7 of the best podcasts about culture (on Spotify) 2019
If knowledge is power why is so much of the news fake? Why is reality TV still dominating? Why is Brexit happening?
I've been trying to beat the blues while still engaging with the issues of our time, by listening to podcasts. I listen on the work commute; something I previously considered a London luxury, for tube users, but in a rare moment of clarity, realised is just as accessible for any driving commuter.
In the last week alone, without leaving my car, I've found out a staggering range of things: The way criminal files are shared across different jurisdictions; what London residents feel about the handling of the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry and the level of privilege in which Cara DeLavigne was raised.
Astonishingly, I also heard about the 12-year-old girls in Stratford-Upon-Avon that caused so much fuss about housing developers putting nets on hedges, that the company in question responded to their call to action. The girls argued the netting was a potential hazard for hedgehogs, who could get trapped or tangled in it, and that it was preventing them from nesting. Due to their tenacity, Taylor Wimpey have installed escape pipes for our prickliest of wild pears.
If you too want to be a culture vulture without going anywhere, reading anything or speaking to anyone, here are some podcasts that could meet your needs:
THE ALLUSIONIST: A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE (Helen Zaltzman)
The Allusionist Podcast from Helen Zaltzman
The premise:
Zaltzman shines her love of language onto the origin stories for 'words of the day', with the help of experts, and addresses listener questions about all things wordy.
The Pros:
1. There's no dumbing down! The host is comfortable with her intelligence, so it's us that need to step-up. Having said that, topics can be as comical as they are academic, an episode about the C-word bookends an episode about a radio station in Finland that broadcasts a news bulletin in Latin.
2. Many of the episodes only just hit the 20-minute mark, making it a perfect choice for a quick fix on a short journey or to brighten up a mundane food shopping trip.
3. Something that gets my inner-geek going, is the way that if you visit the website for the podcast, you can simply look at a list of words and click for a corresponding episode. True linguaphiles will, hopefully, find this as titillating as I do! Lexicon List
GETTING CURIOUS (Jonathan Van Ness)
JVN's podcast 'Getting Curious' - Jonathan Van Ness
Is Saudi Arabia Cute Now? (This is my favourite episode)
The premise:
JVN, of Queer Eye hair-swishing fame, is at the helm of this rollercoaster ride through whatever he finds fascinating. The queen of curiouser and curiouser himself, invites experts, friends and famous people alike into the studio to talk about anything he wants to know more about.
Hilariously, he books 30-minute recording slots but less than 40% of the episodes manage that level of brevity... He jumps around mid-way through discussions to segway into something only his brain could connect the dots between and, best of all, he lets his enthusiasm know no bounds. It's contagious, even to his most serious of guests.
The Pros:
1. The lack of any pretension; this alone makes JVN the ideal host. He asks questions a lot of us would let our pride get in the way of asking, thus getting into a topic way beyond the reach of superficial comfortable chats.
2. At the end of every episode you want to find out even more; the experts ignite sparks that land in just the right places to start burning questions you had no idea you would need to find the answers to. Incidentally, this is a skill all teachers wish they had.
HC Pod Original (Chuckie, Poet and team)
Can you be friends with a racist? (LONG, 1hr 48)
The premise: The tagline reads, "basically a counseling session" and the friends discuss all things related to being black, or mixed race, from a very British perspective. Long episodes, lots of swearing, and much-needed social commentary from people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
The Pros:
1. This lot are honest to a fault, they often get frustrated by Twitter wars and mini-feuds that break out after their shows, and it's brave to put themselves, not just others, into the line-of-fire to open up conversations about race. (There's an episode where they debate 'preferences' and get taken down a million pegs by a female guest who argues that wanting to sleep around with white girls but end up with a black girl is misogynistic, and although the feelings run high, they all manage to be heard.)
2. The very 'London perspective' makes it illuminating for people like me, who grew up in much smaller cities. In Cardiff, as a white person, you can grow up believing race isn't a big deal. It's a misconception bred from there being such a small ethnic minority that kids from those backgrounds seem to assimilate to the predominant white culture, which stops there being any real dialogue about difference. Missing out on those slightly uncomfortable conversations makes it seem like "we are equal" and phrases like "I don't see colour" are normal.
3. The passion and variety of topics.
4. The one about Kanye West...
WITHOUT FAIL (Alex Blumberg)
Without Fail Podcast by Alex Blumberg.
The premise: Candid conversations with artists, entrepreneurs, visionaries and your general 'runaway success' types about how hard they failed in achieving their goals. It's a good spin on the old 'if you think it, you can achieve it' as these people are often thwarted, lose control, sacrifice for nothing and don't achieve their initial aims.
But, it's no pity party. The people have enjoyed the ride and had many other beneficial takeaways and outcomes from failing.
Pros:
1. It's a normal part of life to fail, but it still doesn't feel good, we tend to avoid talking about it. This podcast flies in the face of convention by addressing failure head-on. It's really cathartic.
2. There's an episode about creating a "failure resume" that argues if you really want to understand who you are, what you've learned and how you've been impacted, you have to own your failures. The EXACT episode that references this!
WHAT'S THE TEE? (RuPaul and Michelle Visage)
What’s The Tee Podcast with RuPaul & Michelle Visage.
The premise:
You might assume that this is for all things drag, but it's for all things LGBTQ, pop culture and 2019. There's plastic surgery, consent, eating habits, mental health, make-up, activism, veganism, gender fluidity. And gossip. Because 'Tee' is gossip... I couldn't tell you why, but in the world of drag queens, Americans, and hipsters, it just is!
Because Ru and Michelle are best friends, going back decades, and both judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, there's an easy rapport and common baseline of understanding between them. There's no point trying to put on a front when your best friend is a co-host, they will rip you a new one. So, neither bother, and it's all the more hilarious because of it.
Pros:
1. It's great to have co-hosts of different genders, it adds a balance. It's even better because they are both in their 50s. For the final inclusivity note, while Ru is in an open marriage, black and gay, Michelle is married with children, bi, Jewish and white. It's a HR dream, without any fabrication.
2. It's easy listening, there's an abundance of cackling and shrieking and enough disclosures to keep the most discerning gossip satisfied.
3. I love Drag Race, and the queens frequently appear as guests.
DESERT ISLAND DISCS (BBC production)
Desert Island Discs Podcast on Radio Four with Kirsty Young
Who doesn't love Dame Judi Dench?
The premise:
This radio show started in 1942, there have been over 3000 episodes, and it's spawned awkward icebreaker activities aplenty. Nevertheless, it's a winning formula.
Guests are invited to imagine themselves as a castaway on a desert island, choosing eight recordings to take with them. They then explain their choices, giving you an insight into their life. Excerpts are played or, in the case of short pieces, the whole work might be shared.
At the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly. Guests are also automatically given the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible.
Pros:
1. The range of guests is simply sublime. Plus, the gravitas of the BBC, the clear structure of the show and how long-standing Desert Island Discs is, mean the conversations have a real depth to them. I'm frequently surprised by how honest people are with the reasons for their choices of music.
2. The episodes are between 30-40 minutes long making them easy to listen to with company because each one stands alone well. Many other podcasts take some getting used to; with this, if you can agree on a celebrity, it's unlikely to disappoint.
99% Invisible (Roman Mars)
99% Invisible Podcast by Roman Mars.
The premise:
"99% Invisible is about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world."
The pros:
1. This is so niche, that unless you work in the field of design, or are a next level geek, everything you hear will be new.
2. The episodes are short. The first 20, recorded in Mars's bedroom, are all under 10 minutes long. So, you don't get bogged down in complicated details, instead, you get initiated with a topic quickly and are left to mull it over independently.
"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand." Karl A. Menniger
