Coronavirus: The best podcasts to catch up on during lockdown
Podcasts — we love ’em. Whether you’re one of those who likes to be ahead of the curve, or just to catch up, this is for you: a road-tested selection to kill time, inform and amuse.
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Podcasts. We love ’em — and so does the rest of the world, judging by the way they’ve boomed in recent years.
Whether you’re one of those who likes to be ahead of the curve, or just to catch up, this is for you: a road-tested selection to kill time, inform and amuse.
We’ll be featuring pods regularly here at HiberNation — so if you have a hot tip on must-listens, please get in touch.
REPLY ALL
Ostensibly about things on the internet, this charming show goes down all manner of rabbit holes. Three weeks ago it dropped the instantly iconic episode The Case of the Missing Hit, where a listener recalled a musical ear worm from the 90s but couldn’t find a single trace of it anywhere online. The team went as far as recreating the mystery song, based on the parts the listener could remember, with proper musicians. Soon everyone involved has the enigma tune keeping them awake at night.
SUNNY SIDE UP! WITH ASH LONDON
Good egg Ash London is on a mission to find some positives in this ‘Rona era. She’s added more Australian music to her radio show on the Hit Network and now has this bite-size podcast to give you a warm shot of positivity. No stranger to anxiety herself, she’s designed this as an antidote to the constant bad news by finding good stories. From schoolteacher Tommy who is juggling finding out he’s about to become a father in the scariest of times (“our future, if nothing else, looks bright because of that”) to navigating this period where we’re shopping for elusive toilet paper for our grandparents.
TABLE MANNERS
British singer Jessie Ware was sick of the music industry grind. Already a foodie (she’d regularly ask fans on Twitter where to eat when on tour) she started a podcast to interview her famous friends about their eating habits (rather than the usual boring questions) at her home and cook for them, roping her mum Lenny in to help. It’s blown up into a massive hit, spawning a cookbook, and guests from Ed Sheeran to Jamie Oliver. Recently David Schwimmer ruthlessly bagged out their homemade banana bread in a truly Ross from Friends moment.
CASEFILE TRUE CRIME
Narrated by an anonymous and almost unbelievably Aussie bloke, this show does an incredible job respectfully yet intriguingly recounting some fascinating real crimes - both well known and little heard of, Australian and international. It’s never gratuitous or gory, and the victims are always honoured.
BETTER THAN YESTERDAY
Osher Gunsberg is one of the country’s best communicators and while he may host guilty-pleasure TV shows, he’s a smart cookie and avid learner. He’s made over 300 episodes of this biweekly, ultra-personal podcast, which features one in-depth and topical interview a week (it could be a CEO or a DJ) and a check-in session with Gunsberg sharing first-hand tips on dealing with mental health issues.
HEAVYWEIGHT
The podcast you need for these times. Laconically funny, and often moving, this show solves tiny issues for people - whether it’s the woman who is still wondering why she was thrown out of her sorority at university, or the man trying to track down two old friends with whom he embarked on a three day bike ride with when they were 10, this show is always surprising.
HAMISH & ANDY
They quit their radio show but their good-hearted good humour lives on in their very silly, and very funny, podcast. And now you don’t have to sit through Pitbull songs or endless ads.
WILOSOPHY
Each week comedian Wil Anderson drops an episode featuring an in-depth interview. A recent one with Judith Lucy got incredibly deep, we can’t actually mention most of what they spoke about her. It’s not just comedians (although there’s a real kinship there) Anderson has had everyone from money guru Scott Pape to sports stars Bianca Chatfield and Wayne Schwass. Anderson also does another podcast, TOFOP, with good mate Charlie Clausen, which most recently really, really debated into Jared Leto leaving a silent spiritual retreat in the desert only to discover COVID-19 existed. And his possible membership of the Illuminati.
THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR
Absolutely gobsmacking true tale of a psychiatrist to the stars who was hiding a secret so bizarre it will stop you in your tracks.
OPRAH’S SUPERSOUL CONVERSATIONS
Sometimes you just need to hear Oprah’s calming voice. Except in the more recent episodes of these podcasts which were recorded live at her 2020 Vision tour, she’s back to that ‘You get a car!’ shouty voice. This year already she’s posted lengthy, inspirational chats with Jennifer Lopez (post Super Bowl), Lady Gaga, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Michelle Obama, Dwayne Johnson and Gayle King.
LIFE AND CRIMES WITH ANDREW RULE
The Herald Sun’s acclaimed crime writer shares his insights here. There’s the murder of Moe boy Jaidyn Leskie, the never-ending saga of Carl Williams, colourful figures with names like Mr Stinky and Granny Evil and a deep dive into the cold-blooded killer Dennis Allen (or Mr Death), whose life and crimes became the subject of the hit movie (and now TV show) Animal Kingdom. “Middle-aged gangsters don’t have a great life expectancy,” Rule says.
INSIDE THE BIG DAY OUT
If you didn’t catch up on this last year, dive in now. The Double J team go full CSI BDO and do a serious post mortem on what killed the Big Day Out, with many of the main players, and the crucial engine room staff, using the passing of time to be particularly candid. And of course there’s plenty of celebrating the magic years of the event, which started when they locked in Nirvana just before Smells Like Teen Spirit took off.
COLD
Forensic look at the disappearance of Mormon mum Susan Powell from her home in West Valley City, Utah in 2009. Her husband was the prime suspect, and came from a family of truly bizarre individuals, with a habit of recording their every thought and move - something this podcast makes full use of.
MY DAD WROTE A PORNO
Because god knows we need a laugh. This is the benchmark for podcasts - zillions of downloads, it wrote the rules for how to monetise the format and has even spawned global live tours. Three mates, one of whom’s father has inexplicably turned to writing excruciatingly bad erotica in his retirement - read his awful prose aloud. Bulk laughs ensue.
Originally published as Coronavirus: The best podcasts to catch up on during lockdown