Creativity & wellbeing
Chloe Brotheridge’s The Calmer You
Podcast is a deeply sensible, kind
series that tackles everything from
eating disorders to anxiety in a way
that’s free from trend-led woo
(calmer-you.com). Deborah Frances
White’s The Guilty Feminist combines
live comedy with insight to make
examining our own attitudes to
feminism a game-changer – each
episode leaves you feeling ready to
step up and do a bit more
(guiltyfeminist.com). Pressing
Pause (gabrielletreanor.com/
podcast) is a favourite of The Simple
Things’ Rebecca Frank: “They’re nice,
short podcasts, on subjects that
cause people lots of worry, such as
how to not worry about what people
think of you and how to deal with
social media comparison.” And
explore the joyous intricacies of
language with Helen Zaltzman’s
The Allusionist – a funny, entertaining
treasure (theallusionist.org).
A good book
Highlighting the connection that
books have with the rest of our
lives, Mostly Lit is a terrific show that
brings them alive – live events and
interesting publishing tie-ups abound
(mostly-lit.com). Backlisted aims to
‘give new life to old books’. Hosted by
the founders of the Unbound
publishing house, it’s blissful comfort
listening (soundcloud.com/
backlistedpod). One that hadn’t
launched at time of writing, but which
is a case for excitement is Sentimental
Garbage (Twitter: @sentimentalpod),
a fan show for chick lit and
contemporary women’s fiction. It’s
hosted by the team behind the
excellent ‘Ooh, I never knew that!’
show, School For Dumb
Women (acast.com/
theschoolfordumbwomen). Home comforts
Sophie Robinson and Kate Watson-
Smyth are hits on Instagram, but also
a dab hand at warm, authoritative
chat about interior design. The Great
Indoors offers great advice on solving
problems and channelling your style
onto your walls (madaboutthehouse.
com/podcast).
If your focus is your plants, then
Jane Perrone’s On The Ledge offers
jolly advice without going full-on
Gardeners’ Question Time
(janeperrone.com).
If you just want a good nosy around
someone’s house, then At Home
With, from bloggers Anna Newton
and Lily Pebbles, is The One (acast.
com/athomewith), and for feeling like
you are part of a brilliant dinner party,
drop in on Table Manners (acast.com/
tablemanners), where Jessie Ware
and her mum entertain a range of
different guests, from the likes of
Nigella and Ottolenghi to Sadiq Khan
and Sandi Toksvig.Ready to take your pod skills to
the next level? Kat’s guide to
creating your own is on our blog,
thesimplethings.com/blog/podcasts.If you want to listen on your phone,
you probably have an app
pre-installed, otherwise Podcast
Republic, Player FM or TuneIn Radio
are good choices. You can also find
and listen to podcasts through your
laptop/home computer: try the
podcast’s own site or search iTunes
or acast.com. To find new podcasts,
you could haunt the #podernfamily
hashtag on Twitter or Instagram for
inspiration. In addition, Miranda
Sawyer has a regular podcast
column in The Guardian, and New
Statesman’s head of podcasts,
Caroline Crampton, co-writes an
email newsletter called Hot Pod
(hotpodnews.com). Dolly Alderton
and Pandora Sykes also regularly
highlight great podcasts on their
own (very good) show The High
Low (acast.com/thehighlowshow).How to listen