Alice Levine and Greg James Finally Team Up: Best Podcasts of the Week
This week's podcast roundup: besties ask horse questions, Obamas resurrect a culture show, and an AI policing tool is a total dud - plus love stories and time capsules.
Broadcasting's favorite besties, Alice Levine and Greg James, have finally joined forces for a podcast that asks the hard-hitting questions - like, did you know that horses' legs are their fingers? The format is still finding its feet (much like a horse, we imagine), but it's your standard chatty podcast fare: no topic is off-limits as listeners are invited to share gripes, crises, and inane thoughts they can't shake off. In episode one, Alice reveals her War Horse acting debut, which we can only hope involved some finger-legs. Widely available, episodes weekly.
After a brief hiatus, Hunter Harris and Peyton Dix's culture podcast has been resurrected by the Obamas' production outfit Higher Ground. For takes that are extremely pertinent and often very funny, the Brooklynites are rarely bested; a recent episode offered insightful chat on Lena Dunham's memoir and the total nonsense that is Euphoria. Widely available, episodes weekly.
If nine episodes feels like a lot for a limited series, this new one from Canada's CBC has a bit to dig into. Namely, how did a strangely secretive AI policing tool used in Akron, Ohio, turn out to be a total dud? Tech and true crime are expertly fused in a series hosted by Sam Mullins (Sea of Lies). Widely available, episodes weekly.
Nurse turned content creator Hunter Prosper first interviewed strangers in the US during the Covid pandemic, going viral on TikTok. This podcast is a decidedly earnest brand extension, featuring polished chats with unusually candid folk. Despite the schmaltz, it is rather touching: his first episode centres on three love stories, including one from sprightly 96-year-old Sally. Widely available, episodes weekly.
Roman Mars leads a who's who of podcasters - from Radiolab's Latif Nasser to Song Exploder's Hrishikesh Hirway - in this new take on A History of the World in 100 Objects. In a fascinatingly meta first episode, Pulitzer-winning writer Jill Lepore considers what a time capsule from 1876 teaches us about curation. Widely available, from Tuesday 19 May.
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