Podcast Picks

. The Allusionist Episode 52 – Sanctuary For the last two weeks, The Allusionist’s Radiotopia stablemate, 99 Percent Invisible, has been looking at Sanctuary Cities. So, this week, Helen Zaltzman takes a look at the etymology and history of seeking sanctuary. Along the way, she talks to John Jenkins from the University of York and Canon Rosalind Brown and discovers a fed up lion on Durham Cathedral’s […]

The Allusionist 52 | Sanctuary

  Myths and Legends Episode 62 – Thor: Hammer Time In November, the latest Marvel Comic-based film featuring the Norse god Thor will be released. In Thor: Ragnarok expect to see our hero smashing his way through a host of enemies. Far more interestingly, in this episode of the Myths & Legends podcast, you can find out why he should (but almost certainly won’t) be depicted with […]

Myths & Legends | Thor – Hammer Time

THE ALLUSIONIST Number 43 – The Key: Part II – Vestiges 20 September 2016 I’m a bit behind with reviewing this show – it went out more than a week ago. This week, Helen Zaltzman ‘smears a thin layer of language over the lens so everything looks a bit nicer’ and looks at how to decipher ancient languages. In part one of this two-part special, Helen […]

The Allusionist | The Key II – Vestiges

CRIMINAL Episode 51 – Money Tree 23 September 2016 Criminal is one of my favourite podcasts. I just shared it with my husband and it has quickly become one of his favourites too. In fact, he gorged himself  on the available episodes so that he was ahead of me! This episode is easily one of my favourites. There is a wonderful chemistry between host Pheobe Judge […]

Criminal – Episode 51 – Money Tree

Freakonomics is topical and provocative with this week’s episode asking ‘Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship?’ In the hot seat is legal scholar and University of Chicago Professor Eric A Posner. Professor Posner argues that whilst the US is not a dictatorship in the way that we’ve come to understand that term from the 20th century, it has strayed a long way from Madisonian constitutional […]

Freakonomics | Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship?

\What would happen if you took the Calais ‘Jungle’ and moved it to the heart of London? Is this a dystopian view of a post-Brexit Britain? Or a fascinating look at an overlooked part of the Great Fire of London’s impact on people. Today, Finsbury Circus is home to some of the world’s most important financial and corporate names. It is in the heart of the […]

Making History | The refugee crisis – Restoration style

Helen Zaltzman presents … the Etymolympics! Her adventures in language take on the world’s largest sporting event. What are the origins of words such as ‘stadium’, ‘hurdles’, ‘steeplechase’ and, of course, ‘Olympic’. It is just a short podcast this week but packed with sporting etymology. It is presented as a spoof on sports commentary, which made me laugh.

The Allusionist | Episode 40 – Olympics

Episode 592 of This American Life (Are We There Yet?) wasn’t so much This American Life as This Greek Refugee Camp Life. Ira Glass and Miki Meek presented stories from refugee camps across Greece. The resulting programme showed the power of telling individual stories. It humanised the crisis like nothing else I’ve come across. The stories were varied. We had teenagers desperate to get back into […]

This American Life | Are we there yet? Stories from the camps

What is the most exclusive club for professional chefs? Those with Michelin stars? Those with three Michelin stars? What about Le Club des Chefs Des Chefs? This isn’t a mutual admiration society for chefs, but a grouping of those elite kings of the kitchen who cook for the world’s leaders. Whether it is the President, the Queen, the Holy Father or the Chancellor, somewhere behind the scenes is an […]

Power kitchens and the world of culinary diplomacy