My favourite bookish podcasts – for now
Every few years, for no particular reason, I get the urge to write about podcasts. This is the third time I’ve listed my favourites (see also 2021 and 2015 suggestions) and I’m astonished to see that I’m still listening to some of them.
For the uninitiated, a podcast is like your favourite radio program, only there are usually multiple episodes and you can play it whenever you like. In fact most popular radio programs also are available in podcast form. Like Netflix, except for your ears. I use an app on my phone, called Pocketcasts, to listen but other podcast apps are just as useful, including Spotify.
At first I listened only in the car, usually on the long commute to and from work. Then I started listening while I was gardening, or mowing, or shoveling, or cooking or cleaning the shower. Tedious chores (yes cooking, I’m looking at you) became much more pleasant when my brain became as completely engaged as my hands.
So, for no good reason, here’s a list of some of my favourites. Of course I’m merely skimming the surface of what’s available, and I also listen to plenty of others. Most of the big writers festivals, for example, record sessions that are later released in podcast form.
Let me know in the comments about some of your own favourites.
Backlisted. Giving new life to old books. This one is an absolute delight. Erudite and charming English booklovers talking about books you’ve never heard of, but will be dying to read by the end of the show.
Empire. This one is about history, rather than books, but the engaging presenters William Dalrymple and Anita Anand are themselves authors and they are generous in discussing the various texts that they draw their information from. A great listen, and a terrific pointer towards recent publications about particular historical periods and issues.
The Garrett. Astrid Edwards interviews (mainly Australian) writers about the craft of writing.
Secrets from the Green Room. In each episode Australian writers Irma Gold and Karen Viggers chat to each other about the publishing industry, and then with a writer about their experience of the writing and publishing process. Aaron Fa’Aoso and I feature in episode 33 in a really insightful interview but I loved this podcast even before that! True!!
The Rest is History. I’m only a recent convert to this one, on the recommendation of a friend. Thanks Alison – it’s great! Touted as “the world’s most popular history podcast”, it’s hosted by historian and author Dominic Sandbrook and popular historian Tom Holland.
Over a lifetime of listening to the ABC, I have found myself less and less tolerant of ABC announcers pontificating about stuff I knew as much about as they did. For a long time though, decades probably, I would listen to Radio National whenever I was in range, sometimes even The Religion Report. Ramona Koval became my next big hate, fawning over mostly foreign authors and very rarely discussing actual books. And you can’t get RN in most of WA and so I got out of the habit. These days I listen to audiobooks non-stop. Despite people I trust recommending them, I’ve never taken to the idea of podcasts – what can I do when I disagree with the speaker? Shouting at the windscreen wears me out.
We might have to do a swap, because I’ve not yet caught the habit of audiobooks. Shocking, I know. I like the idea of them, and I enjoyed listening to The Faraway Tree when the kids were tiny, but …