picks of the week
alien abduction club
Global Player, all episodes available now
Perhaps the most bizarrely timed podcast given recent events in the US, Johnny Vaughan’s wacky new series hears from people who claim to have had contact with aliens or to be an alien (yes). In the first episode, musician Dan Bowskill says that he met his future self, chose his own mother, and chose his own reality on Earth. “You have to avoid [saying]: ‘You know what I mean?’” says Vaughan. “Because I do not!” holly richardson
other people’s pockets
Widely available, weekly episodes
“Is it a dream job?” host Maya Lau asks Mistress Marley, a financial dominatrix who earns up to $900 an hour humiliating clients through financial transactions. Begin this fascinating insight into our desire, need, and power plays around all things money. Nell Frizzell
K-Pop Dreams
Widely available, weekly episodes starting Thursday
Vivian Yoon is an American performer and writer. But back in the ’90s, she described herself as a tomboy with a skater aesthetic, who secretly loved K-pop. In this second series of California Love, Yoon explores the role second-generation Korean-Americans and Los Angeles played in shaping that particular music and culture. NF
In Your Mind by Richard Wiseman
Widely available, weekly episodes
Why do we laugh? How can you tell if someone is lying? And what is the funniest joke ever? Here are some of the questions about our psyches tackled by the magician, author, and psychology professor (pictured above) in a series of entertaining and rambling chats with co-hosted journalist Marnie Chesterton. A clue to the answer to the last question: it doesn’t start: “What’s brown and sticky?” alexi duggins
bear creek
Widely available, weekly episodes starting Monday
When Jason Carroll was 19 years old, he confessed to killing pregnant Sharon Johnson. But he now claims that a detective made him do it. Jason Moon’s thoughtful podcast looks at the impact this U-turn is having on Johnson’s family and friends, and asks broader questions about cold case investigative podcasts and the pain they bring about. hannah verdier
There’s a podcast for that.
This week, Charlie Lindlar picks five of the best podcasts to enjoy with the whole familyfrom the audio adventures of an anthropomorphized anteater to a show on the art of constructive debate.
Arthur
“Everyday when you walk down the street / Everyone you meet”…seems to have its own podcast. That now even includes animated anteater Arthur Read, who started his own capsule late last year, introducing wholesome new adventures. From fighting with friends to beating the winter blues, there are already a variety of teachable themes in the eight episodes released so far. If the longevity of the original TV show (which ran for 25 seasons from 1996 to 2022) is any good, this podcast will be a companion for families for years to come.
everything under the sun
It’s a universal parenting experience: Your child asks you one of those questions you’ve never really thought about (why bad things happen to us, or why do rabbits jump, say) and you have no idea how to respond. Fear no more, because instead of guessing or making up an answer, you can direct them to this podcast from Molly Oldfield, Curator of The Guardian’s Saturday Magazine. child proof. The best part? You will learn the answers to the above dilemmas and also many more riddles of life.
pirates of history
This Webby-winning show expands on the work of the American children’s entertainment company of the same name. In each episode, story prompts submitted by children are lovingly turned into comedy sketches and songs by everyone from David Schwimmer to Lin-Manuel Miranda. You never quite know what you’re going to find (kids’ imaginations have no limits, after all), but with over 65 million downloads to its name, it must be doing something right.
smash boom better
This podcast bills itself as a talk show for kids. But far from being an antagonistic question time for minors, it tackles the polarizing issues that really matter: invisibility or flight? pikachu or mario? Avengers or Star Wars? You’ll never realize you’re so passionate about completely arbitrary topics, but more importantly, kids who tune in will learn about critical thinking; how to form an argument; and, above all, how to disagree amicably. One for the whole family to listen to, there are plenty of ways to get stuck in too – you can suggest tracks for hosts Molly Bloom and Sanden Totten or download your own score sheets to play at home.
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Calm down
And once a few hours of Smash Boom Best have riled up the whole family, why not consider this laid-back podcast, which hopes to build emotional and social skills by guiding kids through “image-focused breathing and visualization exercises.” kindness and fun science facts”? . Perfect for calming things down before bed, this mindfulness module for kids will help kids learn and relax (and maybe give us a breather, let’s be honest). The 15-20 minute episodes may be infrequent, but the archive has plenty to get you started.
Why not try…
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agricultural fashionwhich explores how regenerative agriculture can mend the broken link between the agricultural and fashion industries.
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black prosea podcast that interviews leading black writers in fields like journalism, books, songwriting, and rap.
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