Podcasts

The format of this blog is to write about a single thing that has made me cheerful in the week. Having already written about Detectorists and Catastrophe (my two favourite shows on the box), I was at a loss as to what to write about. Therefore, I’ve decided to write about things that have been keeping me entertained all year round. 

I have a podcast obsession; I listen to them everywhere: on the john, in the bath, whilst cooking, ensconced in bed and travelling to work. If I’m honest, this medium of talk has replaced my music listening habit - I can’t remember the last time I sat down to savour an album.  An old colleague prophesied this might happen.  He said that after thirty he never listened to anything current; that music for him was tied up in being a teenager; it was what gave him identity, a tribe to belong to, a fashion to pursue; but now older and more content he had found his place and was therefore happy to listen again to the old without listening out for the new. 

To some extent, I feel the same. 

Podcasts are my new favourite bands. I find I’m always recommending them to people and telling them to get into them. The trouble with podcasts is that people either fall into two camps: believers or non-believers. There are very few agnostics. When I’m telling my Irish dominated department to listen to Jarlath Regan’s An Irishman Abroad podcast I can hear a choir of furrowed brows sing, ‘Podcast? What’s that when it’s at home?’ People either listen to podcasts or they don’t. In my experience it’s harder for a podcast to pass through the ear of the uninitiated than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. But in this blog I hope to change that. Because today I’ll be chronicling the podcasts that entertain me on a weekly basis. And I’ll be doing this via the exciting medium of a countdown. From 5-1: here are my favourites.

5/ Desert Island Discs

Desert Island Discs has been on Radio 4 before the wireless was even invented. Its current incarnation is presented by the purr that is Kirsty Young (my girlfriend has given me a pass to run off with her voice should the chance ever arise). The format of the show is a guest of notable repute – might be a celebrity, might not – is interviewed about their life and its works whilst choosing eight tracks they would take with them on a desert island. The joy of the show comes from hearing an insightful, incisive interview with a person that doesn’t have a film or tour to promote. I love Graham Norton, but the need for a celebrity to entertain a studio audience comes at the expense of them saying anything noteworthy or interesting – the privacy of the radio studio allows intimate talk to take place. My favourites from the archive are Johnny Vegas, David Walliams, Kathy Burke and Morrissey.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/desert-island-discs/id342735925?mt=2

4/ A Good Read

I’m one of those people who knows a lot about books without having read any. (This lame attempt at an Austen witticism is only partially true: I do read but it’s mainly book reviews, saying what I should read). A Good Read is presented by Harriet Gilbert and involves her and her two guests bringing in a book they recommend. Through listening I’ve read Jeremy Paxman’s choice, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which I loved; Colin Murray’s choice, In Watermelon Sugar, which contains my all-time favourite line - “Hands are very nice things, especially after they have travelled back from making love” ­– and been reminded why I love The Great Gatsby. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v8jn

3/ The Football Ramble

 I used to listen to The Guardian Football Podcast because I had a man-crush on honey-toned journalist, Barry Glendening. Then, my brother recommended The Ramble, saying it was much more fun and engaging. He was right. The Ramble feels completely fresh, despite dealing with the time-worn formula of men discussing football. The knockabout humour that defines the show showcases what banter used to mean (good-natured ribbing between friends) as opposed to what it means now (euphemistic bullying). Pete is mocked for his unique brand of Geordie surrealism; Luke for being the Michael Fish of football forecasting; Jim, the professional stand-up, for being the least funny of the four; and Marcus for his unwillingness to divulge if he actually supports a team. Lovely stuff.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-football-ramble/id254078311?mt=2

2/ The Comedians’ Comedian

Presenter Stuart Goldsmith has described the show as ‘Inside The Actor’s Studio for Comedians.’ Goldsmith, a comedian himself, started the podcast because he was curious about how other people crafted their stand-up, and how they found the perverse situation of travelling alone round the country to entertain a roomful of people. What has been most enriching is seeing Goldsmith’s evolve his interviewing technique from good cop slap-on-the-back to bad cop interrogation. When he gets a lead that someone might be unhappy with a part of their work, he chases it down until they capitulate into confession. A wonderful listen hosted by a thoroughly charming bloke.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/comedians-comedian-podcast/id513734888?mt=2

1/ The Kermode and Mayo Film Show

For me, Kermode’s word is gospel. If he doesn’t like a film then I ain’t going to like it either. You might think this shows a lack of independence on my part - I don’t care. Kermode’s knowledge of film is hard-won: he’s sat through Michael Bay films so we don’t have to. Alongside him is Simon Mayo, a consummate radio professional, that keeps the good ship wittertainment on course. The two bicker endlessly (Mayo thinks Kermode is pretentious; Kermode thinks Mayo is a philistine) but the show would collapse into self-indulgence without one and insipidness without the other. If you want to see Kermode at his masterful best, check out his reviews of Sex and The City 2 and Entourage: never has a spleen been so poetically vented.  

Kermode and his flappy hands.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/kermode-and-mayos-film-review/id73802698?mt=2