1. That Was Us
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: TV
I think This Is Us is one of the best TV shows to have ever been written. So listening to the new rewatch podcast, That Was Us, hosted by Mandy Moore, Sterling K Brown and Chris Sullivan, was a real treat.
The first episode took me back to how floored I was after watching the pilot episode, where Rebecca (Moore) went into early labour, Randall (Brown) finds his biological father (Ron Cephas Jones), Kevin (Justin Hartley) faces a personal and professional crisis and Kate (Chrissy Metz) finds herself at a low point.
The co-hosts first talk about how they got the role and their first table read – which is also when they first met each other – and how tricky it can be because not everyone brings their A-game. But luckily for them, the script was extraordinary and everyone did.
It was heartwarming to hear some of the stars of the show have a candid conversation about such a pivotal point in their careers. They are thoughtful and honest and still have that family bond, which imitates the very essence of the show. “There’s a certain level of objectivity that is hard to have when you are in the midst of everything,” Brown admits, and I agree.
Maybe I should rewatch the show alongside Moore, Brown and Sullivan, and experience that moment again, the one when I realised that all the characters are connected at the end of the pilot.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
2. Nobody Panic
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Comedy
Nobody Panic, produced by Plosive Podcasts and hosted by Tessa Coates and Stevie Martin, has reached its 300th episode.
To mark what is truly a remarkable milestone, for a podcast that has proven to be a listener’s guidebook to navigating adulthood without screaming all the time, the co-hosts tackle a big, small, fun and sometimes scary question: how to plan a wedding?
Without panicking, the pair take that bold step and share a lot of advice for anyone about to tie the knot – well for Coates, who is getting married, it’s equivalent to wading into admin hell.
Usually, people are told to not mention that they are planning a proper wedding when making enquiries to vendors because the price bracket automatically doubles. But Coates and Martin think otherwise, to avoid any disappointment.
A surprising revelation was Coates also revealing that she had accidentally set up an entire company to reduce the price of plates. I think there’s an art to not taking yourself too seriously, and Coates and Martin do it well.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
3. I Think You Should Read
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Arts
The second Acast Amplifier podcast in Ireland, I Think You Should Read, hosted by bookworms Rachel and Áine is a great podcast for people who race through books and are always looking for their next read.
Thanks to the highly successful podcast incubator programme – this time in Ireland – Rachel and Áine were able to produce and launch their new podcast and receive benefits worth a maximum of €100,000, including a €2,000 grant.
The premise is that the hosts ask their guests what book they think everyone should read and why. And then go and read it for themselves and judge it very harshly. But in this week’s episode, the co-hosts are pretty impressed with what their guest Mark O’Connell, author of A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder, has recommended – The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrère.
It’s always great hearing people talk about why they love and hate books because it’s all so subjective, and that’s what makes I Think You Should Read such a fascinating podcast.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
4. Pass the Meerkat
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Comedy
When Pass the Meerkat, created by 9ine Degrees, released the first episode of their animated series and podcast in 2019, it was an innovative and exciting offering to the podcast space.
In the latest episode, co-hosts and friends Peter Olasoji, Peter Adebayo, Mansur Saadu, Tim Akinbogun, Deji Maxwell, Vish Patel, Emmanuel Jaiyeola, Sheikh Sesay and Fabion Simms, who was welcomed back after taking some paternity leave to focus on his newborn son, mostly speak about Adebayo’s recent destination wedding and his stag do in France.
But before he spoke about how marriage has given him a new sense of responsibility and why he had so many of his family and friends present – 21 to be precise – Olasoji talks about how fatherhood has been so far.
Think boy’s WhatsApp group chat and hilarious animated skits, the lads on Pass the Meerkat all have interesting takes on a variety of topics and can share some crazy stories in such an engaging way. But I think how palpable their long-term friendship is – some met at university – is what I love the most about it.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. Lagos Meets London
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Personal stories
In the latest episode of Lagos Meets London, a podcast that launched in February 2023 and aims to bridge the gap between both the vibrant and dynamic cultures of Lagos and London, hosts Toyosi Ojulari, Alice Oyeniyi and Hakeem Badru talk to the first woman to solo drive from London to Lagos, Nigeria, Pelumi Nubi.
After a quick game of naming as many countries in Africa, they asked Nubi, who is now an ambassador of Nigeria tourism, about the ups and downs of her travels. Particularly about her experience in Liberia, where she struggled to cross the border and had to sleep in her right-handed purple Peugeot car called Lumi for two nights.
Before embarking on this life-changing trip, the solo travel advocate and founder of luxury travel agency Oremi Travels shared that she has already visited over 80 countries – 87 to be exact – but knew that this trip would be different, after going from 12,000 followers on Instagram to 100,000 after just announcing her intentions.
Lagos Meets London made Nubi feel right at home, which helped to set the relaxed, comedic and frank tone of the episode. They were genuinely curious, proud and inspired by her achievements, which I’m sure many listeners would be too.
(By Yolanthé Fawehinmi)
6. God is my Creative Director
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Arts
When Buku approached multidisciplinary artist Laci Jordan at Everyday People, she was initially anxious. But after their short yet meaningful interaction, Jordan quickly went to make a note of some of the affirmations the founder and host of God is my Creative Director (GIMC) showered her with. “You are the personification of possibility,” Buku told Jordan on the dance floor.
Apart from this being such a beautiful way to meet her next guest, it perfectly illustrates the heart behind the LMN Creative Studios-produced show, which invites creatives and entrepreneurs from various spaces to have faith-inspired conversations about God’s role in their journeys.
After working at CAA as a senior graphic designer, Jordan needed a job that would accommodate how much she was evolving but couldn’t find the right role until she realised that the answer was her all along.
Hearing Jordan talk so passionately to Buku about being more than enough, how she initially grappled with identifying as a creative, imposter syndrome, the urges she has to pivot, comparison and why she refuses to put herself in a box, was so refreshing.
