Pick of the Podcasts: Mortified, Detours, Office Ladies

We all did embarrassing things as teenagers – in fact it’s almost a rite of passage.

From that pageboy haircut, to the mixtape you made for your fifth-year crush, to the laminated list you wrote of reasons why you were Duran Duran’s biggest fan– we all made some terrible decisions in the years between childhood and becoming an adult.

We can leave all those cringeworthy moments behind though…or you can own them and have a good old laugh at yourself.

Mortified is a genius idea for a podcast, which sees grown people share their embarrassing teenage memories with a live audience. In this podcast you will hear adults sharing their most painful childhood artefacts, such as journals, letters, poems and lyrics.

Grown men and women, such as the brave soul above, confront their past with tales of first kisses, first cigarette, fights with mum and dad, first tentative sexual encounter, and, of course, reasons they deserved to marry Jon Bon Jovi.

The project began when founder David Nadelberg discovered an unsent love letter he wrote as a teenager.

The letter sparked an idea and he sent an email to friends asking if anyone wanted to share their childhood writings on stage. That email, from 2002, went viral and responses poured in from around the world.

As well as scores of ordinary people, Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), Alanis Morissette (of pop stardom fame) and Johnny Marr (of The Smiths) have all bared their souls.

Mortified (Apple Podcasts)

Detours (BBC Sounds)

The BBC World Service produced a five-part podcast looking at people’s lives from around the world, which have taken an unexpected route. It’s an odd idea for a podcast, but a fascinating one, too. One tale, for example, is of Elena, a promising medical student – who now makes cash by writing internet clickbait.

Office Ladies (Apple Podcasts)

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey played Pam and Angela in the hit US version of sitcom The Office. The pair are also real-life friends and obviously enjoyed appearing on the show together, because now they’re doing a podcast about it. Office Ladies is a rewatch of all the episodes, and the pair will share their memories and observations about the show. They’ll be spilling secrets and on-set gags.