From fatherhood, food, and hard work, to blended families and social media, this week’s podcast picks are packed with great insight.
1. Working Hard With Grace Beverley
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Business
In a world flooded with constant – and often contradictory – messages about what we should and shouldn’t eat, host Grace Beverley’s conversation with Professor Sarah Berry, a leading expert in nutritional science, brings much-needed clarity.
Together, they explore various trending health topics spanning everything from gut health to budget-friendly food shopping hacks.
A compelling part of their discussion addresses the historical gender bias in health research. Professor Berry shares insights from her own experience, explaining how limited research funding has often favoured male-only studies, which are often cheaper and simpler to carry out.
She also discusses the outdated belief that men were the ‘default’ in medical research, while women were seen as outliers – a mindset that, fortunately, is starting to change.
Berry goes on to bust some of the most persistent myths in nutrition, and her extensive research and deep knowledge shine through the conversation.
She critiques how discussions about nutrition are frequently overcomplicated and challenges society’s obsession with quick fixes and fad diets. Instead, she champions a return to nutritional basics: eating whole foods, getting enough sleep, and prioritising regular exercise.
This podcast episode is well worth a listen if you are keen to cut through the noise, as Berry’s scientifically backed approach makes the often-confusing world of nutrition feel far more accessible.
(By Camilla Foster)
2. Dadicated Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Family
What does marriage mean to you? This is the question that hosts Anarfi and Mekz discuss at the start of the latest episode of the Dadicated Podcast.
Dadicated Podcast was created to champion men, especially fathers, creatives and husbands, navigating the highs and lows of life. It’s why in each episode, Anarfi and Mekz have real and unfiltered conversations about fatherhood, marriage and creativity.
In episode four, they are joined by a special guest, the singer and music producer Happi, who first talks about his music career and his relationship with God.
But the conversation goes beyond the surface when they discuss what marriage looks like behind closed doors.
Happi goes on to share how marriage has always been easy, and why it’s easily one of the best decisions he’s ever made. But he also speaks about how marriage can change and evolve, especially when children are in the picture – he has a toddler son.
The trio confess some of the sacrifices they’ve had to make as fathers, the lessons they’ve learnt so far and why they commit daily to be present and edifying in the life of their families.
The Dadicated Podcast is a safe space – even if you aren’t a father – where you can find motivation, wisdom, or just be reminded that you’re not alone. Anarfi and Mekz are striving to grow every day, and it’ll do you good to join them.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
3. In The Test Kitchen
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Food
As the name suggests, In The Test Kitchen provides a glimpse behind the scenes of the hit cooking show, America’s Test Kitchen.
Hosted by superstar chef Dan Souza, with a rotating cast of co-hosts, the video podcast offers listeners a front-row seat to the action as it’s recorded in the test kitchen itself.
In the latest episode, Souza and his co-host Lan Lam interview photographer, cookbook author and journalist Nik Sharma.
The conversation is light-hearted, relaxed and flows well, balancing personal stories with technical insights. These include everything from Sharma’s journey into food writing from a windowless lab in Cincinnati, his enthusiasm for maths, to where everyone fits on the banana-ripeness-preference scale.
For reference, Sharma’s pursuit of banana bread recipe perfection, 33 tests in total, has left him with a lasting aversion to overripe bananas. A year ago, he could gag just talking about them.
Unlike ATK’s YouTube videos, Souza is clear that he wants the podcast to be less polished, for it to come across like a kitchen counter that hasn’t been perfectly cleaned up.
A gentle nerdy love letter to food and cooking, In The Test Kitchen is easy to enjoy whether you’re a full-fledged foodie or not.
(By Katharina Schulenburg)
4. Vine: Six Seconds That Changed The World
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Technology, entertainment and society
Ever wondered what happened to Vine, the six-second video app that boomed in the 2010s and gave rise to stars like Shawn Mendes and Logan Paul?
That’s what internet personality and podcast host Benedict Townsend is unpacking in his new podcast Vine: Six Seconds That Changed The World.
The seasoned social media commentator takes us through the rise and fall of the app, which played a crucial role in propelling short-form video content to our screens.
Episode four explores the challenges Vine’s content creators faced when the platform grew from a “scrappy underdog of creativity” into a “ruthless, cut-throat ecosystem“.
Townsend and guests discuss the impact of untrademarked trends, why Vine’s uncurated feed might explain today’s TikTok algorithm, and how the introduction of brand deals didn’t just transform Vine, but the “entire social media landscape”.
It raises questions about how “overnight sensations” – whether they’re social media apps, content creators or internet trends – can disappear while leaving a lasting impact on the way we consume content.
And with Elon Musk hinting on X that he’s “looking into” bringing Vine back, and questions over the future of TikTok in the US, this podcast couldn’t have dropped at a better time.
(By Izzie Addison)
Spotlight on…
5. Blended
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Family
Blended is a podcast hosted by Kate Ferdinand, who used to be a regular face on reality TV series The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE).
The podcast is described as a celebration of blended families as Ferdinand covers topics such as second marriages, divorce, grief and life after loss, adoption, fostering and being a stepmother.
In this episode, Ferdinand is joined by co-hosts Priscilla Appeaning, step-mum and blended life coach, and Nathalie Holmes-Lewis, step-mum and businesswoman, as they dive into topics about co-parenting and how to navigate different homes having different rules.
Throughout this episode, the three women talk about their individual experiences with this and also the difference between co-parenting and parallel parenting, where each home or parent has their own separate rules.
The women also talk about how parenting doesn’t always have to be perfect, and it is a case of learning on the job. However, they do emphasise the importance of doing what is best for the child in the long run, even if the child can’t see the benefit of rules and regulations at the time.
The episode was a raw and real insight into co-parenting, parallel parenting and the reality of how different homes can have different rules and how best to navigate that with young people involved.
(By Sara Keenan)
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