Listen up: three perfect-for-bedtime podcasts guaranteed to put you to sleep


Editor Kate Coughlan suggests three perfect-for-bedtime podcasts guaranteed to put you to sleep.

Words: Kate Coughlan

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Desert Island Discs – BBC

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives in these perfectly crafted interviews. Ideas and music, and a new one each week. Classic BBC and going since 1942 as a radio broadcast. In these podcast versions the music is truncated – the only downside. One of my favourites is Isabella Tree who allowed her large landholding in a well-kept English county to revert to entirely to nature.

It is kind-of the economy for dummies but the storytelling makes is compelling and comprehensible if, I suspect, every-so-slightly simplistic at times. Recently I heard our own amazing Mavis Mullins talking about her Rangitane o Wairarapa tribe’s treaty settlement journey. Much more interesting, I thought, than the recent episode which featured a belt maker from Pittsburg. With the right approach, even the business of belts and elastic-making is pretty interesting. There was a pandemic angle of course.


Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel 

I’ve never wanted to be a counsellor, in fact, I squirm rather than give an opinion on the personal and relationship trouble sof others. All I know is that I am no expert. This woman, Esther, shares counselling sessions, real ones, with listeners. (Permission granted, naturally.) She’s Judge Judy-ish in a take-no-prisoners way. It is a curious subject – people talking about their problem relationships – but weirdly appealing and curiously informative. I learned a few things too.

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Editor’s picks: 3 preposterous crime podcasts and a right royal rumble with the Catherine the Great mini series

Editor’s Picks: 3 great true-crime podcasts plus documentaries and TV shows to keep your bubble entertained

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