Pick of the Podcasts: Leonardo, West Cork, At Your Peril

Leonardo (Apple, Spotify)

Da Vinci: a name synonymous with art, creativity and provincial chip shops across the land.

The original Renaissance Man is the subject of an Amazon Prime TV series, called Leonardo, starring shirtless Poldark hunk Aidan Turner, and there’s nary a fish supper in sight.

The show is about the iconic artist’s life but there’s been a bit of controversy surrounding it.

Da Vinci is shown to be gay, for instance. Is this accurate, and does it matter?

A new podcast to go alongside the series explores this question and lots of others the glossy drama throws up.

It will aim to explore issues like what it was to live as a gay man in 15th-Century Italy and how filming was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

What is fact and what was dramatised in the series?

It’ll examine what it is about da Vinci that makes him and his art so precious, 500 years after he lived. We’ll also hear from series co-creators and writers Frank Spotnitz & Steve Thompson and producing director Dan Percival who helped Leonardo come to life for the series.

Hosted by presenter and Leonardo enthusiast Angellica Bell, each episode of the podcast is a deep dive behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, as well as discovering more about Da Vinci’s art and life from the curators and historians who know him best.

It follows the dramatic revelations of the series episode by episode, bringing you exclusive interviews with actors Aidan Turner (Leonardo da Vinci), Matilda De Angelis (Leonardo’s muse and friend, Caterina Da Cremona) and Freddie Highmore (detective Stefano Giraldi).

Sadly for the ladies it’s a podcast – so you’ll have to watch the show itself if you want to see Aidan take off his shirt.

West Cork (Apple, Spotify)

Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a French television producer, was found murdered in a small town in Ireland in 1996, a shocking tragedy which sent shockwaves through the community.

We still don’t know what happened to Sophie but new true crime podcast West Cork is aiming to find out. Jennifer Forde and Sam Bungey explore the case over 13 episodes which might seem a lot, but stick with it.

At Your Peril (Apple, Spotify)

Podcasts have unexpectedly become the home of great spooky stories like the Battersea Poltergeist from BBC Sounds and Te Magnus Archives.

At Your Peril is a podcast anthology series that tells spooky stories for adults. Deliciously dark and frighteningly funny, each one is a brand new original story by creators Arthur McBain and Owen Jenkins. Don’t listen in the dark…