5 new podcasts to listen to this week

If you are looking for funny or insightful chats, this week’s podcast picks are for you.

1. Ignore That Feeling

Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube

Genre: Comedy

Comedians Fern Brady and Alison Spittle’s have reunited for their new podcast Ignore That Feeling, where they have unfiltered “loose-limbed” and “sharp-tongued” conversations.

Each week, the two ex-Catholic women discuss everything from AI and German philosophers, to reality TV and noughties boybands.

In the debut episode, Brady and Spittle talk about their previous podcast, the pros and cons of giving advice to friends, different communication styles and menopause.

The pair share their thoughts on Lily Allen’s album, West End Girl, the mammal with the Guinness World Record certified longest ejaculation, and the day that Spittle first tried hummus.

If you are looking for candid chaos from two comics who know each other very well, then Ignore That Feeling is for you.

(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)

2. Mad, Sad & Bad with Paloma Faith

Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube

Genre: Life, culture and society

Mad, Sad & Bad with Paloma Faith is the podcast where the singer-songwriter invites actors, comedians, musicians and experts into her home to find out what makes them mad, sad and bad.

In this week’s episode, Faith is joined by Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem. The pair discuss the story behind the actor and singer-songwriter’s stage name, how our self-esteem fluctuates, and the challenges that come with fame.

She speaks about why we shouldn’t police our voices and being a woman in the music industry.

Faith and Taylor also open up about postpartum psychosis with Faith’s good friend Laura Dockrill, who is also the author of motherhood and mental health memoir, What Have I Done?

Faith shares her own experiences, especially now that she’s 44 and pregnant with her third child.

Mad, Sad & Bad with Paloma Faith is a refreshing and thoughtful listen fuelled by the musician’s genuine warmth and inquisitiveness.

(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)

3. The Messy Parts

Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube

Genre: Life and business

On this week’s episode of The Messy Parts podcast, host Maryam Banikarim sits down with New York–based luxury jewellery designer Marla Aaron to unpack how she transformed a side hustle into a thriving career, and the lessons she learned along the way.

True to the podcast’s name, the conversation doesn’t shy away from the messy realities of a major career pivot – from the time, energy and financial anxiety it demanded, to the unexpected curveballs life has thrown her way.

Aaron’s grit and determination shine throughout the episode as she opens up about the emotional highs and lows of these turning points, and the often lonely experience of building a business from the ground up alone.

Her career journey is a powerful reminder of the value of hard work, the possibility of reinventing yourself later in life, and the myth of waiting for the “perfect” moment to start.

If you’re drawn to entrepreneurial stories that explore the good, the bad and the ugly, The Messy Parts podcast is well worth a listen.

(By Camilla Foster)

4. Gracefully Said Podcast

Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube

Genre: Comedy and relationships

Gracefully Said Podcast is a new weekly podcast hosted by lifestyle influencer, singer and digital content creator Grace Ajilore.

Since Ajilore first launched her YouTube channel in May 2009, she has since built a loyal following through sharing her sense of humour in fashion look books, beauty and makeup tutorials, lifestyle vlogs, and dating dilemmas – and the first episode of Gracefully Said Podcast is no different.

Ajilore opens the episode by offering her unfiltered takes on a few hot topics including forgiveness, back-up crushes, blocking people, and rekindling with exes.

In the next segment, Ajilore gets her teeth stuck in relationship dilemmas about collecting personal belongings from an ex after a year and if it’s right to ask a former partner for money back after a cancelled holiday.

Ajilore also receives calls from listeners in the ‘Chat with Grace’ segment.

Gracefully Said Podcast is what Ajilore hopes will be the start of an amazing journey, so join her if you’re into a fun and entertaining listen.

(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)

Spotlight on…

5. Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube

Genre: Life and comedy

You’d think Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress and comedian Amy Poehler would be the perfect interviewee for a podcast, but on her weekly podcast Good Hang, she’s the one asking the questions – be it in her own inimitable, no-holds-barred style.

And she welcomes a stellar line-up of guests into her studio, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Idris Elba and Michelle Obama – it would appear all of Hollywood is ready to hang out with Amy.

The latest episode sees her welcome actor and singer Jonathan Groff, best known for TV hit Glee and, more recently, for his outstanding Broadway career including the multi-award winning Hamilton.

The beauty of Good Hang is that it’s like listening to two friends putting the world to rights, rather than a formal interview, and that really works with Poehler and Groff.

They cover everything from his childhood in a rural, conservative Mennonite household to his discovery of theatre and coming out as gay.

But essentially, this is an hour of laughs, humorous anecdotes and what feels like the start of a great friendship.

Good Hang with Amy Poehler is the perfect place to listen in on some hilarious and engaging chats with some of the world’s biggest stars.

(By Rachel Howard)