1 “We need to talk about the British Empire”… from The Clearances and the banning of the Plaid to the Butcher’s Apron and Slavery, the Windrush Scandal and lots in between. Over the course of six episodes, this podcast from journalist and author Afua Hirsch digs into the legacy of empire by talking to British cultural figures whose complicated relationship with colonialism and empire comes through in their art. Listen here: https://adbl.co/3bBYkX3

2 Enter the Dollyverse with Dolly Parton’s America, the pink podcast you didn’t know you needed. This is a deep dive into the world of this living legend, an intimate portrait of the country star and a look at her far-reaching impact on American culture, taking in everything from Dolly’s discography to deeply personal anecdotes. Carefully crafted, refreshingly personal and very easy listening ... prepare to fall in love with Parton all over again. Listen here: https://apple.co/2SkmuOr

3 Locked Together is a new Audible series eavesdropping on well-known comedy double-acts and writing partners to hear how they’re coping with being apart during the lockdown. That involves updates from famous mates, including Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and Spaced pals Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield, Jimmy Carr and Katherine Ryan and the Kurupt FM boys.Listen here: https://www.audible.co.uk/ep/podcasts

4 The Walkers Switch. Everyone knows that salt and vinegar crisps are in a blue packet and cheese and onion are in a green packet. It’s an unassailable truth, or at least it was until Walkers defied the crisp industry and all that is logical and true and good to commit a dastardly deed and ‘‘change things up’’. Why do Walkers deny that it ever happened at all? This deadpan investigation goes all the way down the rabbit hole, and finds that it leads to a forgotten and possibly completely fictitious advert, Nelson Mandela, the Illuminati, and – of course – Gary Lineker. Listen here:https://apple.co/34ZB6I0

5 Drunk Women Solving Crime. A simple, brilliant and very funny idea. Comedians and writers Hannah George, Catie Wilkins and Taylor Glenn try to solve true crime case and listeners’ unsolved mysteries while slowly getting more and more wrecked. Guests turn up to add their own cases to the mix too, including Joe Lycett, Rachel Parris, Katie Mulgrew and Katherine Ryan, who was catfished by an “inflatophiliac” while working at Hooters. Listen here: https://drunkwomensolvingcrime.com

6 Homo Sapiens. Scottish legend Alan Cumming hosts a podcast that is by turns informative, entertaining, charming and really funny. Cumming, together with director Christopher Sweeney, interviews inspirational people from the LGBT+ community, including Professor Who himself Russell T Davies and the legend that is Jack Monroe. This podcast is a delight. Listen here: https://homosapienspodcast.com/

7 Stitcher. Lewis Capaldi (picured) and George Ezra talking about what Paradise means to them. Music and gossip and classic Capaldi humour, as he talks about his upbringing and his meteoric rise to fame and blethers about the Gallagher brothers. Unmissable. Listen here: https://bit.ly/34ZI4wH