What We’re Playing Right Now: Podcasts and Audiobooks
Our humble audio fix comes in many forms: the podcast that makes politics make sense, the audiobook that feels like a best friend’s pep talk, or the conversation that makes failure seem not just survivable but stylish. Whether you’re power-walking to work, ignoring your inbox, or simply hiding from your flatmates, these are the listens worth pressing play on right now.
1. If I Speak from Novara Media
This isn’t one of those chin-stroking podcasts where two blokes in corduroy gently bore you into a coma. If I Speak, hosted by Ash Sarkar and Moya Lothian-McLean, has teeth, tempo, and just the right amount of humour to stop the world feeling entirely like a bin fire.
Every episode threads personal stories into bigger political arguments: rent, racism, climate, culture wars. It’s serious, yes, but it’s also human — like having your most switched-on friend explain why what happened in Parliament last night will eventually land in your WhatsApp group chat.
Why click: It’s urgent without being exhausting, political without being pompous. Ideal if you want to keep up without turning into that person at the pub.
2. If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair by Anya Hindmarch
Part memoir, part pep-talk, part practical survival guide — Hindmarch’s audiobook is less “fashion insider tips” and more “how to get through life without combusting.” She’s a mother of five and a businesswoman, but instead of serving up glossy perfection, she delivers funny, unfussy truths about confidence, comparison, and control.
Listening feels like being let into a friend’s diary that just happens to be full of wisdom you’ll actually use: wear the dress, delete the email, and yes, sometimes the best solution is literally washing your hair and moving on.
Why click: Equal parts soothing and sharp, it’s a no-nonsense antidote to chaos that makes you feel better rather than worse.
3. How to Fail by Elizabeth Day
Elizabeth Day has managed to make failure chic — or at least constructive. In each episode, she interviews actors, writers, politicians, even athletes, not about their triumphs but the times they fell flat on their faces.
The result? Conversations that are disarming, funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always shot through with the kind of honesty you rarely hear outside a 2 a.m. kitchen table chat. It’s self-help without the cloying positivity, therapy without the bill, and a reminder that nobody is breezing through life unscathed.
Why click: A modern manifesto for anyone who’s ever compared themselves to Instagram perfection and felt behind. Spoiler: everyone fails. The trick is what you do next.
