BEST OF THE BBC

None of the podcasts we’ve selected above are from the BBC, but that’s mainly because the BBC’s podcasts tend to be its regular programmes. That makes sense, but it means they aren’t podcasts as the rest of the world understands them.

Needless to say, its programmes are excellent. Here our some of our favourites.

1. More or less: Behind the Stats

The brilliant Tim Harford (author of

The Undercover Economist) and his friendly team of statisticians delve behind the numbers that make up the headlines. There are only three series on Radio 4 per year, where each episode lasts around 25 minutes, but these are supplemented by weekly nine-minute recordings made for the World Service.

2. Desert Island Discs

A show that needs no introduction, having been a BBC staple since 1942. However, note the podcasts have shorter snippets of music due to rights issues. Episodes are weekly and last around 40 minutes.

3. Arts and Ideas

This weekly podcast lasts around 45 minutes and draws from Radio 3’s arts programme Free Thinking. Intended to tackle bigger subjects, it features in-depth interviews with artists and scientists on ideas and concepts you may never even have considered before.

4. Sport and the British

Created for The Olympics in 2012, this 30-part series of 15-minute episodes takes you from the invention of modern sport – and the birth of the Olympic Games – all the way to the modern-day and television’s influence. It’s fascinating stuff, although you may have had quite enough of Clare Balding and the jingle by end of the series.

5. Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review

As long as you’re happy to listen to the grown-up banter between Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, this weekly, two-hour podcast is packed with genuine insight and passion about the latest cinema releases. It helps that the show has enough pull to attract major names for interviews, too.