The Harry Hill Show

“What’s going on?” Adam Hills is just one confused guest who, despite having no idea what is happening, is still having a ball in comedy great Harry Hill’s daft new series. Who else would bring out a puppet with a giant tongue that licks guests? Or a viral star called Simon from Morley’s department store in Bexleyheath? Not to mention Sarah the AI bot who likes to give celebrity profiles and dispense chocolate bars. The show is so surreal that it is even better in its video format – and rare is the podcast we say that about.

Off Duty

This true-crime Guardian series drops one bombshell after another as it tells the story of murdered police officer Clifton Lewis and the man who was convicted. In 2011, Lewis was moonlighting as a mini-mart security guard when two men walked in and shot him. The resulting trial saw a man named Alex Villa jailed – despite always denying his guilt. Investigative journalist Melissa Segura hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the case since. In this seven-parter, she looks at the sweeping 12-year legal odyssey that follows, as Villa fights to clear his name, laying bare gaping cracks in the criminal legal system. It’s a compelling listen, delving into misconduct allegations, confessions made and recanted, and what she calls “a system determined to keep [Villa] there at all costs”.

Sisters of Defiance

From Radio 4 Woman’s Hour host Anita Rani, this is a spirited and fascinating new interview series. Rani loves a rebellious woman – just look at last year’s wonderful Sky documentary, Sisters of Disruption, where she celebrated the Brontë sisters for being punks. In each episode, she sits down for deep chats with those who have broken boundaries and expectations, including Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh, comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri and feminist icon Gisèle Pelicot. Her opening episode with Meera Syal sets the bar high, with a flowing conversation that touches on empty-nest homes, divorce in south Asian communities and, of course, the triumph of Syal’s groundbreaking sitcom Goodness Gracious Me.

A History of the United States in 100 Objects

This winning North American offshoot of A History of the World in 100 Objects, from BBC Studios and SiriusXM, sees Roman Mars of feted design pod 99% Invisible take a look at the minutiae of the modern world. Everything from coins to once-forgotten civil war documents have their rich backstories explored, as a way to tell the tale of the US’s shames and triumphs. Historians such as Jill Lepore (also a Pulitzer-winning writer) give the series historical oomph, while the Avengers-esque slate of podcasters set to appear – among them Missing Richard Simmons’s Dan Taberski and Latif Nasser of Radiolab – makes it one of the year’s most star-stuffed pods.

The Book Club

What happens when an unlikely intergenerational pair team up to make a book club podcast? This lovely, open-minded series from The Rest is History co-host Dominic Sandbrook and his TRIH producer Tabitha Syrett, where brand new novels are just as welcome as the classics. So far they’ve had enlightening chats about everything from Wuthering Heights to A Court of Thorns and Roses, Mrs Dalloway and Normal People. The kind of club bookworms dream of being part of.

Love and Radio: Blood Memory

This intimate 10-episode series introduces us to Michael Thompson – a convicted murderer and one-time leader of the Aryan Brotherhood who turned his back on the white supremacist gang – and it’s a deeply engrossing listen. Is Thompson a misunderstood soul who only chose violence out of necessity and is now fully reformed? Or a pathological liar and manipulator? Built on years of interviews, this often feels like sitting on a psychiatrist’s couch with a man of many contrasts, but it also doubles up as a fascinating study of a lifetime spent in prison.

Foundling

Reporter Lucy Greenwell has never been able to shake a childhood memory of a newborn baby being found on a country lane near where she grew up in Suffolk. Decades later, she tracks down that baby – to find adopted adult Jess – and in doing so opens up an emotionally wrought world of secrets, lies and abandonments. This is a series full of twists, turns and jaw-dropping reveals, but its real success is its tact when exploring such tricky, sensitive and at times traumatic subject matter.

Serial: The Idiot

New York Times columnist M Gessen had always suspected their braggadocious, ostentatious cousin, Allen, was something of a fool – or, in their words, “a pompous ass”. But when Allen is charged with ordering a hit on his ex-wife, Gessen plunges deeper into his story to discover a dark world of abduction and deceit. While technically a true-crime series, this avoids the usual trappings and cliches. Instead, it takes a more subtle and introspective approach when investigating this troubling history – and the knotty dynamics that come with their family being connected to it.

Get Birding With Sean Bean

You wouldn’t think that the most adorable thing about a birdwatching podcast would be the guy who had his head chopped off in Game of Thrones. But Sean Bean is an absolute delight as the host here, as he sweetly enthuses about the wildlife garden he has created at home and offers up lyrical descriptions of the glory of nature. It’s full of expert and celebrity interviews whose descriptions feel like borderline comedy – Johnny Vaughan reminisces about youthful ornithology, Will Young on birdsong – but Bean’s warmth turns them into something utterly lovable. A real, soothing delight.

MF Doom: Long Island to Leeds

When the hugely influential hip-hop artist MF Doom – described here as “your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper” – died in 2020, it came as a shock to many that he passed away in a Leeds hospital. Hip-hop head Adam Batty, along with DJ and broadcaster Afrodeutsche, explore how the permanently masked New York artist, who changed the world of hip-hop, wound up living his final years in West Yorkshire. With numerous guests featured along the way – such as super-fan Romesh Ranganathan – this is as much a passionate ode to a pioneering artist and his legacy as it is a curious quest for unearthing his life’s unique trajectory.