Top Podcasts of the Week: Exploring Bruce Springsteen as a Possible Queer Icon – Two Fans Debate

This week’s picks

It backfired
Audible, weekly episodes
Slow Burn, Think Twice, Fiasco – Leon Neyfakh has produced several high-quality podcasts in the past. Currently, he is focusing on e-cigarettes and his struggles to quit smoking. These podcasts narrate the journey of finding a cigarette that is less harmful. It’s interesting to note the difference in approach between the UK, where e-cigarettes are promoted as a tool to quit smoking, and the US, where there are efforts to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Hannah Verdier

A better paradise
Widely available, with weekly episodes
An atmospheric near-future podcast from the creators of Grand Theft Auto. Featuring a talented cast, Andrew Lincoln plays Dr. Mark Tyburn who tries to create an addictive video game but abandons the project halfway. Years later, when he is rediscovered, will the game finally see the light of day? HV

Because the boss is ours
Widely available, with weekly episodes
Bruce Springsteen may not be the first person you think of when it comes to queer pop idols, but hosts Jesse Lawson and Holly Cascio, “two queer nerds” who are fans of the Boss, delve into this fun and insightful podcast to explore Springsteen’s status as a queer icon. Holly Richardson

Pulling the Thread: Wild Life
Widely available, with weekly episodes
This captivating series from Drake’s production company follows investigative journalist Lunako Serena and the spy known as “Wolf” as they uncover the truth about Africa’s largest wildlife trafficking ring. The journey takes them from an environmental conference in The Shard in London to infiltrating criminal networks involved in the ivory trade in Uganda. Alexi Duggins

Festival Hall
Widely available, with weekly episodes
A new series from the creators of the confessional-based X Account, featuring a range of content from ranking secrets of the week to insightful interviews with Philippa Perry about the psychology behind anonymous sharing of secrets. advertisement

There is a podcast

this week, Rachel Aroesti Pick the top 5 Podcasts United KingdomFrom Armando Iannucci’s irreverent take on Westminster to Afua Hirsch’s reflections on the complex legacy of the British Empire

London Grad
London is clearly a cosmopolitan city, but there are moments in this darkly fascinating podcast from Tortoise Media’s Paul Caruana Galizia that make you wonder which country has the most influence over our capital. The first series of the show focused on Russian money flowing into London through real estate and, in the case of the Lebedev family, the purchasing power of its ultra-rich investors in multiple newspapers, while in series two the focus shifted to Iran and the government-mandated “death squads” that have repeatedly attempted to assassinate London-based critics of the regime on British soil.

We need to talk about the British Empire
Afua Hirsch’s 2018 book, Brit(ish), is both a deeply personal memoir and an insightful analysis of British history, making it essential reading for anyone wanting to gain a deeper understanding of black history and politics in the country. In this podcast series, the author broadens the perspective even further, using her guests’ personal stories to illuminate the legacy of colonialism from different angles. Anita Rani offers insight into Partition, the late Benjamin Zephaniah talks about the Windrush, Diana Rigg talks about growing up at the end of the British colonial era, and musician Emma Lee Moss (formerly Emmy the Great) reminisces about her childhood in Hong Kong under British rule.

Rethinking Westminster
Armando Iannucci is one of Britain’s leading satirists, and he’s spent his career lampooning the country’s follies and weaknesses, from the chaos of government with The Thick of It to the banality of mid-level broadcasting via Alan Partridge. In this podcast series for the New Statesman, he and the magazine’s UK editor Anoush Chakerian (who also hosts the magazine’s flagship podcast) take a slightly less-than-modest look at Britain’s most pressing political issues. Topics range from Britain’s “ramshackle” constitution and the old, machismo energy of party politics to the shortcomings of lobby journalism and the deterioration of our supposedly special relationship with the US.

Northern News
Edinburgh Award-nominated stand-up comedians Ian Smith and Amy Gledhill are northerners who moved to London but are still keen to hear news from their home town – Gledhill is originally from Hull, Smith from nearby Goole. For Northern News, the pair combine easy-going chatter with local newspaper readings, focusing on the weirdest, most ridiculous and sentimental news they can find. They also host a host of guest comedians who share their own quirky local anecdotes.

The rise and fall of Britpop
The story of Britpop is much more than the tabloid-shattering rivalry between Oasis and Blur. It’s a story that has much to say about the traditions and history of British pop culture from the 1960s to the present day. Steve Lamacq and Joe Whiley, co-hosts of Radio 1’s hip show The Evening Sessions when the scene first took off 30 years ago, are perfectly suited to tell the tale. With help from guests including Stuart McOnie and Alex James, the pair take a trip down memory lane to trace Britpop’s journey from an unpopular alternative to trendy US grunge to a cultural force that redefined our national identity.

Please try…

• Alexander Skarsgård’s new pod explores startups taking innovative approaches to environmental and social issues How to solve this.

• From remote work to immigration, The Atlantic Good on Paper It raises the big questions behind the inevitable topics.

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