Picks of the week
The Vaping Fix
Laura Beil of Dr Death and Bad Batch returns with another gripping podcast packed with health-related scares. Just a few years ago, the sight of someone smoking via a piece of plastic might have seemed novel, but now vaping is ubiquitous around the world – even though its health effects are far from clear. Beil charts their rise in Silicon Valley to ask how vapes went from anti-nicotine novelty to potentially dangerous device beloved of teenagers, and what can be done to curb their impact. Hannah J Davies
Tech Tech Boom
This new Will-Smith-referencing technology podcast might be a spoof, but it’s also scarily realistic. Hosts Carol and Joe explore the latest trends, with help from their sidekick Alphonse. From the over-enthusiastic and nightmarish advert for a revolutionary meal replacement with zero ingredients, to investigating platforms that silence your inner scream, it’s timely stuff. Mock the Week’s Olga Koch, deadpan maestro Huge Davies and The Mash Report’s Greig Johnson are your hosts for the keenly-observed ten-part satire. Hannah Verdier
Producer pick: The Line
Chosen by Mythili Rao
According to testimonies from his fellow platoon members, in May of 2017 ex-Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher stabbed a young Iraqi Islamic State fighter who had been taken prisoner, and then posed with the teen’s corpse. In July 2019, Gallagher was found guilty of war crimes in a military court; months later, President Trump pardoned him.
A bracing new podcast series from Apple and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions looks at what really happened that day in Mosul, and what Gallagher’s story exposes about America’s “forever wars.” Hosted by Dan Taberski and produced by Lizzie Jacobs – and launched ahead of an Apple TV+ documentary series of the same name, due for release later this year – The Line boasts impressive access: courtroom audio from Gallagher’s military trial, eye-opening interviews with dozens of Navy Seals, and extensive conversations with Gallagher himself. Told across just six episodes, it’s tightly crafted, too.
What emerges is a complicated profile of the troops charged with undertaking some of the US’s darkest military operations, and a bleak picture of the moral compromises demanded of them. As for Gallagher himself? The Line neither exonerates nor demonises him. As Gallagher’s brother Sean puts it, in Iraq Eddie understood that he was not simply a soldier: “Eddie’s the weapon.”
Talking points
Last week saw the release of a new episode of the acclaimed podcast West Cork, on the still-unsolved murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in Ireland in 1996. The new chapter homes in on the life of its subject – a French film producer – and the effects of her killing on her family. Meanwhile, a Netflix series on the case is also due for release next month.
Why not try: Alan Cumming’s Shelves | Finding Natasha | Conversations with Annalisa Barbieri
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