Pick of the podcasts: Back Then When, Uncharted Brain and Where There’s A Will

Back Then When

There is a terrifically entertaining moment in Keith Lemon and Lucie Cave’s new podcast Back Then When.

In each episode, Bafta-winning TV host and comedian Keith, and award-winning editor and presenter Lucie, hop in their time-machine for a bonkers, brain-freezing trip down pop culture memory lane.

Keith and Lucie indulge in buckets of nostalgia and feel-good showbiz moments on their journey back through the decades to seemingly simpler times, like when Peter Andre wrote a song called Insania, and Posh and Becks got married on purple thrones.

They host guests such as Spice Girl Emma Bunton, former Big Breakfast presenter Johnny Vaughan and singer Natalie Imbruglia.

Imbruglia, who had a hit in 1997 with Torn, explained about a trip to the home of music when she had a particularly “magical” experience. “I was writing in Nashville, and sometimes in a writing session, especially if you haven’t done it for a while, you are just kind of going along,” said the former Neighbours star.

“You have to kind of go, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea’. So one guy was smoking… something… from his cigarette, it was a ‘magic cigarette’.

“And the other guy went, ‘I’ve got this idea’, and proceeded to do this rap, and the other guy was like, ‘That’s dope!’

“And I felt, because there were three of us in the room, that I had to go along with it. And there I was, rapping. I want to tell you what the lyric is…‘You make me feel good like a vitamin’.”

Back Then When is Lemon’s first foray into podcasting. The show is the perfect nostalgic companion for the daily commute, especially for fans of his signature unfiltered style, and those who, like the hosts, live and breathe pop culture.

Uncharted Brain

A new podcast series from The Conversation examining new research unlocking clues to the mystery of how dementia works.

In this three-part podcast series, they delve into some of the findings from the world’s longest continuously running cohort study, hear about the trauma of families affected by dementia and explore the role viruses could play in Alzheimer’s disease.

Where There’s A Will

Where There’s A Will searches for the surprising places Shakespeare shows up beyond the theatre.

Barry Edelstein, artistic director at The Old Globe, and co-host Em Weinstein, ask what is it about Shakespeare that’s given him a continuous afterlife in all sorts of unexpected ways.

You’ll hear how Shakespeare helps in a maximum security prison, shaping religious observances, and even in the Oval Office.