From fun daily facts to relationships, there’s something for everyone to listen to this week.
1. The World, The Universe and Us
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Science
Searching for a fun, geeky-but-accessible science hit? The New Scientist’s The World, The Universe and Us may be your thing.
Recently branded with a new name and available in audio and video, the weekly episodes feed your curiosity without dumbing things down.
In this week’s episode, hosts Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet and their guests dive into everything from the ocean floor to quantum biology and chimpanzee drumming.
Environment reporter Madeleine Cuff discusses how 99.999% of the Earth’s deep sea floor remains unexplored, despite 71% of the planet’s surface being sea floor.
While governments and companies push for deep-sea mining to access deep-sea metallic nodules, marine biologist Olive Heffernan explains concerns about potential ecological costs as the nodules support entire ecosystems.
The episode then turns to quantum biology, as physicist Alasdair Mackenzie explains how living things emit biophotons, and how new research shows death makes that light disappear.
Finally, primatologist Catherine Hobaiter shares research into chimpanzee drumming, suggesting chimps have different rhythmic patterns depending on whether they come from East or West Africa.
It’s a fun and fascinating listen that leaves you a little smarter, whether or not you initially knew what a biophoton is!
(By Katharina Schulenburg)
2. Aspire with Emma Grede
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Culture, society and business
British businesswoman, entrepreneur and fashion designer Emma Grede is the founding partner and chief product officer of Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims, and also CEO of size-inclusive brand Good American, founded with Khloe Kardashian.
In her podcast, Grede has conversations with a number of successful people, including Gwyneth Paltrow, life coach Jay Shetty and on this week’s episode, founder and CEO of sports store Fanatics, Michael Rubin.
Rubin, who is known to be one of the most successful business minds in the sports industry, opened up in this episode about not only his wins, but his struggles that got him to where he is today.
He says that no matter what setting he is in, he has always remained the exact same and refuses to filter himself. “I’m a casual guy – I wear a suit maybe once a year – I don’t try to speak more properly around certain people, I curse because that’s who I am. It’s really important to just own who you are,” he says.
The pair talk about how to push through failures. Rubin shares that his past failures and experiences in the business industry have shaped who he is today.The episode also touches on passion, courage and avoiding complacency – a stark reminder to never give up and stay authentic to yourself.
(By Sara Keenan)
3. Single Ladies in Your Area
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Comedy and relationships
Manifesting has become a buzzword in the wellness world in recent years, offering the enticing promise that with the right mindset, positive energy, and intentional action, you can create your dream life.
But can that extend to finding your dream man? That’s exactly what comedians Amy Gledhill and Harriet Kemsley delve into in the latest episode of Single Ladies In Your Area.
Tired of endlessly swiping through dating apps, Gledhill and Kemsley ditch the tech and go back to basics with a pen and paper.
But instead of writing love letters, they spend 51 minutes listing the traits of their ideal partner in hopes of manifesting him into fruition.
The duo brings a light-hearted, humorous twist to a topic often discussed in more serious tones.
From heartfelt qualities like kindness and generosity to delightfully specific demands, such as a doctor (but not a cruise-ship doc), who adores the NHS, does all the housework, and most critically, takes care of returning parcels, they explore what really makes someone’s ‘dream man’ material.
If you are after a podcast to lighten the load of a long day, give this one a go – and who knows, you may even be able to ‘man-ifest’ your perfect partner too.
(By Camilla Foster)
4. Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: History and true crime
Lucy Worsley and her team of all-female detectives return with a colourful cast of scammers, crooks, conwomen and convicts in series two of Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley.
A follow-up to Worsley’s highly successful Lady Killers, this podcast takes listeners back by more than a hundred years to meet the fraudsters who bucked the trend of trickery, simply by being women.
In episode two, we meet Mrs Annie Gordon Baillie… or do we? This 19th-century swindler went by countless aliases as she conned everyone from journalists to government ministers in her most elaborate fraud.
Listeners join Lucy Worsley, author Denise Mina, historian Rosalind Crone and Professor Catherine MacPhee as they uncover Gordon Baillie’s fraudulent fundraiser for poverty-stricken Scottish agricultural workers – ‘crofters’.
Maintaining her lavish lifestyle with the help of a wealthy benefactor, Gordon Baillie racked up thousands of pounds of debt in unpaid bills and fooled the masses with her phoney philanthropy.
The team uncover how this poor, illiterate woman rose through societal ranks, only to come crashing down, thanks to the detective work of one particularly persistent police inspector.
With its fresh take on historic crimes, Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley is perfect for both history buffs and true crime fans alike.
(By Izzie Addison)
Spotlight on…
5. Fun Facts Daily
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Education and history
Fun Facts Daily, the new podcast from Airwave Media, does exactly what it says on the tin.
Every weekday, a new topic from the world of geography, history, science or beyond is discussed for 15 minutes or less, with host Kyle Wood delivering a series of interesting facts, carefully curated to uplift and inform.
Each episode contains a challenge for the listener, a word of the day and Wood’s top five fun facts.
Recently tackled topics include Leonardo da Vinci, accidental inventions, and the human brain, and on Monday’s episode, Wood discusses the Incan citadel, Machu Picchu.
What does Machu Picchu translate to in English? Why was the ancient city abandoned? You’ll have to listen to find out.
Each episode also contains ‘News You Can Use’, and in this episode, Wood explains why tourists might want to buy tickets well in advance of their trip.
Fun Facts Daily is great for the whole family – plus there are occasional ‘Family Fun Friday’ episodes, in which Wood is joined by his kids to tackle a topic that they think is fun and interesting.
So start your day smarter with Fun Facts Daily, the perfect way to get your daily dose of knowledge.
(By Tom Place)
