David Olusoga’s extraordinary new show: best podcasts of the week

Pick of the week
A Family History of … Peterloo: Britain’s Forgotten Massacre

From the People’s History Museum, this series is about the Peterloo massacre in Manchester, 1819, which the host David Olusoga calls the “ground zero of industrial capitalism”. Touching on systematic disenfranchisement (Manchester didn’t have a single MP) and state-sanctioned violence through the extraordinary story of survivor William Cheatham, it’s an invigorating if sobering listen. Nell Frizzell
Widely available, episodes weekly

Writing Funny

Analysing what makes something funny is the artistic equivalent of trying to peel a raw egg. And yet, funny people are fun to have in your ears. The Comedy Women in Print prize has a new podcast, presented by the award’s founder, Helen Lederer, and the author Chrissie Manby, in which they will tackle everything from a writer’s journey to writing comedy in dark times. NF
Widely available, episodes weekly

Wodcast

Elif Shafak, a guest on Wodcast. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty Images

Mabel Evans and Benjamin Aston turn their Word of the Day project into a very wholesome series described as “Desert Island Discs for words”. They ask guests to expand on the words that shape their lives, starting with Elif Shafak. Future guests include Stephen Fry and Tim Rice. Hollie Richardson
Widely available, episodes weekly

Big Little Interests

When I last worked in an office I watched videos of large boats misjudging their stopping distances and crashing into walls. Which is probably why I like the premise of Big Little Interests: a podcast dedicated to the strange, funny hyper-fixations that make different comedians’ brains feel smooth and shiny. Episode one, with Steve Bugeja, features bull semen. NF
Widely available, episodes weekly

Civilian Or Spy

As told by CNN’s Isabelle Chapman, this is the compelling story of how Russian-born American citizen Ilya Beloozerov was shot by the FBI outside a Super 8 hotel in 2024. With the relationship between the US and Russia as compelling today as during any cold war escapade of the 1970s, this investigation definitely has wider implications. Just don’t call it the new Serial. NF
Widely available, episodes weekly

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