Currently Listening To – My Top 5 Podcasts

As I continue to work from home and my Disney playlist starts to lose it’s appeal due to how many times I’ve listened to it, I’ve started branching out into a couple of podcasts. So, I thought I’d share a few I’ve really enjoyed in the hope that you might be entertained by them too and possibly suggest some to me also!

1. No Such Thing as a Fish

This is the podcast I’ve been listening to the longest so I guess it’s fair to say it’s my favourite. Created and presented by the QI elves, this fun, light hearted podcast is a mine of information both random and relevant. Each episode contains four main facts that the elves discuss and expand upon, covering subjects from why a farmer might draw a pair of eyes on the back of a cow to why Merlin wasn’t called Myrddin. The best thing about this podcast is it’s variety, the elves research such a wide range of information that listening to it really is “quite interesting”.

On regular occasions whilst listening to Andy, Anna, Dan and James, I pause the podcast to immediately repeat what I have learnt to my boyfriend. I’ve probably retained less than 1% of all of the facts I heard over the last 7 years because there’s just so many of them, but the show has definitely helped me contribute to conversations with wonderful nuggets of information and sparked my interest in lots of different areas. Oh and it’s also hilarious!

Released every Friday at 2pm with most episodes ranging from 20 mins to an hour.
Click here to listen

2. Grounded with Louis Theroux

If, like me, you are a huge Louis Theroux fan then this is an incredibly easy sell! During lockdown last year Louis began recording remote interviews with a wonderful plethora of guests from the worlds of sport, acting, music, comedy and more. Each episode is a generous hour long meaning you really feel like you’re getting to know the guest. Topics range from the serious to the stupid, but always in a well considered and intelligent manner.

As someone who loves biographies I really enjoyed this format as I gained an insight into 20 personalities, some of which I already knew a fair bit about and others that I did not. Some of my favourites were Jon Ronson, Michaela Coel and Frankie Boyle. The show reminded me of Alan Davies’ As Yet Untitled which I absolutely love as it feels much more conversational than some traditional interviews.

Both series available in full (including a bonus episode) on BBC Sounds.
Click here to listen

3. About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge

I only discovered this podcast last year despite it being released in 2018. I read Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race in the same year and it was a turning point read for me. The podcast is in much the same vein as the book, but continues on from the 1980s. Topics covered include Operation Black Votes, the BBC’s White Season, Political Blackness and more. Each episode features a strong selection of guests who range from authors and journalists to activists and politicians.

Wonderfully researched and beautifully stitched together each episode is thought provoking and presents arguments from all sides with Reni offering her own opinions and contributions to conclude. This is a show I will definitely be re-listening to and I’m also really grateful for how each guest and all of the main sources are referenced in the episode notes – perfect for further learning!

All nine episodes are available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Click here to listen

4. You’re Dead to Me

This show is a much more recent discovery for me, less than two weeks ago I think! Hosted by Greg Jenner, Head Nerd of the BBC’s Horrible Histories, every episode he is joined by a historian and a comedian to discuss a historical period, event or figure. It’s a great combination of comedy and good historical discussion. Obviously in a podcast it’s impossible to cover everything, but I think the show really eloquently invites the listener to ask questions about the topics discussed and serves as a great introduction to each of them.

The ‘Nuance Window’, a section where the historian speaks uninterrupted for two minutes, works perfectly to convey to the audience that what has been discussed is by no means everything there is to know about the subject. As a history graduate I’m really grateful for this section, because I think it encourages the listener to question what they have learnt and want to expand upon it.

If you’re keen on history or even if you’ve not really dabbled in it since school, I’d really recommend giving this a go. History is so vast and expansive that it is often daunting to pick where to start, so these episodes are a really wonderful jumping off point. You can learn a little about a lot and see which most interests you. And even if you don’t decide to do any further reading you’ve still expanded your knowledge on a great array of topics!

Released every Friday with all episodes around an hour long available on BBC Sounds.
Click here to listen

5. Call of the Wild

So the last of my top 5 is actually a brand new podcast by the WWF hosted by Cel Spellman about what we can do to help save the planet. The first episode was released this week and I’m really looking forward to continuing with it. As an introduction, show number one is an interview with David Attenborough summing up the current situation we are in and the urgency with which we need to act to protect our planet.

As always it was a joy to listen to David Attenborough speak, his life time of experience and knowledge is so valuable to listen to and I think Cel did a great job of not only interviewing but conveying the immense impact that David’s work has had on the world, in particular to our generation. I’m really looking forward to listening to future episodes, each of which will focus on a different environmental issue and feature guests and listener input. Knowing how urgently the planet needs our help to protect and sustain it I would definitely say that this is a must listen.

Next episode to be released on Wednesday available on Apple Podcasts:
Click here to listen

So I hope I’ve inspired you to try out a few new shows, if I have please let me know what you think of them, or if you have any suggestions for what else I could be listening to let me know if the comments!