Podcasts are now so pervasive that a recent episode of the excellent Three Beans Salad saw a listener get in touch to point out that they’d been pleased to meet a fellow fan of the show – while based on a tiny Antarctic island whose entire population is 18 people.
They are so ingrained in popular consciousness that some Olympic athletes can’t even imagine trying to break a world record without turning it into a podcast journey. Hence a show that we’re previewing this week – Tom Dean Medal Machine, which follows the two-time Olympic champ and Team GB swimmer as he tries to bag five gold medals at Paris 2024. Not only could he be the first person ever to achieve that feat, he’ll also be the first to manage it while making an audio documentary about it. Two records broken there, then.
We’re also giving you our thoughts on a deep dive into the X Factor to mark the show’s 20-year anniversary, a look at a double murder trial involving an American football icon and an insight into the trolling faced by the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent. It’s joined by a roundup of the best podcasts to listen to if you want to become an expert on interior design – one of which combines a love of decor with horrifying ghost stories and tales of deaths. How unique – and yet more evidence that there’s nowhere that podcasts won’t go.
Alexi Duggins
Deputy TV editor
Picks of the week
Queer the Music
Episodes weekly, widely available
Jake Shears’s podcast about LGBTQ+ bangers is a real gem. First up is You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), with members of Sylvester’s inner circle giving context to the groundbreaking disco love song. Shears is warm, thoughtful and a good listener as he teams up with Cabaret co-star Self Esteem to talk about queerness and performing live. His guest list for future episodes is strong, with Olly Alexander, Peaches and King Princess coming up. Hannah Verdier
Offstage: Inside The X Factor
BBC Sounds, all episodes out now
The heady days of early reality TV are always rich pickings, and as the 20th anniversary of The X Factor dawns, Chi Chi Izundu examines it through a distinctly 2024 lens. There’s solid access to show insiders and contestants who reveal the price they paid for a shot at fame – and, in some cases, how it was worth that risk. HV
Why Do You Hate Me?
BBC Sounds, episodes weekly
As the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring is a frequent target for trolls, but she’s also a fearless reporter who isn’t afraid to confront them. In her latest podcast, she meets conspiracy theorists, impostors and football trolls and it’s fascinating to hear their reasoning. She also meets people who’ve been harmed by them. HV
The Raven
Widely available, episodes weekly
When Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis (pictured above centre) and his entourage got into an altercation outside an Atlanta club after the 2000 Super Bowl, two men were stabbed to death. Although Lewis walked free after a double murder trial, questions still remain. Tim Livingston investigates what really happened – and asks who killed Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker. HV
Tom Dean Medal Machine
Widely available, episodes weekly
Team GB swimmer and two-time Olympic champion Tom Dean (who, by the way, is only 23 years old) is attempting to win a record-breaking five gold medals at this year’s Olympics in Paris – and he’s making a podcast about it, as a sort of training diary. Dean will speak with the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Jordan Stephens for top tips and inspiration. Hollie Richardson
There’s a podcast for that
This week, Rachel Aroesti chooses five of the best podcasts about interiors, from a guide to do-it-yourself decor to a wholesome dive into renovation dilemmas
The Great Indoors
Mad About The House, in which journalist Kate Watson-Smyth drills down into the decor of beautiful rooms, the layouts of houses currently on the market and the aesthetic choices she’s made in her own home, is the best interiors blog on the internet. For this slightly giddy but incredibly insightful podcast, she teams up with Sophie Robinson – previously the resident designer on 60 Minute Makeover – to explore new trends and products, dole out advice and talk to major players in the industry, such as Farrow & Ball colour curator Joa Studholme and Henry Holland, who recently swapped the catwalk for the potter’s wheel.
Homing In
As co-founder of The Modern House, which sells stunning contemporary homes across the UK, and its period property-specialist sibling Inigo, Matt Gibberd has managed to do the unthinkable: make estate agency aspirational and cool. Now, he’s indulging his passion for exceptional houses in audio form with this podcast where he interviews famous guests about the story of their lives via the homes they’ve lived in, including their highly covetable current abodes, from chef Ruth Rogers’ cavernous Chelsea home designed by her late husband Richard to Mary Portas’s London townhouse on Paddington Bear’s road.
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So, How Do You?
Anyone partial to an Instagram interiors binge will probably be familiar with the work of Laura Jackson: the TV presenter turned design maven (she now runs online homeware store Glassette) who has spent the past few years sharing the spectacular transformation of her east London home with her followers. In this podcast, sheprovides a guiding hand to the fledgling renovator. Each episode is centred on a specific problem – how do you approach wallpaper? Design a kitchen? Choose a colour scheme? Decorate a rental? – which Jackson (above) takes to two experts for a meaty, granular and highly practical look into the issue at hand.
Dear Alice
You may not think an interior design consultancy based in Utah would be a crucial port of call when it comes to renovation advice, but Dear Alice is a treasure trove. Hosted by Jessica Bennett, founder of the aforementioned Alice Lane, and her colleague Suzanne Hall, the show is a gentle, calming and very wholesome dive into decor dilemmas. Key guidance includes bypassing trends to tap into the interior fantasies you’ve held on to since childhood and a focus on “honest materials,” which means swerving things that pretend to be something they aren’t (wood-effect tiles, we’re talking about you).
Dark House
Love hearing about spectacular houses, but mainly in the context of terrifying ghost stories and tragic deaths? You’re not alone. This series hosted by journalists Hadley Mendelsohn and Alyssa Fiorentino – who both work for US interiors glossy House Beautiful – fuses virtual tours of notorious American properties with retellings of the gruesome histories behind them and their often (quite literally) haunting legacies. Hear about the tunnels turned leisure complex that lies below the spooky St Louis mansion once occupied by the unfortunate Lemp family, the dilapidated grandeur of the infamous Grey Gardens and the spine-chilling story of the colonial farmhouse in Rhode Island which became the inspiration for The Conjuring.
For more interiors inspiration, sign up here to receive House to Home, the Guardian’s eight-week newsletter series packed with tips to brighten up your home – whatever your budget
Why not try …
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In 2019, actor Sean Hayden collapsed on stage due to a panic attack, forcing him to confront his mental health crisis: a journey which he chronicles in Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story.
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Reign of Error looks into James Dolan’s dysfunctional ownership of the most beloved sports teams on earth, the New York Knicks.
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Scotland is gripped by a conspiracy theory that a cabal of gay judges threaten the justice system. A lawyer with a dark secret claims to have a list that possesses the truth in Shiny Bob: The Devil’s Advocate.
