Are your children a fan of Peppa Pig? Are you looking for an alternative way to entertain your children outside of screen time? Do you know the two rules most romance novels always follow? This week’s column provides some of the answers to these questions.
1. Peppa Pig’s Play-A-Long Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Children and Family
Welcome to Audible’s Peppa Pig’s Play-A-Long Podcast in collaboration with leading toy and game company Hasbro, where listeners can play all kinds of games with the outgoing preschool pig and all of her friends.
In the first episode, Peppa Pig – voiced by Amelie Bea – and George spend time building and counting huge tower blocks. They then move on to playing a game called ‘Piggy in the Mirror’, which is great for when you are feeling sad, according to Peppa, and go on to various animal noises and breathing exercises to teach children how to manage big emotions.
The podcast has six episodes in total, which are no more than 15 minutes each, and are filled with a mix of fun interactive games, outdoor adventures and even catchy sing-alongs with Peppa’s new band, The Piggy-Wigs.
If you are looking for an alternative to screen time for your children, Audible’s Peppa Pig’s Play-A-Long Podcast is a great place to start.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
2. Rated 18 Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Comedy
Summer in England has always been a contentious subject – just look outside your window. But if you were rich, would you go sun chasing? It’s what hosts Kane Brown, Christopher Savage and Uncle Percy of the Rated 18 Podcast said they would do.
Since the comedy podcast started 10 months ago, it has managed to gain over 50K subscribers on YouTube – where you can also watch each episode after it is first shared exclusively on Patreon – and recently sold out a two-day live show at Leicester Square, where listeners have truly embraced the humorous and raw storytelling about life, dating and everything in between.
In previous episodes, the co-hosts have been joined by notable guests including Zeze Millz, Richard Blackwood, Anthony Yarde and Babatunde, but this week, they gave their flowers to English football legend Andy Cole.
They spoke about everything from Andy’s relationship with fame, his football career, racism in sports, supporting Manchester United, money management, and why health is wealth.
If you enjoy listening to people who have gone against the grain but don’t take themselves too seriously, then the Rated 18 Podcast might be one for you.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
3. Help I Sexted My Boss
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Comedy
Every week, self-proclaimed etiquette expert William Hanson and radio presenter Jordan North are on hand to assist with listener dilemmas and dissect their bizarre stories.
In this week’s episode Help I’ve Offended A Nun, we hear the unfortunate titular tale of a teacher who sought a nun’s help in obtaining a job reference, only to inadvertently send her a text meant for her boyfriend, calling her “a hag of a nun”.
William can’t hide his shock while Jordan admires her for still going through with the meeting and apologising. This ties in nicely with the Jolly Joke feature which is also nun-based, leading to Jordan reeling off several other gags about women of the cloth.
The chit-chat of the duo at the start may be too menial to be enthralling but the stories from the listeners excel once again.
(By Mason Oldridge)
4. Today with Tonies
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Children and education
From the brand behind the hugely popular Toniebox, Today with Tonies is a show filled with ‘fun, facts and jokes’. Hosts Sam and Tim are full of energy and enthusiasm, so it’s engaging for the four to seven-year-old age group it’s aimed at.
The three-segment format keeps it simple; in this week’s episode, Sam has to guess the identity of a mystery famous person or character that Tim has a picture of (think audio Guess Who?), they introduce a cool new word – ebullient, and finally, listeners call in with their ‘good news’ stories – i.e. fun things they’ve done or things that have made them happy.
It’s a really sweet segment and a great way of making your kids feel connected with others. At around 15 minutes, the episodes are short enough to keep a young child’s attention and there’s a bit of learning to keep parents happy.
(By Lauren Taylor)
Spotlight on…
5. The Splendid Table
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Food
The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters started life as a radio show back in 1997 before becoming a podcast, hosted by award-winning Chinese-American food journalist and cookbook editor Francis Lam. Still a hit all these years on, the weekly episodes see Lam talk with guests about all manner of foodie topics – and as a former food columnist for New York Times Magazine and judge on US TV series Top Chef Masters, he knows his stuff.
But while there’s plenty of recipe chat and inspiration, it’s the human stories that make the series special, as Lam delves into the roles food plays in our lives, relationships and cultural identities, making it an insightful, enriching listen, whether or not you consider yourself a whizz in the kitchen. The latest episode features Kate Medley, a photojournalist who spent a decade documenting gas station food, and chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson, from award-winning veggie-focused LA restaurant Kismet.
(By Abi Jackson)
6. Happily Never After
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: True crime
There are two rules most romance novels always follow: there has to be a happily ever after and you need a strong main character who grabs your attention. But this wasn’t the case for Nancy Brophy, who likes to write about romance, sex and murder.
Wondery’s Happily Never After is a true crime podcast – laced with dark humour – about the story of when the romantic suspense author’s husband is found murdered at work and her life starts to mirror the plot twists and turns you often find in her books, and positions her as a primary suspect.
From the first episode, it’s clear that the marriage between Dan and Nancy was like a fairytale but unfortunately, the murder of Dan was calculated, cold-blooded and rocked their community.
The seven-part series is hosted by fellow romance novelist and former true crime reporter Heidi Joy Tretheway, who was a member of Nancy’s writing club in Portland and brings first-hand knowledge and insights to this mind-boggling tale.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
