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Quiet Part Loud
Headphones are essential for this atmospheric audio drama from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, released in 2022 and told over 12 parts. Tracy Letts plays radio shock jock Rick Egan, who casually, carelessly stirs up racial tensions in the post-9/11 US. Fast forward eight years, and Rick is persona non grata in the industry, a deadbeat dad and – on top of all that – has become the target of an evil parasitic force called the Blank (voiced by Taran Killam), in a series that offers thrills and chills right to the end.
Believe in Magic
Megan Bhari was a teenager who – despite apparent ill health – poured her energy into founding a charity for sick children that was supported by the likes of One Direction. But, astoundingly, web sleuths alleged that Bhari was faking cancer – even claiming that she had gone to Disney World when she was supposed to be undergoing treatment. Sensitively handling its hugely tricky subject matter, Jamie Bartlett’s 2023 BBC series keeps up its rigorous investigation of the Believe in Magic charity all the way to its final chapter, with big revelations about Bhari and her family.
Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?
This pod from the FT and Pushkin is the sort of series that lodges itself deep in your brain after listening. First released in 2022, it offers a forensic look at the world of online porn, from the surprising role of Visa and Mastercard to what performers really think of their tech overloads, and the ascent of OnlyFans. It also seeks to answer a simple but seemingly unknowable question: who is PornHub’s secretive owner? Gladly, Patricia Nilsson and Alex Barker find this out – and much more besides.
Dancing With Shadows
Released earlier this year, this series hosted by journalist Nicky Anderson for the British podcast outfit Stak delves into the elite New York City Ballet, where allegations of abuse and toxicity have festered over the decades – even leading to a headline-grabbing lawsuit. Its greatest strength is its candid accounts from former members of the company – which continue right to the last episode, when a newly retired dancer unpacks the isolation and mental strain she suffered.
Finding Quantum Quest
Funded in part by Nasa, Quantum Quest was an ambitious, educational sci-fi animation with an enviable voice cast that included Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill and Sandra Oh. Why, then, did the film barely see the light of day, showing in one Kentucky cinema for six months in 2011 before all traces of it were scrubbed from existence? This indie pod explores all the theories, before getting some solid answers about how such a starry project ended up on the scrapheap.
