Weekend

The Guardian

Every Saturday, the Weekend podcast brings some of the best Guardian writing from the week, read by talented narrators. Listen to celebrity interviews, lifestyle features, and opinions from our most popular columnists including Marina Hyde and John Crace. Weekend is the perfect way to relax.

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

184 episodes
Updated May 23

Episodes184

Newest first

Dec 28, 2024 · 1 hr 2 min
Revisited: actor Jeff Goldblum, eccentric as ever at 71; and America’s top pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world
Fast-talking, finger-jabbing Jeff Goldblum on vanity, mortality and becoming a father in his 60s. Elon Musk (father of 11) supports their cause, thousands follow their ideology: to make it easier for everyone to have multiple children. Enter the unsettling world of Malcolm and Simone Collins, America’s premier pronatalists
Dec 21, 2024 · 50 min
Bros’s Matt Goss on love and loss; ‘my father, the serial killer’; Marina Hyde on Prince Andrew and the spy; and Philippa Perry on finding purpose at 80 – podcast
The Duke of York is a royal problem, says Marina Hyde: it’s time they owned it. Matt Goss discusses mega-fame, political correctness and loneliness with Simon Hattenstone. April Balascio on how she discovered that her father was a serial killer. And Philippa advises an 80-year-old reader how to face the existential void that is overwhelming them.
Dec 14, 2024 · 35 min
‘I never want you around your grandchild’: the families torn apart when adult children go ‘no contact’
Some cases of child/parent estrangement stem from a traumatic childhood. But in others it can come as a shock to parents who believe they did their best. People on both sides of family rifts share their stories with Gaby Hinsliff
Dec 7, 2024 · 41 min
Revisited: Bafta-winner Jamie Demetriou, unmasking dating app cheats, and peeing: to sit or not to sit?
Writer and actor Jamie Demetriou reveals how an admin mixup paved the way for an unconventional career trajectory, the groups of women unmasking online cheats and ghosters, and Sam Wollaston extols the virtues of sitting down to pee.
Nov 30, 2024 · 42 min
The man who caught his catfish; actor Kaya Scodelario on Skins, scares and sex scenes; and Philippa Perry on coping with the climate crisis
Former Skins actor Kaya Scodelario talks about growing up poor in London, why she loves doing action films – and the pitfalls of taking her kids to work. When one man discovered someone had been impersonating him for years without his knowledge, he decided to act. He reveals what happened next. And ‘the climate crisis and all the evil in the world drives me to despair’: Philippa Perry advises one reader on how to cope
Nov 23, 2024 · 53 min
Jacob Rees-Mogg on abortion, religion and reality TV; Marina Hyde on Musk vs Trump Jr; inheritance inequity; and teenage love – podcast
Marina Hyde asks us to spare a sob for Don Jr, replaced in Daddy’s affections by Elon Musk. The Bank of Mum and Dad – the unspoken dynamic behind society’s growing inequality of ‘inheritocracy’. ‘I’ve been called worse than a Nazi’: Simon Hattenstone meets Jacob Rees-Mogg. And psychologist Lucy Foulkes on why we should take teenage love more seriously
Nov 16, 2024 · 40 min
The truth about dark empaths, why is Britain still so obsessed with the Tudors? And Philippa Perry on overcoming social awkwardness
‘Narcissists – only more devious’: the world of the Dark Empath and how to recognise the danger signs; ‘Henry VIII is a serial killer and abuser’: what’s behind the flood of 21st-century retellings of the Tudors; and Philippa Perry advises one reader on how to circumnavigate emotional hesitancy.
Nov 9, 2024 · 49 min
‘My lips and cheeks caved in’ – when filler removal goes wrong, Marina Hyde on Trump-based amnesia, and my husband the conspiracy theorist– podcast
Donald Trump has triumphed again, and collective amnesia means any lessons learned from Trump 2.0, they will also forget; ‘Duck lips’ are over and many people are seeking to reverse their cosmetic treatment – often with upsetting results; and Lucille Howe recounts how her husband disappeared down a rabbit hole, falling for fake news and flat-Earthers. Would their relationship survive?
Nov 2, 2024 · 34 min
Rob Beckett on dyslexia and dark thoughts, Marina Hyde on the Saoirse Ronan truth bomb, and Philippa Perry on nuanced honesty
Marina Hyde reflects on Saoirse Ronan’s stone-cold truth; Rob Beckett on the anxieties behind his humour; and Philippa Perry advises one reader on how to improve their relationship with their daughter
Oct 26, 2024 · 44 min
Why Rivals is the horny, hopeful show we need, Marina Hyde on Musk’s $1m voter gifts, the secret life of a care worker, and Philippa Perry on lying
Why does Rivals’ high-camp frolic through the 80s make Zoe Williams feel so nostalgic?; Is it wrong for Elon Musk to offer voters $1m a day to get Trump elected?; one woman’s ‘love story’ to the caring profession; and Philippa Perry advises a reader to be more forgiving to a friend who is a perpetual liar.
Oct 19, 2024 · 35 min
Marina Hyde on Strictly’s latest row; the father who lost his daughter in the Sandy Hook school shooting – then faced years of abuse; and Philippa Perry on mismatched sex drives
Strictly Come Dancing is no longer just a dance show – it’s a battlefield for culture wars, says Marina Hyde. The extraordinary story of Robbie Parker facing down right-wing provocateurs after losing his child. Philippa Perry offers advice to a reader whose partner wants more sex and more enthusiasm
Oct 12, 2024 · 42 min
Al Pacino tells the inside story of The Godfather, and Marina Hyde on Keir Starmer, the unforced error machine
It’s hard to think of anyone who has squandered so much electoral capital, so quickly, for so little: Marina Hyde reflects on Keir Starmer’s first 100 days; and when Al Pacino bagged the lead role in The Godfather, he couldn’t believe his luck: in an exclusive extract from his new book, he recalls the making of the film that changed his life…
Oct 5, 2024 · 42 min
Heartstopper’s Joe Locke, the mothers who regret having kids, and Philippa Perry on boastful rich friends
Heartstopper’s Joe Locke on trolls, typecasting and turning to the dark side; ‘I wished I were holding a cat and not a baby’: the mothers who regret having kids; and Philippa Perry advises one reader struggling to cope with a rich friend who has become a boastful bore.
Sep 28, 2024 · 43 min
Marina Hyde on Al Fayed and Diddy’s enablers, the hidden life of Elizabeth Taylor, and Philippa Perry on embracing anger
Marina Hyde on the motley crew of enforcers, concealers and NDA experts behind every Al Fayed or Diddy; Liz Taylor’s son, Chris Wilding, discusses his mother’s legend and legacy; and Philippa Perry helps one reader struggling to reconcile the emotions that come with a devastating illness
Sep 21, 2024 · 56 min
Janet Jackson on Michael and motherhood, Friends at 30, and Marina Hyde on the real ‘enigma’ about Charlotte Owen
Marina Hyde laments the sexist gossip surrounding Charlotte Owen and her relationship to Boris Johnson; Friends writers and producers on the inside story of the iconic TV show; and Janet Jackson talks to Nosheen Iqbal about taking back control
Sep 14, 2024 · 47 min
Best of Weekend part 2: Louis Theroux, a late life gender transition, and is it murder if you’re asleep?
This week, we’re picking some of our favourite pieces from the last few months just in case you missed them… Zoe Williams turns the tables on veteran interviewer Louis Theroux; how an app sparked a late-life gender transition for author Lucy Sante; and if you kill someone in your sleep, are you a murderer?
Sep 8, 2024 · 57 min
Grenfell: System Failure – Scenes from the Inquiry (part 1)
Part one of a two-part series: On 14 June 2017, a fire broke out in Grenfell Tower in London. 72 people died. The Government quickly set up a Public Inquiry to examine examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire. This play was created so that some of the lessons leading up to that night, and the vital work of the Inquiry, could be more widely understood by the public.
Sep 8, 2024 · 1 hr 6 min
Grenfell: System Failure – Scenes from the Inquiry (part 2)
Part two of a two-part series: The shock of the Grenfell Tower fire is indelibly marked in our national consciousness. 72 people died on June 14th 2017. The Government quickly set up a Public Inquiry to examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire. This play was created so that some of the lessons leading up to that night, and the vital work of the Inquiry, could be more widely understood by the public.
Sep 7, 2024 · 46 min
Best of Weekend part 1: Julia Fox, are we to blame for our bad habits? And surviving a ship wreck
For the next two weeks, we’re picking some of our favourite pieces from the last few months just in case you missed them… Actor Julia Fox unpacks abuse, fame, and dating Kanye; should you blame yourself for your bad habits? And what happened when one man’s boat sank in the dead of night and he had to save his seven-year-old son.
Aug 31, 2024 · 59 min
Actor Michael Sheen on leaving Los Angeles, presenter Alison Hammond’s rise to fame, and Philippa Perry on empty-nest syndrome
Michael Sheen talks about life back in his home town of Port Talbot and falling in love with a younger woman; from Big Brother to Bake Off, Alison Hammond discusses the highs and lows of celebrity; and Philippa Perry responds to an empty-nester who misses her adult children so much it feels like grief