The best podcasts about Representation in Film & TV

Braaains is a fantastic podcast that shares the same ethos as Psychocinematic - it aims to unpack and educate how our brains work by dissecting relevant film & TV depictions. Hosts Heather & Sarah Taylor interview mental health professionals, scientists, and other experts with lived experience, around the topic of a TV or movie representation. It's educational, super interesting, empowering and brilliantly done.

Autism Through Cinema is a podcast which was developed through a research project from the University of London. It explores the representation, presence and expression of autism in popular and underground cinema and TV. They aim to find the answers to the questions: where can we trace autistic influence on film as an art form and a cultural product? What are the ethics of depicting autistic and neurodivergent characters in certain ways? And might we consider the cinematic camera as an autistic mode of expression? Autism is a representation that we often talk about on our podcast with our fantastic guests, so if you want to learn much more about autistic representation this is the podcast you need to listen to.

As a new mum, I came across Should They Watch It on instagram one day and felt I had struck gold. Voice actor Kara Edwards (and previously, play therapist Laura Orr) delve into children's films and TV series, discuss the themes, messages and representations in them, and ask themselves the question: Should our kids watch it? Kara is a brilliant host and uses her own experience and a lot of humour to discuss each show/movie, with a range of wonderful guest hosts. They focus on children's content new and old, so if you're wanting an opinion on your kids' favourite things, check it out.

Two Shrinks Pod is a brilliant informative podcast for people in the Psychology field but also anyone interested in psychology, that has sadly closed its books recently. It describes itself as such: "Two Shrinks Pod is podcast all about nerding out psychology and psychological theory. The focus is mainly on clinical issues, the kind of topics and issues that come up in psychological therapy such as anxiety, depression and personality disorders. It is a chance to listen to and understand how psychologists think about problems, how they attempt to resolve them, and what their everyday work can entail. The intent is to present discussions that are at a level that psychologists have, rather than dumbed down content that is found elsewhere. " My favourite episodes are their discussions of psychology in film, including therapy, psychological diagnoses and general issues. Check out their episodes Psychs on Film, Diagnosing the Skywalkers, Harry Potter & the Pathological Personalities, and their guests spots on the School of Movies podcast.

The Bechdel Cast is essential listening for intersectional feminists everywhere, who want to know if their favourite movie passes the Bechdel Test - that is, does the movie have appropriate female representation? It uses the test as a jumping off point rather than the solo criteria, so as a result lots of different representations get discussed, including race, culture, sexuality and disability. Hosted by hilarious, often deadpan, and witty Los Angeles–based comedians Caitlin Durante and Jamie Loftus, this is the podcast that inspired me to try podcasting - and taking the idea of dissecting a film or TV show through a mental illness and disability lens. Jamie and Caitlin have covered so many of my favourite movies, and putting on their podcast is very much like joining on your two best friends' conversation and laughing along with them.