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Podcast recommendations - Sweet sweet love
It’s only two days until Valentine’s Day, and at Fresh Air Production we’re in the mood for some sweet sweet love. Listening is of course the most romantic of all the senses, and audio the sexiest (and most cost effective) of all media types. Who can resist the gorgeous vocal tones of deep, gruff Idris Elba, sophisticated, smooth Joanna Lumley, or naughty, knee trembling Jacob Rees Mogg?
Oooooooooh yeah, sexiness and sound go together like Weetabix and baked beans, with sensual audio-related phrases including ‘whispering sweet nothings’, ‘I just called to say I love you’ and ‘roll over you sweaty sod, you’re snoring in my ear’. Naturally, podcasts hosted by couples in love are hugely popular - bringing us laughter, education, banter, or none of those things.
Thankfully, our production team have taken some time out from staring wistfully into each other’s eyes to bring you some great podcast recommendations.
We start with the serial recommender and comedy maestro, Paul Russell, recommending another couple:
Not all podcasts need to have big ideas and grand production values to be successful and often the simpler and less complicated ideas work best. Here, mates Jools Holland and Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) co-present a witty podcast series loosely based around motoring and other forms of transport. Having known each other for over forty years - the brilliance of this series is the naturalness and obvious respect and camaraderie the two have.
Each episode has the two mates inviting a guest to share their memories, likes, dislikes around various forms of transport they have encountered. So far, we have been entertained by Bob Mortimer, Jane Horrocks and Chris Difford from Squeeze. These guests are all known to Jools and Jim - so we're not venturing out of their 'comfort zone' - but it's all the more funny for it. So, we find out how the Squeeze song Cool For Cats was written; how Jane Horrocks loves cycling on the tow-path near her home and how she deals with 'odd' neighbours and we find out some hilarious journeys Vic and Bob made over the years. It's also a joy to have a series obviously recorded in Jools' studio - all the voices are crisp and sharp and there's not a Zoom call in earshot!
From our business expert and dog walker, Julie-Anna Needham:
In this series, investigative journalist Surani Fernado explores the race to produce a Covid-19 vaccination in record time. As someone who has written about the pharmaceutical industry for more than a decade, and previously worked in clinical trials, Surani flags early on that the speed at which Covid vaccines gain approval is unprecedented. She speaks to leading experts and covers the history of vaccines, the different types of vaccines (including the new mRNA technology), how clinical trials work, the role of the regulators, the logistical challenges in the vaccine roll-out and - most importantly - the safety aspects of the vaccines.