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Radio Roundup
FACTUAL
The Battersea Poltergeist - This series about a 1950s haunting first aired earlier this year, but if you want a good spooky Halloween listen, you can't do much better. It's a mix of dramatic reconstruction and investigation, and leans to the dramatic, but as infotainment it's very well done.
Uncanny - A followup to the above, investigating more supernatural and surreal goings-on, as reported by listeners. Good spooky fun.
Ten Days That Shook The World - The memoir of an American journalist who was in St Petersburg when the Revolution reached a turning point, with the Bolsheviks hanging on to power by a fingernail. I must admit I found it a bit hard to follow while working, but there are some good moments, and it's an interesting period I know little about. There are only 8 eps left available, but as it's so fragmentary I don't think that really matters much.
Citizens - Simon Schama's massive history of the French Revolution has been my primary listening for the last week. It's fascinating – I'm learning loads of things I can't believe aren't talked about more – but alas it's not read by Schama himself, and sounds like it was ripped from a scratched CD sometimes. Nevertheless, interesting, and surprisingly timely ...
You're Dead To Me - There's a new series of this very engaging history podcast! The link takes you to the Fairy Tales episode, but several more follow.
Bad People - The podcast series about criminal psychology is back, with its very listenable mix of expert information and dark humour.
A Geochemical History of the World - Haven't listened yet, but it charts the evolution of Earth's atmosphere and the changes that have happened over geological history, promises to be very good.
Green Inc - A surprisingly entertaining look at the "green" industry, and how capitalism is (and isn't, really, when you get right down to it) moving with the times re: environmentalism.
A History of Ghosts - Looking at ghost lore down the ages and around the world
The Food Programme: Livestock and Carbon - Some innovative – or, arguably, regressive – farmers are angry at the simplistic way livestock production is seen as blanket evil in the green debate. When managed in traditional ways, livestock and arable land can have a net positive impact on the environment, and feed humanity more healthily.
Four Thought: The Tyranny of Positivity - Ever have one of those moments where you turn on the radio and want to leap and cheer at every new sentence, but you don't because then you might miss the next sentence? That was this for me – a devastatingly intelligent takedown of the cult of the Positive Attitude.
FICTIONAL
The Destruction Factor - A genetically engineered plant is somehow causing incredibly ferocious fires. It's corny sci-fi, but fun, and achieves the apparently lost art of "just when you think it couldn't get any worse ..."
The Haunting of M.R. James - Mark Gatiss presents short dramatisations of five spooky ghost stories from the Cambridge medievalist.
The Penny Dreadfuls' Guy Fawkes - What I love most about this comic retelling of the Guy Fawkes story is how it sneaks up and grabs you in the feels, without breaking character.
FUNNY
On The Hour - Only two episodes remain of this infrequent rerun of the classic send-up of The News, but they're always worth a listen, even in reduced quantity.
The Horne Section - The kids' show for adults (as I like to think of it) is an uplifting and refreshing antidote to all the effluent in the news.
Small Scenes - Somehow I'd not come across this sketch show before – it ditches the studio audience for atmos, but remains funny, and has some quite good people in it.
Double Acts - This blog has a 100% John Finnemore policy – if any of his work gets broadcast, it WILL be linked here – and this rerun of Series 2 of his droll two-character comedy dramas is no exception. Featuring a guest appearance by my favourite pub in Cambridge.
Citizen of Nowhere - Deliso Chaponda talks humourously, frankly, and deeply about issues. This sounds terribly worthy but it has been a highlight of the 6:30 comedy slot for me these past few weeks and I highly recommend writing yourself a superior blurb.
The Battersea Poltergeist - This series about a 1950s haunting first aired earlier this year, but if you want a good spooky Halloween listen, you can't do much better. It's a mix of dramatic reconstruction and investigation, and leans to the dramatic, but as infotainment it's very well done.
Uncanny - A followup to the above, investigating more supernatural and surreal goings-on, as reported by listeners. Good spooky fun.
Ten Days That Shook The World - The memoir of an American journalist who was in St Petersburg when the Revolution reached a turning point, with the Bolsheviks hanging on to power by a fingernail. I must admit I found it a bit hard to follow while working, but there are some good moments, and it's an interesting period I know little about. There are only 8 eps left available, but as it's so fragmentary I don't think that really matters much.
Citizens - Simon Schama's massive history of the French Revolution has been my primary listening for the last week. It's fascinating – I'm learning loads of things I can't believe aren't talked about more – but alas it's not read by Schama himself, and sounds like it was ripped from a scratched CD sometimes. Nevertheless, interesting, and surprisingly timely ...
You're Dead To Me - There's a new series of this very engaging history podcast! The link takes you to the Fairy Tales episode, but several more follow.
Bad People - The podcast series about criminal psychology is back, with its very listenable mix of expert information and dark humour.
A Geochemical History of the World - Haven't listened yet, but it charts the evolution of Earth's atmosphere and the changes that have happened over geological history, promises to be very good.
Green Inc - A surprisingly entertaining look at the "green" industry, and how capitalism is (and isn't, really, when you get right down to it) moving with the times re: environmentalism.
A History of Ghosts - Looking at ghost lore down the ages and around the world
The Food Programme: Livestock and Carbon - Some innovative – or, arguably, regressive – farmers are angry at the simplistic way livestock production is seen as blanket evil in the green debate. When managed in traditional ways, livestock and arable land can have a net positive impact on the environment, and feed humanity more healthily.
Four Thought: The Tyranny of Positivity - Ever have one of those moments where you turn on the radio and want to leap and cheer at every new sentence, but you don't because then you might miss the next sentence? That was this for me – a devastatingly intelligent takedown of the cult of the Positive Attitude.
FICTIONAL
The Destruction Factor - A genetically engineered plant is somehow causing incredibly ferocious fires. It's corny sci-fi, but fun, and achieves the apparently lost art of "just when you think it couldn't get any worse ..."
The Haunting of M.R. James - Mark Gatiss presents short dramatisations of five spooky ghost stories from the Cambridge medievalist.
The Penny Dreadfuls' Guy Fawkes - What I love most about this comic retelling of the Guy Fawkes story is how it sneaks up and grabs you in the feels, without breaking character.
FUNNY
On The Hour - Only two episodes remain of this infrequent rerun of the classic send-up of The News, but they're always worth a listen, even in reduced quantity.
The Horne Section - The kids' show for adults (as I like to think of it) is an uplifting and refreshing antidote to all the effluent in the news.
Small Scenes - Somehow I'd not come across this sketch show before – it ditches the studio audience for atmos, but remains funny, and has some quite good people in it.
Double Acts - This blog has a 100% John Finnemore policy – if any of his work gets broadcast, it WILL be linked here – and this rerun of Series 2 of his droll two-character comedy dramas is no exception. Featuring a guest appearance by my favourite pub in Cambridge.
Citizen of Nowhere - Deliso Chaponda talks humourously, frankly, and deeply about issues. This sounds terribly worthy but it has been a highlight of the 6:30 comedy slot for me these past few weeks and I highly recommend writing yourself a superior blurb.