Mission accepted
<img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=45&resize=620,413" srcset="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=45&resize=2400,1598 2400w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=45&resize=1920,1278 1920w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=45&resize=1440,959 1440w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=45&resize=1200,799 1200w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=90&resize=960,639 960w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=90&resize=720,479 720w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=90&resize=576,383 576w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=90&resize=360,239 360w, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/12/5050-LEAD-Credit-Phil-Sharp-2-42503e7-e1733072334371.jpg?quality=90&resize=180,119 180w, " sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" width="620" height="413" class="wp-image-2161667 alignnone size-landscape_thumbnail" alt="Wk 50 Podcasts" title="50_50 LEAD – Credit Phil Sharp 2" /> <p>ESPIONAGE</p>
<h2 class="p1">The Rest is Classified</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: 1. The First CIA Coup: Oil, Iran, and MI6 (Ep 1)" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/5XEjudLYWCFvkKPEl5FMT2?si=f53544770a624614&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><i>The Rest Is…</i> brand is now too big a dog in the world of podcasting for the people behind it to have put their latest venture through the soft launch process, which would have allowed its presenters, bestselling spy novelist and ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey and BBC’s security correspondent Gordon Corera, to settle into a groove before being exposed to wider scrutiny. The first episode, which concerns the British-American effort to overthrow an Iranian government wishing to nationalise the oil business in 1953, is slightly giddy in the telling and comes off a little too much like the recapitulation of a hastily-digested book. I’m sure it will settle down before we get to Kim Philby. </span><strong><span class="s2">DAVID HEPWORTH</span></strong></p>
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<p>DOCUMENTARY</p>
<h2 class="p1">The Good Whale</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: Episode 1: Save The Whale" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/694AItXtdjLHgQaSyv1w8z?si=82e0a0bd714047d8&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Rescue, rehab, release! That was the thinking behind the project to return a captive orca to the ocean. Only this was no ordinary whale. Keiko was living in an amusement park in Mexico City before he was cast in the 1993 film <i>Free Willy</i>. From there he was moved to a larger pool in Oregon, with the intention of getting him back to the wild. But how do you release an orca that has no whale language and can’t eat (let alone catch) live fish? This latest production from the <i>Serial</i> team tells a complex tale with strokes of genius. </span><span class="s2"><b>ANNA JONES</b></span></p>
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<p>DOCUMENTARY</p>
<h2 class="p1">Stakeknife</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: 1. The Man Who Never Was" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0VtDbWWqSbpETUtsDkGeEA?si=89a1f2b729c244ec&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">A new series from the team behind the hit BBC podcast <i>Where Is George Gibney?,</i> <i>Stakeknife</i> tells the story of Freddie Scappaticci, the double agent who ran the “nutting” execution squad that murdered </span><span class="s1">IRA informers while he informed himself to the British government. There are ten episodes of interviews with journalists, former IRA members and, crucially, the family of victims of Stakeknife’s internal IRA justice. It’s truly, horribly fascinating. </span><span class="s2"><b>FIONA HUGHES</b></span></p>
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<p>CONVERSATION</p>
<h2>Strangers on a Bench</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: EPISODE 1: A Fight" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/6uQuPEidgU1KiZrqzDrToy?si=f39a3cfe3f1946ea&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">What can members of the public accosted on park benches tell us about themselves and the human condition more generally? Quite a lot, it would seem, if their anonymity is protected. That is the simple yet effective concept behind this podcast from Tom Rosenthal (the musician not the actor), who asks random bench-dwellers if he can sit next to them and record their conversation. The discussions range from trivial to philosophical, with some surprisingly intimate revelations. </span><span class="s2"><b>TOM GOULDING</b></span></p>
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<p>DOCUMENTARY</p>
<h2 class="p1">Assume Nothing: A Belfast Haunting</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: Episode 1: A Wanted Man" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0AcBhJ5XLzEAnTj1pUCBMT?si=70f62f19ab3343dd&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">This eight-part series is much more than a paranormal investigation — although this does play a major part. Writer Reggie Chamberlain-King draws on accounts from the place he grew up, west Belfast. He focuses on a family driven from their home in 1989 by a malevolent spirit. He examines the link between the Troubles and the need to find some kind of solace, with a community coming together around something other than armed conflict. <strong>ANNA JONES</strong></span></p>
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<p>FILM</p>
<h2 class="p1">The Oscars: What Were They Thinking?</h2>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Oscars watchers should revel in this chatty podcast, that rakes over every Academy Award ceremony, asking whether the winners still stand the test of time, while chronicling the snubs and flubs. For instance, did <i>Rain Man</i> deserve to dominate the 1989 ceremony, or should <i>Die Hard</i> have been considered? Prolific Oscars writer Bruce Vilanch leads the debate with plenty of backstage knowledge and insights, alongside writer Adam “Tex” Davis. <strong>JEREMY ASPINALL</strong></span></p>
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<p>CONSPIRACY</p>
<h2 class="p1">The Illuminator: Art, Conspiracy and Madness</h2>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Mark Lombardi was no ordinary conceptual artist. “He knew how to dig into things,” says a friend. Lombardi’s drawings show sinister worldwide connections, such as an alleged relationship between the White House and Saudi Arabia. His work drew the attention of some of the world’s most powerful people. This podcast asks whether they were connected with Lombardi’s unexpected death in 2000. He is now hailed as the forerunner of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. </span><span class="s2"><b>DAVID McGILLIVRAY</b></span></p>
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<p>CONSPIRACY</p>
<h2 class="p1">Radioactive: the Karen Silkwood Mystery</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: Ep. 1: The Tapes" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3QFbRvarFaJyTxm09szTOA?si=f3515389c6d04dab&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The second of this week’s podcasts about whistleblowers deals with the famous case of the Oklahoma plutonium plant worker, who died in a car crash 50 years ago this month. On many subsequent occasions — notably in the 1983 film <i>Silkwood</i> — it’s been implied she was murdered to stop her giving a reporter evidence of unsafe working conditions. Now two Oklahoma journalists are able to share previously embargoed tapes that shed further light on a possible cover-up. </span><span class="s2"><b>DAVID McGILLIVRAY</b></span></p>
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<p>SPORT</p>
<h2 class="p1">The Sweeper Podcast</h2>
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: A SAN MARINO PROMOTION, Hispaniola at the Gold Cup & Coupe de France controversy" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/4zcciO2AOsMXLqctdqRsHD?si=5a1304f4538d456b&utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Football’s world governing body Fifa has more member states — 211 — than there are members of the UN (193). This podcast looks beyond the European powerhouses to tell eye-catching stories from right across the globe, such as Turks and Caicos’s 14-year-old goalkeeper, derby day in Madeira, and Bolivia’s altitude advantage. Lee Wingate and Paul Watson make a lively pair of hosts, and they really open up a sport that most of us tend to view through the blinkered lens of fierce local interests. </span><span class="s2"><b>SIMON O’HAGAN</b></span></p>
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