From gardening, motherhood and navigating life in your 30s, this week’s podcast picks have something for everyone.
1. Blocc Party: An Insecure Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Culture and TV
It’s been 10 years since the first episode of Insecure aired and, to celebrate, actress, producer and entrepreneur Issa Rae and showrunner Prentice Penny have reunited to commemorate the untold stories behind the comedy-drama.
In the first episode of Hoorae Media’s Blocc Party: An Insecure Podcast, Rae and Penny – also an executive producer – share what they did the day the show ended, why they think it has resonated with so many people, and what the writing process was really like.
The co-hosts also discuss why Penny came on board, how actor and comedian Chris Rock almost became a director on the show, picking your battles, and the meaning behind the show’s title.
Rae and Penny chat about the importance of having shows that depict black women as flawed, and why they wanted Insecure to end after five seasons.
If you are a massive fan of the hit show, then Blocc Party: An Insecure Podcast is the trip down memory lane you’ve been waiting for.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
2. MotherWell Podcast
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Family
For women navigating the beauty and complexity of modern motherhood, some emotional realities are difficult to come to terms with.
It’s why founder Feyi Bello started the MotherWell Podcast, where she has transparent conversations about everything from parenting, identity and career, to faith, mental health and purpose.
Joined by experts, the aim is to help women better understand the spiritual and practical realities of raising children today.
On this week’s episode, Ibidunni Osho, producer and COO of MotherWell Group, joins Bello to discuss the nature of their working relationship-turned-friendship.
They also open up about grief, how they have grown into motherhood, raising a child solo and what it takes to build something from the ground up.
If you are looking for a judgment-free community rooted in grace, vulnerability, faith, and hope, where you can also learn how to “be fruitful” in other areas of your life, then give the MotherWell podcast a listen.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
3. ThurtyFM
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Life and society
For Jamelia Donaldson, no one prepares you for your 30s.
That’s why the TreasureTress founder created ThurtyFM, a new weekly podcast series for women who have had to burn down a version of themselves that they built in their 20s, in order to find out their true, authentic self.
In the debut episode, Donaldson is joined by Fisayo Martins, chartered accountant and founder of Finance Matters education platform, to discuss the financial conversations we should be having in our 30s, and what life looks like outside of the numbers.
Martins opens up about the highs and lows of her 20s, how grief changed her priorities and the way she shows up in life, and why she transitioned into entrepreneurship.
It was interesting listening to Donaldson and Martins chat about the vision they had for themselves as women, and why it’s important to appreciate their current realities.
If you are ready to tune into the frequency of the life that you deserve, then add ThurtyFM to your podcast rotation.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
4. Digging Around
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms
Genre: Life, culture and gardening
About a year ago, TV presenter De-Graft Mensah picked out his own space on an allotment plot, where he can take some time out of his busy schedule and have in-depth conversations with people who volunteer to help him.
It’s what led to the creation of his new podcast series Digging Around.
In the debut episode, actor and presenter Kia Pegg joins Mensah on his allotment plot to discuss everything from her life as a former child actor, and how it impacted her mental state, to what it’s been like taking on a farm with her mum and brother.
Whilst helping Mensah with some weeding and watering of plants, Pegg also chats about growing up in Birmingham, and the joy of growing your own vegetables and herbs.
Digging Around is a clever, fun, rich, and authentic way to explore the lives of people who have done incredible things – especially if you are a gardening enthusiast.
(By Yolanthe Fawehinmi)
Spotlight on…
5. Wiser Than Me
Streaming platform: All streaming platforms and YouTube
Genre: Life and society
It’s a sad fact that women in showbusiness generally disappear from public view once they get to their 70s.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress and star of Seinfeld and Veep, decided enough was enough and in 2023 launched the podcast Wiser Than Me, with the distinct aim of giving older women a platform to discuss everything from careers and family, to health and passions.
The award-winning podcast is now well into season four and has seen Louis-Dreyfus sit down with guests including Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Vera Wang and Annie Leibovitz.
Joining the esteemed line-up this week is actress Pam Grier, Hollywood’s first female action star, best known for her work on a string of blaxploitation movies in the Seventies and Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown.
Here, at the age of 76, she chats candidly about everything, including her childhood, a diagnosis of stage 4 cervical cancer (resulting in a partial hysterectomy) and the benefits of ageing – including a revelation about three-day orgasms. It’s reassuring to know life certainly doesn’t end at 70!
(By Rachel Howard)
