Must Listen: Podcasts about tricky subjects

These days you can find a podcast on almost any subject.

Podcast creator and host Laura Gallop has chosen four of her favourite podcasts that deal with difficult topics as part of 5 Live's Must Listen, on air every Monday at midnight on the Sarah Brett show.

She's picked: Griefcast, After: Surviving Sexual Assault, Dope Black Dads and You, Me and the Big C.

Have you listened to any of these podcasts? Comment below to let us know what you think.

Griefcast

"Comedian Cariad Lloyd, presenter of Griefcast, lost her dad at 15 and she thinks that death is something that so many of us have experienced and yet people don’t want to talk about it... or do they?

"The podcast is all about normalising conversations about death. In the first instance she got comedians to be interviewed about grief, and there have been standout guests including Robert Webb, Aisling Bea, and Anneka Rice.

"Part of you is like: 'I don’t want to hear my favourite people be sad, I don’t want them to explore this and I don’t want to hear it', but actually it’s probably the first time you get to hear these people talk about something as intimate as grief, so you really hear a different side of them you don’t hear in normal podcast interviews."

After: Surviving Sexual Assault

"A podcast about surviving sexual assault sounds like a heavy listen, but what's interesting is that it follows the podcasting format we've got to know so well.

"Host Catriona Morton and the interviewee sit down in a nice quiet studio with a cuppa and they are having a chat and it gets a bit deep but then there is comedy and a lightness of touch. I think that allows the podcast to explore something like experiencing sexual assault in a weirdly relatable and normalising way.

"Another thing that stood out to me personally, is that this is one of the first times I’ve heard stories about sexual assault from the survivor themselves without any poignant music under it or their quotes being spliced into soundbites and being part of a bigger package. It’s part of a bigger chat and hammers home how 'normal' their situations are at first and makes it seem like this really could happen to anyone."

Dope Black Dads

"I just love the origin story of this podcast. On Father's Day a couple of years ago, one of the hosts decided to celebrate all the great dads out there so he added all his friends who were fathers to a WhatsApp group of 25 people and said 'well done mate on being a great dad'.

"The WhatsApp group spiralled into a hub for advice and support and the three hosts saw that there were so many more topics that needed to be explored so that’s how the podcast was born.

"I’ve produced a lot of podcasts and I’m a stickler for good editing and good sound quality and I’m like 'nah if it doesn’t sound good, I don’t like it'. However in one episode of this podcast, they’ve got three minutes where the hosts are trying to turn the mics off.

"It’s patronising to say that’s charming, but what it is is really testament to what these guys have made all on their own. They haven’t had a big budget or people investing in them or developing a podcast strategy with them. They’ve had something to say, gone out and said it and look how many people are listening."

You, Me and the Big C

"I can’t believe how honest and frank but funny and relatable all three presenters of You, Me and the Big C are, I think they’re stunning broadcasters and I love them.

"Some of the best podcasts have moments that make you stop and listen. I had about three of those listening to the first episode of the new series of You, Me and the Big C."