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THave you heard all about podcasts’ obsession with the unexplained? You might want to think about it again. Forget Ghost Story – in recent weeks a show launched featuring a pet psychic. Creature Preacher features “animal communicator” Nancy Mello who gives pet owners an in-depth read on their pet’s personality, based entirely on the look in their eyes. It’s a wild and confusing listen that raises more questions than it answers.
But if you like your pods’ noumenal explorations to be a little more traditional, this week we’re bringing you a roundup of five of the best paranormal podcasts (yes, including Ghost Story). Also note Lolly Adefope’s excellent satire on sports broadcasts, the return of the brilliant Wiser Than Me by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and a new animated chatshow from Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver. Plus, we get a personal and moving take on the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strikes and a nuanced look at a woman who was jailed for allegedly falsely claiming she was raped.
Podcasts: a vast church. You don’t have to be a psychic to understand this.
Alexi Duggins
Assistant TV editor
Picks of the week
Dial F for Football
Widely available, every week from Wednesday
Total Sport FM listeners are used to the hosts being white and blokey, so what happens when management calls on a young YouTuber? Lolly Adefope (above) plays Lisa, the new recruit who struggles for airtime when she teams up with Des (Fergus Craig). The fast-paced, pleasant satire of sports radio is perfect and every character is a little clueless and horrible. As the producer says: “Hate equals clicks, equals views, equals ad money. » Hannah Verdier
You miss me?
BBC Sounds, twice-weekly episodes
Lifelong friends Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver have plenty of chemistry and material for a twice-weekly catch-up. Funny stories, 90s memories involving stars, debates on current affairs issues and thoughts on the whereabouts of the Princess of Wales are all here, plus an insider’s view on how the celebrity world works. excluding tax
Wiser than me
Widely available, weekly episodes
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ superlative podcast where she talks to older (and wiser) women is returning for a second season. Billie Jean King, Patti Smith and Sally Field are among the sensational subjects offering pure inspiration this time. Louis-Dreyfus says it “unbridled” his thoughts about aging and made it something to look forward to. You can see why. excluding tax
Unreliable witness
Widely available, weekly episodes
Who is Ellie Williams? The 22-year-old was jailed in 2022 for making false rape allegations, but this nuanced podcast proves there’s a lot the public doesn’t know. Sky News editor Jason Farrell and producer Liz Lane speak to her family and friends, who describe her as an intelligent, outgoing woman who showed signs of abuse. excluding tax
Strike
BBC Sounds, weekly episodes
There is no shortage of reflections on the miners’ strike on its 40th anniversary, but it is the personal memories that stir the most emotion. Merthyr Tydfil-born filmmaker Jonny Owen, aged 13 at the time, describes the divide between miners who went on strike and those who didn’t – and how it divided friendships and communities . excluding tax
There’s a podcast for that
This week, Rachel Aroesti chooses five of the best paranormal podcasts, from a guide to American spiritualism to a BBC investigation into the truth about a 1950s London poltergeist.
ghost story
What begins as a vague anecdote about a potentially haunted attic in south-west London turns into a fascinating, profound and quite beautiful meditation on memory and the past in this superb podcast from journalist Tristan Redman. The trigger for the series is a crazy coincidence: As a child, Redman experienced strange events in his bedroom – years later he discovered his wife’s great-grandmother had been killed next door . What follows is a gripping investigation into a very strange murder case and a thrilling investigation into the potential ghost. Has Redman lived his entire adult life under the influence of supernatural forces? Its conclusion was never definitive – but it is revealing and moving to boot.
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The Battersea Poltergeist
As host of the excellent BBC audio series turned TV show Uncanny, Danny Robins is the king of paranormal podcasting in the UK – but it was actually his 2021 series, The Battersea Poltergeist, that launched for the first time the ball on the end of the stage career of the comedy author. to change. In an incredibly in-depth examination of the ghostly goings-on at Wycliffe Road in the 1950s, Robins spares no effort to provide a rational explanation for the noises and flying objects that tormented the Hitchings family and preoccupied the press throughout the decade and beyond. But despite his best efforts, our host is unable to completely dismiss the idea that something scientifically inexplicable happened there – and, by the end of the series, you will be too.
Ghost church
Podcaster and comedian Jamie Loftus (best known as co-host of the long-running show The Bechdel Cast) is our trusty and often hilarious guide to American Spiritualism – a religion akin to Christianity defined by its belief that the dead don’t die really – in this fascinating, funny and heartfelt series. To delve deeper into the fragile foundations of spiritualism, as well as its less ridiculous modern aspects, Loftus settles into the small ultra-island community of Cassadaga, Florida, hoping to interview the mediums who have dedicated their lives to communing with the spirits. She arrives with an open mind – but soon discovers that it would take a supernatural level of seriousness not to laugh at all the incredibly bizarre details.
Radio rental
After making a name for himself with a series of cold case investigations, podcaster Payne Lindsey then turned his attention to the kind of scary stories that don’t really qualify as true crime, but turn nevertheless around something incredibly sinister. After scouring the forums for scary stories – from a tale of a lookalike girlfriend to the evil babysitter who apparently never existed – Lindsey tracked down the posters and recorded all the gruesome details of their experiences. The paranormal is just one possibility in these stories, but for once, it’s often the preferable option – human villainy being a much scarier prospect. Oh, and if it all gets a little too much, Rainn Wilson (AKA Dwight from The Office US) is there to break the tension, hosting the whole shebang in the guise of video store owner Terry Carnation.
Ghosts in the suburbs
Wellesley, Massachusetts, is a real place — but it’s not quite the poltergeist-filled community this podcast would have you believe. Ghosts in the Burbs does not initially appear to be a work of fiction; our host is a seemingly real person named Liz Sower, a community member who decided to start collecting her neighbors’ local ghost stories into a (real) blog. Yet it soon becomes clear that Sower is actually telling a sophisticated soap opera about a town rife with paranormal activity. The tone is both warm—Sower and her acquaintances give off delicious mom vibes—and deeply unsettling: After a while, our host gains the ability to see ghosts, spirits, and demons; not exactly the kind of skills that help you sleep at night.
Why not try …
After Broad and Market examines the 2003 murder of Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old young, black, gay student in downtown Newark. His murder galvanized LGBTQ+ activism in New Jersey.
In The Y countsnutritionist Arina Kuzmina and her expert guests discuss a wide range of health topics, including overeating, work-life balance, and the mind-body connection.
Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies asks how we can expand and evolve our connection with ourselves, others and the world around us.