Alice Levine: “You feel one of the gang”

In every issue of the Pod Bible magazine, we ask a podcast disciple five questions about their love for podcasts and podcasting. For Issue #016, we spoke to podcast royalty and co-founder of the new Crossed Wires podcast festival, Alice Levine…

PB: WHY DO YOU LOVE PODCASTS?

AL: I love podcasts for so many reasons. I love the feeling of really clicking with a show, learning the in-jokes and the idiosyncrasies of the hosts, the verbal foibles and when the rhythm of the format becomes familiar and hypnotic and you feel one of the gang. I love learning things through audio too, I’m such a slow reader and I just feel like podcasts are a format my brain can digest.

I listen to podcasts for a big part of the day, every day – so they soundtrack everything. So in a weird way they also offer companionship – a constant presence of someone smarter, funnier, cooler in my ears, improving me a little, osmotically!

WHAT WAS THE FIRST PODCAST YOU EVER LISTENED TO?

The Ricky Gervais Show with Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant. I must have listened dozens and dozens of times now. I can quote large chunks of it still. Subconsciously (and maybe a bit consciously!) I think I was channelling a bit of that dynamic when we started My Dad Wrote A Porno.

WHICH PODCASTER MAKES YOU LAUGH THE MOST?

I’ve been a huge fan of Julia Davis for a long time now and it was through her that I discovered Vicki Pepperdine. Dear Joan & Jericha is so perfect, I love hearing podcasters genuinely making each other corpse.

WHICH PODCAST HAS EDUCATED YOU THE MOST?

Recently I really loved Nice White Parents – great journalism and just so gripping even though on the surface the public education system in a specific neighbourhood in the US doesn’t necessarily sound like it would be. It was informative and educational without being preachy or inaccessible. You can really hear that it was a labour of love. Newscast is always clarifying and helpful so I never miss that, that’s one of only a few long standing regulars in my library.

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

I’m always surprised when people say they haven’t heard The Mystery Show. Starlee Kine investigates mysteries ”you can’t solve with the internet” like ‘How tall is Jake Gyllenhaal?’ – why do we care? Because this is a prime example of the ordinary made extraordinary in story telling. It is a logistical feat, with the yarns sometimes unravelling over weeks or even months, and yet the production strikes a perfect balance between slick and DIY. The fact that it only ran for one season is a tragedy.

Want more from Alice Levine? Check out the Gospel According To… My Dad Wrote A Porno, where we hear form her and her podcast partners in crime…