Tennis ace Venus Williams serves up a show all about art

The seven-time grand slam winner and patron of the arts hosts a new series, Widening the Lens. Plus: five of the best podcasts about the single life

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I’ve probably listened to, at most, three episodes of the Longform podcast in my life. And yet I was surprisingly sad when I read that the show – which has been going for 12 years – will end later this month. For close to 600 episodes (yes, you read that correctly), Aaron Lammer, Evan Ratliff and Max Linsky have sat down with the great and the good of journalism and documentary-making to talk about their approach to creating some of the best nonfiction work out there (the trio also previously ran a website and app linking to the best nonfiction journalism on the internet).

Longform was just always there, attracting big names until the end (Ta-Nehisi Coates was just on last month) and always offering an eclectic mix of interviewees (The Cut editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples, blogger turned media personality Tavi Gevinson, Dirt newsletter impresario Daisy Alioto, and Normal Gossip mastermind Kelsey McKinney have all featured recently). Longform was always just there, full of interviews I planned to listen to at some point and rarely did. What a shame that I’m only getting round to it now that it’s ending. As Joni once sang, you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone, etc.

Read on for the picks of the pods this week, as Venus Williams gets in touch with her inner art critic and the UK’s best-ever liars, Paul and Harry from The Traitors, veer into their 16th minute of fame. And, while I’m keeping Alexi’s seat warm this week, do remember that you can always email [email protected] with any comments or suggestions on Hear Here.

Happy listening,

Hannah J Davies
Deputy editor, newsletters

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