Pick of the podcasts: Mark Kermode, how to get rich quick and good gossip

Kermode On Film (iTunes, acast, Spotify)

Whether you value his opinion or not, Mark Kermode is the UK’s foremost film critic.

For the past two decades, the man from Barnet (with the be-quiffed barnet) has held forth on BBC Radio 1, Film 4 and the much-loved and enduringly popular BBC radio programme and podcast, Kermode And Mayo’s Film Review.

While he still appears on that show, Mark has now branched out on his own with Kermode On Film, which launched late last year.

He has teamed up with 27-year-old comedian and YouTube star Jack Howard for the new venture.

Howard plays the part of the layman who doesn’t know much about movies – well, not as much as Kermode. But, unlike Simon Mayo, he is more than happy to disagree with his more distinguished colleague.

And unlike his BBC podcast, the show is a bit like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates each week – you never know what you’re going to get.

Recently the pair have chatted about the merits of M. Night Shymalan’s Unbreakable trilogy of films, the work of Stanley Kubrick, had an interview with Malcolm McDowell and listed their top 10 disaster films.

And if you want to dive a little further back into the archives, there’s a particularly good interview with Hugh Grant, who turns out to be insightful, hilarious and surprisingly sweary.

There are also highlights from MK3D – Mark’s monthly show in front of a live audience.

The Dream (iTunes)

Ever wanted to get rich, quick? Well you most likely can’t. The Dream investigates so-called multi-level marketing (MLM) companies that employ strategies resembling pyramid schemes.

Host Jane Marie examines how many women have been enlisted to sell things such as make-up or Tupperware for morally-dubious companies.

Gossip (gossippodcast.com, iTunes)

Not all podcasts are factual, some of them are scripted, and some of those are more than listenable.

Take Gossip, which has been described as Sex And The City for audio. It’s centred on the conversations in a coffee shop in the fictional US suburb of Golden Acres.

What the kids are up to, who’s husband is cheating on who…and perhaps there’s something sinister going on, too.

Funny and quick-witted.