Jeff Astle was and still is regarded as The King, an FA Cup winner and legendary 137-goal striker for West Brom. He died in January 2002, at the age of 59, having spent his final years suffering from dementia-like symptoms. A coroner determined that minor lesions to his brain caused the degenerative brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and issued a death by industrial injury verdict – the first time responsibility for the condition was laid squarely on the day after day of heading heavy leather footballs. This four-part series recounts Astle’s narrative through candid, emotionally charged interviews with his wife Laraine and daughter Dawn, before reporter, producer, and host Hana Walker-Smith takes over. Brown investigates how CTE impacts survivors of domestic violence and poses the question: What is the science telling us to do, and who is in charge of making it happen? It’s a riveting and necessary – if often overwhelmingly sad and righteously enraging – listen, as much a cry to arms as an investigative piece.
Best Podcasts To Binge On
A podcast is a collection or series of digital audio recordings that may be downloaded or listened to through the Internet. A podcast can serve several functions, the most important of which is to entertain its listeners. A podcast episode is a name given to each individual audio recording. Podcasts are usually hosted by one or more people who conduct a conversation, tell anecdotes, or report the news. Podcast listeners may subscribe to a podcast for a variety of reasons, including listening to current event updates and breakdowns, discover a new topic or industry, or just finding something to be entertained with. You don’t need to go out and spend money for the weekend, instead, you can pick up your pods and tune in to your favourite podcast channels!
10 Time-worthy Podcasts To Enjoy
Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole is an easily bingeable documentary that looks at how the internet affects our lives and politics on a daily and insidious basis, as well as how it got to that position. The New York Times’ eight-part series is disturbing at times, but the story it’s telling about how we connect with the internet is profound and difficult to forget. It is well worth your time.
This American Life
‘This American Life’ began as a public radio show (which it still is) in the 1990s before transitioning to the podcast format. Each episode of this weekly show, hosted by the instantly recognisable Ira Glass, has a theme that is explored, usually through first-person tales, by people from various walks of life in the United States and beyond. Consider’stories about being little,’ the benefits and drawbacks of therapy, and the story of a flute player who takes a million dollars in dead birds. Given its long existence, the podcast has amassed a sizable archive. You can now search across 26 years of programs.
A Bit of A Stretch
Chris Atkins, a three-time Bafta nominee, was imprisoned for nine months for tax evasion in HMP Wandsworth. The true level of the dullness, banality, casual brutality, overcrowding, and underfunding was the center of Atkins’ memoir of the same, and the spin-off podcast adds the perspectives of other former prisoners to investigate the day-to-day of living within. A Bit of a Stretch’s triumph comes with a twinge of pain – it’s rather pathetic that it takes a white-collar ex-convict to make middle England care about the enormity of the jail system’s dysfunction and melancholy – but the system’s subtleties and absurdities are endlessly interesting.
The Beautiful Brain
Death by Conspiracy?
Marianna Spring has been the BBC’s first specialized misinformation correspondent since early 2021, and her new 10-part series of 10-minute episodes is a masterclass in taking the culture’s extremely huge currents and quantifying their influence in the real world by focusing on one tiny, everyday narrative. Gary Matthews enjoyed taking photos around Shrewsbury before to the epidemic and was a member of a large Facebook community where he shared his work. But as Covid began to take over the world, Matthews’ tone shifted. He didn’t believe in Covid and had joined the conspiracy-theorizing Shropshire Corona Resilience Network. He died of Covid in January 2021. Spring speaks with folks who shared Matthews’ beliefs and listens as their folly collides with hard reality.
Dear Me
Katy Wix (Ghosts and Stath Lets Flats) and cohost Adam Drake put a novel spin on the two-hosts-plus-guests format by heading out of the studio and joining their interviewees for a stroll around their former stamping grounds while discussing about what message they’d send to their younger selves. So far, they’ve concentrated on comedians, visiting East Ham with Wix’s Stath co-star Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Leeds with Liam Williams, and Broadstairs with Lou Sanders. It’s a nice premise for getting individuals to open up about their childhood memories, and it adds some dimension to the reminiscences.
You’re Wrong About
If you want to learn even more, You’re Wrong About sheds new light on topics you thought you knew. With the pace at which news and society move in 2021, it’s tempting to oversimplify things. Fortunately, the hosts of YWA employ their investigative abilities to investigate how our communal understandings may be incorrect. Some episodes are one-offs, while others are part of a series; nevertheless, You’re Wrong About is one of the best podcasts on the market.
The Hamilcast
Gillian Pensavalle’s ‘The Hamilcast’ is a weekly podcast devoted to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit musical ‘Hamilton,’ and it is currently approaching its 250th episode. Despite having interviewed Miranda herself and all of the iconic original cast members long ago, it remains a gloriously enthusiastic affair in which ultra-likeable superfan Pensavalle dials up a cast member or creative from one of the show’s many, many productions from around the world and basically just gossips with them for a bit. It’s gone beyond simply discussing ‘Hamilton,’ becoming an interesting and entertaining look at what it’s like to work in musical theatre.
Off Menu
Every week, witty Englishmen James Acaster and Ed Gamble bring a celebrity guest to their fictitious restaurant to select their fantasy menu. And what does the kitchen produce? Obviously, banter. There’s a lot of bloody banter. They’ve had everyone from Wahaca founder Thomasina Miers to actor Martin Freeman, director Edgar Wright, and singing megastar Josh Groban, and it’s always resulted in some interesting conversation.
HBO’s Succession Podcast
As you’d expect from the Roys, this official companion pod is far superior to official tie-in puffery. Along with episode-by-episode breakdowns and cast and crew interviews, there are genuinely illuminating conversations with guests who can shed more light on the gilded world that the family moves through, whether it’s Anthony ‘The Mooch’ Scaramucci discussing the Republican party and how presidential candidates are chosen, or organizational psychologist Adam Grant on the messy dynamics at the heart of Waystar.
Listen To These Podcasts Today!
Many podcasters that explore talents, hobbies, and other interests are experts or very knowledgeable, and listening to episodes is one of the finest ways to learn more about anything you’re interested in. The most significant advantage of listening to podcasts over watching television is that you can listen while on the go! You can now be amused or learn a new lesson anytime and wherever you desire. This hands-free, eyes-free kind of entertainment will make your morning commute and daily chores more enjoyable.