Picks of the week
Emily Atack: Lie Detector
Fakery and fraud are the juicy themes in Emily Atack’s new podcast, which mixes the kind of real-life yarns usually found in weekly women’s magazines with a touch of true crime. First up is an examination of bigamy with some fascinating tales of men leading double lives. Atack’s commentary is delightfully sarcastic as a woman tells her how her husband claimed he was working away in a war-torn country. As Atack says: “He might not be the knight in the shining armour you were looking for.” HV
Red Frontier
Glow’s Betty Gilpin takes centre stage – and very much the driving seat – in Gimlet’s mysterious new space podcast. She plays commander Taylor Fullerton, who is on a mission to Mars but has a big problem: she lost the rest of her crew after an epidemic three years ago. Undeterred, she has carried on with only a bossy computer who tells her what to do and when to eat. Gilpin and her no-nonsense character is enough to power the drama on her own, facing a hard landing on Mars and a terrifying encounter with another crew. HV
Producer pick: We Are Voices
Chosen by Nicola Kelly
All too often, stories of migration are told second-hand. What this six-part series, made with the British Red Cross, aims to do differently is give refugees and asylum seekers a platform to recount their own experiences, involving them as both hosts and producers.
While this is a welcome break from the norm, it can mean the tone and subject matter clash slightly. Uproarious laughter in introductions, for example, goes some way to lighten the mood but it jars when followed by a tale of terrible struggle. It’s worth persevering, though, and now more than ever: while the UK’s immigration system is being overhauled, it’s crucial that we hear from those navigating their way through it.
“I was dead, but now I’m alive,” says Diamond, a refugee originally from Iraq. Running behind her story is the sound of birds – a symbol of the freedom she lacks and, it becomes clear, the loneliness she has endured since arriving in the UK.
The story of Rima, a newly arrived asylum seeker from Syria, is one of isolation. “They take my passport, they prevent me from working and studying, they keep me like an animal,” she says of the Home Office. Hers is a more familiar story and, to that end, a more powerful, relatable account of the challenges many migrants face in the UK.
Talking points
Alice Levine is the Question Master on her hilarious new Audible role-play podcast, Very Modern Quests. Levine and Emma Sidi put guests in the hot seat to navigate quandaries they may have to face in the real world, from going on a stag do to making a friend. Guest stars include Rose Matafeo, Joe Lycett, Greg James, Phil Wang and Lou Sanders.
Why not try: Hot White Heist | Mogul | Un(re)solved
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