They Walk Among Us
This British true-crime podcast has been so successful that it is hard to believe it started life as a hobby in the spare room of its mysterious creators, Ben and Rosie. Season three opens with more juicy investigations, forensically examined and delivered by Ben in his flat but intriguing style and promises an in-depth look at unsolved crimes. New episodes will drop every week this time around, including the cases of Jeremy Bamber, Donald “the Black Panther” Neilson and the Hungerford massacre. The first episode takes on the Kray twins. Hannah Verdier
Hysteria
The Daily Beast’s Erin Ryan leads a squad of “mouthy, opinionated and hilarious ladies” to discuss the week’s headlines in the US. Like their bros from hit Crooked Media podcasts such as Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It, they are full of fast-talking, left-leaning common sense. If ever there was a time that cried out for such a funny, smart and diverse lineup as is on offer here, it is now, so their opinions on Roseanne Barr, the Mexican border separations and reproductive rights are most welcome. HV
Your picks
Mother’s Quest
What I love about the Mother’s Quest podcast is that it feels like so much more than a podcast – it is a rich body of work that explores topics related not just to motherhood but also to life – and the multitude of personal, professional and social issues that we care about deeply, from police brutality to differently wired kids to how to talk about racism with our children. That last topic, near and dear to my heart, was covered in one of my favorite episodes – episode 27, Courageous Conversations about Race with Nicole Lee. In every episode, Julie engages in self-reflection with her guests and accepts a challenge at the end that she invites listeners to take on in their pursuit of living a truly “EPIC” life. Recommended by Alethea Cheng Fitzpatric
Secrets
I was completely thrown and touched by Mohamed El Abed’s story in Secrets, part of Showcase on the Radiotopia network. Episodes are wrapped in love and longing – for home, context and answers. Episode four is my favourite. The details of Mohamed’s mother’s passing and the comfort and answers he gets from his friend truly got to me in an unexpected way. When you find yourself in a life full of lies with a broken trust, how do you move on and whose responsibility is it to make a family whole again? Secrets is about the complexity of humanity and is produced in a beautiful and honest way. It is about the secrets we inherit and who is left to answer them for us. It gives you perspective and is relevant for the time we live in. Recommended by Jasmin Rastegar
Guardian pick: Summer reading and Ross Raisin on how to be a great writer
Books podcast
The sun is out and this week the books team got into the holiday spirit to offer their summer reading tips. As a perfect accompaniment to the World Cup (Are we still talking about that?), they spoke to Ross Raisin about A Natural, his novel about the journey downwards from the big football leagues. Raisin has also published a guide to getting starting as a writer, so listen in if this is the summer when you were thinking of starting your novel. Next week, James Bridle will take listeners into the new dark age. The question is ... will we ever get out?
