Stumbling across a brilliant podcast is one of life’s pleasures but so too is starting to listen to one that has been recommended to you and discovering that it’s exactly as good as promised.
Irish News journalists have recommended a variety of podcasts, from comedy and sport to TV, history and news.
Give them a listen and let us know what you think - and do tell us which podcasts you love listening to by emailing digital.editorial@irishnews.com We love a recommendation too!
The Rest is History - William Scholes
Two English blokes talking about history might not sound that promising a premise for podcasting gold, yet The Rest is History has grown into a behemoth. It’s one of the world’s most listened to podcasts for good reason, but don’t let that ubiquity put you off.
The hosts, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, are wonderfully entertaining and erudite. They are also brilliant teachers. The depth of research and knowledge they bring to the podcast is staggering. Several episodes are usually devoted to each topic, a format which allows the subject to be treated seriously while keeping it accessible.
I tend to save up a series for my routine long car journeys. They are good family listening, too.
Recent personal highlights include the series on the Titanic, Martin Luther and the Reformation, and ‘Britain in 1974’.
Holland and Sandbrook have a lightness of touch but also the insight to draw out the contemporary resonances of past events. There are more than 700 episodes, so there’s bound to be something in the library that catches your eye - and ears. You’ll soon be hooked, too.
Gig Pigs – Ryan Smith
I’ve two podcasts that send me off to sleep most nights (in the best possible way) and they are Off Menu with James Acaster and Ed Gamble and Gig Pigs with Ivo Graham and Alex Kealy.
The first one is one of the most popular podcasts of recent times and so I’ll give the latter a plug which has probably been my favourite over the last year.
Kealy and Graham have come up with a fairly complex and time intensive format where they bring a guest to a gig and then meet them, usually at a later date, to talk through the gig.
The result is a brilliant mixture of comedy and nostalgia – and even the more niche gigs (to me anything that isn’t The National or Bruce Springsteen) are a great gateway into new acts. Or at the least just a very entertaining listen.
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Word Up! With Brónagh Diamond (with video version on YouTube) - Jonathan Campbell
Semantics and some antics from Brónagh Diamond, a writer and stand-up comedian from west Belfast.
Her regular co-host David Doherty-Jebb is a fellow comedian who peppers the discussions with insights from other languages.
Both disarmingly frank about life with ADHD, the pair go off on more tangents than a trigonometry class but the end result is all the more engaging for it.
Often bluer than the algae on Lough Neagh, this content is not for the prudish. If you prefer more PG-tailored content, you can read Brónagh’s Irish News columns here.
The News Agents – Conor Coyle
You would think after spending most days reporting the news that the last thing most journalists would want to do is listen to a news podcast before bed – but in my case you’d be wrong.
Hosted by former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis alongside Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, the News Agents covers the big global stories of the day and gets to the heart of them in a way that’s easy to digest.
The trio’s coverage of the US presidential election was second to none and they are my go-to for keeping up with the latest stories.
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Mike and Vittorio’s Guide to Parenting – Liam Grimley
As a massive fan of Irish comedy I decided to go for the outrageously funny Mike and Vittorio’s Guide to Parenting. The combination of Mike Rice’s tongue-in-cheek statements and Vittorio Angelone’s witty remarks make for very entertaining listening and their storytelling abilities as comedians make their conversations as dramatic and entertaining as any limited series going. If you want an example, listen to episode 40, titled GAA, where the pair talk about their experiences in sports teams in their youth and I happily relisten to that over and over again. It’s a huge part of my week and makes Thursday mornings fly by.
Talk Of The Devils - Chris Sherrard
I’ll steer clear of news here although that tends to be what I listen to when I turn on the radio or a podcast but, for distraction, it’s something sporty.
I will plump for Talk Of The Devils which is a show dedicated to covering Manchester United by The Athletic.
Of course, lately it’s mainly involved dissecting humiliating defeats and vastly-overpaid and under-performing players so there’s been plenty for the team to get their teeth into.
That team is probably the best-informed collection of journalists who cover the biggest (underachieving) club in the world – Laurie Whitwell, Carl Anka and Andy Mitten with Ian Irving the host.
They even took the pod on tour, with a recent sold-out show in Belfast throwing up more tales and anecdotes from the panel.
If only the team was as good as this podcast...
The Pilot TV Podcast - David Roy
One of my favourite First World Problems is barely being able to keep up with the never-ending multi-platform onslaught of premium television content.
Happily, The Pilot TV Podcast, the audio version of movie bible Empire magazine’s spin-off publication, Pilot TV, is on-hand to help.
Hosts James Dyer, Boyd Hilton and Kay Ribeiro eat, sleep and breathe ‘peak TV’, then distil their thoughts into a weekly, sub-two-hour dose of mostly spoiler-free news, reviews and previews, plus regular interviews with the stars and creators of the biggest new shows coming our way.
An informative, lively and irreverent listen - there’s quite a lot of swearing, so cover your children’s ears - The Pilot TV Podcast is the ideal way to curate your near-future TV viewing while on the go.
