Welcome to Earworms, PodPod’s weekly recommendation feature bringing you insider tips on the best podcasts to listen to from some of the industry’s most influential voices. This week’s hot tips run the gamut from insightful to entertaining, with music analysis shows, TV companion podcasts and business insight briefings among others.
We’ve also got a selection of this week’s newest podcast launches, including a new limited-run series from The Economist, a Formula One show for fans and followers, and another broadcasting legend moving into the podcast sphere.
What’s in the industry’s ears?
Jordan Bentley - CEO, Audiohook
Lately, I've been listening to Business Wars with David Brown. If you've ever wondered why some companies thrive while others sink, nobody breaks it down better than David, who presents details and information in an unbiased way - many of which I had never heard before. After each episode, I walk away with examples and ideas of what to do (and not do) as I run my own company.
Ravina Bajwa - Production manager, Podimo
This week I've enjoyed delving into shows exploring LGBT lives across Africa and in India. Suno India's Pride and Prejudice looks at under-reported queer histories - like Ulti, the secret centuries old language created by trans women, or queerness in Qawwali music. And Afroqueeruses rich production to tell short stories of queerness across Africa - from Accra, Marrakech, Mogadishu, to Kisumu.
Ruth Barnes - Co-founder, Chalk and Blade
I'm currently hooked on HBO's The Last of Us - like everyone else - and thankfully there's a companion podcast with the writer Craig Mazin and game creator Neil Druckmann to keep me going when there isn't a new episode. I love these deep dives as it's more than just behind-the-scenes, it's the why, how, when, where and all the rest and the great stories that come hand in hand with making a groundbreaking game or TV series. It's a perfect example of deepening engagement through audio!
Kobi Omenaka - Co-founder, Stripped Media Network
I can’t get enough of Spotify’s 60 Songs That Explain The 90s podcast. Host Rob Harvila hilariously entwines the context of each song with his musical awakening in a way that makes me confident we would have been fast friends had we grown up in the same place. This week's episode covers De La Soul, one of my favourite Hip Hop acts and is especially pertinent given the recent passing of founding member David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur.
Sandy Warr - Senior lecturer in journalism and head of podcasting, City University
I’m currently listening to Media Storm’s crossover bonus series with The Guilty Feminist, ‘This Is How You Do It’. My currently listening is very dictated by finding podcasts to use in class with our MA students - I am a big fan of this podcast (full disclosure, they both studied at City, University of London) and this episode is not only great content from a listening point of view but also to deconstruct and show our students a good example of podcast grammar.
Freshly dropped
Neil Mitchell Asks Why?
Australian radio broadcasting legend Neil Mitchell has entered the world of podcasting with a new six-part interview series titled Neil Mitchell Asks Why? This new format allows Mitchell to have longer in-depth conversations with leading Australian figures about their lives and careers. First episode debuted on 20 February and comes out weekly.
The Fast and The Curious
For the Formula 1 super-fans, Acast has partnered with radio presenter and podcaster Greg James to launch a new weekly podcast titled The Fast and The Curious. Alongside co-hosts and fellow F1 fanatics Betty Glover and Christian Hewgill, the podcast will see James in conversation with big-name drivers from Lewis Hamilton to Oscar Piastri and feature behind-the-scenes exclusive before the races. The first episode premiered on 23 February and will continue to come out weekly.
The Social Dose
The latest news across TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and all other popular social media platforms is looked at and assessed closely in Sony Music and Somethin’ Else’s latest podcast series The Social Dose which debuted on 21 February. The show is hosted by content creators Michael Judson Berry and Paris Nicholson who will give their listeners their take on trending topics on social media three times a week.
Next Year In Moscow
Following last year’s series The Prince, looking at the rise of Xi Jinping, the latest limited run documentary podcast from The Economist is Next Year In Moscow. The show is presented by the publication’s Russia editor Arkady Ostrovsky, and talks to Russian exiles who fled following last year’s invasion of Ukraine about their experiences, and how Russia can come back from its actions. The first episode is out now, with the remaining six released weekly starting 4 March.
