Alan Carr tries to become a wine connoisseur: best podcasts of the week

Bottoms Up

“It’s not like a lads, lads, lads podcast this, is it?” says Alan Carr in the first of his new wine show with comedian pal Lee Peart. There are tastings, reader dilemmas and a Q&A with wine expert Tom Gilbey. The real highlight is the pair’s banter. Carr’s response when Peart says he wants to get him “back on white” so he gets to have his favourite type of wine when they share a bottle? “You could have told me this off camera … I didn’t know this was Relate!” Alexi Duggins
Widely available, episodes weekly

The Girlfriends: Untouchable

Novel/iHeart’s hit podcast about a group of women who all dated the same dangerous man has slowly unfurled into a franchise about women who have fought against abuse. This time around, it focuses on a Kansas police detective, Roger Golubski, who misused his position to abuse Black women and target their families. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

Music Makes Us

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There are fewer podcast hosts cooler than Kathleen Hanna. The riot grrrl trailblazer helms this interview show which sticks – refreshingly – to the music, although it’s not completely devoid of goss. Her first guest is Paramore’s Hayley Williams, who waxes lyrical on Parliament, Funkadelic, Fontaines DC and more. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly

Charles Dickens’ Ghost Stories with David Suchet

David Suchet narrates seven of Dickens’s spine-tingling tales, including The Signalman – inspired by a real train accident that haunted Dickens – and The Trial for Murder, a story of justice beyond the grave. And yes, of course it includes a double-bill premiere of A Christmas Carol. Hollie Richardson
Widely available, episodes weekly

The Bomb

There’s a grippingly personal angle to this history show charting how the world came to the brink of nuclear armageddon. Its look at the Cuban missile crisis is presented by the descendants of its two protagonists – Nina Khrushcheva, great-granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Max Kennedy, nephew of President John F Kennedy and son of Robert F Kennedy. AD
BBC Sounds, episodes weekly

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