The Podcast Hour

A chance encounter fom the past in 'All The Best', tech show 'Reply All' solves online mysteries and tells stories of internet life, find otherworldly laughs in 'This Paranormal Life', and 'The Soundtrack Show' explores the role music plays in creating the fictional universe of our favourite films.

'The Soundtrack Show' looks at the role that music plays in creating the fictional universe in some of our favourite films. From Jaws to Star Wars, from Psycho to Jurassic Park...and beyond! We play a clip from the first of three episodes devoted to the first part of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of The Ring (2001), with a film score written by composer Howard Shore. And 'The Soundtrack Show' is hosted by David Collins.

Do you believe in aliens, or doubt that the Moon Landings ever took place? Me neither...but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying 'This Paranormal Life'! We share an excerpt from episode 67 of 'This Paranormal Life' called 'Murderous Bunny Man Escapes Asylum' presented by Rory Powers and Kit Grier.

For some reason Ben can't listen to one of his favourite podcasts, 99% Invisible with Roman Mars, on the car stereo of his Mazda. But why?! We play some of 'The Roman Mars Mazda Virus', episode 140 of 'Reply All' from Gimlet Media hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman.

Have you ever got an unexpected message or a social media notification from a name from your past? One day Stephen got a Facebook alert from somebody very special to him, who he'd lost contact with 27 years before. We share some of Carey Scheer's story 'The Only Hole In My Life' produced by Tegan Nicholls and Selena Shannon, as featured on the 'All The Best' podcast.

'When We Got To The Seventh' is a quirky fiction show [1:54-13:57], having fun with self improvement in 'Personal Best' [14:01-25:19], celebrating life's simple pleasures in 'The Pleasures of Brecht' [25:19-38:28], and where does the idea of pink for girls and blue for boys from? 'Every Little Thing' has the answer [38:28:-47:28].

Where did the idea of the colour blue for boys and pink for girls actually come from? It's a question listener Elle Ve poses on the 'Every Little Thing' helpline and it sends host Flora Lichtmann down a rabbit hole of discovery. We play some of an episode of 'Every Little Thing' from Gimlet Media called 'Pink for Girls, Blue for Boys - Why?', and the show is hosted by Flora Lichtmann and also made by Annette Heist and Phoebe Flanigan.

After years of exile from Germany through the Second World War, in 1954 the German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote a simple poem called Vergnügungen or a list of pleasures. 'The Pleasures of Brecht' is produced by Phil Smith who also composed the music (and recorded it in Brecht's house in Germany), and is a Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4, and it appeared in its 'Seriously...' podcast.

Have you ever wanted to be a better You?! 'Personal Best' is a Canadian show playing around with the expectations and the conventions of the self help genre. Your life coaches and spirit guides in this quest to be the best are Rob Norman and Andrew Norton. In an episode called 'How To Master The Art of Persuasion' they take on the case of Colleen, who's offered to sell her brother-in-law's paintings but has omitted to mention she's got zero experience and a naturally retiring personality! 'Personal Best' from The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is hosted by Rob Norman and Andrew Norton, and produced by Jess Shane and Yasmine Mathurin.

Emma Clarke is a voiceover artist and 'When We Got To The Seventh' is her fiction podcast that revolves around an encounter with a seventh something: it could be a marriage, a planet, even a victim. We play some of an episode called 'I'm Just A Very Maternal Person', written and performed by Emma Clarke and produced by Eddie Delag.

'Paradise': The unsolved murder of 2 British backpackers [1:45-13:30], 'The Cut on Tuesdays': Family money [13:31-29:38], Word nerds? Try 'Something Rhymes with Purple' [29:39-39:15] and designing a dream city in 'Nice Try!' [39:16-47:21]

Nice Try! is a 7-part series looking at the elusive idea of utopia- a perfect society or place- and how this concept's been interpreted at various points in history, from Hitler's plans for Berlin, to enclosed biospheres populated by environmentalists. And- spoiler alert- some kind of failure or disappointment usually awaits when the vision meets the reality! We share some of an episode about the city of Chandigarh in northern India, designed in the 1950s by the famous Modernist architect Le Corbusier at the request of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nice Try! Utopian is hosted by Avery Trufelman and produced by Curbed and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Word nerds, Scrabble geeks, and language freaks are going to enjoy 'Something Rhymes with Purple'! Maggie Hough emailed me at pods@rnz.co.nz about it, as it's one of her favourite shows. It's an informative and amusing look at language hosted by two word nerds, Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth, who are also regulars on the long-running British quiz show 'Countdown'. We share an episode where they reflect on whips, filibusters, and some of the other strange expressions used around Parliament. And 'Something Rhymes With Purple' is hosted by Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth and produced by Paul Smith for Somethin' Else.

The Cut is the section of New York Magazine targeted at "women with stylish minds". Visit its website today and you'll find stories covering politics, relationships, work, and equality, alongside beauty, style and fashion tips. Its podcast 'The Cut on Tuesdays' covers similarly wide-ranging territory. We share some of an episode of 'The Cut on Tuesdays' (from New York Magazine and Gimlet Media) called 'Family Money', and speak to the show's host Molly Fischer about the show's approach to story telling.

Back in 1978 the bodies of two British backpackers were found in the sea off the Guatemalan coast in central America. It was obvious that Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton had been been murdered, but for nearly 40 years nobody was arrested over their killings. In 'Paradise', Stephen Nolan and Dan Maudsley try to get to the truth of who killed Chris and Peta. We play some of Episode 2 of Paradise from BBC Radio 5 Live called Death In Paradise.

Visiting a threatened Hawaiian ecosystem in 'Offshore', 'Judge John Hodgman' litigates domestic squabbles, classical music mysteries are uncovered in 'Case Notes', and the 'Outside' podcast considers what a healthy relationship with technology could look like.

Even if you worry about using your smartphone too much, the idea of simply unplugging or ditching it altogether just isn't an option for most of us. So how can we strike the right balance between our tech usage and important stuff like interacting with our family, friends and the world around us when we're not looking at a screen? It's a topic the 'Outside' podcast gets into in a new 4-part series called 'The Nature Cure'. In the first episode, Christopher Keyes speaks to digital minimalist Cal Newport, who wants us to radically re-imagine our relationship with technology.

Black magic, theft, grave digging, gruesome crimes...some of our most famous classical composers led dark and interesting lives. It certainly wasn't all powdered wigs and harpsichord recitals for genteel society! We share some of 'Haydn's Missing Head' from Case Notes hosted by Tim Lihoreau for Classic FM.

Next time you have a trivial disagreement don't just bicker and squabble about it, have it properly decided by a Minor Television Personality and self-certified 'fake internet judge'! That's the compelling appeal of 'Judge John Hodgman', a long-running show that involves the actor and writer John Hodgman adjudicating on real-life disputes that tend towards the minor and the mundane. In 'Open House Arrest' (produced by Jennifer Marmor for Maximum Fun), Eric is sharing loads of online real estate listings each day with his girlfriend Elena.

Only a select few visit the distant Hawaiian island group, Papahanaumokuakea. It's a massive but remote conservation area, covering ten islands and almost one million square kilometres of the Pacific. Nathan and Alana Eagle recorded a visit there for the podcast 'Offshore'. We share some of the episode 'Our Journey To The Last Wild Place' from the 'Offshore' podcast produced by Jessica Terrell and April Estrellon with field reporters Nathan and Alana Eagle.