11 Unmissable Podcasts To Uplift, Entertain And Inspire You
From politics and art to music and fashion, the best podcasts of the moment are moving, witty and insightful – often all at once. These are some of the best to stream now
Incredible Women: Champions of Change
Now in its sixth season, NET-A-PORTER’s Incredible Women podcast continues to celebrate women who are leading the charge for change – from inspiring activists to creative entrepreneurs, chart-topping musicians to award-winning writers. This season sees content director Alice Casely-Hayford and fashion director Kay Barron sit down with singer, songwriter and one-third of the record-breaking band Haim, Este Haim; bestselling author Lisa Taddeo; human-rights activist, advisor and former fashion director Leila Yavari; writer and model Naomi Shimada; journalist, author and founder of gal-dem, Liv Little; and Gen-Z technologist, inventor and environmentalist Kiara Nirghin.
Book Chat
In this series, writer and podcast pro Pandora Sykes and author Bobby Palmer come together to deep-dive into a book they have each brought to the table – from long-time beloved stories to novels they are coming to for the first time. The only rule is that the books need to be more than two years old. So far, they have chatted about the likes of White Teeth by Zadie Smith, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Orlando by Virginia Woolf and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast
Off the back of her bestseller, The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times, Michelle Obama shares illuminating discussions recorded as part of her recent book tour, with figures such as Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King and Hoda Kotb. The result is a collection of conversations encompassing words of wisdom and personal stories from the former First Lady and friends.
Call Her Daddy
The zeitgeist phenomenon of Call Her Daddy is a podcast in its original iteration, with host and founder Alex Cooper bringing her own bulldozing twist on feminism. Some are raw conversations with celebrity guests who open up candidly to Cooper, while others are advice-led discussions on relevant topics spanning everything from sex and fertility to burnout.
The Great Women Artists
Starting as an Instagram account, Katy Hessel created The Great Women Artists to celebrate a side of the art world that is so often ignored and overlooked. In the podcast of the same name, the curator and art historian talks to artists about their careers, and to fellow curators, writers and art lovers about the female artists who mean the most to them. Guests include the likes of Marina Abramović, Lubaina Himid and Deborah Levy.
The Way We Are with Munroe Bergdorf
Adding the title of podcast host to her impressive résumé, Munroe Bergdorf invites guests – including Florence Welch, Shon Faye, Rina Sawayama and Sinéad Burke – to reflect on their remarkable journeys, looking at events and occurrences that have shaped their character and perspectives on the world.
Griefcast
Comedy and grief don’t often appear in the same sentence, but that is the premise behind Cariad Lloyd’s award-winning podcast, which explores the multifaceted human experiences of death through interviews with comedians, so, in Lloyd’s words, “it’s cheerier than it sounds”. In each episode, a different guest – including Aisling Bea, Susan Wokoma and Robert Webb – shares their own stories and thoughts around grief and loss.
Call Me Mother with Shon Faye
In this series, journalist and author Shon Faye welcomes barrier-breaking figures from the LGBTQ+ community to reflect on being queer in the world today. Providing a platform for the younger generation to connect with a wider history and learn from the experiences of their elders, Faye invites these pioneers to discuss their inspiring activism and valuable life stories.
You’re Wrong About
In this series, hosted by journalist Michael Hobbes and writer Sarah Marshall, each episode revisits a major event or person from recent history, cleverly correcting the conspiracies and debunking the myths that surround them. From the Stonewall uprising to the likes of Marie Antoinette and Princess Diana, it sets right the consequences of media storms, public prejudices and vast misconceptions.
How to Fail with Elizabeth Day
Author and journalist Elizabeth Day’s compelling series on failure features guests such as Gina Miller and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. By asking speakers to reveal and dissect three seminal failures in their lives, Day provides a fascinating insight into their psyches and proves that every path comes with its own pitfalls.
Where Should We Begin?
Described as ‘free therapy’, this podcast sees Belgian psychotherapist Esther Perel peel back the lid on the human experience of relationships – one recent episode deals with a couple torn apart by the war in Ukraine. Hearing the intimate details of other people’s lives could make you feel voyeuristic, but with Perel’s transparency and honesty, it seems normal and informative.
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