Pick of the week: Unpopped Podcast and The Words Podcast
This new BBC pop culture podcast promises to “get serious about the silly stuff” and it’s off to a strong start with an analysis of the ways in which RuPaul’s Drag Race has influenced language. From throwing shade to the art of lip-syncing, Hayley Campbell and her guests look at how RuPaul’s terminology has burst into the mainstream, and discuss whether some British drag queens verge on misogyny. Future episodes promise Paris Hilton and the Spice Girls, so the bar is high.
Simon and Schuster’s bookish new podcast combines lively but never laboured debate with readings from authors’ works. The first episode with Laura Bates (Everyday Sexism, Misogynation), Sarah Vaughan (Anatomy of a Scandal) and Anne Helen Peterson (Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud) tackles the issue of sexism, from labelling women as “shrill” to Hollywood’s casting couch and how a post-Weinstein landscape looks. It’s topical and thought-provoking with flashes of frustration and anger. HV
Your picks: cultural exploration, news wipes and sofa-side tales
Hosted by Chrystal Genesis in London and Heta Fell in San Francisco, Stance is a brilliantly curated arts and politics podcast. Interviewees have included Riz Ahmed and Sabrina Mahfouz, and Brexit activist and lawyer Gina Miller. There have been interesting looks at different arts scenes around the world, like a theatre producer who brought The Vagina Monologues to India and the Californian Afro House scene. Recommended by Nikesh Shukla
Decode the News aims to take listeners behind the headlines and into the inner workings of the news cycle. It provides context and depth to complex stories like the Charlottesville protests, while also taking time to explain how the media operates and how to spot when you’re being lied to. This podcast is a training ground for people who aspire to understand what’s going on. Recommended by Chris Coltrane
Couch Wisdom sees Red Bull Music Academy’s long-running lecture series transformed into a podcast. It’s very much an in-depth look into a musician’s processes so it can get really technical at parts, but that’s part of its appeal. I’m not a musician but hearing someone talk passionately about their craft is incredibly inspiring – so don’t put be put off if you don’t consider yourself a ‘muso’. Make sure you listen to Bjork’s episode. Recommended by Andy Holland
Guardian pick: why don’t we talk about miscarriages?
Strange Bird is a brand new podcast from Guardian US based on host Mona Chalabi’s own queries, as well as those sent to her from readers. It’s a show that aims to help listeners understand one of life’s most fundamental questions: “Where do I fit in?” She uses data and conversation to unpack experiences, like sibling rivalry or religious rituals. Episode one explores the extraordinarily common experience of miscarriage. One in five women will have a miscarriage – yet the experience is rarely discussed. Through interviews and a careful examination of available data, Mona explores the gap between the frequency of miscarriages versus how little they are discussed. She also calls her mum a lot. This is part of the Guardian US mobile innovation lab launching a web-based audio player that offers a new way to experience podcasts. Once you hit play, you’ll find visual elements like photographs, charts, gifs, and links integrated into the listening experience – all sent in a chat-app-like display. The player is designed for mobile screens – and also works on desktop. Recommended by Rowan Slaney
