From church to trees

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The Woods

Episode: "A Man Who Cannot Be Saved" | Podcast: In Strange Woods | 36m31s

Ambitious podcast musical from the production house that made cult fiction series The Bright Sessions. This is the first chapter, which introduces the setting — a rural Minnesota town on the edge of a forest. The writers have cleverly flirted with podcasting's true crime obsession by centring the plot around the mysterious disappearance of a local teenager, although it then grows far beyond those conventions. The original music is completely integrated, made in a folk pop style that fans of Stephin Merritt and Nick Cave will appreciate (36m31s)

From High

Episode: "The Pulpit" | Podcast: 5 Minutes In Church History With Stephen Nichols | 5m00s

Brief weekly lessons in religious history, produced by a Presbyterian ministry with a mission to provide theological education. This instalment is about the origins of the pulpit, a central object in Christian worship and architecture. One of the earliest references to it is in a letter from 250CE, but it was superseded in importance by the altar by the medieval era. The tradition to which this show belongs seeks to return it — and the "word of God" that it represents — to prominence. An interesting, if partial, account (5m00s)

Love Story

Episode: "Centenarians (Still) in Lockdown" | Podcast: Radio Diaries | 15m55s

Life affirming conversation with two centenarians who are cheerfully seeing out the Covid-19 pandemic. Joe Newman is 107 and only recently gave up driving his red convertible. His fiancée Anita Sampson just turned 100 — the producers sent them a recording device so he could capture her reaction to the virtual birthday party he organised. Here, Joe also shares his memories of the 1918 flu pandemic. Every night they kiss and say "I hope to see you in the morning" and every morning they check the other is still breathing (15m55s)

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