Far be it from us to start gushing about high street supermarkets, and obviously other high street supermarkets are available, but everything Waitrose does comes with the implicit promise that it’s going to be a little bit nicer than the equivalent own-brand product you’d have got elsewhere. It’s a little present to yourself.

Its podcast, Dish, has that feel. The idea is that it’s a dinner party with a different famous type each time, and exactly the kind of unguarded, daft conversation which any decent dinner party usually degenerates into with the appropriate company and drinks. Hartnett, the Michelin-starred chef, wisely takes charge of the cooking to put together a different dish every time; Grimshaw does the glad-handing, sous-cheffing and sommeliering.

That isn’t to say that it’s over-polished or prim: hosts Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett’s skill is in making each episode sound like you’re earwigging on their conversation with a famous friend having been sat next to them in a restaurant, or perhaps that you can hear their conversation floating through the kitchen window. Here’s where to start.

S1 E1: Nick and Angela

It’s an obvious place to start, but given that you’ll be spending a whole lot of time with Grimshaw and Hartnett from here on out it’s an essential grounding in their attitudes to food and where they’re coming from. This first dish is a pea and pancetta risotto, with a side of memories of Hartnett’s time being lambasted by Gordon Ramsey for making a hash of a terrine and sending butter flying everywhere from a stand mixer. “And as I’m cleaning down in my panic, I switched the freezer off,” Hartnett remembers. “So then I start melting the ice creams for lunch, everything.” It’s reassuring to know that even extremely good chefs have literal and metaphorical meltdowns when the pressure’s on. Plus: the insider knowledge of which famous people are famous enough to demand takeaway from Hartnett’s restaurant. Harrison Ford is a big yes, as are Cher and Claudia Winkleman. Sting’s touch and go.

S2 E1: Rylan Clark

Everyone’s favourite X Factor dud turned all-round presenting and chatting geezer is a national treasure in the making, and his visit to Hartnett and Grimshaw wanders typically quickly from the point and onto the many types of wildlife making themselves at home chez Clark. That includes a one-legged pheasant he found using his treadmill, and the snake which he found staring him down in the kitchen. Obviously he asked Instagram what to do.

“Half of them were saying, ‘It’s a grass snake, it’s more frightened of you.’ The other half were saying, ‘My dad’s a vet and it’s gonna kill you.’” Panicking, Rylan called his gardener to come and sort the snake out, which had gone missing again. “So I’m in a boiler suit I once wore on X Factor, tucked into a pair of UGG boots. And it was boiling as well, it was like 30, 40 degrees out. So he’s opened up the bi-folds. It was like Cilla Black’s ‘Moment of Truth.’”

He lived to tell the tale, clearly, and to wolf down the beer and burger Hartnett prepared for him.

S3 E7: Aisling Bea

The slightly luvvie-ish chat about how Aisling bumped into Grimshaw while he was getting a facial in Los Angeles – “gym-ed out, with his face absolutely pummelled and worked on” – soon turns into a deep dive into Bea’s extremely extensive knowledge of potatoes as they tuck into tuna niçoise and its natural counterpart, a nice whisky. If you’ve ever wondered exactly how to become a potato farmer, Bea has some sound but kind of gross advice: “How you do it is you just cut an old potato in half, let it dry out, and then – this sounds disgusting – its eyes will become its legs and then the eyes are to grow into a bit of soil, and then another potato comes out of the potato.”

Listen to Dish now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

To learn more about Angela and Nick, their love of podcasts, and the show read our interview in Issue 29 of the Pod Bible Magazine now!

The post Where to start with… Dish appeared first on POD BIBLE.

PB: TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR SHOW! WHAT’S YOUR PODCAST ELEVATOR PITCH?

TOM: Two buddies chatting nonsense for an hour each week, join us, you might just learn something about the World and maybe, about yourself.

WHY PODCASTING? WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE FORMAT THAT APPEALED TO YOU?

TOM: There’s a feeling of freedom in working in a medium on a show that can go just about anywhere. For me the chance to spend time connecting, bonding and butting heads with one of my best mates and finest comedy minds in the game never feels like work, it’s a pure joy.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF YOUR SHOWS HAVE BEEN RECORDED REMOTELY OVER THE INTERNET. WHAT HAVE BEEN THE PROS AND CONS TO RECORDING THAT WAY?

ROMESH: The main thing about podcasting remotely is you know you can do it anywhere, but you definitely notice a better connection face to face. Tom’s wi-fi is also a fucking shambles.

TOM: Recording remotely has been a blessing as it suits both of ours schedules, it’s all we’ve known aside one episode in the flesh. Bad wifi signals are always a kick in the crutch and can butcher the flow. I do look forward to a time when we sit across from one another, in the flesh, a touch away, and we make sweet pod together.

YOU OFTEN RECEIVE PRAISE FOR GIVING GREAT ADVICE TO YOUR LISTENERS, BUT WHAT’S THE WORST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE GIVEN SO FAR?

TOM: Hardest thing about giving advice is that you seldom see the outcome, it’s like missing the second half of a film. I like the thought that all our advice and musings have helped those who’ve reached out, who knows, you can only hope.

ROMESH: I told somebody to not feel bad about challenging some rude behaviour to a woman, and although he shouldn’t feel bad I should have been clearer that men should challenge that shit whenever we can.

DO YOU THINK YOUR RELATIONSHIP HAS CHANGED SINCE STARTING THE PODCAST?

TOM: Massively so, I think it’s grown into something pretty special, like a first love, a childhood sweet heart you share a heart pendant with. Sometimes late at night, I’ll think about a life without Rom, the bookish Owl flying no longer alongside my renegade Wolf, it’s always too much to even contemplate, so I fire up my phone and look at pictures of my guy doing wacky things and listen to all the voice notes I’ve saved from him… The darkness ends.

ROMESH: Tom is one of my favourite people in the whole world. I love him and the podcast is testament to how tight the friendship is. Although if I got the call up to parenting hell I’d f**k this off straight away.

WHAT OTHER PODCASTS ARE YOU ENJOYING AT THE MOMENT?

TOM: I’m a fan of the big hitters Off Menu and Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell. I love 2 Bears, 1 Cave and shout out my G The Blindboy Podcast.

ROMESH: I’ve been listening to the Sweet Bobby podcast which is a catfish story of the maddest order. I also dip into What’s Upset You Now? with Seann Walsh and Paul McCaffrey.

FINALLY, TOM, WOULD YOU DO US THE PLEASURE OF ENDING THIS INTERVIEW LIKE YOU END THE PODCAST? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO OUR READERS?

TOM: What is a podcast? Well friend it’s a many layered onion or soap opera like Neighbours or Emmerdale, full of such wonderful characters, it’s a world reaching out to be heard, it’s a stranger saying hello sit with me I have a story a tell, it’s a meal you’ve never dared try nae taste that has you smacking your lips in anticipation. It can be almost and just about anything and that is what makes a podcast just about the most special gift you could give not just someone else, but give yourself.

Listen to Wolf and Owl on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

Find more interviews with your favourite podcasters in the Pod Bible Magazine >>

The post THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO… Wolf & Owl appeared first on POD BIBLE.

PB: TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR SHOW! WHAT’S YOUR PODCAST ELEVATOR PITCH?

RH: RedHanded is the ultimate true crime podcast for people who want more than crime. We aim to cover all sorts of cases, the obvious ones like Chris Watts and Casey Anthony to ones that other true crime podcasts don’t – like the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khasgohhi and the evolution of the satanic panic into modern day QAnon. RedHanded is for people who want all the facts, along with thoughtful analysis, but delivered like they are just down the pub with their mates.

WHY PODCASTING? WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE FORMAT THAT APPEALED TO YOU INITIALLY?

The incredibly low barriers to entry! Podcasting is fantastic because it allows anyone with anything to say, a place to say it! We had no background whatsoever in broadcasting, journalism, scripting, editing – anything relevant to podcasting – and so we knew it was going to have to be grassroots. Podcasting is the ultimate format because you don’t need someone in the industry to give you the greenlight to make it work.

THE TRUE CRIME GENRE IS HUGELY POPULAR IN PODCASTING. WHY DO YOU THINK LISTENERS FIND IT SO ENGAGING?

True crime has always, and we mean always, been a hugely popular genre. The Victorians were making Penny Dreadfuls and chasing Jack the Ripper around; it’s nothing new. We have always been obsessed with the extremes of human behaviour, and what’s more extreme that murder? I think that true crime combines all of the ingredients that appeal most to us as human beings: extreme behaviour, mystery and fear.

True crime offers us the opportunity to explore – in a safe way – the very addictive emotion of fear. Fear is hardwired into us and it’s why we go on roller coasters and watch Leatherface chopping teenagers up – but with true crime, the stakes are even higher, and therefore more alluring, because it’s all real.

AS A PODCAST WITH NEARLY 250 EPISODES, HOW DO YOU KEEP ENGAGED WITH THE GENRE YOURSELVES?

We genuinely love true crime. We live, eat and breathe true crime. We both have a truly deep and obsessive curiosity about it. And thanks to our listeners we’ve had the opportunity to explore increasingly different types of cases. This helps us stay excited, curious and constantly learning – all of which means we can still put out great content week after week!

WHICH EPISODE OR EPISODES OF YOUR PODCAST HAVE YOU FOUND THE MOST REWARDING TO PRODUCE?

SURUTHI: It changes often, but for me the two parter on ISIS, Shamima Begum and the Bethnal Green Girls, was a really important story to tell. I hadn’t seen a true crime podcast cover that case and we really wanted to do it justice, which we think we did!

HANNAH: The two-parter we did on Scientology was probably the one for me. Again, we just tried to approach it in a different way to how we’d seen that story told before – as it was such a massive case to tackle we were nervous; so it was very rewarding to see peoples’ positive reactions!

YOU’VE ACHIEVED GREAT SUCCESS WITH YOUR SPIN OFF PATREON, ALLOWRING LISTENERS TO SUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT. WHAT’S THE SECRET TO BUILDING SUCH A STRONG COMMUNITY?

Content, content, content. Stay focussed on creating great content – give it your full attention and the people will reward you!

FINALLY, WHAT ARE YOUR GO TO PODCASTS WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING FOR LIGHT RELIEF FROM THE WORLD OF TRUE CRIME?

SURUTHI: I don’t think I do light relief all that well!!! I love Conflicted, which is a fantastic geopolitics podcast!

HANNAH: I’m actually currently re-listening to The Black Tapes – which if you like spooky shit is perfect, and I also love a bit of Desert Island Discs.

Listen to Redhanded on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

Find more interviews with your favourite podcasters in the Pod Bible Magazine >>

The post THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO… RedHanded appeared first on POD BIBLE.