- Lifestyle
These are our top podcast picks.
PA ReportersThursday 27 November 2025 10:34 GMT
open image in galleryProfessor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens are the hosts of Goalhanger’s The Rest Is Science podcast
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
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Have you ever wondered what life is like after prison? Or how the minds of today’s most revolutionary thinkers work? Then add this week’s podcast picks to your rotation.
1. The Rest Is Science
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Science
After football, history, politics and entertainment, it is perhaps no surprise that science is the next focus of Goalhanger’s popular Rest Is… podcast franchise.
The tried-and-tested formula sets two experts – in this case British mathematician and broadcaster Professor Hannah Fry and US educator and YouTube star Michael Stevens – the task of putting the world around us under the microscope in fresh and fascinating ways.
Their first episode jumps feet-first into water, but much more deeply than just “splashy puddle stuff”.
You may be surprised at the different percentages of water in Coca Cola versus Diet Coke, and have your own views on whether water is itself wet rather than a substance that makes objects wet.
While there are dozens of science-explaining podcasts on the market, Fry and Stevens are a very listenable line-up, finding humour in every hydrogenated molecule.
Where The Rest Is Science differs from other Goalhanger iterations is that there seems much less scope for disagreement when the hosts are trading facts rather than opinions.
This may change when they delve into more divisive studies and theories, but Fry and Stevens have enough easy chemistry to displace the laws of friction.
(By Amy Crowther)
2. We Have Notes
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Pop culture
Wicked: For Good and Timothee Chalamet are the latest topics for cultural commentary from Observer critic Miranda Sawyer and writer and gal-dem magazine founder Liv Little.
Listening is a bit like overhearing a conversation on the next table in a pub or cafe and wishing you could join in to argue or agree.
Observer film critic Wendy Ide joins a discussion about the second half of the Wicked story, a box office smash which impressed none of them.
Chalamet’s publicity stunts get a kinder reception with an interesting discussion about the creative influence of Scottish photographer and director Aidan Zamiri on Chalamet, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish.
There are insights into the world of showbusiness and interesting recommendations – Emma Stone’s black comedy Bugonia, and Daniel Rachel’s book, This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika and the Third Reich – but it is their personal stories which make the best content.
The highlight is the In the Margins section when personal memories are shared related to the deaths of reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff and former The Stone Roses and Primal Scream bass player Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield.
(By Beverley Rouse)
3. Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast
Streaming platform: BBC Sounds and YouTube
Genre: Sports
Viral sensation and assistant manager at Royal Oak FC Steve Bracknall is on a mission to “set the footballing world bang to rights”.
Every Thursday, direct from the Royal Oak changing rooms, Bracknall will be joined by first team manager Paul Sampson and club physio Bob the Bucket on his new BBC podcast Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast.
In each episode, they will try and make sense of the weekly football news whilst inviting fans into the inner workings of his Sunday league team.
To set the tone of the podcast series, Bracknall takes a tour of the iconic MOTD studios, and even manages to introduce himself to television and radio presenter Gabby Logan.
If you are looking for a new fully visualised series, which brings the chaos, humour, and heart of Sunday league football to life, then give Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. Where It’s At… with Jefferson Hack
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life
Where It’s At… with Jefferson Hack is a podcast presented by AnOther Magazine.
In each episode, the Dazed Media co-founder explores the minds of today’s most revolutionary thinkers across art, science, literature, music, fashion, and beyond.
For 60 minutes, listeners get a front row seat to a conversation all about their inspirations, challenges, risks and defining moments that have shaped the cultural visionaries transforming our world.
This week, Hack joins American-born chef Ruth Rogers, who owns and runs the Michelin-starred Italian restaurant The River Café, at her home, originally designed by her late husband and architect, Richard Rogers.
Hack and Rogers – who also hosts Ruthie’s Table 4 – discuss everything from the best lemons in the world, to graphic design, how she met her husband, and how she began her education in food.
Rogers also shares how she started The River Café with British chef Rose Gray, and why food is a powerful catalyst for collaboration.
If you are looking for a podcast that shies away from the traditional format, introducing new ways to keep each episode fresh and surprising, then Where It’s At… with Jefferson Hack should be in your podcast rotation.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. Life After Prison
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life and society
Have you ever wondered what life is like after prison?
Life After Prison, a podcast series hosted by Zak Addae-Kodua and Jules Rowan, is back with its tenth series.
In each episode, Addae-Kodua and Rowan amplify the voices of people who have a lived experience of the criminal justice system.
The season also includes a special episode recorded inside HMP Brixton with the prison governor and an audience of prisoners, offering an intimate and honest conversation about rehabilitation from inside the system.
In the first episode back, Addae-Kodua and Rowan are joined by David Haze, who went from being an aspiring soldier to battling addiction and serving time in prison.
Since he was released, Haze has broken paddleboarding world records, and become a respected voice for change in the justice system.
Addae-Kodua and Rowan talk to him about his journey of redemption and strength, and how he went about redefining his purpose after he was released.
If you are looking to hear more stories of resilience, transformation and hope, then give Life After Prison a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
