Podcast Corner: Annie Mac in the mix with yet another great project
Anne Macmanus presents Changes.
What a couple of years it’s been for Annie Macmanus: From leaving her show on BBC Radio 1 to publishing two novels to starting a club night called Before Midnight that, yes, you guessed it, runs in the evening but finishes before the clock strikes 00:00, to her podcast Changes a mainstay at the top of the charts. Season 13 began at the start of this month, with a brilliant conversation with the author (and Macmanus’s friend) Zadie Smith, who is full of wisdom. Last week featured Amanda Knox, the “girl accused of murder”.
Macmanus also recently appeared before a UK parliamentary committee talking about sexism in the music industry. As if all that wasn’t enough, we get the news that she’s starting a new show with BBC Sounds called Sidetracked, alongside long-time friend and her fellow ex-BBC Radio 1 presenter Nick Grimshaw. Sidetracked, they say, is all about taking a look at the things Annie and Nick have loved (and perhaps more importantly not loved) from the world of music with the help of artists, industry experts, and listeners. It says it will be “the destination for music and pop culture lovers looking for an authentic and light-hearted take on the week’s most compelling stories”. As with everything else Macmanus touches, we’re sure it’ll be worth your time. The first episode is released on Thursday.
There have been lots of ads about this Wondery show in some of our favourite podcasts over the past few weeks, and the first three episodes are available now, wherever you get your pods. But to be honest, we’re not quite sure we’ll listen. The bio: The true story of a dolphin sex scandal in northern England in the early 1990s. Re-examining old stories in our new 2023 light is par for the course for podcasting (see: Slow Burn) but this might be a step too far. Though the media and tabloid fallout sounds like it is worth reflecting on.
Two new podcasts from the Irish Examiner have launched in recent weeks. In the inaugural episode of the ieBusiness Podcast, journalist and host Cáit Caden talks with well known publican and restaurateur Ernest Cantillon about, among other topics, knowing when to walk away from a business - he’s just sold the beloved Eclectic in Cork city centre. Future guests include Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon and SkelligSix18 distillery founder June O’Connell.
The 12-part Growing Pains podcast, meanwhile, is hosted by ieParenting editor Irene Feighan, discussing some of the most pressing issues facing parents. Guests on the first two episodes are child psychotherapists Dr Colman Doctor and Dr Joanna Fortune.
