Picks of the week
Nut Jobs (out 2 Jun)
If you like your headscratchers less terrifying but no less compelling (think Reply All, 99% Invisible), Audible’s new series is sure to appeal. Australian journalist Marc Fennell, whose previous podcast It Burns was all about scandal at the heart of the chilli-growing world, explores ‘the $10 million heist you’ve never heard of’ - not expensive goods but shipments of nuts vanishing without a trace. Very weird, and very fascinating. Hannah J Davies
Wind of Change
Did the CIA really use a power ballad as a form of anti-Soviet propaganda? If you’ve not yet binged this hit new podcast exploring that very question, now is the time. The New Yorker’s Patrick Radden Keefe uses a third-hand but compelling rumour as a gateway into conspiracy, history and music, as he considers whether there could be more to cold war anthem Wind of Change by German rockers Scorpions than it seems. Surely destined for the end of year lists. HJD
Producer pick: Dr Janina Ramirez - Art Detective
Chosen by Madeleine Finlay
One of the many cultural losses of this pandemic is the closure of museums and galleries. For those who take great pleasure in spending an afternoon idly wandering through wings, halls, and rooms admiring beautiful portraits and landscapes, virtual visits don’t provide the same slow, meditative tranquility. So how can we get a dose of art in lockdown?
Dr Janina Ramirez’s Art Detective might just cut the mustard. Ramirez, a historian and regular BBC Four presenter, gives art history lectures-in-miniature, often alongside notable guests (the likes of Neil Gaiman, Mary Beard and Mark Gatiss have featured). Ramirez is like an enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable friend, someone you wish could take you around a gallery in real life. Many of the episodes are actually recorded in museums - Ramirez monologuing in hushed, almost conspiratorial, tones.
Thankfully, there’s no previous expertise required - the discussions are always light-hearted and accessible, although it’s worth having the piece of art up in front of you on screen. Running from late 2016, there’s also a hefty back catalogue to work through. Two very enjoyable early episodes are on Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June, and 18th-century model Emma Hamilton with Kate Williams (who has, of all things, a PhD in seduction).
Talking points
It’s the biggest political story of the week, and perhaps the year: on Tuesday, week the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast looked at the pressure on Dominic Cummings to resign, with Matthew Weaver – who broke the story – discussing the reporting which led to the revelations that got the whole country talking.
Why not try: Borrasca | Anthems | True Spies
