Flesh and Code is an utterly jaw-dropping listen: best podcasts of the week
Broadcasting's most wickedly fun duo reunite for a gossipy new podcast. Maria McErlane joined Graham Norton on his radio shows for 13 years, answering listeners' dilemmas.They're back at it, starting with a man who is confused by his girlfriend's nudist father. Cue some quite helpful but very funny advice. Hollie RichardsonWidely available, episodes weekly
The agony – mental and physical – of IVF patients whose pain drugs were stolen by a nurse underpinned the first series of the New York Times's podcast. Susan Burton's bewildering follow-up turns to women who say they felt everything during their caesareans, beginning with the story of a midwife, Clara, and her 'unfathomable' pain during the procedure. Hannah J DaviesWidely available, episodes weekly
'This is the most detailed amount of food anybody has ever sent,' gasps Grace Dent as she's joined by singer-songwriter Joy Crookes in the opening to the new series of the Guardian's food podcast. It's a lively chat as they work their way through snacks placed lovingly on trays by Crookes' mum, from lamb biryani to bhorta. ADWidely available, episodes weekly
Sign up to What's On
Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday
after newsletter promotion
This scholarly podcast from Warwick University's Keith Hyams and Jessica Sutherland is all about how to strengthen democracy in our increasingly shaky world. Things get underway with philosopher and Oxford professor Jonathan Wolff, on the dangers of populism and the risks of curating your own news diet. HJDWidely available, episodes weekly
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Futra Days review – esoteric sci-fi romance offers lovers time-jump ‘happiness heists' to save relationships
With studio projects abandoning Los Angeles as a shooting location, it's the low-budget crowd that are still holdouts, presumably out of necessity. Futra Days is another in the line of esoteric films about overheated Angeleno creative minds that the pandemic seemed to encourage; the likes of the hermeneutic sci-fi Something in the Dirt or family found-footage He's Watching. But running time-travel rings around a dysfunctional relationship, Ryan David's sophomore effort is just a bit too infatuated with itself. Jaded record producer Sean (Brandon Sklenar, looking like Chris Evans and Glen Powell spliced) is wondering whether a new crush on thrift-shop worker and aspiring singer Nichole (Tania Raymonde) will go the distance. So he signs up to a 'happiness heist': being catapulted into the future by an experimental time-travel clinic run by Dr Felicia Walter (Rosanna Arquette) whose medical qualifications seem, well, questionable. After replacing his future self, who is in the process of walking out on an exasperated future Nichole, he decides to try to reboot their relationship. The opening is a kaleidoscopic blitz that sets a promisingly dislocated tone for what is shaping up as an Eternal Sunshine-style breakdown of disintegrating love. But it quickly degrades into a set of maudlin pity-party conversations; neither svengali Sean or his protege Nichole emerge clearly enough as characters to jump satisfyingly through the hoops of the big plot transitions. Sean crashlands back into the wreckage of their mutual contempt in the present, then appears to have some kind of Lost Highway-esque psychogenic fugue into another reality in which he is now the inferior partner living on her dime. The chronology is sloppy and semi-logical, rather than artfully fractured; David overcompensates by lathering on a highfalutin philosophic voiceover, as well as gratuitous visual glitches and unnecessary stylistic fussing. Sklenar and Raymonde's chemistry and deftly layered performances, as well as consistently sharp shot-making and editing, are a touch wasted on a film that can't see the characters for the concepts. Futra Days is on digital platforms from 21 July.
The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Focus on Gregg Wallace, Glastonbury and Gaza as BBC releases annual report
The BBC is to face questions on Gregg Wallace, its Glastonbury Festival coverage and the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary as it prepares to release its 2024/2025 annual report. The corporation will highlight its successes over the past year and disclose the pay of its top talent, but focus is likely to be on a storm of stories about the BBC's shows and coverage of live events. It comes after Ofcom announced it would investigate the BBC's Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary after a review found it had breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy. The regulator said it had examined the BBC report and would be investigating under its broadcasting code, which states factual programmes 'must not materially mislead the audience'. The programme was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture. An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Having examined the BBC's findings, we are launching an investigation under our rule which states that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience.' The review, conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews, which is independent of BBC News, said the programme was in breach of accuracy for 'failing to disclose information about the child narrator's father's position within the Hamas-run government'. But the review found no other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that outside interests 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. The BBC will also face scrutiny after a total of 45 out of the 83 allegations of misconduct made against former MasterChef presenter Wallace during his time on the show were substantiated, including one allegation of 'unwelcome physical contact', in a report following an investigation into his behaviour. On Monday, Wallace's MasterChef co-host John Torode confirmed he had a standalone allegation of racist language upheld in the same report. He said had 'no recollection of the incident' and was 'shocked and saddened' by the allegation in an Instagram post. In November 2024 the show's production company, Banijay UK, announced Wallace would step away from his role on the BBC cooking show while historical allegations of misconduct were investigated. The report concluded that the 'majority of the substantiated allegations against Mr Wallace related to inappropriate sexual language and humour', adding that 'a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated'. Also expected to be on the agenda is coverage of Glastonbury, which saw the broadcaster livestream a set by punk duo Bob Vylan, during which singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, led crowds in chants of 'death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)'. Director-general Tim Davie confirmed on Monday that staff at the festival had the authority to cut the stream Avon and Somerset Police have since launched an investigation into the group's set with the BBC issuing an apology for the live stream, and promising to no longer broadcast live acts they deem 'high risk' as they had with Bob Vylan in a pre-festival assessment. The Ipswich-formed duo, who are completed by drummer Bobbie Vylan, are also being investigated by the Met Police for alleged comments in a video of their performance supporting Iggy Pop at Alexandra Palace in May. In the video, Vylan appears to say: 'Death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel. Death to the IDF.' According to reports in The Times, the BBC's director of music Lorna Clarke was among a group of senior staff who have stepped back from their day-to-day roles after the broadcaster's decision to show Bob Vylan's set live. The salary of former Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker is expected to be included in the report, after he left his presenting role early following a social media row after he shared a post about Zionism which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an antisemitic insult. Lineker, who issued an unreserved apology, was the BBC's highest-paid presenter until his departure, with the annual report for 2023/24 showing his salary to be to around £1.35 million a year. The presenter will no longer front the BBC's coverage of the 2026 World Cup or the FA Cup next season, with his final appearance on Match Of The Day at the end of the last Premier League season. It comes as it was announced that Mr Davie and BBC chairman Samir Shah will face questions from MPs over the documentary, Wallace, and its Glastonbury coverage. The two will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on September 9.
The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Emmy nominations are here. 'Severance,' 'The White Lotus' and 'Adolescence' could have a big day
'Severance' could separate itself from the competition and reach the upper echelons of the Emmy Awards when nominations are announced Tuesday morning. The dystopian workplace drama from Apple TV+ achieved a convergence of acclaim and audience buzz for its second season that often leads to the kind of Emmy dominance enjoyed in recent years by 'Succession' and 'Shogun." But a flowering of Emmys tends to follow HBO 's 'The White Lotus" wherever it goes, and HBO Max's newcomer 'The Pitt' could challenge for nominations and for wins when the trophies are handed out in September. All will benefit from the absence of 'Shogun,' which last year led all Emmy nominees with 25 and set a record for wins in a season with 18. Its second season is still in the early stages of production and it shouldn't be around for next year's Emmys either. 'Severance' has become a signature show for Apple TV+. The streamer has gotten plenty of Emmy nominations for dramas including 'The Morning Show' and 'Slow Horses,' and 'Ted Lasso' was downright dominant on the comedy side. But Apple has lacked the kind of breakaway prestige drama that HBO seems to produce perennially. Adam Scott and Britt Lower are virtual locks for lead acting nominations for what amounted to dual roles as their characters' 'innie" work selves and 'outie' home selves. Tramell Tillman is just as likely to get a nod for playing their tone-shifting, pineapple-wielding supervisor, and Ben Stiller is bound to get a directing nomination. 'Severance' got 14 nominations for its first season in 2023, but won just two, for its music and its title sequence. Nominations will be streamed live beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern at The reality competition series and talk series nominees will be announced earlier on 'CBS Mornings" at around 7:45 a.m. Eastern. What else may get 2025 Emmy nomination Apple TV+'s Hollywood satire 'The Studio' could draw a host of comedy nominations for its first season as it takes on previously dominant Emmy veterans like 'Hacks' and 'The Bear.' 'The Studio' star and co-creator Seth Rogen could get nods for acting, writing and directing, and the show's all-star guest stars, including Zoë Kravitz, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard, may also add some novelty to the nominations. 'Hacks' star Jean Smart has won best lead actress in a comedy for all three previous seasons of the HBO Max series, and is the favorite for the fourth. The show won best comedy series last year too. 'The Bear' set a record for comedy nominations with 23 last year for its acclaimed second season. This year, its third season is up for Emmys (even though its fourth has already aired). It got a more lukewarm reception, leaving its status coming into the nominations murky. 'The White Lotus,' HBO's darkly comic resort drama, submits all the members of its big ensemble cast in supporting categories, which they tend to dominate. Its Thailand-set third season included ballyhooed performances from Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey and Sam Rockwell among several others. 'The Pitt,' HBO Max's prestige medical procedural starring 'ER' veteran Noah Wyle, had reached the top tier of most prognosticators' Emmy prediction lists by the time its first season ended in April. Wyle, who was nominated five times without a win for 'ER,' could join Scott to make best actor in a drama a two-man race. And the show's other doctors and nurses, played by lesser known actors, could draw nominations if 'The White Lotus' cast leaves them any room. Last year, the British Netflix production 'Baby Reindeer' was surprisingly dominant in the limited series categories. This year, it will surprise no one if the Netflix British crime drama 'Adolescence' does the same in the same categories. It was probably the most acclaimed show of the year. Fifteen-year-old Owen Cooper, who plays the 13-year-old accused of a killing at the center of the story, is likely to get one of several acting nominations. How streaming has changed TV and the Emmys All the shows are living in the splintered world of the streaming era, and the like the Oscars its most acclaimed nominees rarely have the huge audience they once did. While an impressive average of 10 million people per episode watched Wyle on 'The Pitt' at some point on HBO Max, according to Warner Bros. Discovery, 30 years ago an average of 30 million sat down on the same night and watched him on 'ER' on NBC. The broadcast networks have largely become Emmy non-entities, with a few shining exceptions. ABC's 'Abbott Elementary' has annually drawn plenty of comedy nominations and should get its share this year. And Oscar-winner Kathy Bates is a front-runner for the best actress in a comedy Emmy for her role on CBS's 'Matlock.' She would be the first person nominated in the category from a network show since 2019, and the first to win it since 2015. CBS will air the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 14. Nate Bargatze is slated to host.
