In focus
Hoping to bridge the partisan chasm that has opened up in America, the New York Times has launched a new podcast called The Argument. Each episode will feature a robust if well-mannered debate between some of the paper’s most prominent opinion writers. First up, they ask whether, in the wake of Brett Kavanaugh’s fractious confirmation hearings, the supreme court is no longer fit for purpose. “We think arguing is a good thing,” host David Leonhardt suggests. “So if you don’t want to live in a political bubble, this podcast is for you.” Gwilym Mumford
Picks of the Week
To mark the 40th anniversary of John Carpenter’s slasher classic, podcaster and Guardian film critic Amy Nicholson hosts a textured eight-part-deep dive into one of the most influential horror movies of all time, featuring thoughtful commentary from original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, Carpenter himself, and David Gordon Green (director of the imminent reboot) as it seeks to plumb the psychology of Michael Myers, the monster behind a warped William Shatner mask. Graeme Virtue
New York Magazine’s The Cut is launching a podcast billed as “a show about the lived experiences of women, from the aftermath of the #MeToo movement to the lie that was Spice Girls feminism, to the cultural relevance of Amber Rose’s downtown situation”. As you’d expect from a website where an analysis of the Brett Kavanaugh vote sits comfortably with a feature about how Bradley Cooper had to fake tan every day for A Star Is Born, it’s a smart, candid and wildly varied listen. Hannah Verdier
In focus: Business podcasts
For a broad look at the world of business, the BBC’s daily business podcast is a good starting point. Recent topics have ranged from the US-China trade war and the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers to holidays in space and lab-grown meat on your table. In the Financial Times’s weekly Start-Up Stories podcast, Jonathan Moules talks to entrepreneurs about how they’ve built a business, including stories about rebuilding a reputation after bankruptcy and giving birth during a funding round.
The Broad Experience, presented by New York-based British journalist Ashley Milne-Tyte, takes a thoughtful look at women in the workplace and also offers practical advice. Recent episodes have covered female-only workspaces, military spouses and the art of negotiation. BBC Radio 4’s Money Box podcast, meanwhile, offers easily digestible personal finance advice – for example, tips for students on a shoestring, the costs of driving an electric car and the various government schemes for first-time home buyers.
Elsewhere, Meaningful Money, hosted by financial planner Pete Matthew, and The Financial Wellbeing Podcast by Chris Budd, author of the eponymous book, are worth listening to, while Robert Dix’s The Property Geek Podcast provides valuable insight for those who want to buy property as an investment. Julia Kollewe
Guardian Picks: Immigration detention: ‘It’s basically a death sentence’
As part of a recent investigation into immigration detention here at The Guardian, we commissioned two podcasts to take us behind some of the shocking statistics. Statistics like; of the 188 people included in the survey, 84% had not been told when they would be deported. What we wanted to do with these podcasts was gain an intimate understanding of what that experience - as well as life inside detention centres - is really like. Focussing on one character in each episode, both paint an equally disturbing picture of what life was like inside the centres at the heart of Theresa May’s “hostile environment” policy.
Your picks:
A true-life podcast about ordinary people experiencing extraordinary things, for example a woman surviving a murder attempt after being pushed off a 20m cliff in a car. They’re well structured and many will make you cry, even though they are all uplifting by the end. Recommended by Graham Adams
A Small Voice: Conversations with Photographers
The only podcast I can listen to while doing other things, this sees host Ben Smith interviewing some of the most interesting photographers working today, from Ed Kashi and Bruce Gilden to Olivia Arthur and Vanessa Winship. It’s entertaining, calming and educational. Recommended by Ingrid Wimart
If you’ve got a podcast that you love, send your recommendations to rowan.slaney@theguardian.com
