

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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 13, 2024 • 50min
Jodie Foster on gen Z, Marina Hyde on the Post Office scandal, and does rejection therapy work?
As the Post Office scandal continues to unfold, Marina Hyde urges us to keep watching and stay angry (1m24s); what one man learned after 30 days of rejection therapy (9m40s); and double Oscar-winner Jodie Foster on beauty, bravery and raising feminist sons (26m49s)

Jan 6, 2024 • 58min
Weekend podcast: best of 2023 – part 2
Weekend is taking a little break. So this week, we’ve picked some of our favourite pieces from the last few months, just in case you missed them… Two stories about secrets, lies, and what happens when the people we trust turn out to have hidden motives: first, Joe Gibson reveals a troubling affair he had with his teacher that changed his life (1m48s); and comedian Michelle Brasier explains why she befriended her scammer (41m46s)

Dec 30, 2023 • 40min
Weekend podcast: best of 2023 – part 1
For the next two weeks, we’re picking some of our favourite pieces from the last few months, just in case you missed them… Two tales of coming of age and finding out what matters most: in this episode, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor confronts the aftermath of being forced to come out under the gaze of millions (1m44s); and how food helped the Guardian’s restaurant critic Grace Dent create small, meaningful moments amid immense loss (25m20s)

Dec 23, 2023 • 44min
Weekend podcast: Victoria Mary Clarke remembers her husband Shane McGowan, Marina Hyde on Michelle ‘PPE’ Mone, and the shame of the ‘silent treatment’
Marina Hyde mulls over Lady Mone’s PPE farrago, car crash interview and fight with the PM (1m26s); Victoria Mary Clarke on the excess, addiction and love that bound her and Shane MacGowan together (10m20s); and Anita Chaudhuri on being shut out by loved ones for 40 years (27m46s)

Dec 16, 2023 • 41min
Actor Toby Jones, John Crace on Sunak at the Covid inquiry, and how Taylor Swift gets in shape for her shows
Actor Toby Jones on class, character and the cost of fame (1m26s); John Crace on Rishi Sunak’s break from a feral Tory party with a spa day at the Covid inquiry (23m00s); and the weird world of celebrity training – how Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Madonna get in shape for their shows (30ms58)

Dec 9, 2023 • 53min
Marina Hyde on Omid Scobie’s royal naming mishap, and the extraordinary story of an English couple, a Ukrainian surrogate and a baby
Marina Hyde ponders the small slip that sent Omid Scobie’s Harry and Meghan book into orbit (1m18s); and an English couple, a Ukrainian surrogate and a baby: the extraordinary story of how war united two unlikely families (8m51s).

Dec 2, 2023 • 35min
Gareth Gates, John Crace on Rishi losing his marbles, and the profound effect of nature on our brains
Rishi Sunak loses his marbles and causes a diplomatic spat in the process (1m18s); Gareth Gates on bullying, resilience and tabloid gossip (7m32s); and the nature cure: how time outdoors transforms our memory, imagination and logic (21m06s).

Nov 25, 2023 • 47min
What’s happened to The Crown? Surviving a shipwreck, how Aldi and Lidl changed British shoppers, and Philippa Perry on loneliness
How The Crown went from prestige drama to TV disaster (1m26s); what happened when one man’s boat sank in the dead of night – and he had to save his seven-year-old son (11m19s); how discount supermarkets changed the way we shop (25m21); and Philippa Perry shares advice on how to overcome loneliness and isolation (40m08s)

Nov 18, 2023 • 42min
Nicolas Cage, Marina Hyde on David Cameron’s return, plus cardiologists’ advice for a healthy heart
Is Rishi Sunak rewarding failure? With David Cameron back it’s being celebrated like never before, says Marina Hyde (1m28s); Nicolas Cage on dreams, fame and his two-headed snake (10m25s); why one woman flew across the world to win back her ex (22m51s); and four cardiologists share 20 simple steps to a healthy heart (27m37s)

Nov 11, 2023 • 38min
Harry Potter’s stunt double on life after breaking his neck on set, and Marina Hyde on Nadine Dorries’s new book
Marina Hyde asks: What’s in Nadine Dorries’s book? A pile of dead cats big enough to kill that phrase for good (1m18s); and writer Simon Hattenstone finds out what happened next after Harry Potter’s stunt double broke his neck on set, changing his life forever (8m18s).