Podcasts

3 May 2024

A Muslim and a Jew Go There
This series hosted by Sayeeda Warsi and David Baddiel is “proof that you can argue politely about Israel”, says James Marriott in The Times. In each episode, the two hosts – a Muslim and a Jew respectively – discuss the Gaza war and whatever related controversy has hit the headlines that week, from anti-Semitism in the Labour party to pro-Palestinian protests on American campuses. It manages to be “good-humoured but serious”, and drives home how unusual it is to “hear both sides at once”. 50m per episode.

Cautionary Tales
Journalist Tim Harford discusses real stories of mistakes – from simple human error to tragic catastrophes and hilarious fiascos – and what we can learn from them. This episode focuses on the art of public speaking, and offers two starkly contrasting stories that show how veering off-script can go one of two ways. Civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr inspired millions with his often-spontaneous speeches; jewellery store owner Gerald Ratner destroyed his multi-million-dollar business by calling his products “total crap”. 35m. 

Growing Solo
This new BBC series follows the life of retired political journalist Max Cotton as he embarks on a year-long challenge to live off the land at his five-acre smallholding in Somerset, without buying a single thing to eat. In the first episode, Cotton calculates what it will take to leave the modern world of weekly shops behind, and introduces listeners to the inhabitants of his farm: two pigs, two dozen hens and a Jersey-Friesian cow cross named Brenda. 14m.

How to defy political gravity
In the latest episode of How to win an election, hosted by The Times’s Matt Chorley, Peter Mandelson, Daniel Finkelstein and Polly Mackenzie look at whether the Tories can do anything do stop Keir Starmer winning an election. No, they agree. Keir Starmer’s slogan, says Finkelstein, is: “Everything in this country’s broken so let’s do absolutely nothing about it.” That’s what he’s offering, and people seem to find it “quite reassuring”. All three strategists agree that party leadership elections, especially when the party is in government, should be decided by MPs alone – and not (as with Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Truss) by party members. Mandelson, Finkelstein and Mackenzie also discuss Scotland, agreeing that the SNP’s attempt to please voters from all sides by blaming Westminster for everything has finally come unstuck. 43m.

📚 Audiobook: A History of Women in 101 Objects
Annabelle Hirsch’s A History of Women in 101 Objects tells the story of female progress through the small but significant objects that have changed women’s lives over the centuries. This “cabinet of curiosities” ranges from the practical (a Miele vacuum cleaner) and the sartorial (the bikini) to the political (Simone de Beauvoir’s Manifesto of the 343, a petition to legalise abortion). The recently released audiobook is narrated by an impressive cast of 101 female directors, writers, actors and activists, including Kate Winslet, Margaret Atwood, Cynthia Erivo, Christiane Amanpour and Nicola Sturgeon. All proceeds go to Refuge UK. 13hrs 12m 

Elsewhere in The Knowledge Premium:

😬 Is jihadism worse than Nazism?
🐧 Craig Brown on his favourite books
😋 Sausage lasagne with ricotta, pecorino and fennel