• Podcasts we love
FANCY TREATING YOUR EARS TO SOMETHING NEW? PODCASTS ARE LIKE TUNING IN TO A GOOD CONVERSATION. PODCAST HOST AND EDITOR KAT BROWN INTRODUCES US TO SOME FAVOURITES
Over the past decade, podcasts have been increasingly filling our phones, ears and minds. They can help you switch off, or switch you on to new ideas and discussions. From the bizarre ( Sleep With
Me’s rambling but surprisingly effective stories to help you get to sleep, sleepwithmepodcast.com) to the headline-making ( Bryony Gordon’s Mad World was where Prince Harry spoke about counselling, bryonysmadworld. telegraph.co.uk, and Serial got the world hooked on solving crime, serialpodcast.org), you can find shows about whatever you fancy. No really, anything: “One of the podcasts I enjoy the most is
Always There (alwaystherepod. co.uk), an exploration of the 1980s period drama Howard’s
Way,” says Daisy Buchanan, presenter of You’re Booked (acast.com/booked), devoted to the books that have shaped someone’s life. “Every episode [of Always There], a different guest talks to Julia Raeside about what they’ve seen – some are familiar with Howard’s Way and some are utterly baffled by it. It’s always funny, charming and it helps me to escape to a world full of big boats and bigger hair. Whatever your interest, there’s a podcast (and a new world) for you. Here are some of our favourites…
Lives well lived
If the idea of a load of preposterously successful people talking about their “failures” makes your eyes roll, then I beg you, think again. In How To
Fail, Elizabeth Day interviews big names with such delicacy and care that it feels like magic (howtofail. podbean.com). There are offshoots of The Moth storytelling nights around the world, and this podcast collects the best and most jawdropping tales – all true (themoth. org/podcast): if you never listen to another podcast episode in your life, promise me you’ll hunt down Dame Wilburn’s ‘Pagan Fundraiser’ story online. Desert Island Discs is a classic for a reason, but the Radio 4 show also works perfectly as a podcast. You can choose almost any episode from the past 76 years. Artist Molly Parkin and surgeon David Nott are superb places to start (bbc.in/2h7TCZ9). And Cariad Lloyd’s Griefcast is an intimate, funny and deeply moving series about how we deal with death (acast.com/griefcast).
Creativity & wellbeing
Chloe Brotheridge’s The Calmer You
Podcast is a deeply sensible, kind series that tackles everything from eating disorders to anxiety in a way that’s free from trend-led woo (calmer-you.com). Deborah Frances White’s The Guilty Feminist combines live comedy with insight to make examining our own attitudes to feminism a game-changer – each episode leaves you feeling ready to step up and do a bit more (guiltyfeminist.com). Pressing
Pause (gabrielletreanor.com/ podcast) is a favourite of The Simple
Things’ Rebecca Frank: “They’re nice, short podcasts, on subjects that cause people lots of worry, such as how to not worry about what people think of you and how to deal with social media comparison.” And explore the joyous intricacies of language with Helen Zaltzman’s
The Allusionist – a funny, entertaining treasure (theallusionist.org).
A good book
Highlighting the connection that books have with the rest of our lives, Mostly Lit is a terrific show that brings them alive – live events and interesting publishing tie-ups abound (mostly-lit.com). Backlisted aims to ‘give new life to old books’. Hosted by the founders of the Unbound publishing house, it’s blissful comfort listening (soundcloud.com/ backlistedpod). One that hadn’t launched at time of writing, but which is a case for excitement is Sentimental
Garbage (Twitter: @sentimentalpod), a fan show for chick lit and contemporary women’s fiction. It’s hosted by the team behind the excellent ‘Ooh, I never knew that!’ show, School For Dumb Women (acast.com/ theschoolfordumbwomen).
Home comforts
Sophie Robinson and Kate WatsonSmyth are hits on Instagram, but also a dab hand at warm, authoritative chat about interior design. The Great
Indoors offers great advice on solving problems and channelling your style onto your walls (madaboutthehouse. com/podcast).
If your focus is your plants, then Jane Perrone’s On The Ledge offers jolly advice without going full-on Gardeners’ Question Time (janeperrone.com).
If you just want a good nosy around someone’s house, then At Home
With, from bloggers Anna Newton and Lily Pebbles, is The One (acast. com/athomewith), and for feeling like you are part of a brilliant dinner party, drop in on Table Manners (acast.com/ tablemanners), where Jessie Ware and her mum entertain a range of different guests, from the likes of Nigella and Ottolenghi to Sadiq Khan and Sandi Toksvig. Ready to take your pod skills to the next level? Kat’s guide to creating your own is on our blog, thesimplethings.com/blog/podcasts.