Picks of the week
The Mogul Mixtapes
Hosted by Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins, Mogul always delivers the biggest moments in hip-hop, with access to the people who were there for them. The Mixtapes spin-off is particularly rich in songs and stories, with Ear Hustle’s Earlonne Woods picking his choices. Now free, he was sentenced to life in prison in 1988. You can hear the love as he talks about the first time he heard NWA. “It was a straight mirror to my reality,” he says, before dropping Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s It Takes Two and Ice-T’s Make It Funky. Previous episodes feature Ludacris and Mouse Jones. Hannah Verdier
Will Young and Chris Sweeney’s podcast about all things LGBTQ+ has featured interviews with everyone from the co-founder of UK Black Pride, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, to singer-songwriter John Grant, whose music wrestles with outsiderdom. Alan Cumming steps in for Young this series, as he and Sweeney focus their attention to a series of well-known names from across the queer spectrum, from Stephen Fry to Slave Play writer Jeremy O Harris. Honest, sensitive and brilliant. Hannah J Davies
Producer pick: The Stubborn Light of Things
Chosen by Max Sanderson
Over the past few months, tuning into what’s going on in the world out there has become a bit of an obsession. Thankfully, I’m not talking about the unfolding pandemic (although that is part of my job) but, like many, it’s the world of nature that’s bringing me comfort.
While I am no country bumpkin, I count myself lucky enough to live in the suburbs around London and so I have access to a fair bit of green space, which recently has been filled with a cacophony of birdsong. But it’s nothing on nature writer and novelist Melissa Harrison who, as we hear in her brilliant new podcast, finds the full orchestra of the British countryside on her doorstep.
Each episode sees Harrison take us on a tour of what she finds around her - whether that be a quest to rediscover a local barn owl or exploring a ruined cottage in the woods. There are so many wonderful things about the series - especially the escapism it provides at this time - but I think my favourite is the space in which the natural sounds are allowed to exist in.
Harrison’s wonderfully childish excitement is lovely to hear - as are her well-informed and often philosophical pontifications - but the real beauty is in the moments in-between. It’s something I often find lacking in audio these days: the importance of nothing - the brief silence between the musical notes and the slight hesitation before a word is heard. The Stubborn Light of Things captures those moments in a way that embodies the open expanse Melissa is taking us through. And it feels absolutely lovely.
Talking points
In an unprecedented move for the industry, Joe Rogan has signed a massive $100 million (£82 million) Spotify deal, which will see his Joe Rogan Experience podcast available exclusively through the streaming giant.
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