The new Serial is here! Best podcasts of the week

Pick of the week
The Idiot

“Anyone’s first cousin could be plotting murder …” New York Times columnist M Gessen is the reporter and host of this leftfield five-parter released under the NYT/Serial Productions banner, with shades of its previous series such as We Were Three and S-Town. A braggart with a problematic habit of kidnapping his own son, M’s “idiot” cousin Allen is charged with ordering a hit on his ex-wife, Priscilla. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

Friends Keep Secrets

Mr Selena Gomez and top record producer Benny Blanco teams up with rapper and actor Lil Dicky and his wife Kristin Batalucco for this podcast, which hovers dangerously close to intolerable brain rot territory. But if you’ve ever wanted to hear an interview with Ed Sheeran that also features vomit, poo and body odour then this is the place to be. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly

Screwed By AI

Avantika Chilkoti hosts Screwed by AI. Photograph: The Economist

“Where porn leads, other industries follow.” The Economist’s Avantika Chilkoti travels to the Adult Video Network expo – or “the Oscars of porn” – in Las Vegas for this podcast, which looks at how the industry can affect the wider future of AI – including our human relationships. Hollie Richardson
Widely available, episodes weekly

Jacob Reed and Me

In this “investigative comedy”, a writer with a surprisingly common name attempts to track down all his name buddies to help answer life’s biggest questions. It’s a quirky piece of storytelling, featuring Reed throwing himself into a wild goose chase for beach-scene painters, economists, porn stars and more. Even the adverts are for businesses owned by people called Jacob Reed. Alexi Duggins
Widely available, episodes weekly

Raven

Part character study, part investigation, this series tells the tale of Raven Chanticleer, founder and owner of the African American Wax Museum in Harlem. The action flits between Chanticleer’s wild life story and the whereabouts of the waxworks which disappeared after his death in 2002, all of which is full of entertaining detail. AD
Widely available, episodes weekly