Picks of the week
I’m Not a Monster: The Shamima Begum Story
BBC Sounds, from Wednesday
A threat to national security or a teenage girl who was abducted? The story of Shamima Begum sparks a range of opinions, but investigative journalist Josh Baker is determined to separate fact from fiction. He does so with painstaking research, retracing Begum’s journey from east London to Syria. Meeting her in a detention camp, he invites her to tell her own complex story. The first season of I’m Not a Monster won awards, and this one has the potential to do the same. Hannah Verdier
Please Tell Me a Story
Widely available, from Tuesday
Dentures, sauce and something gory with a Tory: Omid Djalili’s story may or may not include any of them. He tells it to silly sketch supremo Abi Clarke, who plays a game of pass-it-on to other comedians. Of course it gets more twisted the further along the line it goes, with Sikisa, Helen Bauer and Sean Burke embellishing away. HV
Died and Survived
Widely available, episodes available weekly
“I have really vivid memories of being in a coma, clear as day.” So says British journalist Charlie Webster, who had a near-death experience after a 3,000-mile 2016 charity bike ride. In this highly personal series, she meets scientists and spiritual leaders to research the afterlife – and how its possibility might affect our day-to-day behaviour. Hollie Richardson
Sleep Sound … With Sienna Miller
Audible, all episodes out now
Want to snooze off while the actor soothingly croons phrases such as “This is an industrial coastline”? This calming series of sound effect-backed monologues is designed to do exactly that, as Miller does her ASMR-ish thing on topics ranging from a storm on the English south coast to a dawn chorus by an Estonian lake. HR
Perfect 10 With Carol Vorderman
Episodes daily, from Monday
The hunt is on for 2023’s Wordle and this podcast from TV puzzle queen Vorderman fills a similar niche. The plan is to offer an episode every weekday for the whole year: expect general knowledge questions, brain-teasers and a lot of “Carolateral Thinking”. There’ll also be 50-minute compilations of the week’s shows released on Sundays. Phil Harrison
There’s a podcast for that
This week, Hannah Verdier chooses five of the best podcasts on music icons, from a tragic biography of Biggie Smalls and Tupac to a four-part retelling of Beyoncé’s origin story
Dolly Parton’s America
Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad got a lucky break when he decided to make a podcast about the queen of country: his dad had been Dolly’s doctor when she had a car accident, so could provide an introduction. The result is a thoughtful and deeply researched podcast that goes far beyond the big songs and even bigger hair to get a sense of what Parton really means to the USA. And the woman herself is as witty and wise as ever, answering Abumrad’s questions about authenticity, feminism and “Dolitics” as his love for her shines through.
Making Beyoncé
Any podcast about Beyoncé’s evolving story needs to be updated yearly, but Making … does a solid job of taking listeners up to her first solo banger, Crazy in Love, in just four parts. It’s a real-life fairytale that paints Beyoncé as a shy girl growing up in Houston, Texas, and passes through the glorious nostalgia of Destiny’s Child’s golden era. But there are also some subtly spiky interviewees, including singer Támar Davis, who fell victim to the young Bey’s determination to become central to any girl group lineup she found herself in.
Jacked
A documentary narrated by Cookie from the hip-hop drama Empire has to be worth a listen, and Taraji P Henson’s slick history of new jack swing is a delight. The genre pumped out many a party banger in the late 80s and early 90s and the podcast captures its unstoppable enthusiasm. Centre stage are a group of teenagers from Harlem, led by Teddy Riley, who pioneered the polished R&B sound and spread its magic through Blackstreet, New Edition and many more. With countless fast-talking interviewees, not a moment is wasted.
Slow Burn: Biggie and Tupac
Only the biggest hitters get the Slow Burn treatment, but Biggie and Tupac deserve the spotlight alongside Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon. Their murders are recent history to some, but for a new generation of hip-hop fans their feud and fate is the stuff of legend. Host Joel Anderson delves into the beef by interviewing eyewitnesses from the 90s to look at how the pair went from friends to deadly rivals. With a thoughtful consideration of their immense talent, gangsta rap’s reputation and the sexism that permeated the songs, it’s less of a whodunit and more of a where-did-it-all-go-wrong?
Queenpod: The Queen Podcast
If a podcast devotes more than 11 minutes to Freddie Mercury’s moustache, you know its hosts are the ultimate Queen fans. And if you are too, Rohan Acharya’s majestic podcast – featuring Sooz Kempner, John Robins and Queen historian Simon Lupton – is the definitive document you’ll need. More than 30 episodes debate questions that could cause fisticuffs among fans such as: “Is there a Queen song from the 80s that could fit on the first album?” For the Queen-curious, the episode about the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert is a good place to start for juicy anecdotes.
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