The Rock ’n Roll birder wants you to take a walk – and look up

Picks of the week

Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter
Widely available, episodes weekly
Owen Wilson, Sissy Spacek and Schuyler Fisk star in this story about “the most interesting man you’ve never heard of”. Wilson relishes the role of Slick, scientific legend, fearless explorer and sometime spy with plenty of adventures to relay. Granddaughter Liv (Fisk) and her mum Claire (Spacek) find hidden tapes that detail his exploits hunting for the Yeti and facing off with notorious bank robber Machine Gun Kelly. Hannah Verdier

HistoryExtra: Toilets Through Time
Widely available, episodes weekly
A sponge on a stick, thunder of the bum and a devil lurking in the bowl: this deep dive into history’s U-bend turns up some fascinating nuggets. Dr David Musgrove is joined by a team of historians for a four-parter covering Roman, medieval, Tudor and Victorian toilet habits, which reveal a lot about the past. HV

In the News This Week
Widely available, episodes weekly
How funny is Donald Trump’s running mate? And is that photo destined to be as historic as Ed Miliband eating a bacon sandwich? This show from the team behind Have I Got News for You – to fill the gap when the TV series isn’t on air – is as zingy and gag-packed as you’d expect. Alexi Duggins

Rock ’n Roll Birder
Widely available, episodes weekly
In this immersive bird-watching series, hipster amateur ornithologist Matt Spracklen goes on a weekly walk with avian experts. The first episode of season two is a relaxing, informative listen that sees him visit Sherwood Forest with Springwatch’s wildlife expert. The key takeaway? A common way to identify birds is by their “jizz” (the overall impression you get of their shape, movement etc). AD

The Podclass: How To Write a Book
Widely available, episodes weekly
Elizabeth Day knows a thing or two about how to write a bestselling novel, but she takes a backseat in this insightful how-to series, and hands over the reins to a collective literary powerhouse: novelist Sara Collins, agent Nelle Andrew and publisher Sharmaine Lovegrove. First up: how to know when that idea might be worth working on. Hollie Richardson

There’s a podcast for that

This week, Charlie Lindlar chooses five of the best podcasts on ancient history , from a Horrible Histories star’s comedic take on stories you didn’t learn at school to a myth-busting romp through the ages.

The Ancients
When it comes to showing off the sheer breadth of human history, not many podcasts can match Tristan Hughes’s scope and ambition. Over 450 episodes and counting, The Ancients has considered the remarkable achievements of those who came before – and how the actions of yesterday echo through the world today. Hughes seamlessly weaves ice age cave art in Indonesia, the first settlers of Ireland 10,000 years ago and ancient Kazakh warlords together into a cohesive theme: who were we – and what does that tell us about who we are today?

Totalus Rankium
With a format more fitting for a sports show than a typical history podcast, Totalus Rankium pits Roman emperors against one other in a number of categories – their military aptitude, despotic tendencies and pure eccentricity among them – to decide who was ultimately the “greatest” of them all. At an hour each, there’s a lot of depth to every episode, but you won’t believe who wins.

You’re Dead to Me
Moving away from ancient leaders, Greg Jenner’s accessible, funny BBC podcast sees the Horrible Histories star brief comedians on the real, unfiltered history you didn’t learn in the classroom. Recent episodes reveal the grisly truth about everything from Victorian bodybuilders to circus entrepreneur PT Barnum, and its archives have something for everyone. With Paris 2024 round the corner, the 2021 episode revisiting the original Olympics will leave you feeling sore just hearing about it.

Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!
Another lighthearted take on ancient history, this show is a humorous exploration of the often shocking but always inspiring worlds of Greek and Roman “gods, goddesses, heroes, monsters, and everything in between”. Few hosts have as much fervour for their field as Liv Albert, who even goes through Homer’s Odyssey chapter by chapter for the true classics dorks among us. The ace up this podcast’s sleeve, however: it champions the lesser-known or outright ignored stories of mythological heroines, dips into queer theory and questions the ways myths inform how we understand human sexuality.

A Taste of the Past
For a different way to understand our past, this show explores what our ancient ancestors ate – and how their choices not only aided their survival but also influenced food and culture today. Culinary historian Linda Pelaccio hosts, investigating the importance of eating rituals in Judaism, how fasting became a core belief for many, and where the idea of a “national dish” even came from. Pelaccio also looks to the future, often wondering what the food habits of the past might tell us about the future of food in the face of our climate crisis.

Why not try …

• A new look at a sadly infamous shooting in Audible’s Pulse: The Untold Story .

• Audio diaries provide a window into the horrors of conflict in Inside Kabul , a new adaptation of an acclaimed French podcast.

• NPR’s Tested offers a sensitive and insightful look into the long history of controversial “sex verification” in sport.

If you want to read the complete version of the newsletter please subscribe to receive Hear Here in your inbox every Thursday