Pick of the Week
The Rise & Fall of Indie Sleaze
Dig out the American Apparel dress, liquid eyeliner and Wayfarer sunglasses – the late 00s’ indie sleaze movement is being celebrated for all its messy glory. Kate Nash – an OG sleazer – hosts this nostalgic new series about the scene, speaking to the likes of the Cribs’ Ryan and Gary Jarman, Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell. It’s enough to make you want to cut in a badly judged chunky fringe again. Hollie Richardson
BBC Sounds, available from Monday 28 July
On the Marie Curie Couch
This honest, conversational podcast breaks down taboos by talking to people about the loved ones they’ve lost. Host Jason Davidson is a social worker and in the latest episode Michael Palin (pictured right) talks to him about trying to come to terms with his wife’s death – and why he feels it almost impossible to say “I” instead of “we”. It’s a thoughtful look at his grief. Alexi Duggins
Widely available, episodes monthly
Why the Fork
This enjoyably chatty look at the everyday products we take for granted combines history with product design. It opens with a look at the “fabulous innovation” of the tin opener, running from how it wasn’t created until 100 years after food tins were invented to its potential future: a luxury item, like “the craft beer” of can-opening. AD
Widely available, episodes weekly
Leading Labour
Keir Starmer may be in power now (and enjoying varying levels of success, depending on your views), but what of the Labour leaders of old? Izzy Conn of the University of London digs deep into the red team in this comprehensive pod, which begins after the second world war with Clement Attlee and the beginnings of the welfare state. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly
The Lab Detective
Widely available, episodes weekly
This new podcast from Tortoise Investigates is about mothers who – like Australia’s Kathleen Folbigg, whose case sets off this series – have been accused of murdering their children, and whether the experts are always right. The content is highly charged, but the questions it poses around the use of statistics in a court of law feel vital. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly
