Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
What’s the hardest part about writing a song? Your fondest memories of food? What do men really think about life, relationships and sex? This week’s podcasts have got you covered.
1. Brown Girls Do It Too: Big Boy Energy
Streaming platform: BBC Sounds
Genre: Sex and relationships
Have you ever wondered what men really want and think about love, sex and relationships? Well, Poppy Jay is back with a brand-new spin-off series of the popular BBC 5 Live commissioned podcast Brown Girls Do It Too co-hosted with Rubina Pabani – but this time with an all-male guest list.
The first instalment of Brown Girls Do It Too: Big Boy Energy, features actor, writer, and comedian Asim Chaudhry, who is popularly known for his role as Chabuddy G in hit BBC Three comedy People Just Do Nothing, who opens up about his first heartbreak, going through puberty, toxic masculinity, and why he believes people cheat.
But before this, they speak about the “brown immigrant mentality”, his relationship with money, bendy buses, and a voice note from Pabani – currently on maternity leave – who asked a question about what men really want from life, relationships and love. Is it the same stuff as women? It sparked an interesting discussion about childhood crushes.
Jay has a way of gently disarming her guests, so this episode felt like a heart-to-heart, which made for a fun and insightful listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. Ruthie’s Table 4
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Food
For chef and host Ruthie Rogers, one of the best ways to gain insight into someone’s character is through their memories of food.
It’s why she’s back with a fourth season of her podcast Ruthie’s Table 4, and has invited a wide variety of notable guests, including Elton John, Tony Blair, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ian McKellen, Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, to take a seat at the iconic River Café and have this very conversation.
For more than 30 years, the iconic Italian restaurant in London since 1987, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians such as Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen.
In the first episode, Rogers is joined by her friend, filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro, who starts by reading a pizza recipe with Taleggio cheese, artichokes and prosciutto before explaining why it’s important to invest in a good saucepan.
This reminded Toro about when he used to cook latex when he worked in special make-up effects, why he hated hunting as a young boy who often got left behind, his favourite Mexican food, spiritual punishments for being evil and why his films, including Pinocchio and Hellboy, are deeply personal, to the extent that he gives his characters eating habits that reflect his own.
Food always unlocks a deeper conversation, and Ruthie’s Table 4 is no different.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
3. Nicky Byrne HQ
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Entertainment
Westlife’s Nicky Byrne is now taking on the world of podcasting with his new Studz Entertainments-produced show in association with SwanMcG, Nicky Byrne HQ, hosted by Acast.
In the first episode, the broadcaster has an open and honest conversation with his former Westlife bandmate, Brian McFadden, and spoke about why he decided to leave one of Ireland’s most successful boybands. So, as you can imagine, the expectations were high for the latest episode with Take That’s very own Gary Barlow.
Hitting the ground running, the pair got straight into the heart of their conversation and reflected on the origin of Barlow’s music career – he used to sing in clubs every night of the week – how Nigel Martin-Smith helped form Take That, why he owes the band manager “everything” for “picking me out of the crowd” and who was his favourite.
Barlow admits that he never wanted to be part of a boy band initially, but gave it a shot because he loved to harmonise. He also speaks about how he grew in his songwriting, how daunting the business side of music can be and so much more.
Reflecting on your career with someone who just gets it – from experience – can be very therapeutic and that was evident from this episode.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. The Hardest Part
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Music
The stories behind some of the most emotionally, creatively, and technically challenging songs ever written should be told. It’s why the new Palm Tree Island-produced podcast The Hardest Part exists.
Every week, host Kieron Banerji unveils some of the obstacles and triumphs artists face while creating their most personal songs we consume, starting with Soph Nathan, the lead singer and guitarist of London-based Our Girl.
Something About Me Being A Woman is a single that features on the new Our Girl record coming out soon. It’s a song filled with anger – an emotion that helped with the writing process – after going through a situation that made Nathan feel undermined.
Banerji speaks to Nathan about what sparked her to write the song after quite a long writing hiatus, and why residential writing was the way forward for the band.
It was great to hear snippets of the song throughout the episode and then eventually the full live performance of the song at the end. The Hardest Part is a rare and raw listening experience.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. Live and Let Dyers
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Life and family
What’s a better way to reconnect than swapping stories? In Global’s new original podcast, Live and Let Dyers, hosted by father and daughter duo Danny and Dani Dyer, the pair chat, laugh, and share shocking and often ridiculous revelations about each other, giving listeners an honest and unfiltered window into their unique relationship.
In the first episode, they talk about the timing of Dani’s proposal and why she feels ready to get married to her fiancé, West Ham footballer Jarrod Bowen, the highs and lows of motherhood, vasectomy versus women being on contraception, and why Danny still hasn’t got a will.
But to keep things interesting, the Dyers will use the ‘Tumble Dyer,’ a quirky machine that generates random topics, to spark lively conversations and debates, ranging from their first jobs and Dyer family traditions to the joys and chaos of parenthood.
Building new connections with our parents is a wonderful thing, there’s always more to learn from each other.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
