Bit of a different post today. My friend Charlie was asking what podcasts I listen to, so instead of just giving her the list I thought I’d share them all with you too.

The first podcast I ever listened to was the famous Serial which was recommended to me by my friend Jo. If you haven’t heard it, it is about a journalist who investigates the real life murder of a teenage girl in the 90’s and whether her boyfriend who was jailed (and is still incarcerated) for the crime really did it. It is very gripping and you’ll want to binge listen to it and then Google for updates! This series came out a few years ago and after I finished listening I left podcasts alone for a while until I completed couch to 5k and thought I would need something to listen to when I was running.

I saw an article on Standard Issue Magazine which recommended a few and I started from there. You can download podcasts from the Apple podcasts store if you are an iPhone user, but as I have an Android phone I use the Podcast Addict app, which has worked well for me.

Bad Fat Broads is hosted by KC and Ariel and is “the bad fat bitch perspective on everything important.” (iTunes wouldn’t let them bitch in the title hence the broads). They don’t post as much as they used to but their back catalogue is worth a listen to for an intersectional look at fat issues.

Made of Human is made by comedian Sofie Hagen and she introduces the podcast as –

The Made of Human Podcast, also called MohPod, is about connection. I sit down with a lovely person and we talk about life. I want to find out how to cope with being an adult person. I want to find out how to deal with all of the confusing bits of life. All of the hurtful bits of life. I want to sit, for just an hour, with a great person and learn from them. And – if they have no idea how to ‘adult’, then that will be absolutely okay – at least we will have an hour of feeling like we’re not the only ones in the world.

I’ve been introduced to lots of different creators who have appeared on the MohPod and sought out their work afterwards because of it.

Sofie was also one of the original host of The Guilty Feminist with fellow comedian Deborah Frances-White. Each week has a theme, a challenge around that theme, a guest and a guest co-host (from the time Sofie moved onto MohPod). GF is recorded in front of a live audience so you can also buy tickets to see the show in person if you are so inclined.

A spin-off from The Guilty Feminist is Loud Voices which is a collection of comedy pilots written by and starring former guests or co-hosts of the podcast.

Deborah also hosts Global Pillage which she started as one of her Guilty Feminist challenges. You can also see these as live shows and take part in the panel show about diversity by playing as part of the hive mind.

Global Pillage is a brand new comedy panel show podcast all about idiom, culture, customs and norms. All the oddness of humanity is explored in this hilarious new show where TWO TEAMS OF COMEDIANS take on the HIVE MIND OF THE AUDIENCE. This show is about the diversity of human experience. Come with us as we pillage the globe for the strange but true ways of the human race.

Another panel show is Do The Right Thing which describes itself as –

An award-winning panel show podcast where the teams must work out the right thing to do in any given situation. With Danielle Ward, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Michael Legge and special guests.

And it’s very funny!

I first heard Chris Gethard on MohPod, Chris is an American comedian who has own show on American TV and has featured in a few sitcoms but I was previously unaware of him. Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People (shortened to Beautiful Anonymous) is a great podcast and its wonderful to hear from ordinary people and their sometimes extraordinary stories.

1 phone call. 1 hour. No names. No holds barred. That’s the premise behind Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People. Every week, Chris opens the phone line to one anonymous caller, and he can’t hang up first, no matter what. From shocking confessions and family secrets to philosophical discussions and shameless self-promotion, anything can and will happen!

Standard Issue moved from being an online magazine to a podcast earlier this year (you can read about the reasons why here). There have various regular features such as Jen’s update on women’s sports and Hannah’s reviews of Disney movies as well as guest features by various contributors.

Another magazine type podcast is BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour. WH is on everyday with additional late night WH occasionally so I’ll admit I don’t listen to every episode but I like to have it on subscription so I can dip in when I see something in the blurb I’m interested in.

Another one from the BBC and another one I’ll only listen to if it’s a subject I’m interested in is BBC World Service’s The Inquiry – The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world. They take a subject each week and have four expert witnesses who look into the subject and come to some kind of conclusion. Recent episodes have questioned “How do you end a civil war?” and “Can you teach robots ethics?”

A podcast from another news outlet and that’s SRSLY the pop culture podcast from The New Statesman. Each week Caroline and Anna dissect popular books, films, TV shows and music in a more academic way than people sometimes do, they encourage listeners to get in on the discussion by contacting the show and recommending them subject matters to review.

I have been a fan of Russell Brand for a long time so when he started doing his latest project “Under the Skin” as a podcast I was right on it. Russell is currently studying Religion in Global Politics at university and I think he started this podcast so he could just interview thinkers, authors and professors and not have to read their books! He describes it as – Under the Skin asks: what’s beneath the surface – of people we admire, of the ideas that define our time, of the history we are told. Speaking with guests from the world of academia, popular culture and the arts, they’ll help us to see the ulterior truth behind our constructed reality. And have a laugh.

Prince Harry was the first guest on Bryony Gordon’s Mad World where he spoke about his own mental health so you may be aware of it. Bryony speaks to a range of people about their own struggles with mental health and what they have done to become and remain mentally healthy.

Another one that sounds quite serious is Griefcast hosted by Cariad Lloyd. Cariad interviews a fellow comedian about a particular person in their life who has died and how they were affected by the grief they experienced. Cariad’s father died after a short illness when she was 15 and it interesting listening to peoples stories when in western culture it is sometimes a taboo subject.

You couldn’t get away without a couple of vegan podcasts being recommended! These are from the UK’s biggest vegan charities Viva! and The Vegan Society which will update you with all the latest news, views, interviews and going-ons in the vegan world.

So that’s what I’m currently listening to. What are your favourite podcasts? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x