This week, to mark the announcement of VERVE Voices – our very own forthcoming in-house podcast! – the VERVE team are bringing you some hot podcast recommendations. Whether it’s reading recommendations, food-related chat or a true crime story you’re hungry for – or maybe, like our Sales Executive Sarah, you too love pondering life’s many existential questions – we cover all bases.
Recommendations of a Bookaholic
By Hollie McDevitt
Although it’s a little cliché as I work in publishing and spend a lot of my time working on and talking about books, I love listening to podcasts about books in my free time.
One of my favourite book podcasts to listen to is Book Reccos; the hosts, Jess and Lauren, share book reviews and discuss the topics explored in their recommended reads. They also interview key authors from the UK publishing scene. I inevitably end up buying most books they recommend!
Recently I’ve also discovered The Chapters podcast, which is run by Books That Matter, the feminist book subscription box. Listeners send in their dilemmas, and the team at Books That Matter provide book recommendations to help them through the difficult chapters in their lives, which is a concept I absolutely love! It’s super entertaining, and you will most definitely come away with a huge TBR list.
In the mood for food?
By Ellie Lavender
Nothing brings me more joy than hearing celebrities reveal their ingenious comfort food favourites (Comfort Eating with Grace Dent), listening to comedians debate the merits of ‘poppadoms or bread’ in the dream restaurant (Off Menu with Ed Gamble & James Acaster) or playing critic for a day in one of the UK’s best eateries (Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner). I’m a keen home cook and a self-confessed foodie, and love to listen to culinary podcasts while I’m driving or walking to get inspiration for future recipes. Listener, beware: playing a food-related podcast while hungry may result in severe hanger; for best results, listen with snacks.
Past & Present
By Sarah Stewart-Smith
If it’s not an audiobook I listen to while painting, it’s a podcast. I’m particularly fond of podcasts that pose existential questions (just in case you need to be prompted into crisis), and explore science, culture and technology. If this sounds up your street, then my top recommendation would be Radiolab. They’re such a curious team and bring stories that are consistently challenging, moving and informative. I’ve been tuning in since 2015, and they still manage to bring exciting and fresh content with each new episode! If you’re already on the Radiolab train, try WNYC’s Death, Sex and Money – it has a similar feel to Radiolab but with a more social/cultural focus.
When the present feels too much, I sometimes prefer to delve into the past. If you’re the same, I recommend you have a listen to BBC Radio 4’s You’re Dead To Me, hosted by Greg Jenner. Greg gets comedians and academics in conversation about niche historical topics or historical figures, and the show never fails to make me laugh – plus I usually learn a thing or two. I’d say that if you grew up reading or watching Horrible Histories, this is the show for you.
Erratic twenty-something listening material
By Jenna Gordon
My taste ranges from bookish podcasts (including but not limited to Literary Friction, Book Reccos and the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast) to food-related celebrity interview podcasts (Off Menu and Table Manners) and true crime podcasts (I started with Serial, have listened to My Favourite Murder weekly for years and turn to The Last Podcast on the Left when I want a real deep-dive into a disturbing story). I’m a big fan of funny podcasts (Evil Genius, Normal Gossip) and podcasts featuring women talking (The Guilty Feminist, Fortunately, The High Low). I went through a big Stuff You Should Know phase between 2016 and 2019, and as a result know way too much about sleep cycles, the satanic panic and the Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978, and got really into Dolly Parton’s America when it was first released.
At the moment, I have a big soft spot for pop culture podcast Sentimental Garbage. This is a solid recommendation for anyone who grew up reading and watching things aimed at women in the nineties and noughties. The recent Gilmore Girls two-part episode was the perfect amount of nostalgic, and the ‘Sentimental in the City’ miniseries which host Caroline O’Donoghue did in collaboration with Dolly Alderton during the pandemic is iconic.
I’ll stop here because most of the shows I’ve mentioned have backlists consisting of hundreds of episodes…
Happy listening!