July podcast picks: the Olympics, camping and children’s shows
Featuring Blind Landing, Fogo: Fear of Going Outside, Fun Kids, Wild Crimes and more
Any politician thinking of weighing in on the question of the England football team “taking the knee” should first listen to TalkSport’s Coming in From The Cold, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times. This “moving and informative” series, presented by Jessica Creighton, is a remarkable slice of social and cultural history, which tells the story “of modern England through the prism” of its black professional footballers.
“Booing one of your own players... are you expecting him to play better,” asks the former England striker Emile Heskey, his voice “cracking with exasperated incredulity”. Heskey is referring to Ashley Cole. But, depressingly, he could probably be talking about any of the players profiled here, from the Victorian goalie Arthur Wharton and Walter Tull in the 1910s, to more recent stars such as Clyde Best, John Barnes, Ian Wright and Raheem Sterling. Their stories are “engaging” and “often poignant”, and this “engrossing” series does them proud.
I tend to find audio drama a “struggle”, with its “creaking sound effects” and excess of exposition, said Fiona Sturges in the FT. But Edith!, a comedy-drama about President Woodrow Wilson’s wife, who took over running the White House in 1919 after he suffered a stroke, is a treat. The writing is “fast and fun”, with clear shades of Veep, Armando Iannucci’s TV comedy hit about a fictional US vice-president. And Rosamund Pike is terrific as Edith – “smart, irreverent and sardonic”.
Subscribe to 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.
The podcast’s subtitle is The Untold True-ish Story of America’s Secret First Female President. But it is based on fact and, with no creaking sound effects at all, it makes for “compulsive” listening. “I was not the first female president,” says Edith, modestly. “I was a patriot who helped the country stay together while the president took a little nap.”
“No podcast is more interesting, more impishly good fun, more beautifully produced” than Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas-filled show Revisionist History, said James Marriott in The Times. In fact anyone who has not listened to the episodes The King of Tears (on country music), The Hug Heard Round the World (on Sammy Davis Jr. and Richard Nixon), A Good Walk Spoiled (on the evils of golf) and Hallelujah (on the two kinds of genius) is “hereby banned from reading this column” until they have gone away and “done their homework”.
Gladwell’s last series was “the only duff one so far” – but the new series, the sixth, has just begun, and he’s back on top form with an episode on driverless cars. Much of the fun arises from Gladwell “gleefully experimenting” with Google’s self-driving car, Waymo: throwing beach balls at it, racing it, and riding around in it while abusing learner drivers. “It’s good to have him back.”
The Week Unwrapped: Strict schools, swimming caps and the four-day week
Do more rules make for a better education? Is a ban on “Afro caps” a blow to sporting diversity? And will Covid boost calls for a four-day working week? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Duchy Files: how bad is the scandal for King Charles?
Today's Big Question Making millions in rent from the NHS and armed forces a 'PR disaster' for royal family
By The Week UK Published
-
'A stark choice'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Vietnamese migrants crossing the Channel
The Explainer 2024 has seen a surge in the numbers of Vietnamese migrants making the illegal passage into the UK
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour – an 'expansive' exhibition
The Week Recommends The 'sweeping' show features over 140 works from paintings to ceramics
By The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale picks her favourite true crime books
The Week Recommends The writer shares works by Janet Malcolm, Helen Garner and Mark O'Connell
By The Week UK Published
-
The Forsyte Saga: 'faultless' production with a 'pitch-perfect' cast
The Week Recommends Theatrical adaptation of John Galsworthy's novels is a 'must-see' show
By The Week Published
-
6 exciting homes for athletes
Feature Featuring a rock-climbing wall in New York and a basketball-tennis court in Washington
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peter Ames Carlin's 6 favorite books on pop culture icons
Feature The author recommends works by James McBride, Jim Bouton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Wild Robot: animated adventure is 'warm, funny and wise'
The Week Recommends 'Sharply written and richly detailed' adaptation of Peter Brown's best-selling book
By The Week UK Published
-
Francis Bacon: Human Presence – a 'stirring, splendid' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Riveting' show at the National Portrait Gallery explores the artist's 'wild' portraits
By The Week UK Published
-
Robert McCrum shares his favourite books on sport
The Week Recommends Writer and editor picks works by Nick Hornby, David Goldblatt and others
By The Week UK Published