You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.

I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.

I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,

relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.

So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,

and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.

So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Hello, I'm Harriet Gilbert.

Thank you for downloading a good read, the podcasts,

where two guests and I recommend books we love and describe why we love them.

We don't always see eye to eye, but I hope you'll find some great reading suggestions here.

Two actors with me today. First, Julie Hesmond Hull, star most recently on TV of The Pact, the A-word and The Trouble with Maggie Cole, and now narrator of the weakest link.

On stage among much else,

Julie recently played the title role in Brecht's Mother Courage,

and she co-runs the Manchester Political Theatre Collective Take Back.

With her is Elaine C. Smith,

perhaps best known for playing Rabsey-Nesbit's long-suffering wife

and these days as the mega hypochondriac Christine in Two Doors Down,

a new series of which is due imminently.

Among other work, Elaine played Susan Boyle in the UK tour of I Dreamed a Dream, a musical.

She also co-wrote.

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