PODCASTS/AUDIOBOOKS

Gatekeepers

BBC Sounds, review by Yvette Huddleston

As Facebook reaches its 20th anniversary, journalist Jamie Bartlett hosts this compelling, sometimes chilling, eight-part series that investigates how social media has allowed a new digital elite to control what information we see online.

While the original idea was a kind of hippie dream of increasing connectedness and building a ‘global consciousness’. the reality is much less idealistic and more money-driven and political.

Bartlett asks pertinent questions about what this means for democracy and how and why social media have become the new information gatekeepers.

In the opening episode he traces the roots of the story back to San Francisco to meet one of the early pioneers of social media.

Rosebud Various platforms, review by Yvette Huddleston

Writer, broadcaster and ex-MP Gyles Brandreth chats to celebrity guests about their earliest memories and experiences in this heartwarming series launched last year.

The crop of interviewees he has gathered for 2024 has so far included Michael Palin discussing his childhood in 1950s Sheffield, meeting his late wife Helen on holiday when he was 16, discovering his talent for writing and performing while at Oxford University and the formation of the legendary comedy team Monty Python.

Among others joining Brandreth to reminisce are comedian and actor Rob Brydon who looks back on his childhood and teenage years in South Wales, and broadcaster and campaigner Esther Rantzen who looks back on her long career.

Law and Disorder Various platforms, review by Yvette Huddleston

This new weekly podcast series takes a look at the biggest news stories through the prism of the law.

It brings together three of the most capable legal minds in the UK – retired high court judge Nicholas Mostyn, barrister and human rights campaigner Helena Kennedy, and Labour peer and former Lord Chancellor Charlie Falconer.

In the opening episode they discuss the Rule of Law, the principle which underpins our democratic systems of government, and ask whether it is under threat.

So far they have also tackled the legal issues surrounding Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill, as well looking at the ongoing crisis in Gaza and what rules and laws govern conduct in war.

Your Mama’s Kitchen Various platforms, review by Yvette Huddleston

Journalist Michele Norris invites a range of guests to explore the complexities of family life and to share their thoughts on how their earliest culinary experiences have shaped them in their personal and professional lives. And each guest brings a recipe for a favourite dish from their youth.

In the first of a new season of the series she chats to actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves-McConaughey who talk about their first meeting, over margaritas, and how cooking together can help make amends after a disagreement.

They also discuss their childhoods which were quite different – his was a sometimes chaotic upbringing in Texas, while she was raised in a stable, family and food oriented home in Brazil.