Have you ever thought about how our brains respond to the innovation of technology? No? Well, you can find out this week.
1. Beyond Suspicion: The Criminals Who Betrayed Our Trust
Streaming platform: Audible
Genre: True crime
Beyond Suspicion: The Criminals Who Betrayed Our Trust, is a new Audible Original hosted by British TV and radio presenter Yinka Bokinni.
The eight-part podcast series not only looks into who wins our trust and why, but also explores the most chilling crimes committed by the people you would least expect or mistrust.
Bokinni speaks with lawyers, psychologists, and ex-police officers about the evil perpetuated by these criminals – who are more often than not, hiding in plain sight – and they unravel the chilling cases’ psychological, legal and criminal intricacies.
In the first episode, Bokinni dives right into the story of paedophile football coach Barry Bennell, who abused the boys he coached in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties. Ian Ackley, who was abused by Bennell, also shares his heartbreaking story.
As a warning, this episode also includes graphic descriptions of the grooming and abuse of children, so listener discretion is strongly advised.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. Heist, Scams and Lies
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: True crime
The first series of Heists, Scams and Lies takes listeners behind the scenes of the UK’s largest domestic burglary.
In 2019, more than £25 million worth of cash and jewellery, including diamonds, was stolen from the west London home of Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone.
The five-part podcast series is hosted by Daily Mail crime correspondent George Odling and senior reporter Andy Jehring, who have spent five years investigating the heist and share their experience covering the burglary as it unfolded.
Produced by Julia Webster, who also worked on Medical Minefield and The Trial of Lucy Letby, the podcast features exclusive interviews with Ecclestone’s husband, Jay Rutland, police chiefs who led the Met’s Flying Squad investigation, and even acquaintances of the thieves themselves.
With brilliant, immersive sound design by John Scott, the podcast puts listeners in the room with those closest to the case, offering a behind-the-scenes look at each stage of the investigation.
Whether you’re a true crime fanatic obsessed with the Ecclestone diamonds case, or this is the first you’ve heard of it, Heists, Scams and Lies gives a unique insight into one of the Flying Squad’s most iconic sting operations from those at its heart.
(By Izzie Addison)
3. The Big Flop
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Pop culture and society
The American Apparel podcast is hosted by TikTok star Misha Brown, who unpacks history’s most fascinating flops, frauds and fiascos.
On this week’s episode, Brown is joined by actress and comedian Sasheer Zamata and actor Jared Goldstein as they discuss the downfall and behind-the-scenes of clothing brand American Apparel.
Throughout the episode, the three discuss the brand and its founder and CEO Dov Charney, who turned his sweatshop into a nightmare with scandalous billboards, lawsuits, abuse of staff and what ended in bankruptcy and a public walk of shame.
Throughout the episode, the co-hosts talk about Charney’s upbringing until his downfall.
They also look into how different things were back in the early 2000s when American Apparel was at its peak, despite the alarming and concerning allegations that were coming out at the time.
This podcast brings a mix of humour but also important conversations about big topics that will never be forgotten – and often for the wrong reasons.
(By Sara Keenan)
4. How Do We Manage?
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life and society
For author and activist Stephanie von Bismarck, the world is changing fast. There are shifting social landscapes and new technologies. But evolving ways of living can be both exciting and overwhelming – so how do we find a balance?
In von Bismarck’s new podcast, How Do We Manage?, the host hopes to answer what she calls a “very simple question” as she sits down with different trailblazers every week.
They explore everything from navigating this fast-moving world, mental health and wellbeing, to how we deal with AI and social media, whilst also sharing practical tools and scientific research to help people thrive.
To launch the podcast series, von Bismarck speaks with wellbeing coach Adrienne Adhami about the science behind decision-making.
And in episode two, author and neuroscientist Dr. Henning Beck joins von Bismarck to unpack why AI has become a major part of our daily life, AI-generated images, how AI fits into the world of business, and so much more.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. The History Podcast: Half-Life
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: History
“My grandmother grew up brushing her teeth with radioactive toothpaste.” So begins Half-Life: Daughter of Radium, the first episode of the latest series from BBC Radio 4’s The History Podcast.
The eight-part series follows poet, novelist, and now somewhat reluctant family historian Joe Dunthorne as he delves into his remarkable family history.
The gripping first episode centres on Dunthorne’s grandmother, whose father, Siegfried Merzbacher, was a German-Jewish chemist for the radioactive toothpaste company Doramad in the 1920s.
It feels like a tender tribute to his grandmother, lovingly dubbed ‘Funny Granny’ by Dunthorne and his sisters. His self-effacing approach adds soft touches of humour to tales of a difficult period of family and world history.
In her room, in a drawer labelled ‘family archive’, Dunthorne finds war medals, diplomas, a radioactive toothpaste recipe, and the nearly 2,000-page memoir of his great-grandfather.
The final four minutes of the episode contain a shock confession buried at the end of Siegfried’s account, one that reframes the story entirely.
With the odd interruption of his grandmother’s yawn, cough or request for lunch, Dunthorne crosses generations, seas, and languages. His memoir, Children of Radium: A Buried Inheritance, was published in April.
(By Katharina Schulenburg)
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