Table of Contents
Selections of the week
Mind your own business
Widely available, weekly episodes.
Lupita Nyong’o came up with the idea for this podcast when she was stuck in traffic and wanted to hear a story from Kenya, where she grew up. She invites other people from the African diaspora to tell real stories from Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, and more. But what’s really interesting is that Nyong’o talks about how uncomfortable she felt losing her accent for the American market, before finding her authentic voice again. Hannah Verdier
Damned
Audible, all episodes are now available
Journalist Femi Oke investigates “a true story about sex, money and the spiritual world” in this harrowing series. When a woman turned up at a German brothel in 2016 and refused to say how she got there, authorities uncovered a human trafficking ring that forced women to swear an oath in a spiritual ritual. The way the young girls in Nigeria suffered is horrific, but it needs to be heard. High voltage
Give well done
Widely available, weekly episodes.
Whether you’re a casual donor, a charity, or a big-money philanthropist, this new podcast looks at how to make the most of what you give. Leaders and experts discuss what climate actions can make a difference, how AI can be used for good, and the pros and cons of giving cash. High voltage
Empire City
Widely available, weekly episodes.
Journalist Chenjerai Kumanyika recently discovered footage of his father as a young man. The context was disturbing: the film was shot by the New York Police Department, which was surveilling civil rights activists. This prompted Kumanyika to produce this damning series, which functions as an alternative history of American policing and a challenge to the idea that the safety of New Yorkers is a priority for them. Phil Harrison
Split Screen: Thrill Seekers
Widely available, weekly episodes starting Monday.
What happens when you get people to sign up for a reality show they know nothing about? The “thrill seekers” who did exactly that join Love + Radio’s Nick van der Kolk to recall their incredible experiences—some are adventurous, some would do anything for money, but all are surprisingly relatable. High voltage
There’s a podcast for that.
This week, Graeme Virtue choose five of the best podcasts of comic book cultureFrom a six-part dissection of Black Panther to a history of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and company
Unpacking peanuts
This charming series pays homage to the comic strip that turned worried boy Charlie Brown and his dreamy beagle into global icons. Three professional cartoonists – Michael Cohen, Jimmy Gownley and Harold Buchholz – are retracing Schulz’s output in chronological order dating back to 1950, and with the entire Peanuts archive available online for free, listeners are encouraged to read through. The veteran trio and their producer Liz Sumner have a relaxed rapport and offer insightful perspectives on the artistic development and empathetic sense of humor of author Charles M. Schulz. With eight seasons under their belt, the epic read has already reached the mid-1980s.
War Rocket Ajax: All the stories of the story
If keeping up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe can feel like a full-time job, then trying to understand the long, sprawling history of comics is even more daunting. One way to make sense of decades of serialized storytelling might be to compile a massive list of comics ranked from best to worst, which is what long-running American podcast War Rocket Ajax does every month with its bonus episodes Every Story Ever. To date, dynamic duo Matt Wilson and Chris Sims have compiled an ever-growing ranking table of over 1,500 comic book stories, offering exuberant analysis of everything from Judge Dredd to the cult online strip Achewood.
New Arrivals: Batman
Each season of the raucously entertaining Newcomers sees hosts Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus undergo a different pop culture workout. Earlier this year, the pair dove into the world of Bruce Wayne with 14 episodes examining the Caped Crusader. A row of obsessive Batman killers — including former Saturday Night Live star Taran Killam, podcast kingpin Scott Aukerman, and comic-savvy Patton Oswalt — showed up to explain how each film adaptation invoked various classic comic book stories for inspiration. Byer and Lapkus politely accepted all that geekiness, but seemed equally interested in calculating which on-screen Batman was most turned on by way of their own Batman poll.
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House to amaze
The UK’s longest-running comics podcast (15 years and counting) is a relaxed chat between Edinburgh experts Al Kennedy and Paul O’Brien, whose academic knowledge of their chosen subject is infused with flashes of silliness and dry wit. Each episode offers a snapshot of current comics culture as the pair analyse the latest hyped publishing announcements and put recent new issues under the critical microscope. Since early 2021, Kennedy and O’Brien have alternated standard episodes with a book club rereading Marvel’s Thunderbolts, an influential 1997 series about supervillains masquerading as heroes (and secretly beginning to enjoy it). With a Thunderbolts movie starring Florence Pugh and Julia Louis-Dreyfus due out next year, you could hardly ask for a better introduction.
The History of Marvel Comics: Black Panther
Marvel’s first black superhero had already been around for more than 50 years when the 2018 blockbuster Black Panther became an Oscar-winning, multi-billion dollar phenomenon. Originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966, the warrior king of the African technological utopia Wakanda has been rebooted and relaunched several times over the decades, with each new incarnation challenging the prejudices of the time. This stylish six-part series hosted by YA author Nic Stone charts the character’s evolution and cultural impact. Stone’s enthusiasm is infectious as he hears from those who shaped the Black Panther mythos, including veteran artist John Romita Jr and award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Why not try…?
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The final series of the late Rob Burrow’s Seven podcast will launch from next week, with An extra episode Now available.