“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

– Philip Pullman

I remember the first podcast I ever listened to. It was season 1 of Serial, the OG true crime podcast by Sarah Koenig. Serial was an in-depth investigation by Koenig of a real case – the killing of American high school student, Hae Min Lee, and the conviction of Adnan Syed for her murder. It was groundbreaking listening and the evidence unearthed during the investigation led to a retrial for Syed, who by that time had served over 20 years in prison.

Serial was recommended to me by my friend Helen and, like most listeners, I was gripped. I listened to it in a whole week on my commute to London, changing my mind about what happened, who was telling the truth, and who was guilty, about ten times an episode. Sometimes I found myself deliberately walking slowly to the office so that I could finish a whole episode before I got there. I’ve since recommended Serial to friends who have found it equally compelling. One friend even had to give up listening to it on the bus to work because he found himself so engrossed that he kept missing his stop!

I’ve gotten really into podcasts since then. They keep me company in all sorts of situations. Listening to a podcast is a great distraction from the drudgery of housework. It’s also an ideal accompaniment to DIY – I find listening to music too distracting if I’m trying to concentrate on something, but I can paint for hours non-stop if I’m following a fascinating discussion or story. A good podcast is also perfect company on a commute to work, long travel journey or while doing tedious life admin like filing or shredding.

It’s International Podcast Day on 30 September so, to celebrate a phenomenon that has brought me many hours of top-notch earfood, I wanted to share some of my favourites with you. Read on for recommendations and some podcast episodes involving Kent!

A note: I’ve included links to each podcast on Spotify, but you can find most of them on Apple podcasts, BBC Sounds, Acast and other streaming platforms.

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Desert Island Discs

Desert Island Discs is what I listen to when I’m baking. Queen of cakes Mary Berry once said that you can taste stress in baking. For me, the soothing sound of Radio 4 burbling away in the background is the perfect antidote to that. Desert Island Discs is the UK’s longest-running radio show, having been on the air since January 1942, and almost the whole archive is available online. Anyone who’s anyone has been on it, talking about their life and selecting the eight records they would take with them to a desert island. Terry Pratchett and Michael Morpurgo are among my favourite episodes. Famous castaways associated with Kent include Jools Holland, Dame Kelly Holmes and Strictly Come Dancing’s Len Goodman. Many North East celebrities have also been interviewed, including Jill Scott, David Olusoga, Bobby Robson, Ann Cleeves, and, of course, TV legends Ant and Dec.

What I love about Desert Island Discs is that even if I don’t know much about the person being interviewed, I still enjoy it. There’s something wondrous about the way the presenters get their guests to talk about their lives with a raw honesty, sharing stories that are sometimes funny, sometimes emotional, but always interesting. Once ‘cast away’, guests are allowed to take the Bible, the complete works of Shakespeare, and a third book of their choice with them, as well as their eight records. As someone with a serious book-collecting habit, the idea of having to choose only one book to take is agonising. In case you’re wondering, the most chosen record over the years is Vaughan William’s The Lark Ascending (which happens to be one of The Man of Kent’s favourite pieces of classical music).

Dark Histories

If you like ghost stories, macabre tales and mysterious happenings, you’ll love Dark Histories. Expertly researched, written and presented by Ben Cutmore, it’s the perfect podcast to listen to on a gloomy Autumn afternoon or winter evening if you want to spook yourself out. Whenever I listen to Dark Histories, I usually end up jumping at small noises and shadows, wondering why I chose to put it on in a dark and gloomy house on my own – but I always enjoy the show. Some of my favourite episodes are Mina Crandon and the $5000 Psychical Challenge (Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini go ghostbusting together), The Spider Man of Denver (terrifying), The Dyatlov Pass Incident (frightening and bizarre – and no one knows what happened to this day) and Tamam Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery. There are several excellent episodes featuring real-life hoax-buster Harry Price, and a handful featuring Kent, including The Death of George Bodle and the Birth of Forensic Toxicology and The Saltwood & Hythe Mothman.

Magic Lessons

Magic Lessons

I adore listening to Liz Gilbert on Magic Lessons. She’s like your wise, funny, kind, big sister or best friend who also happens to be a massively successful writer. Known for her bestselling book, Eat Pray Love, Liz Gilbert also hosts this podcast where she gives advice about overcoming creative obstacles and following your artistic dreams. Magic Lessons has been a huge source of inspiration and encouragement to this baby blogger, but regardless of whether you’re looking for creative motivation, it’s just a joy to listen to.

The Missing Madonna

Now, I love a good heist story and this one’s a cracker! It’s about the theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, The Madonna of the Yarnwinder, from Drumlanrig Castle (a.k.a Britain’s biggest art theft) and how the painting was recovered by a gutsy private detective from Liverpool. Written, produced, and narrated (in a gorgeous Liverpudlian accent) by Olivia Graham, whose dad Robbie recovered the painting, this podcast had me hooked from episode one. It also features Dutch art detective Arthur Brand, who sounds like he has one of the coolest jobs in the world.

British Scandal

Salacious and juicy, British Scandal combines history and comedy to tell the human stories behind the scandals that hit the headlines. As they say at the start of each episode, “Some [scandals] are about sex, others about money. In the end, they’re all about power.” Each season is three episodes about the scandal in question, and a final episode featuring an interview with someone closely associated with it. It’s entertaining, shocking and funny. I’d particularly recommend Breaking Barings (a story that goes from bad to worse so vertiginously that I felt quite ill listening to it), The Hitler Diaries (a fraud of breathtaking audacity), Oscar Wilde (outrageous, heartbreaking, and includes an interview with Wilde’s grandson) and Abdication (you think you know all the details of the abdication of King Edward VIII? You don’t. It’s jaw-dropping). The interview episodes from the series on Lord Lucan, Jeremy Thorpe and The Krays are absolutely fascinating.

The Lazarus Heist

Featuring more international locations than a James Bond film – Japan to San Francisco to Macau and others – The Lazarus Heist reveals how an elite group of North Korean hackers managed to steal billions of dollars through a series of sophisticated scams around the world. The hackers’ targets include Sony Pictures, the Winter Olympics and the NHS. North Korea denies any involvement in the cybercrimes but the evidence suggests a different story. The BBC’s Jean Lee and Geoff White undertake a massive global investigation to try to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Compelling and terrifying.

Sport’s Strangest Crimes

I’m not a sports fan, but as you have probably gathered by now, if a podcast involves a juicy scandal or a daring con, I will listen to it. As the title suggests, Sport’s Strangest Crimes is about the shocking, outrageous and downright weird things that have happened in the world of sport. I thoroughly enjoyed the series about the disappearance of Shergar (narrated by Ice T), The Trillion Dollar Conman, about how Russell King nearly brought down Notts County FC, and Allen Stanford – The Man Who Bought Cricket. I listened to the latter with the Man of Kent on a long car journey. He’s a massive cricket fan and was aware of the Allen Stanford debacle, but even he was astonished by the full details, which include money laundering in the Caribbean, drug cartels and the FBI. Don’t be put off by the sports theme because you don’t need to be a sports fan to enjoy any of these series – they are all just great investigative journalism, told superbly.

The Missing Cryptoqueen

Now also a book and a TV series on Channel 4, The Missing Cryptoqueen sees journalist Jamie Bartlett trying to track down Dr Ruja Ignatova, the woman behind dodgy cryptocurrency OneCoin. This story has got everything – pace, intrigue, a global manhunt (womanhunt?), a whole cast of nefarious characters and cliffhangers galore. I learned loads about cryptocurrency listening to this, and I constantly refresh my podcast feed hoping a new episode will drop, because I really, really want to know where Ruja Ignatova is now. Riveting.

Frozen Head

Frozen Head is one of the weirdest and creepiest podcasts I have ever listened to. Described as “a story about life, death, and what comes next”, it looks into Alcor, an Arizona-based cryonics organisation that places people in cryopreservation (essentially, freezing them after their death) with the aim of restoring them to society at some future point. We hear about various people who signed up to be cryopreserved, what happened next, and the impact on their loved ones. This isn’t made up – Alcor is a real organisation. The subject matter is definitely morbid, but the disarming jolliness of hosts Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart ensure it never becomes overwhelmingly so. The podcast throws up interesting questions about life and death, consent, and medical ethics, and is a fascinating, thought-provoking listen.  

The Guilty Feminist

I’m a feminist, but I often listen to this podcast while cooking or cleaning the house. That might not sound very feminist, but it fits in completely with the point of this podcast, which is to “discuss our noble goals as 21st century feminists and the hypocrisies and insecurities that undermine them.” Each week, Deborah Frances-White brings together a diverse panel of comedians, activists, and special guests to discuss subjects ranging from Being Bossy, Reality Television and finding the perfect clothes peg, to weightier topics like Upskirting, Greenham Common and Not Having Kids. The Guilty Feminist can be light-hearted, witty, serious, celebratory, uplifting and heart-wrenching in the space of just one episode, but it’s always enlightening, relatable, and laugh-out-loud funny.

In Our Time

I always feel intellectual and cultured after listening to In Our Time. Each episode, Melvyn Bragg and expert guests take on chunky topics ranging from the Higgs Boson particle to the history of coffee, distilling each into a 45-minute discussion. Academics chatting about highbrow topics might sound duller than dishwater, but the discussion is always pacey and never gets bogged down in minutiae. Instead, you’re listening to experts talking about subjects they absolutely love, and their enthusiasm is contagious. The archive from 1998 onwards is available online and handily divided into broad categories – history, culture, religion, science and philosophy. In Our Time is also another ideal companion podcast for warding off baking stress!

Serial

If you haven’t listened to it already, enjoy the original international smash hit!

The Man of Kent recommends…

The Man of Kent is a big fan of Talk on the Wild Side, a light and engaging podcast about Kent wildlife and nature. It’s a great way to keep up with developments in the various nature recovery schemes that are happening in Kent, such as the reintroduction of bison and chough. He’s also a loyal listener of You’re Dead to Me, which is history with a comedy twist. Charles Dickens fans will enjoy the Christmas with Charles Dickens episode.

Have I missed out one of your favourite podcasts? I’m always looking for new ones to try out, so do put your recommendations in the comments.