Recommended Podcasts from 2024 - Part One

Librarians are keen gatherers of information, so it isn’t surprising that a bunch of the team at Hastings libraries love podcasts. We did a quick “ask-around” to find out just what librarians are listening to. Here’s what we found:

No Such Thing as a Fish is a clear winner for several of our staff. Mya recommends it for those looking for a fun and quirky podcast, with Kristen adding: the banter makes you laugh out loud and you end up with a collection of random bits of information to pull out at parties.  Amy explains in this QI show spin-off, the hosts discuss their favourite facts unearthed in the past seven days.

Another podcast that tickled our funny bone is Australian comedy duo Toni and Ryan who thought that their rude jokes were just too good to keep to themselves. Amy often listens on her way to work or whenever she needs a pick-me-up.

From humour to a different kind of buzz, with Emma’s recommendation of Normal Gossip. She describes it as normal people talking about the wild stories they’ve heard from friends and friends-of-friends. Nothing life-threatening or world-shattering, just juicy and fun. This podcast was recommended during Turn Up The Heat this year and I thought “no, that doesn’t sound appealing to me” but I gave it a go and I really enjoy it! It’s made me reconsider my relationship to gossip and information sharing.

Hosted by Thursday Murder Club author Richard Osman and journalist Marina Hyde, The Rest Is Entertainment is one of Miss Moneypenny’s most often listened to podcast series. Delving behind the scenes in the world of films, television and books she discovered the riveting fact that most actors wear wigs to ensure continuity between takes. Even if their hair is exactly the same as their character’s.

Apart from gossip our librarians like a bit of culture and recommend If Books Could Kill where Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri talk about books but not in a good way. They alternate choosing an airport bestseller that captured our hearts and ruined our minds. Critically analysing those pop-science titles (think Rich Dad Poor Dad, Freakonomics, and Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) they uncover lies being portrayed as facts. Emma highly recommends this podcast for students going into year 13 or university (NCEA level 3 English requiring critical thought), or anyone who wants to be able to form their own thoughts about popular media.

Emma’s other favourite is Sold a Story: how teaching kids to read went so wrong. This 10-episode investigation into literacy strategies that work (and the popular ones that don’t) was fascinating and eye-opening. It’s a US podcast focused on the US education system, but New Zealand plays a key role. Emma would love to see this kind of investigative journalism happening in New Zealand. Scroll down to the bottom of the podcast to hear and read more about literacy and reading from the Educate podcast.

Mya finds The Lonely Palette a fantastic podcast for anyone who is an art lover or who wants to know more about a masterpiece on a deeper level.  Each episode considers a different artwork and the host thoughtfully blends the history of the piece with an analysis of the context and the artwork's impact. The host Tamar Avishai is an excellent host to listen to.

Watch out for Part Two where we look at true crime, history and sporting podcasts.

20 December 2024

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