Podcasts for me are about solitude. They epitomise alone time and a respite from a busy world. I don’t often get the time to listen to them but that time is a tremendous luxury when I do.
I listen to podcasts when:
I’m in a car by myself, or at least without my children.
When I’m sipping a cup of CBD tea and doing a jigsaw puzzle.
When I’m lying in bed doing red light therapy (I bought a machine suggested by Emma Peters from Aleph Beauty).
My husband is a cliched true crime podcast aficionado, who goes to sleep listening to them on a Bluetooth headband which occasionally falls off and blasts despair into my dreams. I, on the other hand, prefer those podcasts with an agenda similar to Ensemble’s - they hook you in with lighthearted banter and ‘frivolous’ topics and leave you feeling surprised and enlightened by intellectual discourse.
If you’re lucky enough to be travelling without people who control your aural surrounds, forthwith is a list of recommendations.
This American Life
I remember first listening to this iconic podcast as I road tripped around the North Island in the summer of 2007. Looking back I’m not entirely sure how we got it off the computer, into the iPod and then into the stereo of the old truck we were driving. But I do remember having my mind entirely blown by this new form of storytelling.
Sadly, not long afterwards I had kids who forever ruined my ability to do a car trip with little talking and maximum listening pleasure. That said, we’ve managed to introduce the boys to two of our favourite ever episodes: The Super and Testosterone.
Fallen Angel
This 12-part investigative series into the rise, fall and rise of Victoria’s Secret is impeccably researched by journalists Justine Harman and Vanessa Grigoriadis, who examine allegations of sexual harassment and links to Jeffrey Epstein, and feature harrowing commentary from former models who talk, on the record, of the psychological and physical abuse they suffered by way of trying to stay the same, unrealistic size from season to season. One model, Erin Hetherington - a former girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio - describes taking hormone injections and a diet drug her therapist called ‘bathwater meth’ to maintain her unrealistic size.
It’s my favourite kind of podcast in that it’s equal parts revelatory, insightful, gossipy, and reframes the patriarchy and capitalism under a harsh new light.
ICYMI
Rachel and Madison are two of my favourite podcast hosts; their chemistry is incredible and hilarious. ICYMI - in case you missed it - is dedicated to internet trends and culture. I feel like listening to them keeps me young and relevant. And the intelligent lens they cast over the culture makes me feel like perhaps not all is lost with it.
The Dropout
This podcast, based on the Wall Street Journal expose into Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, is utterly captivating and a shining example of how audio can enhance (and indeed catapult) traditional journalism.
I came to this podcast when it first dropped, without knowing much about the story. As someone who’s had a lot of blood tests, I had a natural interest in the story, but as someone who’s not particularly turned on by science the fact I found it so compelling is testament to how incredibly well it’s done. Watch it before or after you watch the equally excellent TV adaptation starring Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews on Disney+.
Maintenance Phase
An examination of diet culture and all the ways people have been made to feel less than. It also examines the incredibly complex systems at play in fatphobia. Hosts Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes apply meticulous research and real, lived experience with equal parts humour, sadness and anger.
It makes me constantly question everything I thought I knew about how little I’m affected by diet culture, and how I view others, and informs a lot of the way I approach beauty, lifestyle and ‘wellbeing’ as someone with a voice.
You’re wrong about
This was a favourite podcast to listen to over a jigsaw puzzle over lockdowns. They read Jessica Simpson’s Open Book so I didn’t have to, and also did a deep dive into Diana. Their episode on Courtney Love was another great, considered and well-researched piece into a much-maligned and complex person.
I adore that the hosts spend so much time painstakingly researching each subject to bring us the modern take on it. That said, journalist Michael Hobbes has since left this podcast to work on Maintenance Phase, see above.
Keep calm and cook on with Julia Turshen
I first knew of Julia Turshen through her work as ghost writer of my favourite Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook, It’s All Good. If you’re familiar with this book you’ll know it does what it says on the tin - it’s so good.
Julia has since realised how damaging diet culture was to her, and others, and her subsequent work, including this podcast, serves to reframe food as an important part of healthy relationships and communities. Guests include Roxane Gay, Jia Tolentino and Evelyn Triboli, the founder of intuitive eating (the real kind, not the Gwyneth Paltrow kind).
Tell Me About It
Three of my favourite local journalists (Michelle Duff, Kirsty Johnston and Noelle McCarthy) take on a variety of topics around sexual abuse, harrassment, racism and systemic poverty that are so harrowing you could be (if you live in a privileged little bubble you sometimes need to break free from) forgiven for not realising they originate in Aotearoa.
Conspirituality
As someone who got the (vegan) popcorn out and watched in equal parts horror, fascination and revulsion when the worlds of yoga and ‘wellbeing’ collided with Trump, this podcast has been integral in helping me understand the pathways that led to this.
As a fan you can imagine my shock when I was driving through Thames on my way to the Coromandel last year and heard them discussing Ensemble’s story on the descent of formerly beloved NZ lingerie brand Lonely into an anti-vax, anti-BLM, anti-government, pro-TERF rabbithole (if you somehow missed this piece we worked on with David Farrier you can read it here). The hosts are yoga teachers and cult survivors and the cross over between the two worlds is horrifying and fascinating.
My favourite Instagram yoga teacher Alex Auder also pops up on the odd episode. And totally unrelated to this but if you haven’t seen her as a yoga teacher trying to break the world record for dancing in season two of High Maintenance you should make that part of your Easter break also.
Dolly Parton’s America
What’s not to love about an aural history of this American icon? The host prefaces the podcast by positing that in an increasingly divided America she’s universally loved, and the podcast, done with the support of Dolly (and her extensive music library, yay) sets out to examine exactly why that is. If there ever was a Trojan Horse for important, insightful issues wrapped up in a bubbly, bright, appealing to mass America way, surely it’s Dolly and her Southern twang.
Tom and Lorenzo’s Pop Style Opinionfest
This is slightly elevated gossip from a couple who started off as reality TV bloggers. (This is important to note because it gave their commentary on the Chrissy Tiegen / Michael Costello drama extra gravitas).
Their take on pop culture is considered and thoughtful, and while I don’t always agree with their opinion on style at least it gets me engaging on the subject. And isn’t that what we all want?
