Alex Zane: “Podcasts are almost eavesdropping”

In every issue of the Pod Bible magazine, we ask a podcast disciple five questions about their love for podcasts and podcasting. Back in Issue #013 we heard from TV presenter and DJ Alex Zane…

PB: WHY DO YOU LOVE PODCASTS?

AZ: I love the authenticity of them, the best podcasts for me are when you feel like you’re genuinely listening in to a conversation between friends, almost eavesdropping as opposed to being spoken to directly by the hosts. When you get the feel that a podcast has been overly edited for me it loses that naturalism that I think the very best podcasts have. Also, there’s no other medium that allows such a wealth of information to be dispensed to the listener in such an entertaining fashion. The fact that podcasts are these longform chats between people who know their subject matter inside out for the most part, makes them incredibly

WHAT WAS THE FIRST PODCAST YOU EVER LISTENED TO?

Is it bad that it was one of my own!? I mean, this was years ago, and it wasn’t even called a podcast despite being exactly that. It had the snappy title of Mars Planets MySpace Radio. That should give you an idea of how old it is seeing as Mars Planets don’t exist anymore. Neither does MySpace really. I hosted a podcast with a different MySpace user each week and we played out the best tracks from unsigned bands on MySpace. Anyway, I listened to that in around 2006 which I think factually makes it the first.

WHICH PODCASTER MAKES YOU LAUGH THE MOST?

I love Wrestle Me, the podcast hosted by Marc Haynes and Pete Donaldson. I’m not even a massive wrestling fan but the two of them together are brilliant and I find the journey through the history of all the Wrestlemanias and Marc’s knowledge of the sport ridiculously entertaining.

WHICH PODCAST HAS EDUCATED YOU THE MOST?

As a writer I find John August and Craig Mazin’s Scriptnotes a really useful podcast. They offer some great analysis of different genres of film and TV as well as giving their insight into the industry itself. So yeah, I’d say that’s probably educated me the most, especially when I started writing. Also, I don’t think anyone knows as much about Bond as John Rain on SmershPod, so in terms of an education in 007, that show is a must.

CAN YOU RECOMMEND A SHOW OUR READERS MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF?

I really enjoy Friends With Friends, where Dave Cribb and Pete Allison are going through and analysing every Friends episode is great fun. Also, the eternally affable Tom Price does My Mate Bought A Toaster, where he interviews guests based on their Amazon purchase history is a lovely listen.

Alex Zane was co-host of the recently concluded film podcast Clash of the Titles. You can catch up on the whole catalogue now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>