Talking points
Last week, Saturday Night Live announced three new cast members (Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman and Shane Gillis) for the upcoming series of the show. However, four days later, SNL dropped Gillis after writer Seth Simons posted clips on Twitter from Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, featuring Gillis using a racial slur, making racist statements and using a mocking and racist accent. The podcast at the centre of the scandal aired as recently as September 2018, casting serious doubt over SNL’s vetting process.
Picks of the week
FT Culture Call
The FT’s rebranded culture podcast (previously titled Everything Else) promises to take conversations further than just the arts. Until then, it’s a solid interview podcast with people you may well know from the internet; guests have included US writers Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Jia Tolentino, who succinctly explains the contradictions of being online: “You can understand everything about how something is bad and continue to engage in it, half from desire, half from necessity.” HJD
Radiotopia’s new mystery thriller has an impressive ensemble cast from both sides of the Atlantic, including Colin Morgan, Patti LuPone and Kelly Marie Tran. What starts with a report of a child wandering around an airport unattended becomes the tale of a plane that disappears between London and New York. Kaitlin (Tran) is a student whose twin brother was on board and she plays it beautifully in her search for the truth amid phone calls and plot twists. HV
Guardian pick: Brexit Means ...
If you’re feeling confused about exactly what is going on with Boris Johnson and his deteriorating relationship with the EU, the latest episode of Brexit Means is one for you. Joining Jon Henley in an attempt to make sense of the “frankly nonsensical – and that’s putting it nicely!” are Jonathan Freedland, Jonathan Lis from the think tank British Influence and the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, Jennifer Rankin.
Producer pick: Deep Mind
Chosen by Max Sanderson (lead producer in audio)
Historically quite closed off, the AI organisation Deep Mind– which is owned by Google’s parent, Alphabet Inc – has opened their doors with a new podcast series. Led by the ever-brilliant Hannah Fry, the series takes us into the heart of the company – and the field of AI – in interesting and accessible ways. A highlight for me was the final episode with founder, CEO and child chess prodigy Demis Hassabis as he reveals, among other things, the role chess played in the success of Deep Mind.
