Podcast Recommendations

By Jack

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If you are anything like the Mothzine team, podcasts have been a lifeline during these dark corona days. Whether informative, entertaining, moving or just plain silly, podcasting is an expanding medium, and I am a firm believer there’s a podcast out there for everyone! Here are some of my current favourites – let me know some of your podcast recommendations over on the Mothzine Instagram page.

Triple Click

While it may technically be a brand-new show (ten episodes and counting), Triple Click is really a spiritual successor to the wildly popular Kotaku Splitscreen under a new guise. Maddy, Jason and Kirk return with their unique brand of gaming journalism. Rather than wading through the latest PS5 spec announcements, they analyse storytelling in video games, critique industry practices and engage with the current discourse surrounding some of the biggest names in the industry. Most importantly, they treat video games as the medium should be treated: art.

Plus, the jazz stings between segments rock.

Start With: ‘Cops in Video Games’ – special guest Evan Narcisse joins to discuss portrayals of the police in gaming, and whether games contribute to societal acceptance of police militarisation.

Gayest Episode Ever

In Gayest Episode Ever, co-hosts Glen Lakin and Drew Mackie discuss classic sitcom portrayals of LGBT characters and themes. Some of these episodes hold up surprisingly well, with flawed, complex gay characters that are treated with nuance and respect; others are Friends. Whether you, like me, were raised on Frasier, Friends and Fresh Prince, or just enjoy hearing smart and funny people be smart and funny, this podcast deserves your time.

Start With: ‘Ross’s Lesbian Ex-Wife Gets Lesbian Married’ – sure, Friends could be very homophobic, and Ross is the Worst, but that doesn’t mean every gay-themed episode on this show was a disaster. Don’t believe me? Let this episode change your mind.

1619

New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is the creator and presenter of this podcast companion to her Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 project. By focusing on slavery and racism as twin pillars in the creation of America, Hannah-Jones explores the legacies of institutionalised racism and white supremacy throughout American (and by extension British) history. In doing so, she provides a vital historical corrective, starkly dismantling the racist myths we are taught in school. Necessary listening.

Start With: ‘The Fight for a True Democracy’ – American democracy is held up as a paragon of governance throughout the world. However, it has been a tool for white supremacy since its birth. Nikole Hannah-Jones examines the struggle of black people to receive full political representation, which continues today.

You Must Remember This

Old Hollywood: a world of glitz, glamour and spectacle. And many, many scandals. Film historian and journalist Carina Longworth presents this fascinating journey through 20th Century Hollywood, shedding light on everything from the ground-breaking Lena Horne to the tragic murder of Ramon Novarro. For fellow film buffs, this is unmissable.

Start With: ‘MGM Stories’ – this series on perhaps the most influential studio in the history of Hollywood is intoxicating, scandalous and so very bingeable.

Why Won’t You Date Me?

We’ve all been there. Alone on a Friday night, with only Sex and the City and a Lindt chocolate bunny to keep us company, desperately asking that infernal question: how am I still single? Fortunately, we’re in good company, as comedian and queen of podcasts Nicole Byer has been wondering the same damn thing. Each week, she interviews a fellow comedian or expert guest on the terrifying world of dating. It is joyous, it is touching, and Nicole Byer must be one of the funniest human beings alive.

Start With: ‘Seeking Single Men at Target’ – Nicole is joined by Janelle James to talk all things love, comedy, and how to flirt with men at a supermarket. Your weekly shop will never be the same.