Talking points
The BBC is coming over all Black Mirror from 9 January with the new anthology podcast Murmurs. Expect the unexpected from these 10 mind-bending audio dramas, which have been penned by Janina Matthewson of the immersive Night Vale podcast Within the Wires.
Picks of the week
Fake Heiress
The story of Anna Delvey – the apparent millionaire heiress who grifted her way through New York’s upper echelons – is the perfect tale for our scam-heavy times, with HBO and Netflix already developing tales based on her deception. Here, journalist Vicky Baker and playwright Chloe Moss collaborate on an arch yet informative podcast that mixes reporting about the millennial fraudster with a dramatisation of her swindle. Hannah J Davies
Sleeping With David Baddiel
Like half the population, David Baddiel has trouble sleeping, and in Audible’s six-part podcast he is joined by renowned neurologist Dr Guy Leschziner to discuss the issue. Sleep disorders, dreams and how technology can keep people awake or help them snooze are all covered, along with practical tips for insomniacs. Baddiel is open about his own struggle, admitting he has gone 72 hours without sleep, leaving him “crawling up the walls”, while Leschziner examines the effects of deprivation on the body and mind. Hannah Verdier
Guardian pick: Football Weekly
While the rest of our podcasts take a wee break over Christmas, Football Weekly carries on regardless. For while politicians, pundits, scientists and publishers all settle down, footballers have no such luxury. Neither do Max Rushden, the newly enlightened Barry Glendenning and the Football Weekly pod squad, which on Monday included Sky Sports’ Kate Mason and Ryan Hunn of Stadio.
Producer pick: Making Sense (The Reality Illusion)
Chosen by Max Sanderson
The festive period is a time for simple pleasures, like family, food – and the existential issue of whether evolution has favoured the tendency to see the world as a fabricated reality. At least it is if you listen to a recent episode of Sam Harris’s Making Sense. In it, the neuroscientist and philosopher and his wife, author Annaka Harris, take on the quite terrifying claims made by cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman in his latest book, The Case Against Reality.
It will blow your mind, which is precisely what Making Sense tends to do. It’s as conversational a podcast as they come and often lasts for two or more hours. Thankfully, it has so much food for thought that it’s impossible not to feel smarter every time you listen.
There are some more political episodes in the back catalogue that some Guardian-reading listeners might dislike; Harris is one of the Four Horsemen of atheism and a vocal critic of what he calls the “far left”. But what better way to start a new decade than with a healthy dose of conflicting worldviews?
