Podcasts to listen to on your government-mandated walks

We’re seven weeks into isolation in the UK, which means that you’ve probably experienced all kinds of emotions since lockdown began. Maybe you’ve fashioned your bedsheets into couture objets d’art, or spent long weekends picking turnips on Animal Crossing. Perhaps your brief love affair with jogging or Yoga with Adrienne is beginning to wear thin, and your concentration capacities can be condensed down to whatever’s new on Netflix. Whatever your mood, we want to help.

Back in March, we made a list of podcasts for every mood you might experience in self-isolation, but this time around, we turn our focus on the illuminating topics and conversations that will keep you stimulated, and wanting more. There’s a nostalgic podcast debut from the makers of gal-dem, and Karley Sciortino’s, AKA Slutever’s juicy exploration into love and sex during quarantine. This is Love returns for a stellar fourth season, and curator Helen Molesworth reflects on some of the pioneering women artists of the late 20th century. So wherever you are, find your headphones, put away that Nintendo Switch, and get listening.

THIS IS LOVE

After a triumphant two-year run, This is Love returns for a fourth season, and this time, the focus isn’t so much on people, but animals and our interactions with them. Episode one kicks off with a captivating story about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone, and one wolf’s uplifting ascent from runt of the pack to alpha male. It’s only 40-minutes long, but trust me when I say you’ll never look at dogs in the same way again. Get ready to have your heart melted and your faith in the world restored. Failing that, Phoebe Judge’s soothing voice is a dream to listen to. (GY)

JOE EXOTIC: TIGER KING

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this last month, you’re probably familiar with the wild ride that is Tiger King. The Netflix true crime has cat-nipped audiences far and wide with its stranger-than-fiction plot and out-there characters. This podcast by Wondery goes a step further into the drama, with each episode featuring exclusive interviews and strange tidbits, including this one time Joe tried to fool audiences at a magic show by spray painting a sheep orange with black stripes because “nobody would be able to tell the difference”. There’s also some in-depth intel into Carol Baskin and her late husband Don Lewis, and as you can imagine, there’s a lot more to the story than meets the eye. (GY)

THE BLACK LIST PODCAST

The Black List is an annual publication featuring Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays – think of them like great films that haven’t been made yet. To put it this way, four of the past 12 Academy Award winners for best picture have come from the list, and include the likes of Argo, American Hustle, Juno, and Spotlight.

In this podcast, co-hosts Franklin Leonard and Kate Hagen turn some of their favourite unproduced scripts into movies for your ears. Each episode features thoughtful, in-depth conversations with filmmakers and producers, as well as deep-dives into highly-regarded films from The Black List itself. Highlights include an interview with Paul Feig on the 20th anniversary of Freaks and Geeks, his very first film, and screenwriter Liz Hannah on her debut film The Post, which appeared on The Black List in 2016. (GY)

DYING FOR SEX

Dying For Sex follows the real story of Nikki Boyer’s best friend, identified as Molly, who decides to leave her 15-year marriage, after a stage four breast cancer diagnosis, to embark on a series of sexual adventures – all of which are documented in this miniseries. Over six episodes, Molly shares the details of her escapades, from accidental run-ins with tickle fetishists to online dating mishaps. But it’s not just about sex – the pair also discuss the emotional impact of terminal illness and the loss of identity that can come with it. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself cry-laughing one minute and sobbing the next. (GY)

SLAY IN YOUR LANE

The authors of Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené, follow up their pioneering self-help book with a fortnightly podcast that explores topical news and popular culture from a WoC perspective, while expanding on themes such as navigating the workplace, education, health, relationships, and dating. For the first episode, the pair discuss what they’ve been doing over lockdown, and turn the spotlight on Kike Oniwinde, the founder of BYP Network, an organisation that aims to change the black narrative, especially in the professional sphere. Stay tuned for more. (GY)

RECORDING ARTISTS

When she’s not curating exhibitions at the likes of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and David Zwirner gallery, Helen Molesworth is diving deep into the lives of some of the most exciting woman artists of the late 20th century. In this first season of Recording Artists, Molesworth pairs up with the Getty Research Institute to share archive recordings of Alice Neel, Lee Krasner, Yoko Ono, and more, which she then discusses with contemporary artists and historians. A memorable moment in the episode on Alice Neel is when the painter (who’s known for her vivid paintings of friends, lovers, and poets) surprisingly announces that she left Greenwich Village because there were too many “very butch” lesbians on the streets. Molesworth, who identifies as queer, responds: “I think that I, or any artist I know, could have easily talked her out of this position.” (GY)

TALK ART

If you’re craving something arty without the pretension or academia to go with it, Talk Art is an oldie but a goodie. Since 2018, co-hosts Russell Tovey, an actor-collector, and gallerist Robert Diament, have hosted an entire spectrum of guests from big visual artists like Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, and KAWS, to curators and collectors such as Hans Ulrich Obrist, Lena Dunham, and Ian McKellen. Listening to each episode can make you feel like a fly on the wall to some big juicy freeform convo that’s as fast-paced and gossipy as it is genuinely interesting. Non-elitist, accessible, and fun, it’s no surprise Talk Art is one of the fastest-growing, art-focused podcasts around. (GY)

WHAT ARTISTS LISTEN TO

What Artists Listen To is basically Desert Island Discs for womxn artists. What originally started as a way for painter Pia Pack to get to know the womxn creatives in her area after moving from London to LA, the podcast explores the “stories and soundtracks of artists’ lives”. Each episode focuses on an interview with an individual guest (previous names include Alison Saar, Alexandra Grant, Kim Shoenstadt, and Shizu Saldamando), which is interspersed with their chosen songs. This is one for fans of Great Women Artists and Recording Artists. (GY)

DIOR TALKS

This second season of Dior Talks turns its focus on the important women that shaped the legendary designer. To kick things off, co-hosts Oriole Cullen, curator of Modern Textiles and Fashion at the V&A, and Justine Picardie, fashion editor and biographer, discuss the lives of Dior’s mother and sister, and the considerable impact each figure had on his life and work. The second episode turns its lens on Raymonde Zehnacker, Marguerite Carré, and Mitzah Bricard, Dior’s right-hand man, technical director, and muse – and there’s more to come. Tune in for your weekly dose of essential fashion history. (GY)

GROUNDED WITH LOUIS THEROUX

“I’m a bit more of a tour guide in these ones, as opposed to a therapist inquisitor,” Louis Theroux told Dazed last month. The documentarian was discussing how he’d had to adapt his interview technique ahead of his first-ever podcast, Grounded With Louis Theroux. In the podcast – which sees Theroux return to the world of celebrity 20 years after his iconic When Louis Met… series – the journalist meets Boy George, Lenny Henry, Miriam Margolyes, and more, each for two hours over Zoom. As he finally speaks to some of the guests who turned him down in 2001, Grounded sees Theroux coming to the rescue (as always) with the perfect lockdown entertainment. (BD)

OBSESSED WITH... NORMAL PEOPLE

If, like everyone else in the world, you binged the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People in one weekend, boy do we have a podcast for you. As part of BBC Sounds’ Obsessed With… series – a companion podcast for popular TV series’ – Irish actor Evanna Lynch and YouTuber Riyadh Khalaf discuss Normal People, from beginning to end, and meet its lead actors, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. The hosts also unpack the sexual dynamics in the show with sex expert Alix Fox, and discuss mental health in the series with writer Scarlett Curtis.

Speaking to Dazed last month, Edgar-Jones and Mescal admitted they felt a lot of pressure ahead of Normal People’s release. “I’m excited,” said Mescal, “because we’re both independent of having played the characters, and we’re both fans of the book, so we can objectively look at it and think it’s a really true adaptation. But I also think it’s its own entity as well.” Edgar-Jones added: “The book is so special and it’s its own thing, and it’s a different thing to the series – I hope people like it.” (BD)

LOVE IN QUARANTINE

Hosted by sex expert and writer Karley Sciortino (AKA Slutever), Love in Quarantine explores how the landscape of love, sex, and intimacy has changed during lockdown. Tackling everything from FaceTime dating to long-distance quarantine, Sciortino speaks to people navigating sex and relationships during self-isolation, as well as experts, including Daniel Saynt, the founder of sex-positive club NSFW, who recently spoke to Dazed about virtual sex parties. As Sciortino says, “whether you’re single and forced into quarantine celibacy, sleeping around on Zoom, or trapped in a studio apartment with your ex-boyfriend, we are all adapting to a new normal”, and Love in Quarantine is here to help. (BD)

GROWING UP WITH GAL-DEM

When gal-dem came onto the scene in 2015, no-one could’ve predicted the magnitude of shock waves it would send across the publishing industry. The award-winning magazine, run by women and non-binary people of colour, is the go-to for PoC issues, spotlighting the voices of WoC artists, thinkers, musicians, and writers globally. Now, its founder Liv Little, and head of editorial Charlie Brinkhurst Cuff, are launching a podcast, Growing up with gal-dem, a six-part series that invites guests to respond to old diary entries, text messages, or letters from their younger selves. The first season includes guest appearances by Queenie author Candice Carty-Williams, model and activist Munroe Bergdorf, and BBZ co-founder Naeem Davis – so tune in. (GY)

HISTORY BECOMES HER

In History Becomes Her, host Rachel Thompson asks the question: Who inspires the women making history right now? Season one kicks off with special guests Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the New York Times reporters behind the Harvey Weinstein investigation, going behind-the-scenes of the investigation and examining the obstacles the pair had to overcome. Other guests include Three Women author Lisa Taddeo, activist Gina Martin (who campaigned to make upskirting illegal), and journalist Vicky Spratt, who campaigns to decriminalise abortion in the UK. Get listening. (GY)