9 Podcasts To Listen To This Month
Wellness Unpacked
Ella Mills, the creative brain behind mega brand Deliciously Ella, is back with a new podcast. Following on from her eponymous show, this new series sees Ella sit down with a range of experts to discuss some of the biggest wellness trends dominating the space. Each instalment finishes with an intimate discussion between Ella and Dr Gemma Newman, as they dissect a particular craze to find out whether it’s rooted in fact, or is just a passing fad.
Episode Highlight: How to sleep well, reducing cravings and matcha versus coffee with Russell Foster
In this episode, Ella is joined by Russell Foster CBE, one of the most prominent sleep experts in the world and professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University. Russell’s research centres around sleep, the body clock and how the two profoundly affect our biology and our overall health and wellbeing. Together, they discuss why sleep is important and how much we really need; the link between cravings, hunger, and sleep; tools for improving sleep quality; why stress may be at the root of your sleep difficulties; and how fine-tuning your internal body clock supports optimal health. Then, in this week’s chat with Gemma, Ella looks at matcha versus coffee, and where’s best to get your caffeine.
Listen here.
Hoaxed
From the team who brought you Sweet Bobby (another of our favourite real-life podcasts from this year) Hoaxed is a story about how far a lie can spread. It's about a modern-day crusade – a Holy War fought online and off, and about our search for the perpetrators of one of Britain's worst-ever conspiracy theories. New episodes drop every Thursday but if you can’t wait, you’ll be able to listen to more episodes by subscribing to Tortoise+ on Apple podcasts where you can support the investigation and get tickets to exclusive events.
Episode Highlight: Introduction
There aren’t any full episodes of this brand-new show available yet, but the intro trailer is certain to whet your appetite. In 2014, two children told police a shocking story: that they were being abused by a Satanic cult headed by their father and by parents and teachers at their school in the wealthy London suburb of Hampstead. The story was a lie. But on the internet, that didn't matter. What ensures is a story about a modern-day Satanic panic; about the victims whose lives were destroyed and about the conspiracists who spread the lie around the world. Oh, and it's about the hosts’ hunt for the perpetrators – the people who forced the kids to lie, and the ones who started it all.
Listen here.
Back To The Beach
Anyone who came of age in the early 2000s will remember Laguna Beach – then, a first of its kind reality show documenting the lives of beautiful and privileged teens in one of California’s most desirable neighbourhoods. Now, two of its main cast members (not to mention exes), Stephen Colletti and Kristen Cavallari have teamed up to relive their high school experiences and explain what really happened on and off camera, including which fights were real, which hook-ups got complicated, and of course, what really happened in Cabo.
Episode Highlight: What Happens In Cabo Parts 1 & 2
Two of the most controversial episodes in Laguna Beach history saw the gang descend on Cabo, Mexico for Spring Break. With Stephen and Kristen’s relationship on the rocks, and the former’s friendship with Lauren Conrad heating up, drama quickly ensues. But what’s really fascinating is to hear the two now-30-year-olds reflect on this time with a more critical eye. Listeners can finally understand what really went on, and why Stephen deeply regrets that infamous ‘sl*t’ comment.
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The C-Word
Every week, Lena Dunham and Alissa Bennett take you on a historical deep dive into the life of a woman society dismissed by calling her mad, sad, or just plain bad. Join them for a rich, hilarious, and heart-breaking look into exactly what it means when we call a woman “crazy” from the early noughties downfall of Lindsey Lohan to the eventual demise of Amy Winehouse and shoplifting allegations against Winona Ryder.
Episode Highlight: Linda Evangelista Parts 1&2
Linda Evangelista just graced the cover of British Vogue after years of retreating from public life – making this two-parter especially timely. One of the first supermodels in the 90s to capture America’s admiration, love, and then criticism, she uttered the infamous words: “We don’t get up for less than $10,000 a day.” Later, after more than a decade of public fixation on her age and weight, she would become a recluse due to a botched cosmetic procedure. In part one, Lena and Alissa discuss Linda’s childhood, her association with Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, her famous haircut, and the rise of the model as celebrity.
Listen here.
The Gucci Podcast
Each episode of this series features a different guest who has collaborated with Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele to offer an insight into the eclectic narrative, inspiration and vision of the Florentine fashion house. We’ve been loving the batch of episodes released over the summer – which have seen guests like Amanda Stenberg, Russell Tovey and Florence Welch all grace the airwaves.
Episode Highlight: Florence Welch and Jodie Turner-Smith
On this half-hour instalment, singer Florence Welch and actress Jodie Turner-Smith reflect on their own personal awakening in a special series created with Vogue to celebrate one of the house’s signature fragrances, Gucci Bloom. Together, they talk about their involvement in the campaign – which saw them joined by Vampire’s Wife designer Susie Cave and Angelica Huston – as Florence Welch describes the realisations that have shaped her creative processes and her personality. For Jodie, having her daughter has been an awakening and she reminisces upon the connectedness she feels with her body and mind since becoming a mother.
Listen here.
Lost Hills: Dead In The Water
The first season of this show came out in 2021, and the second – now available on Apply podcasts – promises to be just as good. Lost Hills investigates the dark side of Malibu, California. Beneath a seductive facade, this city of billionaires, celebrities, and surf bums is hiding something menacing. Season two takes place in the late 70s and early 80s, as Malibu was changing from a low-profile beach town into a celebrity haven, full of new money and hard drugs. When a Malibu woman and her son mysteriously drowned, her husband was arrested for their murders – and ultimately convicted. But to this day, many people, including the victim's family, claim he’s innocent.
Episode Highlight: Quiet No Longer
In January 1981, Verna Johnson-Roehler and her young son, Doug, drowned while boating 30 miles off the coast of Malibu. Verna’s husband, Fred Roehler, was the sole survivor and only witness. Initially, the deaths were ruled accidental but a phone call from a Malibu neighbour changed everything. Was Fred a monster, masquerading as the perfect Malibu dad? Or was an innocent man convicted by his gossiping neighbours? In this first episode, the Ventura County Medical Examiner determines Verna and Doug’s deaths to be accidental, so Fred moves forward with funeral plans. But the cremations are halted after a family friend calls in a tip to the sheriff’s department.
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Script Apart
Hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek, this is a podcast about the first-draft secrets behind great movies. Each episode, the screenwriter behind a beloved film shares their initial screenplay for that movie before they and Al then talk through what changed, what didn’t and why on its journey to the big screen.
Episode Highlight: 1917 with Krysty Wilson-Cairns
This week Al is joined by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, co-writer the incredible 1917. Co-written with director Sam Mendes, 1917 followed two British soldiers as they embarked on a nail-biting mission across No Man’s Land in the first World War. With communication lines down, the lives of 1,600 men rest on this duo delivering a message to a stubborn battalion captain that his soldiers are about to walk into an ambush. On release, the film garnered more attention for how it told its story, rather than the story itself. 1917 used long, intricately-choreographed takes to give the impression of a story told across just two uninterrupted shots. It was heralded as an unrelenting real-time glimpse into the horrors of war unlike anything before it. But the movie’s technical accomplishments would have felt empty were there not an emotive plot powering it forward. Here, Krysty pulls the curtain back on every element of that plot, detailing the painstaking research that went into forming the film’s characters.
Listen here.
Narcissa
In the not-so-distant future, mind readers are outlawed in Los Angeles. Sid (Dianna Agron of Glee) and her family have spent years fighting to protect her true identity as a reader, but her life quickly starts to unravel when a slew of gruesome murders are suspected to have been committed by a mind reader. Sid’s true identity risks exposure when she becomes entangled in a romantic affair with a mysterious woman named Andie, who seems to be involved in a sinister underworld. But after spending her whole life living in the shadows to protect her true identity, Sid is willing to do everything in her power to love and be loved. One for fiction fans.
Episode Highlight: Sid
In this first episode, Sid decides to relapse in order to help Laura, her detective sister, solve a murder investigation. However, things don’t go as planned and Sid finds herself back where she started... with a head full of other people’s thoughts. At work, Sid meets Andie, a woman she wants to get to know better.
Listen here.
Dua Lipa: At Your Service
Everyone’s familiar with Dua Lipa as a singer, but few know she’s also a writer, movie junkie and bookworm. This interview series is already full of inspiring stories, as well as tools, tips, and recommendations shared by some of the world’s most exciting minds – but it’s the new Summer Series we’ve been enjoying lately. Broken down by theme as opposed to guest, get ready to go deep with Dua as she looks at some of her favourite hobbies and topics in dedicated mini episodes. Great for the time-poor.
Episode Highlight: Cooking
While we recommend listening to all the summer instalments, the final episode of the Summer Series sees Dua walks listeners through her "no-recipe" roast chicken – perfect for autumnal Sunday roasts, casual weekday nights, or special dinners with friends and family. Follow along with this fool-proof method, regardless of your kitchen skills. The full recipe is also available in the show notes for anyone wishing to take things a bit more at their own pace.
Listen here.
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