PODCASTS— LISTEN AT YOUR LEISURE

Radio Headspace www.headspace.com/blog/category/radio-headspace For those perhaps toying with the idea of mindfulness but not fully there yet, and for the rest of us who are beginning to lose ourselves in the pre-Christmas madness, this podcast is a chance to pause, draw breath and take stock. Created by the cheery English blokes behind the mega-best-selling Headspace app, which offers guided meditations, the podcast is more a series of reflections, on change, fear, kindness, stress and far more, including simply how to be. Thoughtful, sane, relaxing without making a song and dance about things. The Guardian Children’s Books Podcast www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/series/childrens-books-podcast Wondering what to buy them for stocking fillers? Books, obviously! In which case, you need this — a podcast about, by and for young readers that will guide you where you need to go. Cecelia Ahern talks about her YA novel, Flawed, Jeff Kinney of the Wimpy Kid books admits to always having writer’s block, and Eoin Colfer and Oliver Jeffers discuss Imaginary Fred. And if this doesn’t a) make your mind up that books really are the best gift, and b) steer you in the right direction to acquire those books, then really, there is no helping you. Interfaith Voices www.interfaithradio.org This is a weekly radio show in which a mixed panel of religious people — many disciplines, many viewpoints — discuss the issues that affect us. Presented by nun-turned-radio host Maureen Fiedler, it is neither preachy nor passive, but wonderfully challenging and intelligent.