Pick of the week
So Your Parents are Old
Behind the nonchalant title, Vanessa Grigoriadis leans on first-hand experience in this show about the often exhausting, confounding experience of caring for an ageing parent. Her first guest is Leeza Gibbons, a US talkshow host who set up a centre for carers. While hers is a singular tale – complete with a stint on Celebrity Apprentice – it offers comfort and practical advice to those who find themselves in a similar position. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly
The Threshold
Can we eliminate HIV, TB and malaria in our lifetimes? More than two million people die from these diseases every year but with funding cuts and shifting priorities, they might actually surge. This essential new Foreign Policy series hosted by Henry Bonsu talks to experts to work out what the reality is. Hollie Richardson
Widely available, episodes weekly
Gear
Avery Trufelman’s Articles of Interest has long been hailed as one of the smartest fashion podcasts around (where else can you find deep dives into both pointe shoes and prison uniforms?) This spin-off keeps the bar high, as Trufelman looks at how military gear inspired the high-end outdoor clothing we now wear to buy milk. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly
Conversations With Ghosts
Arriving in time for Halloween, this novel series from the makers of podcast-to-Netflix hit Archive 81 fuses horror and memoir-style fiction into something that feels like therapy for ghosts. Mausoleum attendant Mal Fleming is tasked with encouraging spectres to pass on; it is, its makers say, “more of an exercise in compassion than an exorcism”. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly
The History Podcast: The House at Number 48
Peter Easton’s children couldn’t quite decipher their father’s accent and – after his death – son Antony discovered a German birth certificate in his possession. Charlie Northcott unpicks a tangled tale alongside Antony, as they figure out the fate of the Eisner family, whose lives were upended by the Holocaust. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly
