Bush is joined by actress, director and writer Lake Bell as they discuss a number of topics, from her daughter Nova and how she inspired her new book: All About Brains: A Book About People, to family life and activism.
Bell explains that her six-year-old daughter Nova is epileptic, which was the inspiration for her book. Bell opens up about the conversations she had with her daughter and how she had to reframe the conversation around seizures after her daughter ‘apologised’ after having one.
“We now explain it as sparkling magic happening in her brain,” Bell explains, as she discusses how her daughter now tells her when she is going to have a seizure or if she already had a “mini.”
Also in this episode, Bell and Bush talk about their journeys in activism, as they state, “it’s a privilege to not be political,” when people claim they don’t know about politics.
(By Sara Keenan)
3. Lawless Planet
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Environment
Lawless Planet is a titillating new podcast that uncovers some of the biggest environmental crimes across the globe.
In each episode, presenter Zach Goldbaum relays a cinematic portrayal of the ecological true stories of corruption, coverups, murder and resistance.
In the latest episode, ‘A Murder in the Amazon’, Goldbaum details the incredible story of an unlikely champion who set out to protect the Amazon rainforest in the 1980s, when it was arguably at its most vulnerable.
One New York Times article from 1988 stated that “the forest looks to be at war”, when commenting on the amount of slash-and-burn deforestation taking place.
The incredible soundscaping doesn’t just inform but places you in the story – feeling the heat of the Amazon, hearing the crackle of burning trees and sensing the danger looming over those who dare to fight back.
Far from being just another true crime podcast, Lawless Planet spotlights the human cost of environmental collapse. If you’re a fan of investigative reporting that unearths both horror and hope, this one deserves a listen.
(By Lara Owen)
4. Write Me Dirty
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Entertainment and sex
Write Me Dirty is one of those podcasts that makes you triple-check your earbuds are firmly synced to avoid broadcasting a moment of turgid titillation in public.
It’s silly rather than sultry, as Katherine Ryan sets out her rules of engagement and asks two comedians to write an “erotic” story about their opponent and read aloud every smutty sentence.
Ryan eases the way by providing a location, character and a prop that must be included, but like the best audience suggestions in improv theatre, these prompts never lead where you might expect.
Guests early in the series include recent Taskmaster alumni Stevie Martin and Fatiha El-Ghorri getting steamy at a car showroom, while Lou Sanders and Harriet Kemsley revive their Last One Laughing rivalry with their take on a zombie apocalypse between the sheets.
Prepare for no entendre to be left undoubled and brace for the meatiest of mixed metaphors as these fevered faux fantasies veer from funny to smutty to dramatically disturbing.
(By Amy Crowther)
5. Late Great Classics
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Cars
Late Great Classics is a podcast dedicated to the world of classic cars.
Host Jon Ruhff, who’s the owner of Southeast Chevy – one of the largest vintage Chevy parts suppliers – talks all about classic cars, the brilliant minds who created them and how these precious finds can be restored.
In the latest episode of the bi-weekly podcast, produced by Push Button Productions, Ruhff is joined by his first international guest and biographer, Martin Sinzig.
They discuss how Sinzig discovered his love for fast American cars at just six years old, why it took him a while to get his hands on his own car, and what inspired him when he came across Swiss-born race car driver and automobile pioneer, Louis Chevrolet.
He spoke about how he dug into his car research when he found his first restoration project – which was a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport – and how it led to him writing the biography of Chevrolet.
It was interesting to hear two car enthusiasts bond over their love for the history and function of cars.
Late Great Classics truly brings to life the nostalgia that fuels the vintage car community.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
