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There’s a podcast for everyone to listen to this week, especially if you enjoy having candid conversations.
1. Gangster Presents… Hooligans
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Sport
Have you ever thought about the dark side of the beautiful game also known as football?
Well, retired world champion boxer Tony Bellew is taking listeners through the turbulent history of hooliganism as a movement in a new BBC Radio 5 Live six-part podcast called Gangster Presents: Hooligans.
The podcast explores everything from the fights to its lasting impact on communities across the UK over the past six decades.
Bellew says of the podcast: “Back then, there were no rules. There were also weapons. It was mayhem. In my opinion, it was a dark time, it was when football was in a really, really bad place. The terraces were chaos, there was violence in the streets, in city centres, at train stations, at grounds. Nobody was safe, things could escalate at any moment.”
“What people misunderstand about hooliganism is that it was born out of frustration. What I’ve learnt through doing this podcast is that these people were doctors, they were solicitors, they came from all different walks of life, and they go to these matches and have fights with other fans to escape their day-to-day lives.”
In the first episode Bellew – who is a Everton fan – admits that football violence hasn’t exactly gone away. He speaks to fans about their involvement, how it became a way of life and why it gave them a sense of belonging.
In the rest of the podcast series, Bellew also has candid conversations with the families of victims who died from the violence and for the first time, the undercover police officers who risked their lives by infiltrating some of England’s most dangerous football gangs.
The soundtrack, archive news material and conversations with well-known football fans like DJ Trevor Nelson and BBC news reporter Nick Owen make for a compelling listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. Dear Daughter: Stars
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Family
Dear Daughter: Stars is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo – a mother on a quest to create a ‘handbook to life’ for her daughter, through the advice from parents all over the world.
The award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service features a guest each episode, reading a letter they’ve written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with advice, life lessons and personal stories they would like to pass on.
This season features a celebrity guest list and the most recent episode saw Dr Rae Wynn-Grant read a letter to her two daughters – aged nine and four.
Dr Wynn-Grant, a wildlife ecologist who has hosted Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild series, which highlights wildlife success stories across the US, focused her letter around the idea of self-doubt.
She reminded her children that no matter what age they are, she will always be there to help them, Dr Wynn-Grant also speaks to them about the many times in her life that she experienced self-doubt and how she now has almost beat it completely.
The wildlife ecologist also spoke to Kombo about her time travelling as a mother, having a supportive partner and her craziest stories such as giving a bear the kiss of life after an incident during her travels.
Mixing the perfect combination of motherhood, lessons on parenting she got from observing animals and managing that inner voice of self-doubt, this podcast is perfect for mothers and daughters everywhere, and of any age, to listen to.
(By Sara Keenan)
3. Three People with Rebecca Front
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life and culture
Bafta-winning actress and writer Rebecca Front, who you may know from The Thick of It and Inspector Lewis, has launched a new podcast titled Three People with Rebecca Front.
On each episode of the Unlocked-produced new podcast, Front invites a new guest and asks them to name three people who have changed their lives. To make things more interesting, they must also categorise each person under past, present, and future.
First up is Scottish satirist and writer, Armando Iannucci, who Front has known for 40 years, after starring in the The Thick Of It which he created, and who she admits has “profoundly” changed her life for the better.
Before Iannucci shared his three names – he deliberately excluded his family – Front asked him to talk about his upbringing in Glasgow, and falling in love with classical music and books at Hillhead Library in Glasgow.
Guests across the new series include another of Front’s The Thick of It co-stars, Peter Capaldi, who played Malcolm Tucker, as well as comedian and writer Richard Herring, comedian Al Murray, also known as ‘The Pub Landlord’, Scottish broadcaster Nicky Campbell and more.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. After Hours Skin Clinic with Dr Emma Craythorne
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Health
Dr Emma Craythorne doesn’t think we talk about periods or other aspects of women’s health enough, even though it’s something that impacts at least half of the population.
In her new weekly podcast, After Hours Skin Clinic with Dr Emma Craythorne, the consultant dermatologist takes a deep dive into some of the biggest skincare topics, tackles the most frequently asked questions, speaks to celebrity guests and so much more.
There are also bitesize information-packed episodes of the podcast, that are released during the week, which cover everything you need to know about something specific in under 15 minutes.
Craythorne, who also stars on TV series The Bad Skin Clinic, is often joined by her friend and colleague Dr Ellie Rashid, who she manages a private practice with.
But in honour of International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 8, Craythorne is joined by women’s health expert and GP Dr Sigi Joseph, who talks about periods, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and perimenopause.
They also talk about why it’s important to keep a period diary, spot abnormal periods and even talk about skin concerns, including adult acne.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. Down The Caff
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Food and life
After a successful first season, Down the Caff is back for a second one, offering the same ego-free and candid conversations with celebrities.
Hosted by Anna and Nev Pellicci, the third-generation owners of E. Pellicci, listeners are invited into the heart of one of London’s oldest cafés in Bethnal Green, where the food that is served speaks for itself, is made with love and designed to fill you up.
Among the famous faces who’ve popped into the establishment over the years are Idris Elba, Colin Farrell, Dizzee Rascal and of course, they’ve previously told about filmmaker Guy Ritchie taking home bread pudding for Madonna, when they were still married.
In the second episode back, Anna and Nev speak to Tommy Mallet, an entrepreneur who rose to fame on reality TV show The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) in 2014, where the conversation is filled with laughs right from the start.
They talk about everything from knowing Mallet since he was a young boy, what food he ate at home as a child, to what he orders from E. Pellicci – he’s still a regular customer. They also talk about his his relationship with TV personality Georgia Kousoulou – she was also on TOWIE – and who cooks the most at home.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)