OK, but hear me out: the five best podcasts to change your mind
You’re Wrong About
Recently named I iHeart Radio’s podcast of the yearYou’re Wrong About took off during lockdown for its conversational reassessment of events, people and phenomena “miscast in the public imagination”. From multi-part explorations of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the OJ Simpson trial, to busting the myths of Koko the signing gorilla, each episode is wryly funny but diligently researched, with attention paid to context and accuracy. Host Sarah Marshall’s compassion for misunderstood and maligned public figures stands out at a time when celebrities are increasingly speaking out about the toll of being in the spotlight. (You Must Remember This takes a similar tack to stories of early Hollywood.) The episode on cancel culture – in which Marshall and her former co-host Michael Hobbes unpick the culture wars without using the (often meaningless) word “cancel” – takes a cool, considered view of an often strategically inflamed issue.
In Touch
An explicit and honest discussion of sex by educator Ruby Rare, In Touch is a refreshing rejoinder to British reserve, extending “an intimate and playful education” around the different ways we connect to our bodies and to each other. Recent episodes on pornography and non-monogamy challenged widespread assumptions, misconceptions and taboos from an intersectional feminist perspective, with a view to making sex better for everyone. “By not talking about it, we’re unable to acknowledge how impactful it is, for good and for bad,” says Rare. Thanks in large part to Rare’s nuanced and empathic hosting, In Touch feels like a safe space from which to expand one’s mind. We Were Always Here – another Broccoli Productions limited series from last year, hosted by activist Marc Thompson – likewise challenges dominant narratives of Britain’s HIV crisis.
Flash Forward
At a time of war, social division and climate catastrophe, Flash Forward warrants a mention for making the future seem less dire. Each week, science journalist Rose Eveleth interrogates one specific “possible or notso-possible” vision of the future – from living underground, to a world without artificial wombs – with input from experts on how we might get from here, to there. A recent episode, for example, explores the possibility of transitioning to another economic model, challenging the prevailing principles of scarcity and offering comforting words from an imagined post-capitalist future. The result is an often uplifting insight into “other ways of working and living” – if you can look past the killer robots. Flash Forward recently went on hiatus after seven years, but will be returning later this year. Science Vs, from the Gimlet Media stable, similarly casts an inquisitive eye over present-day issues, including vaccine scepticism and the new billionaire space race.
You Are Not So Smart
From the psychology of scammers, to the manipulation of marketing, You Are Not So Smart helps us to understand our cognitive biases and blindspots so that we might overcome them – or at least stand a better chance of challenging them. Not only might this podcast change your mind, it might help you to change others’. A recent episode shows how to approach difficult conversations – such as with anti-vaxxers, or people of opposing political views – with communication and negotiation expert Misha Glouberman, complete with role plays. One tip: “You can tell a lot about how a conversation’s going from how your shoulders feel,” he says. NPR’s Hidden Brain is likewise revealing of our unconscious patterns, while therapist Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin? explores differing points of view within a relationship.
99% Invisible
Now in its 12th year, the “podcast about design” was one of the first highly produced, narrative podcasts that aimed to change the way you see the world. Indeed, rounding on its 500th episode and recording 500m downloads, 99% Invisible could be considered too obvious for inclusion – but it’s just so highly rated, any list would be incomplete without it. One listener on Reddit likened it to getting a master’s degree on a subject where other podcasts resembled a quick skim on Wikipedia: “After most episodes, I feel my worldview has changed.” Even single episodes have the potential to be transformative, with the deep-dives into sand, curb design and hostile architecture especially well regarded. Radiolab (now sans host and creator Jad Abumrad, who resigned in January after nearly 20 years), and NPR’s Invisibilia are likewise titans of the form; well-made and magpie-minded.