Picks of the week
Visible Women
Tortoise, episodes weekly from Wed 15 Jun
Caroline Criado Perez continues the big conversation about the gender data gap explored in her hit 2019 book Invisible Women. The 12-part series kicks off with the pandemic – delving into how PPE is made to fit men better than women (something a male doctor said was “completely morally indefensible “ for her to point out – despite 70% of healthcare workers worldwide being female). An excellent production. Hollie Richardson
Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?
Widely available, episodes weekly
There is zero titillation as the FT’s Patricia Nilsson and Alex Barker investigate the finance and business of porn. In episode one, anonymous star Stoya (pictured above) sends them off to talk to the tech bros who revolutionised the industry by moving the action online for free – and put performers and producers in a vulnerable position. Hannah Verdier
Dish
Widely available, episodes weekly
Nick Grimshaw and chef Angela Hartnett team up for this riotously fun chat with celebrity guests over food. Grimmy serves cocktails, Hartnett dishes up an elaborate meal, and the crew laugh wildly along. Episode one sees Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham talk about being starstruck by Hollywood A-listers (and Hartnett herself). Alexi Duggins
Legacy of Speed
Widely available, episodes weekly from Tue 14 Jun
Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of the three Black US runners who raised their fists in protest during the 1968 Olympics. Sketching out their lasting influence, he explores how the legacy of their “Speed City” track and field programme has influenced everyone from Colin Kaepernick to Usain Bolt. AD
The Big Lie
Audible, all episodes from Thu 16 Jun
Jon Hamm has embraced the world of audio drama (he proved his pod chops in American Hostage). Now he slips into the role of the FBI agent who tried to shut down Salt of the Earth, a movie deemed too subversive and communist for America’s ears. It’s John Mankiewicz’s first foray into podcasting and the quality is suitably high and cinematic. HV
There’s a podcast for that
This week, Jonathan Nunn chooses podcasts five of the best food podcasts, from an “ASMR-ish” dive into food’s most pressing questions to a show answering the most unimportant food quandaries you could think of
Lecker
In a food podcast ecosystem mainly populated by famous people chatting to other famous people about their lunch, Lucy Dearlove’s Lecker stands out for the unfeigned intimacy in the way it approaches big topics – whether it’s food provision, the importance of food to immigrants, or the history of citrus – all filtered through Dearlove’s cloistered ASMR-ish production. It’s worth listening to from the start, but first timers should begin with the recent miniseries, Kitchens, which examines the way the design of kitchens have changed through the ages. Dearlove takes what could be a dry topic and makes it about gender, utopia, disability, housing, work, play … in short, everything.
Whetstone Radio Collective
Whetstone is a phenomenon. A self-funded food magazine started by Stephen Satterfield in 2016 dedicated solely to food origins, it has expanded to two print magazine, two online verticals, a core podcast, a clothes shop, and now, a whole satellite series of food podcasts, each one fronted by women. Whetstone tackles food from a decolonising perspective, whether it’s looking at food justice and food sovereignty in indigenous or African-American foodways, or a whole podcast dedicated to the production of mezcal from the point of view of those who make it. My favourite of the podcasts so far is Bad Table Manners by Indian writer Meher Varma, which complicates South Asian food cultures that have often been flattened by traditional food media.
Counterjam by Food52
This is one of those podcasts that hangs by a single hook that you wish you had thought of first – a food podcast told through music, getting musicians to talk about their relationship to food, and food writers and chefs with music, looking at how two different pillars of culture intersect and knot round each other. In other hands, this idea might look like it’s trying to do too much, but Counterjam is hosted by the genial Peter J. Kim, who runs the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn. The show works because of his boundless enthusiasm for his guests and their culture, even managing to surprise Afrobeat royalty Femi and Made Kuti with his knowledge of West African swallow foods.
A Hot Dog is a Sandwich
In terms of sheer fun, this is probably the most enjoyable food podcast out there: a deep dive into some of the most inconsequential food questions of our time, such as ‘When does a grilled cheese sandwich become a melt?’ ‘Do you pour the milk or cereal first?’ and indeed, ‘Is a hot dog a sandwich?’ In framing these things as serious debate, the presenters Josh Scherer and Nicole Enyati (whose earnestness, if you’re British, might take some getting used to) end up really looking at ontological differences and the minutiae of cultural and personal taste.
The Blindboy Podcast
Not a pure food podcast by any means, but Irish musician, satirist and author Blindboy Boatclub’s hugely popular weekly podcast contains some of the best food writing being published anywhere right now, told through a series of discursive shaggy dog stories set to ambient piano. Recent podcasts have taken in everything from Subway’s roots in submarines built by Irish republicans, custard creams and the CIA, Salt Bae, and how one chicken shop in Limerick is the custodian of the original KFC recipe. But Blindboy’s masterpiece is the extended riff on the chicken fillet roll, which manages to tell the economic story of 21st century Ireland through a sandwich.
Why not try …
If all that wasn’t enough foodie joy, try the Guardian’s very own Grace Dent presenting Comfort Eating, now on its third season.
A guide on changing your life in the Atlantic’s How To Start Over
Coupledom, in which Idris Elba and wife Sabrina explore relationships together
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