Great Pods Weekly Digest #4

The latest picks from Great Pods critics — 5 newly reviewed podcasts, straight from the reviewers.

At a glance

Great Pods Digest #4 rounds up critic reviews of 5 podcasts:

• Exploring The Greats — rated 5/5 by Clair Woodward, The Times UK
• Eras: Spice Girls — rated 5/5 by Hannah J Davies, The Guardian
• Careless | Tortoise Investigates — rated 5/5 by Scott Bryan, Podcast Rex
• 13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble — rated 5/5 by Stephen O., Podcast Delivery
• Paper Trail — rated 5/5 by Chloe Walker, PodcastReview.org

International Women's Podcast Awards Winners: https://gpods.link/iwpa2026
Black Podcasting Award Winners: https://gpods.link/iwpa2026

Exploring The Greats

★★★★★

We all have a mental list of classic books that we have never got round to reading, so this entertaining and informative series will give listeners a nudge into picking them up. Academics and fans take a deep dive into the titles.

— Clair Woodward, The Times UK

Eras: Spice Girls

★★★★★

A lively celebration of girl power, stuffed with trivia (the idea for personas was inspired by the TV series Friends) and insight from the likes of music manager Chris Herbert and Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall.

— Hannah J Davies, The Guardian

Careless | Tortoise Investigates

★★★★★

This limited series explores why so many people in the same position experience poor communication, delays and even receive incomplete data, and the emotional toll this can take.

— Scott Bryan, Podcast Rex

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble

★★★★★

Across four episodes, you’re guided through how it all went wrong, and then gloriously right. But aside from revisiting the ins and outs of what happened more than 35 years ago, you’re reminded of something that seems to be increasingly eroded: public accountability.

— Stephen O., Podcast Delivery

Paper Trail

★★★★★

Against this context, ProPublica is the largest not-for-profit newsroom in the United States, and one of the very few bright lights in this bleak landscape. [...] Lussenhop speaks to her esteemed colleagues both as a peer and a fan. [...] Having her enthusiastic, endless curiosity at the helm helps to give the podcast an overarching identity. [...] While many of the topics discussed on Paper Tr...

— Chloe Walker, PodcastReview.org

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