It’s May again! And that means I have a tradition to follow. The past 4 years, I’ve always shared 4 podcast tips with you in May. Today I will do so again. 4 podcast tips about 4 very different subjects because my interests are quite broad haha. There’s not really a red line. The only thing I just realized is that there are almost no men in these podcasts, just one. The majority of the makers of this podcast identify as female and I love that. I think it’s really necessary to empower each other and share female-made podcasts. Here are 4 podcast tips – May 2025 edition.
Mina en Mevrouw
Mina en Mevrouw is a documentary podcast made by Maartje Duin. Duin has made one podcast before that I really loved and will share another time. The red line in her stories seems to be that she dives into her own family history. Duin comes from an extremely rich family (of noble birth is the official name for it). In Mina and Mevrouw she dives into the story of her great-grandmother (‘Mevrouw’) and her maid (‘Mina’). With a view from the current time she looks back at how things were done in the castle where her great grandmother lived and ruled. What was the relationship between Mina and Mevrouw? And what must live have been like for Mina? Duin is not afraid to go deep into the uncomfortable differences in classes between Mina and Mevrouw and that is what makes this podcast, which consists of 9 episodes, very worthwhile.
Mensje in de Maak
Another podcast which consists of a set number of episodes and is not an ongoing podcast anymore, I would therefore call it a documentary as well. Mensje in de Maak tell the story of Tamar, a cis-woman with a handicap, who goes through a in vitro fertilization process together with her trans partner Sophie. Mensje in de Maak is translated as ‘Human in the making’. The podcast consists of 42 episodes and it therefore a detailed report of their journey. All the struggles, joy and technical details are shared. Tamar and Sophie basically sit together every episode and discuss the progress in their journey, I don’t think the episodes are even edited. After listening all the episodes I got quitte attached to them and their story. This podcast is for everyone who wants to know what an in vitro fertilization process is like.
Adem in adem uit
I think it’s been since 2020 that I’ve been very interested into birth stories. A baby being born is something so magical, but at the same time a little bit mysterious as well. I mean, my mom has told me a lot about my own birth story, but it’s still hard to imagine baring a child yourself. The podcast Adem in adem uit (translated as ‘breathe in, breathe out’) is a podcast which tells birth stories. Every single episode a new (set of) parent(s) is invited to the show and they then tell the birth story or stories of their child(ren). Every birth story is immensely different and you never know what to expect. And I think this is the biggest lesson I’ve learned from it: you can’t control a birth story. Taboos are discussed as well, subjects like miscarriages or still births, things people rarely talk about.
Voetnoten
This last podcast tips is about something completely different: the energy transition. I’ve been working in the energy transition since 2022. Therefore, this subject is very relevant to me. Voetnoten is a podcast which discusses papers about the energy transition in depth. If a Dutch institution published a paper about anything concerning the energy transition, it’s likely that Voetnoten discusses it. This way, you really understand what’s going on in the energy sector in The Netherlands, instead of hearing the usual shallow phrases which have little meaning (like ‘We need more green electricity’). The energy transition seems simple from a distance, but it’s not. And in this podcast you can learn about all the details that are important. The podcast is made by two women, Laetitia Ouillet and Sabine Sluijters, which is quite special in this sector as well.
Those were my 4 podcast tips in May 2025!
Yours sincerely,
Romee