From a kidnapping case involving Rupert Murdoch to an exploration of queer history, these are our favourite podcasts from June
The temperature is dropping, the days are getting shorter, and the only possible way to spend your time is curled up somewhere cosy, listening to stories.
Well, that's what I've been doing lately, particularly after stumbling upon a scintillating tale of kidnap for ransom, made all the more salacious by the injection of tabloid journalism.
I was fascinated to find that this case is a big part of why the Murdoch family moved from the UK to the United States, opening the doors for Rupert to create such media fiefdoms as Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.
So pull out your warmest blanket and settle in for a good listen.
BBC/ABC Listen
On a cold night in Wimbledon, London in 1969, kidnappers set out to seize Anna Murdoch, the wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
But, as Jane MacSorley explains in Worse Than Murder, they got the wrong person. Australian woman Muriel McKay — the wife of Daily Mirror editor Alick McKay — was abducted instead, and the kidnappers demanded 1 million pounds for her safe return.
This was the first kidnapping-for-ransom case that had ever occurred in the UK, and the bumbling of the police would be comical if there wasn't a real person's life on the line.
The matter was made much worse by the involvement of the Murdoch press: McKay was convinced media would help put pressure on the crooks, but it only spooked them. That didn't make them stop, however; this was arguably the beginning of the voyeuristic, often harmful, tabloid journalism that still exists today.
Using startling phone recordings from the time, as well as interviews with the now elderly children of McKay, Worse Than Murder lays out the bamboozling tale in heart-pounding episodes.
And despite it being a 56-year-old case, new information comes to light from one of the people alleged to be involved.
This story is equal parts juicy and tragic, and MacSorley's passionate narration (complete with a charming Irish accent) will have you captivated all the way through.
— Katherine Smyrk
Radiotopia
Normal Gossip has been giving us the electrifyingly mundane tea from everyday people since 2022 and, as its eighth season comes to a close, it still has plenty to spill.
The premise is simple: an anonymous person submits their tale of everyday gossip, and the host relates it to a guest — with vivifying detail, lots of side commentary and interrogations of "what would you do in this moment".
Famously, this concept was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the creators missed "the fizzy thrill of overhearing a good story at a bar".
When long-time host and co-creator Kelsey McKinney announced she was leaving the show at the end of 2024, loyal listeners were devastated to be losing her irreverent and infectious energy. But new host, culture reporter Rachelle Hampton, has more than filled her shoes.
Over the 10 episodes of this season, stories cover things like a love triangle at a polyamorous, worker-owned bee farm; a tiny golden figurine that gets stolen in a housemate prank gone wrong; and the lengths someone will take to get the couch of their dreams.
Hampton is both similar to and different enough from McKinney to feel fresh, but not jarring for long-time fans of the show. She is a funny, wry and engaging host, who generates great chemistry and rapport, and plenty of giggles, with each of her guests.
— Katherine Smyrk
ABC
Is your screen time a shameful secret? Do you fear you have "goldfish brain"?
Well, same. And it turns out we're not alone. Brain Rot is a new five-part series from ABC's Science Friction, delving into the effect of technology on our lives.
The first episode looks at the science behind the anecdotal phenomenon of "brain rot", the widely held fear that the internet and our addiction to smartphones are rotting our brains and sending our attention spans into free fall.
It takes us back to 2016, when Facebook introduced its stories feature, signalling the advent of the dopamine-driven time suck we know as the infinite scroll. We also learn about the science of attention, the effect of smartphone notifications on brain waves and what constitutes disordered screen use.
Episode two takes on AI. We hear about the rise of AI companions in response to the loneliness epidemic and meet Kelly, a 47-year-old American woman dating Christian, an AI incarnation of the character from Fifty Shades of Grey. More eye-raising revelations ensue, questioning the effect of AI on human relationships.
Ably hosted by ABC's national technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre, Brain Rot is essential listening for the chronically online (ahem, guilty) and anyone who is concerned about where technology is taking humanity.
— Nicola Heath
Sebastian Hendra
What better way to celebrate Pride month than diving into some LGBTQIA+ history! Luckily, Historical Homos has you covered.
The new fourth season of the show continues its long-standing tradition of illuminating the stories of fascinating queer folk over time.
A particular highlight is the episode about John/Eleanor Rykener, a gender-diverse sex worker from London in the 1300s. Their arrest bamboozled the courts. They weren't sure whether to charge them with "prostitution" as a woman, or "sodomy" as a man.
Host Sebastian Hendra chats with a historian expert — in this case, Dr Mireille Pardon — to recount John/Eleanor's rollicking tale of sex, money, clergymen and the law. Their story also throws up some juicy questions about how our modern categories of "trans" or "queer" don't map easily onto people from different times.
Other highlights include an episode diving into the sexy evolution of restaurants in Paris — as well as how food culture is inherently queer — and an episode titled 'Toxic Boyfriends of Greek Mythology'.
Hendra's wittiness and curiosity is a through line of each episode, making this podcast a balanced pairing of nerdy historical explorations and hilarious queer commentary.
— Katherine Smyrk
RNZ/ABC listen
My three-year old nephew learned about the Titanic at daycare. The next time I saw him, he breathlessly recalled the story of the ill-fated ship, which set off from Southhampton, England, for New York City in 1912, before sinking in the North Atlantic Ocean just four days later.
"It was a really big boat and it CRASHED into an iceberg, and all the people died," he told me.
You can imagine a child like this growing up to be comedian Carlo Ritchie (one half of lauded Australian improvisers The Bear Pack). Ritchie first became fascinated with the Titanic when he was about six years old, after seeing an article about the wreckage — which was found in 1985 — in National Geographic.
In the podcast Did Titanic Sink? — recently added to ABC listen — he shares a conspiracy theory with Kiwi comedian Tim Batt (The Worst Idea of All Time): maybe the Titanic didn't sink after all.
At the end of each episode of season one, other comedians, including Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) and Rose Matafeo (Starstruck), join Batt to pick apart Ritchie's argument. Are they convinced? Did a different boat sink? Could the lives of the more than 1,500 people who died on board have been saved?
It feels strange to call a podcast about a maritime tragedy a pure joy, but that's what Did Titanic Sink? is. It's silly, sometimes laugh-out-loud, meticulously researched, but also strangely heartfelt. It's not really about the Titanic, but the things we purport to believe — and the stories we tell ourselves and each other.
As Ritchie reflects in season two: "History is not a play. We have to create a lens through which we view it and the easiest way for that to be compelling to us is this fireside story."
— Hannah Story
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It's the most disturbing crime I've seen since 1993 when two 11-year-olds abducted, tortured and killed toddler James Bulger – with sickening similarities. In April, a 14-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were convicted of manslaughter. Earlier this month, they were given sentences so paltry, I felt my blood boil. The boy beat to death a retired factory worker and granddad, Bhim Kohli, 80, in an unprovoked attack, hurling racist abuse at him as he did. The girl filmed the assault, cheered him on and laughed in the dying pensioner's face. Later, both bragged about it. He received seven years in jail. She wasn't jailed at all – for fear it'd impact her 'education and mental health.' She received a three-year rehabilitation order, a six-month curfew, and community service. They remain anonymous. A judge ruled last month their welfare outweighed the public interest in open justice and unrestricted reporting. Outside court late last week, Bhim's daughter Susan Kohli choked back tears as she read the family's statement. 'We feel anger and disgust towards the teenagers who took dad away from us. They humiliated him, an 80 year-old-man, assaulted him, filmed it and laughed at him.' Referring to their sentences and anonymity, she said: 'They have taken a life – and as a result our lives have been changed forever. When they're released they still have their full lives ahead of them. They can rebuild their lives. We can't.' How on earth could this happen? When I read the details, a chill ran through me. Then I saw where it happened: Leicester. I lived and worked there as a council-funded youth worker. I know one of the key ways in which this horror might've been prevented. Multiple grim factors coalesced to cause this: toxic teen phone culture, a desire for online 'fame', male violence, government cuts, policing failures and a breakdown of a famous multicultural society which recent politicians have savaged as 'woke,' leading to the normalisation of disgusting racist attacks. Trigger warning: the details I'll share now are distressing. But they're important to understand how a once-great multicultural society, in a city I was proud to call home, can break down to the point something unthinkable like this occurs. A 'very mild, gentle man' who loved his family and dog Bhim Kohli loved gardening in his small allotment. His neighbour, Marie Chatterton, described him as 'very mild and gentle.' His grandson, Simranjit Kohli, said 'My granddad is the main reason I am who I am. Now we'll never get to see if he is proud.' He was metres from his home, walking his beloved dog, Rocky, in a nearby park. The last words he heard as he cowered on his knees and his distraught dog watched helplessly were those of vile racist taunts, abuse, and laughter. When his daughter found him lying on the ground in agony, he told her his attackers had called him a 'P***' (a hateful racist slur) during the attack. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Sinski called the case one of the most shocking of his career. The boy, he said, had a thirst for social media notoriety. Two weeks earlier, Bhim had intervened when two white boys aged 12 and 13 racially abused a man of colour near the same park. They threw a rock and a fence post at him and shouted 'go back to your village.' Bhim, his daughter, and a neighbour reported it. That man, who remains anonymous, last week said: 'If police had increased patrols after that, maybe Bhim would still be alive.' Bhim's daughter Susan echoed these sentiments. He added that he was shocked by 'this level of anger and vitriol … the racist language, the violence … from such a young age group'. But police deterring the act is a Band-Aid – we need to address the root cause. We need to look at a deeper rot in a city that once rightly boasted itself as Britain's most successful multicultural city. Elderly man suffers broken neck, three broken ribs In court, we learned the boy, who 'revelled in his hard, violent reputation' didn't know Bhim. He 'wanted to impress' his friend. She'd pointed Bhim out, encouraged the attack, and filmed it. In the weeks previously, she'd bullied and harassed Bhim; she'd thrown apples at him. She also filmed another Asian man being racially abused and mocked. She had a 'grudge' against Bhim because of an earlier verbal altercation involving a friend. He'd told them to get off his neighbour's garage roof. In response, stones were thrown at him, he was spat at and was racially abused by the children. Her phone contained a photo of Bhim taken a week before the attack. She'd deliberately arrived at the park at the time she knew he walked his dog. 'This girl was obsessed with violence – she filmed and encouraged it,' said DCI Sinski. 'Her actions were cynical and calculated.' When arrested, she was 'not in any way intimidated by the gravity of the charge.' He added: 'She was very sure of herself … and unnecessarily cocky and confident during her evidence.' The boy wore a balaclava and knocked Bhim to the ground then hit him with his shoe as he was trying to get up. The judge said he was 'showing off' as he knew he was being filmed. He slapped him and called him a racial slur so hateful, British newspapers won't print it. He stomped on Bhim so forcefully, it broke his neck. As the 80-year-old lay on the ground defenceless and in agony, then motionless, the teen repeatedly kicked him so hard, he broke three of his ribs as the girl filmed, laughed and later bragged. When police reviewed her phone, they found numerous clips of her filming and encouraging attacks. Bhim's daughter described finding her father. 'He screamed, 'My neck, my neck.' I'd never heard him in that kind of pain before.' He died the following day in hospital. 'Lock up the council workers who let this happen' One reader commented: 'Also lock up the police and council who failed to deal with the anti-social behaviour going on for ages.' I previously worked for Leicestershire County Council as a youth worker, helping kids just like Bhim's attackers. I loved Leicester, Britain's first city where white people were a minority. It's home to a large Indian and Pakistani community. We celebrated Diwali, revelled in the delicious food, and proved multiculturalism worked. We ran programs for disadvantaged kids to keep them out of trouble and off the streets – including those expelled, or at risk of arrest. It was a haven for self-expression, but we also taught them respect. My male manager and I were particularly keen to act as positive role models for the boys who came from complex backgrounds. That centre was demolished in 2012 due to Tory austerity. Between 2010 and 2023, the Conservatives closed over 1,200 youth centres and more than a third of children's centres. Meanwhile, figures like Nigel Farage – Britain's Pauline Hanson – have become alarming political icons for Britain's youth. Farage has 1.3 million TikTok followers, more than all other MPs combined. He spews anti-Immigration rhetoric. The death of 80-year-old Bhim Kohli in Leicestershire only makes three of today’s front pages. As we reported yesterday, the Telegraph writes that Mr Kohli had previously complained to police about anti-social behaviour by young kids where he lived. — Darshna Soni (@darshnasoni) September 4, 2024 Bhim was killed just a month after the UK race riots. Misinformation claimed the Southport stabbing suspect was an immigrant. He wasn't. Far-right activist Tommy Robinson led the lie – and shortly afterwards, asylum hotels were set on fire. My old youth centre promoted harmony and diversity. Many like it are gone – bulldozed, not just closed. Adolescence The chilling parallels to Netflix's Adolescence are undeniable. The show prompted UK PM Keir Starmer to meet its creators. Writer Jack Thorne called for smartphone bans in schools and a digital age of consent, naming Australia's world-leading example as one the UK should follow. In the show, 13-year-old Jamie kills a girl after being radicalised online. He lies, denies responsibility, then shows threadbare remorse. So did this boy. He falsely claimed Bhim had a knife. Then said the pensioner just 'fell.' Eventually, he admitted to the killing, saying he 'just needed to get his anger out.' The judge called his remorse 'diluted,' adding: 'You say it wasn't your fault. The sooner you realise otherwise, the better.' In leaked Snapchats after the attack, he wrote: 'Feds know it's me,' with a laughing emoji. He bragged about his 'punching power.' How this could've been avoided Could a youth centre have kept this violent boy off the streets and out of trouble? Maybe not. Could a youth phone ban have stopped the desire for viral infamy? Maybe not. Could more visible policing following reports of racist hate incidents have made a difference? Maybe not. Could braver political leadership on multiculturalism have countered anti-immigration propaganda? Maybe not. But if all of these things had been in place, as was perfectly possible? A beloved, hardworking granddad might still be alive today. He might not have spent his final moments in agony, being ridiculed and facing the ugliest collapse of the society he loved – at the hands of children.
