If you are after a dose of girl-pal empowerment, give this pod a go!

Having this pod in your library will ensure that you get a daily dose of interesting, insightful, long form news stories. There's no easier way to beef up your suite of topical conversation starters than listening to this pod.

An absolutely delightful podcast from the creators of Criminal. They're unconventional episodes all tangentially related to love that always leave me impressed.

Silk Road

The 3 part episode on Silk Road is so good!!

Top marks

This is one of the best news and current affairs podcasts on the market. I cannot recommend it more highly.

A great pod for eavesdropping on famous people having a chat

Tragic reminder to do paperwork

Whether planned or not, the first episode of Cold Case Files for 2018, Man in the Shadows, (released 30 January 2018) serves as a timely reminder that allowing paperwork to backup can lead to devastating and avoidable outcomes. In Man in the Shadows, host Brooke Gittings, highlights via the case of the Linden Area Rapist, how, despite the modern advancements in technology, human error and administrative oversight can hamper investigations and betray the efficient administration of justice. In February 1991, the Linden Area Rapist committed his first assault and continued to perpetrate violent sexual crimes until his arrest in 2004. Over the years, as complainants piled up, investigators swabbed the dozens of his victims for DNA and catalogued their findings. But, that catalogue is only as good as the information it contains. The trail went cold for more than ten years and more women were viciously attacked. Tragically, the Linden Area Rapist’s DNA had been collected in 1995 but was not processed and indexed until 2004 when, almost instantly, a match was identified. The unreliability of eye witness testimony is also underscored in this episode when the police’s investigation, prior to the DNA match being identified, was made all the more difficult by the same DNA being found on multiple victims, yet each victim had provided vastly different descriptions of their attacker. While Cold Case Files can be grim, this episode is a worthwhile listen because, while the outcome was delayed, a case that lay dormant for over a decade was ultimately solved.

Download now!

If you aren’t listening to Atlanta Monster, get onto it! A brand new series from HowStuffWorks and Tenderfoot TV, Atlanta Monster is a multi-part series dedicated to investigating the serial murders of black children from impoverished neighbourhoods that gripped the city of Atlanta from 1979 to 1981. Wayne’s World is the fifth episode to be released (on 2 February 2018) and focuses on Wayne Williams, the man who was convicted of the murder of two young adults, but was widely believed by law enforcement to be the Atlanta Monster. Typical of series belonging to this genre, Wayne’s World is the episode where listeners are presented with Williams’ version of events and the view of his supporters, including, surprisingly, many of the parents and families of the murdered children. Of course, you need to start listening to this riveting podcast from episode one, but given that they’re only five episodes in, now is the perfect time to get on board and binge until next week’s instalment is released. You won’t regret it.

Must listen!

There is no more pertinent time than now, in the current US political climate, for this exceptional series to drop. A Slate production hosted by Leon Neyfakh, Slow Burn is a podcast about Watergate. Going South, the ninth and final episode in the series, released on 30 January 2018, analyses the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry and President Nixon’s final, desperate attempt to save himself before he ultimately resigned on 8 August 1974. In seeking to answer “what had to happen to make Nixon’s resignation go from the unthinkable to possible to certain”, Neyfakh examines events that led, sensationally, to the White House releasing the damning tapes that contained incontrovertible evidence of Nixon’s crimes. A central theme woven throughout the episode is the gradual capitulation of Nixon’s most ardent supporters. Sound bites from speeches given by some of them demonstrate how close they came to being on the wrong side of history. For a listener with only a casual knowledge of the Watergate scandal, I was most intrigued to learn that while the investigations into Nixon’s involvement in Watergate were happening, a separate scandal involving Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew, was playing out. Neyfakh explains how a criminal investigation into Agnew’s involvement in a bribery racquet involving building contracts led to his resignation only 10 days prior to the Saturday Night Massacre. As a Nixon loyalist, Agnew probably would have pardoned Nixon, just as his replacement, President Ford, did. But, it raises the unanswerable question, would the fire that ultimately engulfed Nixon’s presidency have burned as strongly, or for as long, if the Agnew scandal had never happened? I highly recommend this podcast series and its final episode, Going South, which really shouldn’t be listened to in isolation. Unless, of course, you need immediate reminding of what presidential high crimes and treason look like and the bravery and tenacity of individuals that ensure that America’s democratic institutions will overcome similar threats.

A dollop of LOLs

As the perennial intro to each episode announces, The Dollop is a history podcast presented by two American comedians, Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds where Dave (who has prepared for the show) reads a true story about a historical event or personality to Gareth (who has not prepared and doesn’t know what the story is about). The stories are usually obscure and riotous. Each episode is between 45 and 90 minutes in length but the duo commonly records live shows with a guest host (who joins Gareth as an active audience member). Pods that are recorded live are usually between 90 and 120 minutes in length. The hosts have a close association with Australia and so live shows are often recorded in various Australian capital cities with Australian history as the subject matter. This podcast is great to have streaming through speakers while doing otherwise mind numbing chores. I have at least one LOL moment per episode.

Yes, Yes, Yes!

While this podcast self-identifies as a technology podcast, you don't have to know much about technology to enjoy it (as a repeat segment called 'Yes, Yes, No' demonstrates). I recommend going back into the archives and listening to the pod from episode 1 forward. While each episode is a standalone episode, the hosts often go back to early episodes and do updates and its interesting to see how the regular segments have evolved. Plus, its easier to binge that way.

While fans of Malcolm Gladwell’s books will be well acquainted with his modus operandi, you don’t have to have read any of them to enjoy this engaging podcast. If you are into questioning the status quo and challenging the establishment, this podcast is for you.

Must have random reliable podcast in your feed

This podcast should be in everyone's listening library. Having just hit their 1000th episode, Stuff You Should Know was early to the podcast scene and has deservedly survived the rapid growth in competition. The hosts are humorous, honest and humble and expose their audience to subjects that they may never have otherwise encountered.

The best brief crime podcast on offer

Criminal is an excellent bite size crime podcast. While ‘crime’ is this pod’s uniting theme, the topics covered in each episode are diverse - the quite minor to the very serious are covered in equal measure. Refreshingly, there is only rarely a ‘who done it?’ type of episode. They are always well researched and have a high production quality (although it means that episodes only drop once a fortnight).