This week’s podcast picks will both challenge and entertain you.
1. Northstar Politics Show
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Politics and news
Northstar Politics isn’t just a political podcast hosted by Sean Ramiz and Noah East – it’s an evolving media platform that aims to expand political imagination.
The weekly series started as an independent strategic pro bono communications consultancy in 2024, when Ramiz and East wanted to hold politicians accountable for their decisions to support the genocide in Gaza.
It led to working across four different independent campaigns for MPs in London, including the likes of Jeremy Corbyn.
In each episode, the best friends – who met at university studying a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics – break down hot political topics using their knowledge and lived experience.
This week, Ramiz and East answer questions sent in by listeners, and discuss their vocal habits and political discourse, how they found interviewing Corbyn, and the positive and negative aspects of political debates.
They also chat about wealth tax, why it’s important to re-centre moral frameworks in economic discourse, and if religion can truly coexist with leftist politics.
Northstar Politics is a necessary and powerful podcast that builds bridges and exposes the truth.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. ImPerfect with Darren Harriott
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Wellbeing and health
ImPerfect is a podcast hosted by British stand-up comedian Darren Harriott, which explores the personal stories, cultural pressures and online influences that shape how we feel in our bodies.
In this week’s episode, Harriott is joined by Cat Sims, a British content creator, podcaster, and author of The Mental Load Diaries, who talks about her own journey with body image across pivotal stages of her life, from swimming professionally at a young age to perimenopause.
Sims has made a name out of sharing the honest, humorous, and messy realities of womanhood, and this podcast is no different. She candidly opens up about taboo subjects such as addiction, prolapses and her own experience with Mounjaro and emphasises how she is committed to shining a light on these uncomfortable topics to help other women feel more empowered and educated.
Harriott is a kind and reflective host who has mastered the art of listening, but also asks interesting and considerate follow-up questions which help the conversation flow.
His non-judgmental tone and questions create a comfortable space which allows Sims to openly talk about her own weight-loss journey and the introspective work she has done along the way.
The pair address the stigma surrounding GLP-1 medication, and Sims’ story gives some interesting insight into how taking the medication has changed her mentally as well as physically, as she speaks about the benefits it has had on managing her ADHD.
If you are looking for a judgement-free podcast that shares real, open and honest stories about the complicated ways we learn to see ourselves, give this podcast a go.
(By Camilla Foster)
3. Manifesto
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: True crime
Manifesto is a new six-part Audible Original podcast hosted by American writer and director Dan Taberski, who sets out to reclaim a manifesto written by a mass shooter and write his own.
In February 2013, an ex-cop began a shooting spree with a manifesto, raging against the Los Angeles Police Department.
Ten years later, Luigi Mangione allegedly kills a healthcare CEO and leaves behind a manifesto with his vision for the future.
In each episode, Taberski attempts to guide listeners through a history of human frustration and the longing for something better, with his signature blend of humour, heart, and cultural excavation.
If you are also thinking about how we can get inspired again… without a bullet, then give Manifesto a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. Stories of Art
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Art and history
Stories of Art is a HENI Talks video podcast hosted by former BBC sparring partners Dr James Fox and Alastair Sooke.
In each episode, the co-hosts go beyond dates and brushstrokes to uncover the extraordinary human stories behind history’s greatest artworks.
This week, Fox and Sooke chat about why Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti is regarded as the greatest sculptor of the 20th century.
They also delve into why he fell out with the leader of the Surrealist movement, André Breton.
If you are looking for a podcast that has great cultural storytelling, which gives great works of art the time and context they deserve, then give Stories of Art a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. Holly Willoughby Together
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Life
In Holly Willoughby’s new series Holly Willoughby Together with Voy, she is joined by actor and chef Stanley Tucci for the first episode of her new lifestyle series, where the pair cook spaghetti con zucchini alla nerano.
Over drinks, the pair chat about their favourite tipples, before Tucci teaches Willoughby how to make the dish, sharing tips on everything from choosing courgettes to the best oil to use.
Tucci also shares some of his cooking knowledge, which he says came from his mother, and explains some of the rules around pairing pasta with sauces. He is particularly passionate about the fact that spaghetti should not be served with bolognese.
The episode also features a quick-fire section on British food, including Gregg’s sausage rolls and Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie, before Tucci reveals which Hollywood star he thinks is the best cook – giving a shoutout to Harry Styles.
(By Sara Keenan)
