6 excellent culture podcasts
And why these info-packed series are so great.
A few years ago, myself and my lovely pal and fellow arts writer Lauren Murphy started a podcast called Get Around To It. The premise was that it can be really hard to ‘get around to’ all the cultural things you want or need to - TV, film, music, books, etc - and so we’d chat about all the new things we’d enjoyed lately as well as older things that we’d missed first time around.
It was such a joy to do, especially during Covid lockdowns, and meant that even though we live in totally different parts of Dublin we could catch up regularly. We even got to do a sponsored series with Volta and interview legends like Neil Jordan. What a dream job!
Sadly, we eventually put the podcast on hiatus when it became obvious that it wasn’t really financially viable in its then format. But Get Around To It is still out there in the ether as a podcast that could return some day, and I still miss it. Even though our listenership was small, it was dedicated - I occasionally meet people who ask where the podcast has gone, which is so lovely.
The podcast world is absolutely massive, and it feels like every other week I see a new podcast being advertised. But I find that too often the podcast is pitched as, basically, ‘two pals talking sh*te’. Now, I like listening to two people talking crap as much as anyone else, and there is something comforting about listening to people droning on when you’re cleaning the kitchen. But recently I heard an ad for a film podcast where the (famous TV actress) host said - in the ad! - that they basically know very little about film. Now that’s a bit of a kick in the teeth for the many people who put hours into prepping their podcasts and don’t make a cent from it.
So, in the spirit of talking about podcasts that really are worth your time, here are six recommended culture podcasts. I’m highlighting these ones as they are info-heavy and are a great way of keeping up with talking points as well as getting insider or nerdy info on TV, music and film and their related industries. They all never fail to give you something to chew on while listening.
Who? Weekly
Yes, I’m starting with a long-time podcast that has a fervent fanbase, and yet I still feel like Who? Weekly doesn’t have enough fans in Ireland. If you have any interest in the world of B to Z-list celebs and you haven’t listened to this you are seriously missing out. Hosts Lindsey and Bobby are (elder) millennials who help to untangle the ever-changing world of modern celebrity by discussing ‘whos’ - those celebs who aren’t super famous yet - and their often bonkers antics.
If you’ve ever seen a headline with a name like ‘Binky Felstead’ or ‘Troye Sivan’ or ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ and thought ‘sorry, who?’, then honey you need to listen to this. It helps stave off the ‘oh god, I’m getting old and out of touch’ fear, and is hilarious to boot. I saw their live show at the Sugar Club a few months ago and it was so great to see their absolutely gas dynamic in the flesh.
What I particularly love about Who? Weekly is how it’s gossipy without being nasty, it takes celebrity as seriously as it needs to be taken, and it looks at things through a feminist/queer lens too.
The Rest Is Entertainment
The world and their dog seems to listen to The Rest is Politics and I think the same is beginning to happen with The Rest is Entertainment. I wouldn’t have put the pairing of Marina Hyde and Richard Osman together, but it works. The key with this is that both of them are insiders across a few worlds - publishing (Osman is behind the super-bestselling Thursday Murder Club series, Hyde is a journalist, columnist and has published books) and TV and film (Osman has worked in TV, particularly game shows, for donkey’s years, Hyde is also a screenwriter and is currently working on the forthcoming Armando Iannucci/Sam Mendes/Jon Brown series The Franchise) - I could go on.
It’s like being accidentally invited to dinner at a British TV executive’s house and getting to eavesdrop on some of the insider conversations.
They’re both very opinionated, though the unfailingly polite Osman usually steers things to a nice place when they get a bit intense. The only low note in this for me was when they discussed the Barclays’s Boycott and the tone the discussion took towards protesters (and the strange attitude towards mixing art and politics). But overall, this is a podcast that will keep you up with the latest cultural happenings in an entertaining and informative way.
Critics At Large
This New Yorker podcast has - unlike the other podcasts here - three hosts (Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry and Alexandra Schwartz), but it doesn’t feel overstuffed because they do a decent job of keeping things balanced. It’s like eavesdropping on three ridiculously intelligent pals having a chinwag in a natural wine bar.
Every episode they do a deep dive into a cultural topic - like nature documentaries, Alice Munro, hit men - and because they write for the New Yorker their discussions are annoyingly intelligent, eloquent AND funny. Sigh. What makes this so valuable is that even though it’s pitched as a roundtable discussion, it never feels like three people rambling on - the discussions have a distinct throughline, the points people make are always useful and based on research, and you finish listening to an episode feeling like your mind has expanded a bit. It would be a dream to be involved in an Irish version of a podcast like this (New Yorker writer level of intelligence notwithstanding), just sayin’.
The Watch
I might have a parasocial relationship to this podcast on the Ringer network, because if a week goes by and I haven’t listened to The Watch with Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan then I feel bereft. This pairing are really good friends who are able to take the mick out of each other but are never macho, and their long careers across arts/culture journalism and TV (Greenwald had a show called Briar Patch and works in Hollywood) mean that their discussions and reviews are always really informed.
Every episode combines chat about the film and TV industries with reviews and previews of shows, and while they don’t shy away from criticism, it’s always coming from a place of respect for the creator and the audience. They’re able to tease apart what didn’t quite work about a show like, for example, True Detective: Night Country, while also highlighting exactly what made it special, which is quite a tricky thing to do. If I saw these guys chatting in a bar in LA I would move my chair as close as possible to eavesdrop, because you know they’re going to be talking about some interesting stuff.
I don’t always love the same shows as them (I will be very slow to ever watch House of the Dragon, for example), but I do always appreciate their take on things - because it’s never just ‘a take’. And if you’re a parent, you should absolutely listen to the episode where Andy ranks his favourite episodes of Bluey.
Pop Culture Happy Hour
For snappy discussions on individual movies, shows, albums or cultural phenomena, I always turn to Pop Culture Happy Hour, an NPR show which posts an episode five days a week. Every episode is under half an hour long and recent episodes have looked at The Decameron (the new Netflix show), Deadpool & Wolverine, and good karaoke songs.
What I love about PCHH is that they get into granular, impassioned discussions and that the floor is open for people not to agree with each other. The regular hosts all have their specific areas of interest and knowledge, and they’re always really thoughtful about who they choose as their guests. You get a wide range of perspectives here, and it’s a handy way of keeping up with what’s on streaming or in the cinema, and what’s worth spending your time on.
The Point of Everything
This is slightly different to the other podcasts as it predominantly focuses on music, but I’d be remiss to leave out Eoghan O’Sullivan’s The Point of Everything. Y’know that example I had earlier of the ill-informed film podcast host? Well this is the opposite to that - someone who really knows their stuff and who clearly puts a ton of work into each episode.
Across The Point of Everything you’ll find interviews with musicians that get into the nuts and bolts of how they made their albums, artist interviews, and special features like the recent one on the Cork venue The Pav (oh boy do I have great memories of that place!). If you’ve felt a little out of touch with the Irish music scene, this is a brilliant place to gently but thoroughly get you up to speed.