I was a podcast fan long before I published the first episode of The Emma Guns Show nearly nine years ago. In the early 2010s, I was hooked on Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, Serial, Kermode & Mayo and My Dad Wrote a Porno as well as numerous other audio shows.
While I still publish two episodes a week, I listen to many more and, while on holiday recently, I felt myself missing my regular instalments from my favourite podcasters.
These are the shows I couldn’t wait to plug into when I came home…
For news, I trust The News Agents, with journalists Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall. The show is updated regularly, almost daily. When someone attempts to assassinate Trump, pagers start blowing up Hezbollah or Keir Starmer has to address £100k worth of freebies, an episode will appear in the feed with all three discussing and dissecting from all angles. I missed Emily’s presence when she was on holiday recently as she does feel like a grounding and vital perspective within the trio.
While The News Agents was a recommendation from my friend Lindsey Kelk, The Rest Is Politics (TRIP) was a show my brother suggested I listen to and I’ve been hooked ever since. Hosted by former Director of Communications at Downing Street, Alistair Campbell, and academic, broadcaster, former diplomat and politician, Rory Stewart, the podcast offers something of an insider’s view on current affairs. It’s what you might call polite political debate from two unique perspectives.
Both hosts can look at what’s happening in the news and share what may be going on behind the scenes based on their time working with Tony Blair as his advisor and spokesperson, Alistair, and as a conservative MP, Rory.
I’ve been plugging into the news this year because current affairs have always felt inaccessible. There’s always more to the story or a wider context and, when presented in isolation, it can feel confusing and difficult to join the dots. I had lunch with a friend earlier this year who said, ‘The Rest Is Politics has made me feel, for the first time, like I understand what’s going on in the news and, more importantly, I enjoy keeping up with it now.’ I have to say, I feel the same.
It’s worth noting that TRIP is a 2-for-1 because the feed updates with The Rest Is Politics US hosted by British journalist Katty Kay and Anthony (The Mooch) Scaramucci who was the White House Director of Communications under Donald Trump. Given the upcoming US election, this has been essential listening to understand the fast-changing landscape of the campaigns and to hear, from people who have worked behind the scenes and are extremely well connected so know exactly how the main players are thinking and why the chess pieces are moving the way they are.
I recently started listening to The Daily T for their episode with David Davis on the Lucy Letby case but I’m yet to decide whether this will make it into my daily rotation as it doesn’t stand up, for me, next to TRIP and The News Agents but there have been some great episodes. The recent shows with the Conservative leader candidates have been worth listening to.
Also in the ‘news’ category is TRIGGERnometry, which while not specifically news-focused is always timely and topical. In their recent episode with the Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, they discussed political polarisation, the impact of smartphones on the human race and mental health. If you struggle to communicate with people younger than you, this is a must-listen because you’ll understand why we might be using the same language yet saying completely different things…
On a slightly different theme, I like to distract myself with reality TV. My heart belongs to Bravo, the network responsible for The Real Housewives… franchises and as much as I adore watching the shows, I have found a handful of podcasts that dissect the episodes, which allows me to prolong my enjoyment and feel even more embedded in the shows.
Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald covers everything in the pop culture zeitgeist and she is thorough in her investigations. Heather is a stand-up comedian but she is also Real Housewives adjacent as an LA resident who has appeared on many episodes of Vanderpump Rules and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, even if it was just in the background at parties and gatherings. The point is, she’s connected. She doesn’t just watch the shows, she knows the players which gives her a unique insight that I find interesting.
Heather doesn’t just cover reality TV, she breaks down the big news stories of the day - most recently Dave Grohl’s love child and the P Diddy case - and is often joined by reality stars and fascinating guests who all have a unique perspective on what has everyone talking.
Listening to someone talk about an episode of a TV show in a format that is sometimes twice as long as the show you watched is something I never thought I’d engage in but Ryan Bailey does this so well that I can’t help but tune in. I was a guest on So Bad It’s Good With Ryan Bailey recently and can attest to how good an interviewer and what a great host Ryan is.
The thing with reality TV is it’s very easy to be nasty and to judge the way people behave, albeit on a highly produced and edited show, harshly but I love Ryan’s show because he brings a layer of thoughtfulness and compassion to his analysis. While it might be undeniable that someone has behaved appallingly or made a bad choice about something, he doesn’t mock or belittle them for it.
In addition to his episode recaps, he also gets some incredible guests on the podcast and digs deeply into the latest entertainment news. It’s well worth a listen.
Also on my must-listen list are Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino and Watch What Crappens both are light in tone but make for such good company.
Health and fitness are important to me but the landscape of health and fitness content is pretty dire. It feels either extreme, judgemental, or contradictory and just leaves me feeling inadequate, which is something I don’t feel when I listen to The EC Method. Now, full disclosure, I was a fully paid-up member and reaped huge benefits from this method in helping with my fitness and diet goals, and now I tune into Emma Storey-Gordon and Chloe Madeley’s bi-weekly podcast to keep my head in the game and make sure I’m up-to-date with good advice.
I’ve struggled with binge eating in the past and my head can ‘go’ during times of stress and it’s a huge comfort to know that I can plug into this and be ‘reset’ by Emma and Chloe’s highly informed advice.
And finally, I am not as obsessed with true crime as many are, but I do love an episode of Redhanded. Hosted by Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala, their analyses of true crimes are second to none based on their thorough research and thoughtful insights. It’s also, well, funny. Obviously, some of the crimes they cover are horrific but these hosts manage to present quite shocking information in episodes that are also, at times and where relevant, light. I’ve found myself howling with laughter at some of their commentary, which is often an unexpected outcome of listening along.
If you’ve ever wondered about a high-profile serial killer or unsolved mystery then search their feed and hear their take on it, you won’t regret it.
Those are mine, what are your go-to podcasts? Let me know in the comments.
I highly recommend The Blindboy Podcast. I found the podcast and Blindboy Boatclub through Laura Kennedy- I love her writing. I get so much from listening to this podcast.
I've been looking for some new podcasts to dig into so this post came at the perfect time 😂 My top 3 without a doubt - The Mel Robbins Podcast, On Purpose with Jay Shetty and I love Powerhouse Women by Lyndsey Schwartz. I've been looking for some more purely for entertainment type listens recently rather than just personal development/business so just started listening Kathryn Ryan 'Telling everybody everything' too!