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      in Theater

      Interview: Turning OCD into Great Theatre

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      Freddie Valdosta talks about her OCD and how it shaped Flip The Switch

      We came across Little Bonsai‘s Freddie Valdosta when her show, Flip The Switch, performed as part of The Fright Before Christmas; a collection of short horror plays curated by Harpy Productions and Danse Macabre and performed for one night only at The Space.

      Not only did Flipping The Switch blow us away, it was similary loved by the rest of the audience who voted it the best of the night. So we were really excited when Freddie agreed to join us for a chat about the show, how it was inspired by her own battles with OCD, and just what else she has planned. She also found time to admit to writing teen fan fiction, although we haven’t (yet) been able to find it online, much to her relief we suspect.

      Little Bonsai has also made a video of the show avaialble, which you can view on YouTube. Note that this was recorded on the evening with just a smartphone and so is not of professional quality. However it is still a good opportunity to catch this interesting short play and understand just what we were talking about in the interview.

      [embedded content]

      You can also hear the mentioned podcast here: Plaguetown podcast: Alan RIckman episode

      We plan to watch out for future work by Freddie and so we’ll keep you updated. More

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      in Theater

      Interview: Unravelling the mystery of Mangled Yarn

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      Christopher Smart on Mangled Yarn’s Christmas show, It’s A Wonderful Life

      Our latest guest on The Everything Theatre Podcast is Christopher Smart from Mangled Yarn Theatre. This time last year they released Every Time A Bell Rings, their “prequel” to the Christmas classic, It’s A Wonderful Life. It was a show we loved when we reviewed it online, so when we heard this year they were putting on It’s A Wonderful Life, both in person and on-demand (to be recorded on Christmas Eve) it seemed a great chance to speak to them about both shows, their association with The Place Theatre in Bedford, and what else they might have planned for next year.

      And as an added bonus, as well as Christopher, we were treated to the company of his five month old puppy who makes a guest appearance once or twice!

      It’s A Wondeful Life, The Place Bedford

      Christmas Eve. George is contemplating ending his life: He never got out of Bedford Falls; the bank is on the verge of closure; Potter is closing in; and his blasted kids won’t stop practicing the infernal piano. It’s all too much.

      Now only Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class, can save him and finally get his wings… This winter come and witness the joy and feel good fuzziness of the salvation of George Bailey, because now more than ever we need to remember IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE!

      Mangled Yarn will reimagine one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. For Christmas 2021, The Place Bedford and Mangled Yarn will bring this all time Christmas classic to life as you have never seen it before: filled with magic, music and Holdiay spirit!

      Four actors will take on every character using live music, puppetry and a sack load of Christmas magic to bring Bedford Falls to Bedford. Prepare to have your heart strings tugged, your sides split and your disbelief suspended.

      What more is it you want? The moon? Well, we can’t make any promises but we’ll fetch our lasoo just in case.

      It’s A Wondeful Life plays until 31 December at The Place Bedford The Christmas Eve performance will also be recorded and made available on-demand over the Christmas period (exact date yet to be confirmed). Further details can be found via the following link. More

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      in Movies

      The 10 Best Podcasts of 2021

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      Shows about Chippendales, a notorious Hollywood bomb, the search for the perfect pasta shape and the immediate aftermath of 9/11 are among those worthy of your attention.It would be impossible for anyone to listen to each of the hundreds of thousands of podcasts that published new episodes in 2021, let alone rank them. But even within that distressingly bountiful landscape, these shows — personal and ambitious, argumentative and entertaining — were worth a detour.‘9/12’It’s not easy to find something new to say about Sept. 11, which is what makes this provocative and creatively reported series from Dan Taberski (“Missing Richard Simmons,” “Running from Cops”) such a striking listening experience. The show begins with a crew of reality-show contestants who set sail on a six-week, 18th century-themed voyage in August 2001. The sailors’ relative inability to engage with the wider world initially prevented them from forming hard impressions of the attacks, a state of innocence that Taberski sets out to recreate. Backed by a stunning score from the jazz composer Daniel Herskedal, “9/12” uses little-memorialized stories from the “War on Terror” years (a Pakistani grocery store owner in Brooklyn who advocates for his detained and desperate neighbors; the staff of The Onion versus a climate of anti-humor) to challenge conventional wisdom about what it all meant. (Listen to “9/12” from Pineapple Street Studios/Amazon Music/Wondery.)‘Forever Is a Long Time’Ian Coss’s five-part meditation on the improbability of lifelong commitment couldn’t have been more personal. Motivated by lingering doubts about the durability of his own marriage, he interviewed divorced members of his family and their former spouses about why theirs fell apart. Each episode tells a different love story from beginning to end, with Coss gathering evidence like a single-minded detective. The details he uncovers — and, at the end of each episode, sets to music in an original song inspired by the couple — quietly reflect the irreducible mysteries of human intimacy. (Listen to “Forever Is a Long Time” by Ian Coss.)‘La Brega’Loosely translated as “the hustle” or “the struggle,” the concept of “la brega” is a point of common heritage and a point of departure in this expansive story collection and love letter to Puerto Rico. Produced in English and Spanish by a collective of Puerto Rican journalists and hosted by Alana Casanova-Burgess, each episode of “La Brega” creates a transporting sense of place. Rich and under-examined American histories abound in its stories of pothole fillers, political activists and basketball heroes who navigate their own versions of the struggle, many of which trace back to the very idea of a self-governing territory in the United States. (Listen to “La Brega” from WNYC Studios/Futuro Studios.)‘The Midnight Miracle’Sound-rich, unpredictable and borderline hypnotic, this star-studded conversation show from Dave Chappelle, Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli is much more than a celebrity podcast. The three hosts, longtime friends and collaborators, are joined by a revolving cast of funny and thoughtful guests (David Letterman, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart) who wax extemporaneously about subjects falling generally under the banners of art, philosophy and politics. Inventive sound design — voices and scoring seamlessly enter and exit the central conversation — makes it feel like the world’s most interesting dinner party. (Listen to “The Midnight Miracle” from Luminary/Pilot Boy Productions/Salt Audio.)‘One Year: 1977’Produced and hosted by Josh Levin, a former host of “Slow Burn,” “One Year” takes that show’s forensic historical lens and zooms both in and out, attempting to capture a year of life in America by focusing on its distinctive icons, manias and controversies. As with all good history, its most haunting episodes — including one focusing on a quack treatment for cancer that became a deadly phenomenon among celebrities and science skeptics — resonate uncannily with the present. (Listen to “One Year: 1977” from Slate.)‘The Plot Thickens: The Devil’s Candy’Julie Salamon unearthed a trove of half-forgotten tape recordings to make this podcast adaptation of “The Devil’s Candy,” her classic book on Hollywood filmmaking. That book, first published in 1991, showed readers the doomed production of Brian De Palma’s “The Bonfire of the Vanities”; the podcast puts listeners in the middle of it. On-set interviews with De Palma, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith and a small army of assistants and crafts people resurrect a quixotic effort to mingle high art and dizzying commerce. (Listen to “The Plot Thickens: The Devil’s Candy” from TCM/Campside Media.)‘Resistance’Born in the aftermath of the global Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, “Resistance” is more interested in revolutions of a much smaller scale. The host, Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr., and the producer-reporters Salifu Sesay Mack, Bethel Habte and Aaron Randle find hard-to-shake stories in the circumstances that push individuals off the tram lines of their day-to-day existence. Lesser-known miscarriages of justice are made personal and palpable, as in one episode about a woman fighting to free her incarcerated partner and co-parent, and another about the plunder of an early 20th century oasis for the Black bathers of Manhattan Beach. (Listen to “Resistance” from Gimlet.)‘Rough Translation: Home/Front’The latest season of “Rough Translation,” Gregory Warner’s podcast about the ways cultural conflicts abroad mirror and reframe our own, focused exclusively on an American schism — the “Civ-Mil divide” between civilians and the members of the military who fight on their behalf. Quil Lawrence, NPR’s longtime veterans correspondent, shows how this binary obscures fundamentally human acts of compassion and sacrifice on both sides. His patient eye and ear capture a cast of unforgettable characters, including Alicia and Matt Lammers, whose civ-mil marriage buckles under the weight of compounding trauma, and Marla Ruzicka, an irrepressible aid worker who changed the way the Pentagon handles civilian casualties. (Listen to “Rough Translation: Home/Front” from NPR.)‘The Sporkful: Mission Impastable’Dan Pashman, a longtime food critic and the host of “The Sporkful,” spent much of his career dreaming of something most people wouldn’t think to imagine: the perfect pasta shape. His three-year quest to not only design that shape (he doesn’t think it exists, and he might convince you) but also get it manufactured unfolds like the overachieving love child of earlier audio capers from “Radiolab,” “StartUp” and “Planet Money.” The emotional roller coaster Pashman endures will be familiar to anyone who has ever tried to make a hit — edible or otherwise. (Listen to “The Sporkful: Mission Impastable” from Stitcher.)‘Welcome to Your Fantasy’Natalia Petrzela’s sweeping account of the rise and fall of Chippendales — the traveling male strip show that became a global phenomenon in the Spandex-clad ’80s — manages to transcend its noisy keywords: sex, true crime, hidden history. Those things are served, of course, in good measure. But what distinguishes the show is its evocative mood, characters and story. And what a story it is. The stranger-than-fiction odyssey of the troupe’s founder, Steve Banerjee — from immigrant small business owner to green-eyed sex-industry titan to murderous racketeer — is a true American classic. (Listen to “Welcome to Your Fantasy” from Pineapple Street Studios/Gimlet.) More

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      in Music

      Prince Paul Dives Deep Into Music History

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      In “The 33 ⅓ Podcast,” the acclaimed producer finds himself in some unexpected pairings to explore classic albums from Steely Dan, Janet Jackson and more.When the music producer Prince Paul received a call inquiring if he’d be game to host a podcast for Spotify, his immediate reaction was shock. Why, he wondered, would the company want him to host “The 33 ⅓ Podcast,” its new show exploring individual works of classic albums, based on the Bloomsbury book series?Never mind that Prince Paul is considered a music nerd’s music nerd, best known for his influential studio wizardry with the hip-hop trio De La Soul. His eclectic, seemingly haphazard, career trajectory may not have made him an obvious choice for the show. Though he’s produced albums for Vernon Reid and MC Paul Barman, assembled the horrorcore group Gravediggaz and released albums of his own like “A Prince Among Thieves,” his music credits over the past decade and a half had slowed to a trickle. One of his more-prominent roles during this time: serving as the co-host of “Ego Trip’s The (White) Rapper Show,” a short-lived reality competition program on VH1.Prince Paul, born Paul Huston, didn’t bother asking the Spotify emissaries why they chose him. He said he didn’t want to ruin the moment with too much probing. But the first episode of the show, which debuted in September, illuminates the company’s thinking. Prince Paul welcomed Posdnuos from De La Soul to chat about “Aja,” the 1977 album by Steely Dan, known for its meticulous, jazz-inflected rock compositions. What might seem at first like an odd pairing of host, guest and album is actually an inspired one.On “3 Feet High and Rising,” De La Soul’s debut album that Prince Paul produced, the band sampled the duo’s song “Peg,” not a particularly common, or welcome, move in the rap world in 1989. As the two men banter and reminisce, listeners get a sense of Steely Dan’s influence on De La Soul and how sampling “Peg” made perfect sense for the album they were creating.“What made you pick that song in particular, especially for our first album?” Prince Paul asked.“Just as a single it was a song that we heard and we felt, and it felt good, and it felt happy,” Posdnuos said, remembering how “Peg” just clicked for him when he first heard it as an 8-year-old in the Bronx. “But it was also very rhythmic, like the bass driving. It felt like an R&B record, to be quite honest. You could easily connect to it.”“Did it feel dated or anything at the time?” Prince Paul asked in a follow-up question.“Not at all,” Posdnuos said. “It felt like a classic joint; it’s timeless. I look at that song as a timeless record to now be applied to what we were doing. I didn’t look at it as an older record to now breathe some life into it.”“33 ⅓” is the latest music-focused production from Spotify, joining the likes of ““Black Girl Songbook” and “No Skips with Jinx and Shea” and fitting snugly into Spotify’s larger podcast ambitions. Other episodes in the 12-episode season feature an eclectic mix of albums and guests including Janet Jackson’s “Velvet Rope” and the singer-songwriter Victoria Monét, David Bowie’s “Low” and the rapper Danny Brown, and Metallica’s “Metallica” (best known as the Black Album) and the Hole drummer Patty Schemel.Deciding which albums to feature — there are more than 150 books in the Bloomsbury series — was not “super calculated,” said Yasi Salek, the show’s producer. Instead, the focus is on “what would be really fun to bring to life.” Choosing the guests, however, involved a more thoughtful process. Salek said she looked for guests who knew the artist, were involved in the making of the project or have talked about the album’s influence on them. In the “Velvet Rope” episode, Monét tells Prince Paul how Jackson was a role model for her. “I needed to see that as a young girl just to be able to look at her and see myself,” she said.In keeping with his uncalculated approach to his career, Prince Paul is hands off when it comes to the decision-making process, saying he’s open to whatever is sent his way. Which helps explain the riotous, and expletive-filled, exploration of Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion” I & II with Sebastian Bach of Skid Row and Riki Rachtman, co-owner of the Hollywood nightclub The Cathouse (a magnet for heavy metal bands till its closing in 1993). It’s a record that doesn’t quite fall in Prince Paul’s wheelhouse — he opens the episode by letting the audience know that his “knowledge of metal and rock are limited” — but the choice underscores his willingness to be a student.Hosting the show, Prince Paul said, is “forcing me to learn classic records and appreciate music all over again.”That willingness to try something new seems to be the fuel that has propelled him to each juncture in his career — whether that’s producing comedy albums for Chris Rock or a hip-hop children’s concept album about kid dinosaurs, serving as one half of the genre-bending duo Handsome Boy Modeling School or composing the score for last year’s six-part documentary “Who Killed Malcolm X?”“Everybody wants to do whatever’s cool,” Prince Paul said. That’s not his style. “This is what I feel like doing,” he said. “And as unpopular as it is, as nerdy as I am, I’ll just be that, but I’ll be me dictating me. And that’s, I think, the most important thing.”“There’s something to be said about going out there and not knowing where this path will take you,” he added. More

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      in Theater

      Interview: Raising a glass to A Pissedmas Carol

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      Sh!tfaced-Showtime’s James Murfitt on their new production of A Pissedmas Carol

      Shitfaced Showtime, and sister company, Shitfaced Shakespeare, are masters of their art. They have taken what is quite a simple, and very silly, idea, and developed it into shows that are now a must-see for so many people. And that idea? Just get one of your cast drunk before the show starts and let them loose!

      We’ve reviewed their shows a number of times, and in the most, enjoyed what we’ve seen. So when the chance came to chat to producer and performer James Murfitt, it seemed the perfect time to find out more. Listen to James tell us about the original spark that created the company, why they can understand that some people just don’t enjoy the show, what the craziest thing a drunk tried to do on stage, and we also find out if the sick bucket they have ready has ever really been used!

      Some of our previous reviews for Sh!tfaced productions can be found below:

      You can see all of our podcast interviews on our Anchor page here. You can also subscribe via Spotify here, or via many other podcast services. Search for Everything Theatre wherever you subscribe to podcasts to see if we are there.

      A Pissedmas Carol, Leicester Square Theatre

      2019’s Christmas hit returns bigger and better to lift our spirits in 2021

      Combining cast members from Sh!t-faced Showtime and Sh!t-faced Shakespeare, A Pissedmas Carol is the all singing, all boozing alternative Christmas knees-up we all so desperately needed after the last year and a half of Zoom calls, Tiger King and bloody banana bread. Miserly Scrooge and his classic coterie of employees, relatives and ghosts travel through time having the night of his life – but will Scrooge be merry before the end? Or will it be the spirits that have had too many spirits? With one genuinely drunk cast member in every performance, A Pissedmas Carol is the ultimate “You’ll never guess what happened to me last night” story – despite having heard it all these last 2 years!

      So how does it work? Each performance has a cast of actors who all arrive 4 hours before the start of the show for a ‘party’ – however this particular Christmas work social is dry for all but one performer, who gets, yes, you’re starting to catch on – Sh!t-faced. The rest is a delicate tight rope between performing songs and reciting Dickens all within the parameters of our strict improvisation rules, which are stated as thus: Go with WHATEVER the drunk actor decides to do. Unless it’s illegal. But even that’s a grey area we prefer to let our lawyers wade through. Every single show is a one-off. Every single performance has a different drunk actor. Every single time they are genuinely inebriated.

      Running Time: 90 minutes | Suitable for ages 16+ (may contain nudity and strong language.

      Leicester Square Theatre6 Dec 2021 — 15 Jan 2022 (except 24-26 and 31 Dec, and 1 Jan)Mon – Sat, 7pm or 9.30pm (please see website) More

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      in Theater

      Interview: Belinda McGuirk invites us all to EverAfter

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      Anyone who has ever been to see a Chickenshed Christmas show will know what a big affair it is. This year they are doing EverAfter, and directing it will be Belinda McGuirk. So it felt a good time to chat with Belinda about the show, her involvement with Chickenshed and how you even start directing 800 performers.

      EverAfter – A Mixed Up Fairytale!

      When Hansel and Gretel are left to fend for themselves in the Wild Woods, a series of events is set in motion, taking the two children on a journey through some of our best loved fairytales. Come and be enchanted by mischievous Princesses, who dance until their shoes are worn out; meet – at least one – wicked stepmother intent on revenge; sympathise with Hansel and Gretel’s father, who searches the forest for a sign of his beloved children; and laugh, boo and hiss at the man with no name…

      Chickenshed is thrilled to announce the return of its Christmas Show with EverAfter. Featuring their famously large and amazingly diverse cast, this mixed up fairytale will be a dazzling and unforgettable theatrical journey for adults and children alike. More

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      in Theater

      Interview: Is It Good Cop, Bad Cop? Rising Tides decide

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      Gavin Dent and Neil Sheppeck of Rising Tides on Good Cop Bad Cop 26 Festival

      To co-incide with the COP26 summit, Rising Tides take over The Space for the next 12 days for their Good Cop, Bad Cop 26 Festival. Featuring plays, discussions and music the festival is their response to the climate crisis.

      With so much happening, it seemed a perfect opportunity to catch up with Gavin Dent and Neil Sheppeck from Rising Tides and hear what to expect at the festival, why The Space is the ideal venue and whether they hold out much hope for the outcome of COP26.

      Good Cop, Bad Cop 26

      With the future of our species at risk, this November the COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

      This summer’s IPCC report is a code red for humanity.  The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable. Extreme weather and climate disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. That is why this year’s United Nations climate conference in Glasgow is so important. 

      How should artists respond? What does a theatrical response look like? How can we make our voices heard?  What contribution can we make? How can we influence change? 

      LETTERS1 NOVThe largest creative response to the climate and ecological emergency the world has yet seen, Letters to the Earth is the first book to chronicle how humankind is collectively processing planetary crisis.

      20402 NOVConcerned about his young daughter’s future, filmmaker Damon Gameau travels the world in search of new approaches and solutions to climate change. He meets with innovators and changemakers in many fields to draw on their expertise.Also livestreamed

      ACCIDENTAL BIRTH OF AN ANARCHIST3 NOV – 12 NOVAn anarchist – activist or terrorist?A darkly funny play by Luke Ofield. Two novice activists get jobs on a North Sea oil rig with the sole intention of staging a sit in protest. Trapped in a room full of drilling instruments and forced to negotiate, the lines of protest, activism and terrorism are debated, as the threat of military action looms closer.As the world is torn between wildfires and flooding, this play couldn’t be any more timely.Livestreamed on 4th November & 10th November

      EVIDENCE6 NOV – 9 NOVWhat happens when you introduce experts at the forefront of the sustainability debate and today’s most exciting theatre makers? Rising Tides create four exciting partnerships and commission them to create an evening of entertaining and informative theatre.Livestreamed on 8th November

      CLIMATE CHANGE WORKSHOPS6 NOV – 7 NOVEvery child matters today and tomorrow. Rising Tides deliver informative, creative, and of course, fun workshops that explore and engage participants in the subject of Climate Change.Inform. Explore. Solve.

      ISYLA AND P M K S7 NOV“Achingly gorgeous and heartfelt… A beautiful blend of voices and fine songwriting. Be absorbed.” on ISYLAAlso Livestreamed More

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      in Television

      6 TV Tie-In Podcasts to Enhance Your Next Binge

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      Who’ll be the last one standing in “Succession”? Is “The Good Place” heaven or hell? These are the audio companions to keep the conversation going around some of your favorite shows.For a true TV devotee, watching the latest episode is just the beginning. Depending on the show at hand, there are plot twists and character revelations to dissect, theories to discuss and historical context to plumb. Fans have been gathering online to do all this since before the turn of the century, but in recent years, shows have started producing their own post-episode debriefs.Starting in the early 2010s, the TV “after-show” became a subgenre. Immediately after a new episode aired, a host would interview the stars and creators about what just happened, in programs like AMC’s “Talking Dead” and “Talking Bad,” HBO’s “After the Thrones,” and more recently Netflix’s “The Netflix Afterparty.” But as Hollywood seems to be realizing, the format works just as well (if not better) in audio form.As a result, there’s now a huge selection of official tie-in podcasts for your favorite TV shows. Some of these offer real added value, while others are skippable puffery. These six are worth your time.‘HBO’s Succession Podcast’Since fans of HBO’s towering, dramatic family tragicomedy have had to wait a full two years for new episodes, audio stepped in to fill the void. Beginning last summer, the host Roger Bennett (best known for the soccer podcast “Men in Blazers”) conducted interviews with the “Succession” ensemble, diving into the psychology of the power-hungry, emotionally stunted Roy clan. Now that the long-awaited third season has finally debuted, the podcast has switched up its format, swapping out Bennett for the veteran Silicon Valley journalist Kara Swisher (host of The New York Times podcast “Sway”). The focus now is less on the show itself, and more on the realities of the kind of power it depicts — Episode 1 features a conversation with Jennifer Palmieri, a former White House communications director, who weighs in on a politically charged moment from the season premiere. Though it may not please every fan, this shift in focus sets it apart from other tie-in podcasts.Starter episode: “Rich Doesn’t Equal Smart (With Jennifer Palmieri)”‘The Crown: The Official Podcast’One of the great pleasures of watching Netflix’s richly drawn royal drama “The Crown” is looking up the real historical events portrayed in each episode, and identifying what’s fact versus fiction. Hosted by the Scottish broadcaster Edith Bowman, this companion podcast helps to scratch that itch, offering additional context on the research that goes into depicting figures like Princess Diana and the divisive British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Each episode features Bowman alongside a variety of guests from the cast and creative team, who share behind-the-scenes stories and insights into the vast scale of the production. Sadly for fans of Claire Foy’s era, the podcast didn’t debut until Season 3 of the show, but will continue through its already-confirmed fifth and sixth seasons.Starter episode: “Episode 1: Goldstick”‘Better Call Saul Insider Podcast’Way back in 2009, when podcasts were still niche and held no interest for TV networks, the team behind AMC’s then under-the-radar drama “Breaking Bad” started putting out a roundtable podcast called “Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.” As the series gradually snowballed to become one of the most iconic series of all time, the podcast remained charmingly unchanged — with Kelley Dixon, an editor on both dramas, and Vince Gilligan, the creator of both, hosting an affable weekly chat about every aspect of the production. This dynamic continued with the introduction of the also acclaimed prequel series “Better Call Saul.” The hosts genuine warmth and camaraderie distinguishes this from many similar roundtable-style podcasts, and their insights into the nitty-gritty of production are invaluable for fans and aspiring creatives alike.Starter episode: “101 Better Call Saul Insider”‘The Good Place: The Podcast’There are layers upon layers to peel back in Michael Schur’s existential NBC sitcom “The Good Place,” which follows a ragtag group of recently deceased characters trying to navigate a zany afterlife where the rules keep changing. So it’s not surprising that the show makes ideal fodder for a podcast, which is hosted by the actor Marc Evan Jackson (best known to fans for playing a mysterious demon named Shawn). Offering episode-by-episode conversations spanning the entire series, the podcast features a revolving door of actors, writers and producers, as well as set decorators, props masters, and costume and production designers.Starter episode: “Ch. 1: Michael Schur”‘Late Night With Seth Meyers Podcast’Late-night talk shows aren’t generally first in line to get the podcast treatment, but this is less of a companion show than an alternative way to enjoy Meyers’s incarnation of “Late Night,” on NBC. New episodes typically drop two or three times a week, and feature highlights from the satirical nightly show, including Meyers’s opening monologues, interviews and signature recurring segments like “A Closer Look.” Guests run the cultural gamut — interviews from the last few weeks include Senator Elizabeth Warren, the cast of “Ted Lasso,” and Meyers’s onetime “SNL” colleague Colin Jost. Some episodes of the program are devoted to a sub-podcast, “Late Night Lit,” which features the “Late Night” producer Sarah Jenks-Daly discussing books and interviewing authors. Throw in the odd behind-the-scenes segment with Meyers and the producer Mike Shoemaker, and there’s something here to entertain just about anyone.Starter episode: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren | Southwest Contradicts Fox News, Says Chaos Not Caused by Vaccine Mandate: A Closer Look”‘The Chernobyl Podcast’If you devoured HBO’s riveting 2019 mini-series “Chernobyl” but skipped the tie-in podcast, you’re missing out on the full experience. Peter Sagal, best known as the host of NPR’s beloved quiz show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!,” led this five-part conversation with the “Chernobyl” writer Craig Mazin, who co-hosts the long-running screenwriting podcast “Scriptnotes.” Their combined audio experience is evident in their effortless back-and-forth, which blends behind-the-scenes anecdotes with fascinating historical insights into the 1986 nuclear disaster and its fallout. Mazin’s enthusiasm for the subject matter is palpable, and the episode-by-episode discussion allows for a detailed breakdown of key moments. If you’re the kind of die-hard TV fan who pines for DVD audio commentaries, this is the next best thing.Starter episode: “1:23:45” More