There’s a podcast pick for everyone to enjoy this week.
1. Lives Less Ordinary
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and BBC Sounds
Genre: Life and relationships
Lives Less Ordinary is a BBC World Service podcast that recounts remarkable true stories from around the world, with its latest series focusing on stories of how people found love in the unlikeliest of places.
The first story in the series sees presenter Asya Fouks talk to Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos about how her reporting on Syria led her to fall in love with camera operator Abd Al-Kader Habak as he sent her footage for her stories from the besieged city of Aleppo.
Fouks chronicles how their relationship evolved from a professional partnership into something more – with the pair now married and living in London – carrying listeners through a conversation that intimately captures their love story as well as the wider political complexities of living and working in a war zone.
Despite the challenging circumstances they found themselves in, the pair make the episode remarkably light-hearted, chatting and giggling about how they forged their relationship under such extreme circumstances, including the moment where Habak became a headline himself after a photograph of him saving a child who was injured in a bombing goes viral and Boulos’ journey reconnecting with Lebanon during the 2019 revolution.
It’s a heartfelt story, one full of hope that is held together by a shared purpose and love for each other and their countries.
(By Lauren Del Fabbro)
2. Judgemental
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Comedy
You might be forgiven for thinking that Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood were already pretty busy.
Not only are they returning as judges for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing next month, but they both have a number of sideline ventures keeping them occupied.
However, lucky for us, they still have time to squeeze in their podcast, Judgemental, in which they share their opinions on everything from weddings to workplace dramas.
This week’s edition is Sun, Sea, Salmonella and is the ultimate guide to summer holidays. Du Beke gets on his high horse about the price of travel during school holidays, while Horwood shares memories of past vacations involving a mugging and a strip search.
Having wildly different requirements from a holiday, their opposing views continue when it comes to holiday friendships and whether socks should remain on or off during a flight – you would have to agree with Anton here and say on!
As you can imagine, these anecdotes are delivered in a highly entertaining fashion, with the hour-long episode whizzing by in a flash. It’s just a shame those airport delays don’t move quite so quickly.
(By Rachel Howard)
3. The Teen Commandments
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Family and parenting
The Teen Commandments is a parenting podcast hosted by best friends Sara Cox and Clare Hamilton.
Each week, Cox and Hamilton unpack the realities of raising teenagers — they have five between themselves — from mood swings and boundaries to poor communication.
As peak holiday season hits, the pair chat about taking your kids on holiday with you versus leaving them in charge at home.
They open up about when they were left behind as teens for the first time, and the anxiety and excitement that comes along with it.
Cox and Hamilton also discuss if different rules apply when raising girls.
The Teen Commandments isn’t just for parents trying to understand the “gobsmacking brains of teens”, but also for those who are missing their carefree teenage years.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. Your Internet Boyfriends
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Comedy
Your Internet Boyfriends is a podcast series hosted by Irish comedians Mark and Denis, who are still figuring things out.
In each episode, they share a mix of queer and straight laugh-out-loud stories, share their deepest and sometimes darkest secrets, unsolicited advice to listeners and unfiltered discussions you usually only have with your friends.
For the latest episode, Mark and Denis talk about the local Irish characters that once ruled their towns, what makes it to their Instagram feeds, and the retirement of a drag queen called Barbs.
They also chat about Mark’s new handbag, his ghost tour days, nosebleeds, geese, burning rubbish and cutting turf.
If you are looking for a weekly catch-up between two Irish comedians – “one straight, one gay, both fabulous” – then give this week’s podcast a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. The InnerMission Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Life, entertainment and wellbeing
Have you ever wondered what the subconscious of some of the world’s leading creatives sounds like?
The InnerMission Podcast hosted by actress Danielle Brooks is where celebrities let their guards down and have an honest conversation about the beautiful, messy, and necessary in-between moments life has to offer.
The podcast series is an invitation for both the guest and the listener to uncover their inner mission and purpose, behind all of the fame.
On the latest episode, Brooks is joined by rapper and actor Ludacris, who opens up about his legacy, defining success on his own terms, and knowing who he is beyond the titles, accolades and the applause.
If you are looking for a podcast where there are no scripts, no stages, just pure human alignment, then give The InnerMission Podcast a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
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