If you’re newish to podcasts, said Hannah Verdier in The Guardian, then you might know the names of some “must listen” series, but be unsure where to dive in. Here are three suggestions. Even by the standards of Cariad Lloyd’s superb Griefcast, episode 120 with Monty Don is a “real thing of beauty”. There are both tears and laughter as the gardener talks movingly not only about the loss of his father, but also of his beloved dog, Nigel. The true crime podcast Criminal, meanwhile, is “not all about the blood and gore”. Indeed its very best episode,
with episode 29, Louis Theroux. “If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing Theroux’s falsetto version of Baccara’s
Brixton 40 years after it was rocked by riots: Gentrified borough of today with its hipster coffee shops and sky-high house prices is a world away from deprived area where black community s anger at being targeted by racist police exploded into violence
Brixton Riots in April 1981 were sparked amid growing concerns over unemployment and poor quality housing
Tensions boiled over when police ramped-up their use of controversial stop-and-search powers in the area
Crackdown viewed as racist among residents, who claimed laws were being used to target young black men
Hundreds of police and rioters were hurt in the clashes, which also left dozens of buildings gutted by fire
The gentrification of Brixton four years on from the 1981 riots dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
I Was There Too: celebrating the bit-part stars of films like Speed
The best magazine and newspaper podcasts “sound like the institutions that spawned them”, said James Marriott in The Times. For example,
The Daily – earnest, urgent and liberal – “just
is The New York Times”. Remarkably, Private Eye’s podcast Page 94 manages to capture the spirit of a magazine that includes cartoons and satire, political and Fleet Street gossip, and “detailed investigations” into corporate malfeasance. “If it sometimes feels a bit cobbled together, that’s because that’s the way the readers (and now the listeners) like it.” Its “not-so-secret weapon” is, of course, Ian Hislop. Look out for the episode in which he and fellow Eye hack Francis Wheen join in conversation about Robert Maxwell, “one of the Eye’s greatest ever enemies”. Both have the “wit, long perspective and good noses for establishment hypocrisy” that makes the Eye the institution it is.