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10 podcasts in a pear tree

10 podcasts in a pear tree

David Hepworth mourns the record token in his festive column, before sharing RT's pick of the pods — including the outstanding documentary on America's political divide.

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David Hepworth

Of all the features of Christmas Past, from merry gentlemen to chestnuts roasting on an open fire, from Bing Crosby in the AM to the Queen in the PM, there is none whose passing I mourn half as much as that of the humble record token.

Regardless of the merits of the illustration on the outside or the value of the stamp affixed to the inside, did ever a small card purchased in your local high street bring so much pleasure into the average home? The prospect of spending it the minute the shops re-opened carried me through many a desolate Boxing Day.

The record token was the teenager’s delight and the trusted fall-back position for every aunt. It guaranteed that at least once a year more or less everybody went to a record shop, many of which opened early to catch “the token trade”. Give the gift of music, as the marketing campaign used to say, and people did. Those days are no more. With most music consumed via a stream, how can you? The physical act is gone. You can’t see yourself decanting a new album into your nephew’s smartphone, can you? That’s a chilly prospect.

It’s to be hoped the book trade doesn’t shoot itself in the same foot as the record business did. A hardback book is still a valued and soulful thing to hand someone at this time of year. No matter how hot the market for audiobooks gets, it will curl up and die without the reminder of the tomes to which they owe their life.

I’ve nothing against audiobooks. I’m currently enjoying A Voyage around The Queen by Craig Brown, thoughtfully produced using the voices of both Harriet Walter and the author. How much better it would be if the purchase of the book included access to the audio and the Kindle version as well. That way, I would have had more opportunities to get through the book, I would have finished it more quickly and would already be on to a second book – and waiting to unwrap more from under the tree.

Merry Christmas!

SOCIETY

We Live Here Now — RT Podcast of the Year

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A nuanced doc about what unfolded when a hardcore Make America Great Again family, whose lives had been changed by the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol, moved into a liberal Washington suburb. DAVID HEPWORTH

CRIME

Buried: The Last Witness

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If the first series of Buried, with its exposé of organised crime gangs illegally dumping waste, was alarming, then the second series is terrifying, as it details the disturbing legacy of toxic chemicals dumped from the 1960s onwards.

CRIME

To Catch a Scorpion

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This gripping series made headlines for tracking down Scorpion, the head of an international people-smuggling gang. It’s remarkable also for the banter, in risky situations, between courageous reporters Sue Mitchell and Rob Lawrie.

RELATIONSHIPS

The Arc of Love

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This eight-episode limited series from Esther Perel (of Where Should We Begin? fame) reflects on different stages of relationships; the promise of young love, the betrayal of affairs, the despair of a partner’s death, and the conclusion of a happy divorce.

SOCIETY

A Muslim and a Jew Go There

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This podcast, with Baroness Warsi (Muslim) and David Baddiel (Jew) came along in February, when there was never a more important time to confront the thorny issues surrounding Judaism, Islam, Israel and Palestine.

DRAMA

Central Intelligence

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Kim Cattrall, Ed Harris and Johnny Flynn bring star power to this classy dramatisation of the history of the CIA. It’s told with the use of declassified documents and from the refreshing point of view of analyst Eloise Page, who became the agency’s highest- ranked female officer.

SPACE

16 Sunsets

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The team behind the BBC’s award-winning 13 Minutes to the Moon return, floating in podcast space with a crowd-funded, independent production about Nasa’s space shuttle programme, presented by the enthusiastic Kevin Fong.The sound design is superb.

COMEDY

Frank off the Radio

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Frank Skinner has had a successful poetry podcast for years. So it was natural that when he was dumped by Absolute, he shifted his radio show into a podcast that carries the same rambling charm, if not the music.

LITERATURE

Sherlock & Co

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Each generation has its own Sherlock Holmes. Gen Z’s is this zippy series, in which Dr Watson is a true-crime podcaster. As they work through Doyle’s stories, the enjoyable dialogue switches between Watson’s loose-limbed podcast reflections and the taut deductions of Holmes. REVIEWS BY DAVID CRAWFORD

Authors

David Hepworth

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