Are you a thrill seeker? What are you still hopeful for? Are you a reality TV show fan? Or enjoy chatting to friends over some good food? This week, our podcast picks are all of these things and more.
1. Criminal Attorney
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: True crime
Hosted by journalist Brandon ‘Jinx’ Jenkins, this podcast will have you hooked for all six episodes as it follows the rise and fall of ruthless criminal attorney, Paul Bergrin – who was accused of playing a leading role in a major drug ring.
Each episode provides detailed background information about the notorious case to bring down Bergrin, as well as looking at how far he would go to get his own clients off the hook. However, the timeline presented does jump around and can be confusing at times.
We learn about Bergrin’s beginnings, from feeling like an outsider while working at the US Attorney’s office, to the height of his influence in criminal gangs.
Criminal Attorney includes snippets of interviews of people involved with the case. Additionally, during the course of recording the episodes, Jenkins had access to Bergrin’s unpublished memoir, providing fascinating insider details.
(By Amelia Braddick)
2. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Entertainment
Are you a thrill seeker? What would you do in pursuit of the thrill?
Split Screen: Thrill Seekers is Love + Radio’s first six-part limited series, co-produced by Vespucci for CBC, where a TV crew offers 12 people the chance to take part in the adventure of a lifetime. But there’s a catch. The contestants are in the dark about something – which I won’t reveal here.
If you love watching reality TV and have always wondered about the ethics behind the scenes of the show, then listening to host Nick van der Kolk speak to set designers and crew members was very fascinating. It showed that it didn’t take much to permanently distort their sense of reality.
Even though the contestants weren’t able to ask many questions, I particularly found it interesting listening to why the contestants decided to sign up for the TV show during the mid-2000s and what they initially thought they were getting themselves into. The common thread was that they were all looking for an outlet and in pursuit of a thrill.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
3. Proper Tasty Pub Quiz
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Food
Proper Tasty Pub Quiz, hosted by two Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge and broadcaster Chris Stark from Capital Breakfast and That Peter Crouch Podcast, is where the friends go head-to-head and talk about the most important things in life: good food, good company, and the glory of beating your mates at a pub quiz…
The episodes are brought to listeners by M&S Gastropub and filmed at Kerridge’s pub in Chelsea, The Butcher’s Tap and Grill. The pair are also joined by well-known guests, including Jamie Redknapp, Jill Scott and many more to be confirmed, who are – along with listeners – put through their paces in four food-related rounds.
So inevitably there’s controlled chaos, hilarious anecdotes and an opportunity for guests and listeners to maybe learn a thing or two. Can you ever really go wrong with good food and a good chat? Not really.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. The Louis Theroux Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life and entertainment
The Louis Theroux Podcast is back for another season, but this time there’s a new feature. Rather than just listen to the podcast, you can now watch the visualised episodes on Spotify.
Halfway through recording, the team had to change rooms due to a booking error at the recording studios – what once could have been covered up by audio is now clear to see. Yet this interruption did not affect the flow of the discussion.
Theroux’s first guest is influencer and former adult film performer, Mia Khalifa. In his signature style, his conversation with Khalifa is more like an informal chat rather than a structured interview. They cover a variety of topics, including sex work, the internet, autism and Lebanon.
Theroux’s gentle persistence encourages his interviewees to open up and share personal stories. With a variety of guests lined up, this season promises to be unmissable.
(By Amelia Braddick)
Spotlight on…
5. Here’s Hoping with Jayda G
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life and wellbeing
Here’s Hoping with Jayda G is the brand new podcast produced by Mia Zur-Szpiro where the DJ, music producer and environmental toxicologist dives into the theme of hope, when we need it, how we find it and why we still have reasons to feel it.
This week’s guest is Cornish adventurer, author, speaker and coach Gail Muller, who has overcome immense personal challenges, including dealing with chronic pain over the last 15 years and having a late diagnosis of ADHD.
In 2019, Muller also embarked on a life-changing journey hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail, which inspired her to write two best-selling books.
Muller spoke about being told she could be immobile by the time she turned 40 despite being fit and healthy, dealing with invisible chronic pain, and how we all have the potential to remain hopeful by focusing on the micro instead of the macro.
It’s obvious that hope has always been a huge light for Muller and it was encouraging to hear her talk about being estranged from our previous selves, and why when on the journey of pain it’s important to move forward.
Jayda G then goes a bit further and asks Muller to talk more about being told she could potentially be in a wheelchair as a young teen, the healing power of nature, navigating life with ADHD, and so much more.
The podcast is truly a breath of fresh air and a great listen for anyone who is feeling hopeless, because hope deferred truly does make the heart grow sick.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
