It is the golden era of podcasts. These are some of the shows I have been listening to lately.

The Masterclass Podcast is hosted by Louisa Lim from the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne. Episode 14: A Matter of Life and Death; True Crime Podcasts is a conversation between Louisa Lim and Wrong Skin’s Richard Baker and Trace’s Rachael Brown. Listen to this episode if you are feeling let down by journalism because these journalists have a great depth of integrity when it comes to their sources.

Remember something on the news a while back about a wildlife reserve in the US being taken over by armed maniacs? Bundyville is a podcast about Cliven Bundy and his sons who led two armed standoffs against the US federal government. The Bundys are ranchers and see themselves as Patriots fighting government overreach. I first heard about the Bundyville podcast listening to an interview with its creators Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas on the howsound podcast in an episode about how strong endings prompt listeners to press play on the next episode.

Twenty Thosand Hertz has some perfect production which makes sense because it is a podcast about sound. The latest episode is about the science of beatboxing and Being George Clooney is an hilarious episode about how films are dubbed for international audiences.

Criminal is a true crime podcast. Episode 103: Get Out of My House is storytelling at its finest. ‘On a hot summer day in 1978, a group of friends started renovating an old house in Atlanta. They were steaming wallpaper off of the walls when two strangers just walked in. One of them had a gun.’

Analysis by BBC Radio 4 was founded in 1970 but I only heard it last week! It is a current affairs program presented by journalists, academics and writers. In How To Kill Democracy a political scientist looks at the subtle ways democracy is being dismantled around the world.

I have retired from RRR’s Greening the Apocalypse. Past episodes are available as podcasts here. For my final show (20 November 2018) Adam Grubb and I interviewed food historian Rachel Laudan, author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History, about why she thinks many in the ethical and sustainable food movements could use a little historical perspective. Adam and I recorded the skype interview at midnight Melbourne time so if we sound sleepy that is why!