Michelle Obama dishes the secrets behind her most famous outfits: best podcasts of the week

Pick of the week

IMO: The Look

This new spin-off of Michelle Obama’s IMO podcast coincides with the launch of a coffee-table tome about her fashion evolution. It’s a highly polished affair (aren’t all things Obama?), with guests including former Teen Vogue editor Elaine Welteroth and Jane Fonda. Like the woman herself, though, it also offers substance alongside its style, revealing much about the pressures she faced as the first Black woman to reside in the White House. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

On Hold

Test results. The bus. Your wedding day. We all know the mixed emotions that come with anticipation. But what about waiting for a lover in prison? The arrival of a surrogate baby? Or the time between death and being resuscitated back to life? In this thoughtful series, Katy Davis hears extraordinary stories of navigating such uncertainty. Hollie Richardson
Widely available, episodes weekly

The Preventionist

Investigative … Dyan Neary, host of The Preventionist podcast. Photograph: PR IMAGE

The New York Times’s Serial Productions has form in hard-hitting investigations into contentious subjects, and this series is no exception. Dyan Neary (pictured) meets parents whose children were removed from their care after allegations of abuse were made by the same doctor, and asks whether a “better safe than sorry” approach was the right one. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly

Disclosure

Freedom of information requests aren’t the sexiest topic, but investigative reporter Jason Leopold and First Amendment attorney Matt Topic turn them into a lively listen. The stories they’ve unearthed by using them in the US include getting Donald Trump’s chief of staff to admit to a court that the president doesn’t mean what he tweets. Alexi Duggins
Widely available, episodes weekly

The Europeans: Who Does It Best?

A new miniseries puts EU nations head to head on housing, childcare and drug policy to find out the best. The childcare episode looks at issues from Iceland’s women’s strike to the fact that much-vaunted Sweden nightmarishly limits childcare for toddlers if their parents have another baby. The finest provider of childcare? It’s not Scandinavian. AD
Widely available, episodes weekly