From the latest show by Serial to the tale of a UFO sighting in regional Queensland, four great new podcasts to get your ears around

It's smack in the middle of summer and with many long, hot days likely stretching ahead of us, it's important to have activities. Warner Bros and the International Marine Mammal Project formed The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation in 1995, with wealthy whale fans footing a US$3 million bill to transport Keiko to a specially built tank, where he could recover and learn the skills he needs to return to the wild. But this co-pro from Serial Productions and New York Times, delicately hosted by Daniel Alarcón, dives into the messy grey of it, forcing you to question what we owe Keiko and others like him — innocent creatures caught up in the cruel, human games of money, politics and power. As ABC reporter Danielle O'Neal tells us, a young banana farmer by the name of George Pedley spotted a large flying object in the sky that he couldn't explain, that haunted him. It's pretty standard dating-show stuff, but everyone is a sweet perfect angel who you fall in love with — even the ones you want to hang up on.