Podcasts: Behind The Wand, Even The Rich, The Last Days of Maradona

Harry Potter is undergoing its own magical renaissance 20 years on from the first movie appearing in cinemas.

As well as Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone being re-released in movie theatres the Potterverse is being celebrated once more.

Put up your little muggle feet and pour yourself a pint of butterbeer for a new podcast revisiting the eight Harry Potter movies.

Flick Miles will be a name familiar to those who love the series: she was the body double for Emma Watson, who of course played precocious wizard Hermione Granger.

Lurking about onset waiting to fill in for Watson meant Miles was not only au fait with what went on but also making friends; it’s these contacts who make up the guests on Behind The Wand.

The first contributor is Duncan Henderson, the Oscar-winning Hollywood bigwig producer, who explains to Miles the challenges of bringing the much-loved novels to the big screen: from taking JK Rowling’s prose and turning it into dialogue, to casting.

This isn’t just chats with the power brokers; some of it can be surprisingly intimate.

Miles chats with Vanessa Walker and Sarah McKenna who discuss the life of a child star’s chaperone, and McKenna’s work as Rupert Grint’s personal assistant. That’s right: Grint, who was 11 at the time of the first movie, had a PA.

There’s plenty of trivia about the movies, too; our favourite is that Rosie O’Donnell and Robin Williams both asked for a role in the movie without pay, as Molly Weasley and Hagrid, respectively.

Both were knocked back because JK Rowling wanted a cast strictly from the British Isles. Cracker actor Robbie Coltrane, who eventually played Hagrid, was instead handpicked by the author.

Behind The Wand, Apple, Google, Spotify

The Last Days Of Maradona – Spotify

Sadness at last year’s death of legendary footballer Diego Maradona was felt around the world.

Immediately an investigation began into the circumstances surrounding his care, as there were huge concerns around the medical attention he received in his last days.

What price do our idols pay when we put them on a pedestal?

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry takes us through this journalistic investigation.

Even The Rich – Apple, Google, Spotify

Even The Rich is where co-hosts Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams pull back the curtain and chat about some of the richest people in the world.

They tell stories about the greatest family dynasties in history, from the Murdochs to the Royals to the Carters (Jay-Z and Beyoncé, that is).

Because, as Queen Elizabeth once said: “A good gossip is a wonderful tonic.”

The latest family to be explored? The Guccis.