Smallville Star Who Joined a Sex Cult: This Week’s Best Podcasts | TV and radio

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Alison after NXIVM

Smallville actress Allison Mack (pictured above) is best known these days for the role she played in the sex cult NXIVM (the HBO series The Vow provides a comprehensive primer). After being sentenced to prison for blackmail, is she someone who should be featured on the podcast? gladly. Natalie Rubymed’s CBC series asks tough questions, examining whether Mac is a victim, a perpetrator, or somewhere in between. Hannah J. Davis
Widely available, weekly episodes

The coolest shift

Have you ever had your pub quiz interrupted by potentially harmful bioluminescent algae? That’s just one of the offbeat details in this charming Hat Trick series, about life as a doctor in Antarctica, and the efforts to keep the continent coronavirus-free as the pandemic rages. Dr Rachel Farnham is our guide to a lonely but extraordinary time. HJD
Widely available, weekly episodes

Adrift

“Can a killer whale eat a farmer’s son?” Apple’s latest original podcast mixes documentary and drama to tell the strange but true story of the Robertson family, who sold their family farm and headed to sea in 1971. It’s an in-depth account of the horrors that awaited them, with Mark Bonar and Anne-Marie Duff ably voiced by parents Dougal and Lyn. HJD
Apple Podcasts, weekly episodes

The Mary Houlihan Show

She may not be a household name, but American comedian and – in the words of Time Out, “gonzo genius” – Mary Houlihan runs her new podcast like a pro. In its sights: the state of the world; the growing number of young people turning conservative; And the comedians who inflame the situation by hitting. Pathetically excellent. HJD
YouTube, weekly episodes

Paper Trail by Jane Austen

Gossip characters fueled Jane Austen’s classic stories, but was she herself a big gossip? It’s a little-known side of the writer’s personality examined in this fascinating new series from The Conversation. Arts and culture editor Anna Walker travels from Bath Bone Shops to the Lyme Regis coast to talk to experts about Austin – including her taste in curry. Holly Richardson
Widely available, weekly episodes