Our favourite podcasts of 2021 were about economics, reality television, the German far right and the GameStop saga.
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“Can I Tell You a Secret?”
Matthew Hardy, a British cyber-stalker, harassed at least 62 women and was arrested ten times. But it took more than a decade to convict him. He was finally sentenced to nine years behind bars in January 2022, one of the longest-ever penalties for stalking in Britain. (The average is less than 17 months.) This show, hosted by Sirin Kale of the Guardian, is a sensitively reported, chilling interrogation of Mr Hardy’s crimes, his psyche and the way the British justice system fails women all too often.
Special mention: If you like this, also consider “Sweet Bobby”, a podcast about a catfishing scam that Tortoise Media released last year.
“Death of an Artist”
In 1985 Ana Mendieta, a Cuban-American feminist artist, fell to her death from the 34th-floor apartment she shared with her husband, Carl Andre, a prominent minimalist sculptor. He was charged with her murder but later acquitted. In “Death of an Artist” Helen Molesworth, its host and the former chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, probes the art world’s reaction to this incident, particularly their refusal to speak about it. The show dwells on Mendieta’s life and the role of museums in deciding which artists are remembered—or forgotten forever.
“Ghost Church”
American spiritualism is “not a cult”, Jamie Loftus, the host, emphasises at the beginning of “Ghost Church”. It is in fact an unusual religious movement that peaked in the 19th century and whose adherents think the living can communicate with the dead. On a quest to learn more about these curious beliefs, Ms Loftus heads to one of the few remaining Spiritualist camps. Her musings on death and faith showcase the intimate power of the medium—and mediums themselves.
“How We Survive”
The property market in Miami is booming. But how can that be when rising sea levels threaten its coastline and weaken key infrastructure? Amy Scott, senior housing correspondent at Marketplace, takes a long, hard look at how global warming is affecting the riotous party city. Hurricane Ian pummelled Florida during the final stages of reporting, highlighting the urgency of climate-change adaptation. The podcast underlines that not even the richest country on Earth is immune to the consequences of a warming climate.
“Not Lost”
Brendan Francis Newnam, a journalist, reckons that dinner parties are the best way to get under the skin of a new place. So he and a travel companion try to “get invited into someone’s house for dinner”. “Not Lost” is a record of their attempts. It is often a fruitless quest but the show, crafted mostly without narration, is nonetheless a delightful romp through dining rooms, cities, mountains and islands, mostly in North America.
“The Run-Up”
Joe Biden said in October that this year’s midterms would “shape what this country looks like for the next decade or more”. But it is the past, more than the future, which preoccupies “The Run-Up”, a podcast the New York Times launched ahead of the elections. It draws on events of the past decade to make sense of American politics today. The result is a clear-eyed reflection on the country’s recent political history and a thoughtful examination of the current moment.
“Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV”
Is reality television “the dumbest genre in entertainment” or the most perceptive? Pandora Sykes and Ms Kale (the prolific host of “Can I Tell You a Secret?”) set out to answer this question in their 10-part audio documentary for the BBC. They interrogate the ethical issues that bedevil the much-maligned genre, which, they explain, is often described as “bottom-feeding” and the “end of civilisation”. But they also revel in the joy the format can bring to audiences and participants. Trashy telly need not be a secret shame—particularly if you treat it with the anthropological rigour “Unreal” does.
“Wild Boys”
Two emaciated brothers walked out of the forest in 2003 and into the small town of Vernon in deepest British Columbia. They had grown up among the trees, they said, largely untouched by civilisation. One of them ate only fruit. In this gripping podcast, a former resident of Vernon recounts how the pair divided an otherwise harmonious community. Yet the story takes an unforeseen turn, making “Wild Boys” much more than a modern Romulus and Remus tale.
“Will be Wild”
In December 2020 then-President Donald Trump encouraged his Twitter followers to attend a “big protest in D.C.”. “Be there, will be wild!” he tweeted. This podcast, named after that fateful tweet, investigates what drew rioters to the Capitol on January 6th 2021. By speaking to people on both sides of the barricades, Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz, two veteran Trump reporters, manage to add fresh insight into the recent stain on America’s democracy.
“Were We Three”
This three-part podcast from the New York Times and the producers of “Serial” reveals the damage that vaccine scepticism inflicted on American families during the pandemic. Rachel McKibbens lost her father and her healthy 44-year-old brother, Peter, to covid-19. Both were unvaccinated. Peter was fearful of the jabs and people who had them. As Ms McKibbens uncovers what happened to her loved ones in their final days, this podcast also tells a wider story: one about inequality, America’s ailing health-care system and how conspiracy theories thrive when authorities are not trusted. ■
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