Welcome to my latest podcast round up! It’s known I love a good pod, and since COVID, I have now the habit of listening in while I walk Amber, when I am on a plane, during half term skiing break and generally when I feel like some thought provoking, eye saving, entertainment.

Apart from my always up to date Casefile, the podcasts below have been on my playlist recently. Take a look and take your pick, if you are looking for good podcasts recommendations.

Investigative / true stories

The Spy Who

The Spy Who series by Wondery is simply incredible. I stumbled upon it and what a find it is. Each season dedicated a few episodes to a usually little known story of a spy who did something pretty memorable. Whether is a french spy in occupied France during WWII or a former extremist turned spy on Bin Laden, each episode is delivered so well by actors Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey; the story is well told, and the dialogue (mostly imagined but based on true events) is enthralling. One of the best thing out there.

The Pitcairn Trials

Wondery does produce some very good content, I must say. Another podcast I found by chance, it was the name Pitcairn that caught my eye, as I have always been fascinated by this tiny South Pacific island theatre of the most famous mutiny in history. But … this is a story I had not idea about and wow, what a story it is. I won’t say more, just listen to the Pitcairn Trials.

British Scandal

I heard an ad for British Scandal on another podcast, and wasn’t that keen, the ad is quite odd. However I decided to check out the themes covered, and found there were some that felt appealing. Each season is about 3 epidoses long and dedicated to a briton who did something.. bad? nasty? untoward? It’s also by Wondery and delivered by comedian Mat Forde and Alice Levin and it’s partly dialogues (imagined), partly fact listing. I like Matt’s delivery but personally I find Alice completely redundant, useless and time consuming. She thinks she’s funny, I don’t think so. It actually adds unnecessary pauses to the story, however if you get past that, the podcast is pretty entertaining. The Nick Leeson one made for a great holiday listen.

World of secrets

My friend and fellow podcast fan Kirsty pointed me towards World of secrets, and she knows me well. I was immediately into the style of investigative journalism of this BBC series. So far I have only listened to the series dedicated to the Abercrombie & Fitch scandal (also on a Netflix documentary) and despite knowing the story, really enjoyed it; perhaps a bit long, but still well researched and paced.

Fictional / immersive sounds

The edge of sleep

When a night watchman finishes his shift at work, he is terrified to discover that everyone in the world who went to sleep the previous night has died. Now he and a band of survivors must stay awake and uncover the secret of this global epidemic, before they fall asleep. Another one by QCode, I loved the Edge of sleep, in my view one of their best. It’s really weird, and gripping and pretty disturbing for some reason. I cannot wait for series 2.

Listening in

When her home speaker begins picking up her neighbors’ conversations and broadcasting them into her apartment, a lonely recent New York transplant, Julia (Rachel Brosnahan) becomes increasingly obsessed with her neighbors’ lives. But what begins as a voyeuristic endeavor quickly devolves into a situation with real world consequences, and she quickly realizes she doesn’t know who to trust. Along the same lines is also QCode Listening in; really enjoyed it and can’t wait for more.

Evergreen

Created by Chloe Stearns and John Wynn (Last Known Position), Evergreen is a 9-episode psychological sci-fi thriller rooted in ego, deceit and the power of choice. It has Alan Cummings playing the baddy (good fit) and Lana Condor and it’s a bit bonkers but very entertaining. Hoping for a series 2 at some point.

Ghost tape

Back with QCode, with an interesting, a little odd, but quite immersive unsettling mystery horror, Ghost tape is well acted and also entertaining. It follows Tessa Dixon at a remote army base in Texas as she deals with the psychological and physical trauma of basic training. When she finds a tape of her grandfather’s labeled ‘Ghost Tape’ and plays the haunting audio, she unknowingly unleashes a deadly manifestation of her own family’s horrible misdeeds.