Must-listen podcasts: from the power of no to Christmas laughs

THE ADVENTURE ZONE

Episode 1: Here There Be Gerblins, Chapter One (Super Cut)

The premise is straightforward: three brothers and their dad play Dungeons & Dragons every other week. I’ve mentioned the McElroy brothers before – they host the riotous My Brother, My Brother and Me. The Adventure Zone started out as a brief experiment, and soon grew tentacles and teeth.

This first episode is a lay of the land: Griffin is the dungeon master, and confidently guides his brothers and father through a simple quest: the players improvise and problem-solve. There’s a little messing about, a little explanation of the rules and character development. It can take a moment to adjust to the similarity of the brothers’ voices, but the pay-off is worth it. The initial Here There Be Gerblins arc, which lasts six increasingly funny episodes, will lead listeners to what will become a 70-strong episode saga about a camaraderie that lasts through seemingly infinite dimensions.

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There’s a surprisingly contagious element of play to The Adventure Zone: each of the McElroys is surrendering to the game of it, which makes it a remarkable piece of escapism. I spent the summer waiting out a back injury listening exclusively to this podcast – it becomes extremely engrossing and heartening in a way I haven’t felt with any other series in this form.

TRIBE OF MENTORS: HOW TO SAY NO

Self-help as a genre can be extraordinarily off-putting. The cultural climate we find ourselves in in 2017 is one where overworking and overcommitting is exhausting people – but Tribe of Mentors is a mercifully short podcast series. It’s more authentically a business podcast with lessons that most of us have to pick up clumsily along the way.

This episode rounds out at 17 minutes, and examines the language we can use to say no in professional capacities. It looks at three rejection letters host Tim Ferriss has received from very talented people – rejections so excellent that he had to look into them and let us listeners harvest their brevity and politeness. It feels like being handed a small tool kit via audio: Ferriss picks apart the structure of these rejections and how they function professionally and on a personal level. It’s a short, sharp lesson in how to say no – something all of us should be doing more often.

NEW PODCAST OF THE WEEK

Roast Chestnuts: Episode 4: A Heavenly Christmas

In the lead-up to Christmas, Alan McGuire and Jeanne Sutton are watching made-for-TV Christmas movies and talking them out with a guest, for a very limited time on this seasonal podcast. This week they talked to Emer McLysaght (who, alongside Sarah Breen wrote the novel Oh My God What A Complete Aisling) about Hallmark film A Heavenly Christmas. This movie sounds utterly off-the-wall and stars actors who are best known for their roles in well-known American television shows. The hosts, however, treat it with more dignity than it deserves and aren’t at all condescending about the absurdity of a dead woman sent back to Earth on Christmas Eve to answer wishes.

The episode is a warm, festive chat, scattered with really great television trivia without feeling too formal or analytical. There are a few laugh-aloud moments too.

Declaration of interest: I work with Alan McGuire on another podcast, Juvenalia. Here, he’s in his element, with his earnestness counterpointed by Jeanne Sutton’s wry commentary. It’s great to see the Headstuff Network experimenting with short-form seasonal podcasts – this should keep you cosy and in good company on wintry commutes.