It simply had to happen. The proliferation of podcasts is such that the market was crying out for a podcast… about podcasts.
Irish broadcaster and Love Island host Laura Whitmore is a lover of the form and in this series she speaks to like-minded celebrities about what they’re listening to and why. In many instances, the celebrities also have their own podcasts.
Laura has clearly built up a good contacts book in her career, because she is in conversation with some stellar names across the two series.
In the first episode she chatted with her Scots boyfriend and fellow Love Islander Iain Stirling about how he loved podcasts before it was trendy to do so.
Since then, she’s talked with model Daisy Lowe, double Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, presenter Dermot O’Leary and Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts.
With her soft Irish lilt and engaging manner, Laura’s friendly style sees her guests open up and chat freely.
The result is, while always entertaining, there’s an opportunity to discuss serious issues, too.
Laura, also, is not afraid to be open about her own experiences when the conversations allow. She and Nicola Roberts, winner of The Masked Singer, talk about how each of them have dealt with Imposter Syndrome.
And, in the most recent episode, Katherine Ryan spoke movingly about her recent miscarriage and how it made her feel, with Laura sharing her own heartbreaking miscarriage from 2018.
Katherine told Laura: “It can be a very lonely experience, and it’s shrouded in all this embarrassment… I felt all these things, and I looked for stories and couldn’t find many of them.”
Clearly, Laura’s podcast is about much more than podcasts, elevating it to essential listening.
Castaway (Simplecast)
Locked Together (Audible)
This new series catches up with comedy double acts and writing partners to hear how they are coping with separation during lockdown. It’s a starry line-up of duos, such as Shaun Of The Dead pals Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Catastrophe’s Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, sketch show legends Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield, and Your Face Or Mine and The Fix co-hosts Jimmy Carr and Katherine Ryan.
Beatles City (Liverpool Echo)
In the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s break-up, the local paper goes back to the band’s early days and proves that everyone in Liverpool has a Beatles story. With so many years having passed, this podcast sets about recording the various stories before they fade from memory, such as Helen Anderson’s, who made clothes for John Lennon from sketches he gave her at art college, and who sat in on early rehearsals.Castaway
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe