Picks of the week
Hooked
“Let’s be clear here, I’m not saying it’s OK to rob a bank … but I found a way to justify it pretty quickly.” Tony Hathaway has spent the past three years explaining his descent from family man and Boeing design engineer to opioid addict and prolific bank robber to journalist Josh Dean. The result is a nail-biter of a podcast – Apple’s first original series not linked to a TV show – that puts a human face on the US opioid epidemic. Hannah J Davies
A Show About Animals
Convinced you can talk to your dog? Self-confessed super nerd and Vice reporter Arielle Duhaime-Ross wants to find out if we really can have conversations with animals. Cue a deep dive into the case of Koko the gorilla – who made headlines when psychologist Penny Patterson claimed Koko had learned sign language. Hollie Richardson
Sweet Bobby
This terrifying, twisty hit from Tortoise Media tells the story of Kirat and Bobby’s not-so-normal romance. Not normal at all, in fact, considering we learn within the first few minutes of the show that it involved death, deception and witness protection. Alexi Mostrous unpicks a chilling catfish saga. HJD
Operator
Produced by the platform that brought us Dr Death and British Scandal, Tina Horn’s new podcast charts the rise and fall of the phone sex industry – from the booming 1-900 craze of the 90s to its difficult years of being usurped by free internet porn. “Telephone Pimp” Mike Pardes dishes the dirt on the schemes and strategy behind the business, but there’s also a look at the stigma operators faced. Hannah Verdier
For Colored Nerds
Hosts Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings resurrect their much-loved podcast after a four-year break. The duo, who have genuine best-friend chemistry and arguments to match, promise to “peel back the layers of Black culture we rarely discuss in mixed company” with help from guests including Tracy Clayton and Insecure’s Jay Ellis. HV
Producer pick – Seriously…: Waiting for the Van
Chosen by Christopher Cherry
Waiting for the Van is a moving audio doc, following Scottish drug reform activist Peter Krykant’s heroic act of civil disobedience. One year ago, in an attempt to challenge 50 years of failed drug policy in Scotland – a country that leads Europe in drug deaths by an appalling margin – Krykant opened his specially kitted out van to Glasgow’s drug-dependent community, supervising heroin and cocaine injections, providing clean equipment, and intervening to save lives in cases of overdose.
Journalist Dani Garavelli is with him from the beginning, sensitively recording the impact his compassion has on disregarded people on the outer margins of society, and the heartbreaking impact the work has on Krykant himself. Today the van is no more, but Scotland is at last beginning to see the stirrings of change on drug policy. This is the story of how those in power were forced to listen, and take action.
Talking points
The podcast-to-TV boom continues apace, with Apple’s adaptation of The Shrink Next Door – based on Wondery’s hit series about a cuckoo in the nest psychiatrist who took over his patient’s life – available from today. Read our feature on the rise in podcast to TV transfers here.
Why not try: The Long Time Academy | Dot Com: The Wikipedia Story | Dead Eyes
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