We’re back! Did you miss us? In this new, repurposed series of Hear Here I’m going to bring you weekly podcast highlights from myself, Guardian staff, and from you. If you’ve got a podcast you’ve loved, please let us know!
In a week which has brought us yet more ups and downs in politics, environmental shocks, and I learned that spiders collectively eat 400-800 million metric tons of insects annually, I thought I’d try to bring you something a little more lighthearted.
The “why do you walk like that” episode - Token
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First up, my pick is Token – the new Guardian pod which explores race, gender, sex, culture, identity and now disability! Leah Green and Freddy McConnell are joined by Guardian software engineer Gideon Goldberg to discuss disability in our society. As the token disabled person, Gideon answers all the awkward questions, explains the pointlessness of the word “normal”, the oddness of inspiration porn, and the fact that, wait for it, disabled people are people too! Whoda thought? It’s another informative and hilarious episode of this shameless podcast. If it doesn’t offend you, make you laugh and teach you something new, you’ve got a lot of introspection to do my friend.
What’s happening here?
Coco Khan, a journalist and content coordinator for the Small Business Network, has chosen What’s Happening Here?
What’s Happening Here? is a new podcast from Brooklyn-based duo Katie Shepherd and Chris Mcleod that aims to document “pivotal moments” in people’s lives, with each episode focusing on one specific person and their journey. For this season, all the main subjects are involved with Manhattan International High School, a school dedicated to new immigrants in New York. Expect to hear from students from across the globe and the teachers past and present who have found something remarkable at the school.
Given the subject, you would think the show might be tempted to veer into polemic or become overly sentimental, but it succeeds in keeping a documentary tone. Perhaps this is because it doesn’t need to editorialise: the strength and depth of these stories shine bright enough. What we hear are touching, humorous and dark tales, sometimes from far-flung corners of the Earth, but always relatable. Especially the awkward shyness of the teenagers they meet ... it turns out, being an awkward teen is universal.
First Impressions – what can babies see? Science weekly
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Graphic novelist Sophie Rickard got in touch to tell us about her favourite Guardian pod this week.
“I save Science Weekly for those precious moments of peace and quiet. After the worst day at work in the history of employment, I completely lost myself in First Impressions: what can babies see?
Nicola’s gentle and engaging presentation took me for a fascinating wander through the development of colour vision; from the biological mechanics of the eye and brain, to philosophical questions about the nature of colour category boundaries. She interviewed a series of fantastic guests who offered clear, accessible explanations of cutting-edge research, using pure scientific method to ask new questions in interesting ways – including sceptical replication and novel research methods.
I learned so much about infant development that I had never considered, like how stereoscopic vision (allowing us to see depth) comes much later than colour distinction. I was also intrigued by the ingenious experimental designs the guests came up with to get data from pre-verbal participants.
This podcast is real immersive audio, and Nicola keeps asking the right questions, particularly about the wider implications to which the guests’ specialist research leads. If you are interested in neuroscience, psychology, research methods, philosophy, babies, vision or the Guardian’s wider work on virtual reality you will love this podcast.”
