July podcast picks: the Olympics, camping and children’s shows
Featuring Blind Landing, Fogo: Fear of Going Outside, Fun Kids, Wild Crimes and more
I’ve spent much less time on Twitter of late, and am happier as a result, said James Marriott in The Times. The problem is that I have “an odd sensation of having lost a sixth sense for what’s going on in the world”: who has been cancelled, what is now deemed immoral, what we’re all arguing about.
The nifty solution is Blocked and Reported, which offers “good-humoured, common-sense and often entertainingly exasperated” dispatches from the online culture wars.
Presented by two “liberal but woke-sceptic” US journalists, Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog, the podcast has recently covered topics such as the “hounding” of the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for her views on trans rights; a Pride event in Seattle that charged its white guests a “reparations fee” for attendance; and an “internet pile-on” that destroyed the business of a Palestinian-American entrepreneur whose daughter posted racist tweets.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“To clamber through all this thorny territory with confidence and good humour is, I think, pretty remarkable.” And it makes me “very relieved I don’t spend so much time on Twitter nowadays”.
Cancel culture is the subject of my favourite recent episode of You’re Wrong About, said Ella Mumby in The Guardian. This terrific US podcast is educational but entertaining – each episode explores an event, phenomenon or person that the hosts, Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall, believe has been miscast or misunderstood in the popular imagination.
Other recent topics include the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s and 1990s, the saga of Koko the Gorilla, and the anti-vaccine movement. The hosts are “warm and engaging”, and thorough without getting bogged down by detail. Listening to them is “like sitting in on a conversation with your smartest friends. You might not get everything, but you’ll definitely learn a lot.”
Culture wars and comedy were the subject of Taboo, an outstanding recent Radio 4 programme that’s well worth seeking out on BBC Sounds, said Charlotte Runcie in The Daily Telegraph. The smart and “fearless” presenter Kate Copstick joined a very diverse group of comedians to discuss all aspects of offence-giving and taking. The result was “one of the most thought-provoking radio comedy” shows I’ve heard for years.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Finally, I’d strongly recommend the new podcast from the TV doctors the Van Tulleken brothers, said Hannah Verdier in The Guardian. A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris + Xand explores why Xand is obese but Chris isn’t, even though they’re identical twins.
It’s a question that the pair decided to confront after they both caught Covid, and Xand developed a heart condition; the twins delved back into their childhood eating patterns and more recent life stresses. The Van Tullekens tackle a complex issue sensitively, with insight and “much myth-busting”.
The Week Unwrapped: Health data, green banking and flawed maps
How will we deal with knowing so much more about our health? Should central banks seek to fight climate change? And is Google Maps leading us astray? The Week team delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.
-
Are boomers the real phone addicts?In The Spotlight There’s an ‘explosion in screentime’ among older people – and they’re more vulnerable to misinformation
-
West End Girl: a ‘tremendously touching’ break-up albumThe Week Recommends Lily Allen’s unfiltered new work is ‘littered with relatable moments’
-
Are car headlights are too bright?The Explainer 82% of UK drivers concerned about being ‘dazzled’ as LED bulbs become more common
-
Book review: ‘Joyride: A Memoir’Feature A journalist’s story of how she chased and accomplished her dreams
-
Art Review: Downtown/Uptown: New York in the EightiesFeature Lévy Gorvy Dayan, New York City, through Dec. 13
-
R&B singer D’AngeloFeature A reclusive visionary who transformed the genre
-
Kiss guitarist Ace FrehleyFeature The rocker who shot fireworks from his guitar
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
6 well-crafted log homesFeature Featuring a floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace in Montana and a Tulikivi stove in New York
-
Film reviews: A House of Dynamite, After the Hunt, and It Was Just an AccidentFeature A nuclear missile bears down on a U.S. city, a sexual misconduct allegation rocks an elite university campus, and a victim of government terror pursues vengeance
-
Book reviews: ‘Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife’ and ‘Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong With Baseball and How to Fix It’Feature Gertrude Stein’s untold story and Jane Leavy’s playbook on how to save baseball