What’s new to listen to

Ximena Smith rounds up the best of recent podcasts.

The No Good, Terribly Kind, Wonderful Lives and Tragic Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman

The title of the investigative series from Lionsgate Sound and CBC Podcasts pretty accurately captures the puzzling, contradicting narratives around the show’s two central characters – Barry and Honey Sherman. The duo were one of Canada’s richest couples: Barry was a high-level pharmaceutical industry executive and his wife Honey was a prominent philanthropist. But in 2017, they were both found strangled in their Toronto home. The case remains a mystery to this day. Journalist Kathleen Goldhar asks who the Shermans really were – and who might have wanted them gone. It’s a riveting story – featuring high-stakes pharma court battles, family politics and a bizarre funeral – and Goldhar is a trustworthy host, guiding you through the craziness with authority and aplomb. New episodes every Monday.

High Strange

Tenderfoot TV’s latest project is a bit different to its true-crime predecessors, focusing instead on the peculiar world of UFO sightings. Over eight episodes, host Payne Lindsey explores some of the strangest UFO stories, including navy pilots’ sightings, the curious case of Travis Walton, who believes he was abducted by a UFO for five days in 1975, and the ways in which the US government has investigated UFO reports, such as the secretive Project Blue Book. The show promises Lindsey is ‘‘leaving the tinfoil hat at the door’’ as he tries to sort fact from fiction – and every so often he reminds listeners of his scepticism. But he does sound a bit credulous at times too, and three episodes in, the talent choices certainly seem to skew that way in what’s otherwise a fun, entertaining listen. New episodes every Thursday.

Class of 1989

This limited series takes listeners back to 1989 to examine what was a pivotal year in Black cinema in the United States. Hosts Len Webb and Vincent Williams argue that six films from this era – including Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, Eddie Murphy’s Harlem Nights and the Oscarwinning Driving Miss Daisy – changed Hollywood forever. Webb and Williams are pop culture critics and hosts of the Black cinema podcast The Micheaux Mission, so they certainly know their stuff as they weave themes of politics, gender and the Hollywood economy into insightful discussions about each film’s impact. New episodes every Monday.