In Crushed, Margaret Cabourn-Smith chats to funny people to celebrate crushes and unrequited loves in all their intense and embarrassing glory…

What’s been the game-changer moment for you?

knew I’d hit a nerve when out of the blue in the same week I was approached for an interview by the independent, and the brilliant writer and journalist Nell Frizzell wrote a column inspired by it. It’s an exciting thing when you feel like you’ve created something that people want to join in with.

What does the next 12 months hold?

We’re doing live shows at the London Podcast Festival in September and a crossover show with the Guilty Feminist at the Soho Theatre in August. Also I really want to do some merch. I’m a big fan of niche merch (is that weird?).

Why did you move Auddy?

It has a properly supportive indie boutique vibe, not to mention the opportunities for cross promotion were really appealing. Twiggy? Yes please

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The second podcast in the spotlight this issue was a show from Annabel Rivkin and Emilie McMeekan of The Midult…

How would you describe your show in 5 words?

The glamour and indignity of being grown-up – that’s six sorry.

What’s been the game-changer moment for you?

Lockdown; we found ourselves on opposite sides of the country, so we just used our Zoom and our phones and started recording all the unfiltered weirdness in our heads. We really got to know our audience, and they really got to know us.

What episodes should we watch out for? Why?

There’s a corker coming up with Anna Richardson (host of Naked Attraction and the host of it Can’t Just Be Me podcast) about bodies, attraction and of course, Ozempic

What does the next 12 months hold?

We have just launched a five-minute-ish podshot called Podcast from the Edge that goes out every Friday and we’re working on something for telly.

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

Listen to I’m Absolutely Fine on Apple Podcast, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

Find out more and browse the range of great shows that have chosen Auddy at auddy.com.

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This article was produced as part of a paid advertising package. To enquire about advertising with Pod Bible email info@podbiblemag.com

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In Tea With Twiggy, Dame Twiggy reconnects with her friends for a cup of tea and a chat!

How would you describe your show?

Intimate, fun, spectacular, entertaining, rare.

What’s been the game-changer moment for you?

Being discovered and declared as the face of 1966.

What episodes should we watch out for? Why?

I love all of my podcasts equally, it would be impossible to select from my fabulous guests.

What does the next 12 months hold?

More exciting guests… We have an incredible line-up including Earl Charles Spencer, Anita Dobson, David Baddiel and many more, so I hope it’ll be just as inspiring and fun to listen to as it was for me to record. So keep tuned into Tea with Twiggy!

Why did you move Auddy?

Auddy have been champions of the show for a while, so it felt natural that they would be our new home.

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The second podcast in the spotlight this issue was a show we’ve spoken to before, Namaste Motherf**kers…

How would you describe your show?

Celebrity, comedy, work & wellbeing collide!

What’s been the game-changer moment for you?

I was 45, had dinner with Joan Rivers and she told me it wasn’t too late to get into stand-up; she was 81.

What episodes should we tune in to?

Deborah Meaden (reveals a couple of things she’s never spoken about before),

Sally Phillips (shared stories of our brilliant autistic boys) & the Rev Richard Coles (mutual love of sausage dogs & I loved the Communards back in the day!)

What does the next 12 months hold?

Well 50+ more podcast episodes, of course, and apart from that: touring, TV and radio, a book and… I’m the face of something I’m not allowed to talk about yet. Stay tuned!

Why did you move Auddy?

They got it! They got me! A tailored, bespoke approach where they actually give a sh*t about the content and its creators.

Listen to Tea With Twiggy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

Listen to Namaste Motherf**kers on Apple Podcast, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

Find out more and browse the range of great shows that have chosen Auddy at auddy.com.

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This article was produced as part of a paid advertising package. To enquire about advertising with Pod Bible email info@podbiblemag.com

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In Shedunnit, Caroline Crampton is unravelling the mysteries behind classic detective stories…

How would you describe your show?

Shedunnit is a documentary-style podcast that unravels the mysteries behind classic crime fiction from the “golden age” of detective fiction. Using the novels of writers like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers as a starting point, I look at the literary and social history that shaped this genre, as well as the real-life cases that inspired it.

What’s been the game-changer moment for you?

When I had Lucy Worley as a guest to talk about Agatha Christie in autumn 2022 – she brought a whole new kind of history-obsessed fan to the show.

What episodes should we watch out for? Why?

I find that the more specific an episode topic is, the more people enjoy it, so in the next few months there are going to be instalments about the role that golf has played in detective fiction, the way that New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh used the theatre as a setting for whodunnits, and a look at the 1935 trial of Alma Rattenbury, which has inspired lots of crime writers in the last 90-odd years.

Why have you moved to Auddy?

I’m a completely independent podcaster, working out of the walk-in wardrobe off my bedroom, so I don’t have the tools or connections to able to compete for sponsorships with shows from big publishing outfits. The team at Auddy do have all of that expertise, though, and they are able to use it on my behalf.

What are you listening to right now?

I really enjoy the show If Books Could Kill, which is all about debunking those “airport bestseller” non fiction books that everybody apart from me seems to have read.

Speaking of books… Simon Mayo’s Books of the Year was the second podcast in the spotlight this issue. Let’s hand it over to the hosts Simon Mayo and Matt Williams!

How would you describe your show?

It’s a podcast about books.

What’s been the game-changer moment for you?

Never had a game-changing moment but being back in the studio, as opposed to the spare bedroom, was a lovely thing.

What episodes should we watch out for? Why?

*producer note – “Well, they’re ALL good, but international bestseller Harlan Coben is always good value.

What does the next 12 months hold?

Unparalleled success and triumphs are expected.

Why have you moved to Auddy?

They said they’d provide luxury biscuits.

What are you listening to right now?

HBO’s The Last of Us podcast is wonderful, and The News Agents is an essential listen.

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

Listen to Simon Mayo’s Books of the Year on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

Find out more and browse the range of great shows that have chosen Auddy at auddy.com.

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This article was produced as part of a paid advertising package. To enquire about advertising with Pod Bible email info@podbiblemag.com

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Between Disney’s new three-part fly-on-the-studio-wall documentary The Beatles: Get Back, Paul McCartney’s own doc McCartney 3, 2, 1 and an expansive repackage of their last album, Let It Be, there’s been a lot of Beatles about in the last six months.

One of the most remarkable facts of their intensely remarkable story is that The Beatles never really stopped happening in the decades after they broke up. First it was fan conventions, then it was re-releases and TV documentaries. Now it’s the podcasting community that keeps the Beatles conversation going, and one of the best things about this is that they can hurdle the old gatekeepers who tended to tell the band’s story from a strictly blokeish, white perspective.

And there are absolutely loads of Beatles podcasts too. Here you’ll find new perspectives and under-examined angles on the story, which Derek Taylor, the band’s publicist, called “the 20th century’s greatest romance”.

Nothing is Real

The connoisseur’s choice, and a popular podcast in its own right even outside of the Beatles pod pool. Jason Carty and Steven Cockroft are Beatles aficionados – they’ve won the Beatles Brains of Ireland quiz before now – without ever getting anorak-y or losing sight of the fundamental magic of the story. Best of all, they zero in on particular moments and eras to pull out forgotten details, as well as recontextualising the big story beats. They’ve also watched the cinematic oeuvre of Ringo so you don’t have to. Listen elsewhere >>

I am the Eggpod

Host Chris Shaw wanders through a different Beatles or post-split solo work chosen by a guest. It’s a great example of the way that Beatles podcasts have helped to make sure the conversation isn’t just a bunch of middle aged white guys talking over each other – Another Kind of Mind is particularly good on that front. It’s like Desert Island Discs, but everyone always chooses the Beatles, talks about the Beatles, and picks the Beatles for their single luxury item. Listen elsewhere >>

Beatles Books

If you were intimidated by the amount of Beatles podcasts out there, don’t look at how big the pile of Beatles books is. Joe Wisbey has read most of them – he’s got a collection of more than 400 – and on this one he talks to authors about their work on the band and fans about the books which brought them into the swirl of different interpretations, agendas and vendettas which the Beatles publishing industry entails. Listen elsewhere >>

Winter of Discontent

Even if you’re a longstanding Beatles fan, there’s always something you’ve not heard. Few are dedicated enough to have listened to all of the audio reels which recorded the band working out songs for the Get Back project in January 1969, known to fans as the Nagra tapes. Fortunately, Nick Anthony has, and he’s chopped out the best bits and provided commentary on a window into the band at a particularly fractured and fascinating time. Listen elsewhere >>

Your Own Personal Beatles

Another guest-led one, but unlike Eggpod this one’s mainly about how the Beatles made them feel as a whole and the role they’ve played in the guest’s life rather than any particular album. The guests have been a mix of comedians, musicians and writers – including the likes of Shaparak Khorsandi, Jon Ronson and Mae Martin, who has a ‘Dig a Pony’ tattoo – and hosts Jack Pelling and Robin Allender bring their own musical insights too. Listen elsewhere >>

Beatles City

Sad as it is, the Beatles’ story is rapidly passing out of living memory. The Liverpool Echo’s podcast series began as an attempt to get interviews with people who remembered the band’s early days on record, from sweaty Cavern Club lunchtime gigs to the very day that John and Paul met. Since then it’s branched out into chats with authors, including Craig Brown about his excellent One, Two, Three, Four – and visits to important Beatle landmarks around Liverpool. Listen elsewhere >>

Bonus updates!

[ed. Following quite the discussion on Twitter, Tom sent us over some bonus Beatles pods to add to the list!]

Another Kind of Mind

One of the great things about the Beatle-podcasting ecosystem is that it’s coincided with a flowering of radically new perspectives on the band and, particularly, the relationships between the four Fabs. Another Kind of Mind is especially sharp and expansive on that theme. Phoebe Lorde, Daphne Mitchell and Thalia Reynolds bring a literate, empathetic perspective to all aspects of the band’s history – their five-part run picking apart the friendship between Lennon and McCartney was particularly good.

One Sweet Dream

Similarly deeply researched and keen to challenge the received wisdom of Beatles lore, Diana Erickson and AKOM’s Phoebe Lorde’s podcast is another must. Anyone on a post-Get Back jag for intel about the band’s last years and break-up should dig into the dissection of the story about Lennon’s demand for a “divorce” in September 1969. Like Another Kind of Mind, it’s attentive to the subtleties of the band’s emotional states and relationships that feels very fresh.

All About the Girl

From the very beginning in Liverpool, at the Cavern and the Casbah, women and girls were integral to the Beatles story. From the very prominent (Yoko Ono, Linda McCartney) to the quietly pivotal (Bettina Derlien, the Hamburg barmaid who did so much to ), hosts Chloe and Daisy find new angles on the story through unsung women who’ve been there all along.

Producing the Beatles

This one’s been on hiatus for a long while, which is understandable given the amount of work involved, but it’s the one that plays most with the podcast form with its in-studio soundscapes and exploratory sessions with musicians who get the music up on the jacks and have a good root around inside. Using studio tapes, outtakes and bootlegs, Producing the Beatles shows how their songs developed from embryonic doodles to fully fledged masterpieces.

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The theme for this year’s World Book Night on April 23rd is Books That Make You Smile, and with the joy-giver (and podcaster) that is Sandi Toksvig as Lead Ambassador, it’s clear they’re on a mission to keep our spirits up.

In a pretty rubbish year, novels have been a lifeline for those of us not only stuck inside our homes but our heads too. For World Book Night, alongside online events and readings, The Reading Agency are giving away 100,000 books to organisations across the UK as a celebration of reading, and to highlight its power and benefits to wellbeing.

Reading for mental health

It was a teacher who first recommended that I plunge myself into a novel when I was struggling with a bout of depression in my teens. Make no mistake, I definitely needed some form of professional care but, in the circumstances, a novel was the next best thing. But for those of us who struggle with mental health issues or low mood, starting a book can sometimes feel like another way of setting ourselves up for failure.

I started The Dabbler’s Book Club in 2019 to force myself to read one book every fortnight (or so!) and then to talk about it (when all I usually want to do is stay on the sofa watching Friends for the millionth time). Since March 2020 this simple habit has been so valuable,- and it’s about so much more than the books. The conversation that the podcast allows is just as important and not only gives a sense of completion after turning the final page, it’s left me feeling closer to my partner and our listeners.

In our first episode, my co-host and partner Curtis Nice joked that “our counsellor said it would be good for us”. Three series later, it’s actually very clear to see how it has been.

5 book podcasts for non-bookish people

To get you in a bookish mood without taking you back to the dread of English class and feeling like the poorly-read idiot, here are my top five book podcasts if you don’t think you’re particularly bookish.

These are book podcasts that aim to include everyone. They keep conversation light and inclusive, away from the academic styles we might have been used to at school or university, and they’re a great reminder that books really are for everyone.

Books are gifts authors share with the world; podcasting about books is the gift we can give ourselves and our listeners. There’s really nothing better.

Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast

Presented by journalist and author Yomi Agedoke, guests including Elizabeth Day, Sara Pascoe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie celebrate the best books written by women. They discuss the year’s shortlisted titles and talk about what the future holds for women writing today. This might seem like a very bookish podcast, but the Women’s Prize for Fiction aims for inclusivity and accessibility. The conversations are celebratory and heartfelt, and will inspire you to read more women authors. Listen now on Acast >>

You Heard It Here First

A recommendation show to help you discover your next podcast, audiobook or drama listen. Host Imriel Morgan cherry-picks highlights from Audible’s extensive audio catalogue, with the help of listeners, authors and Audible editors. Expect honest recommendations, laughs and listens you never knew existed – and to be welcomed in with open arms to our family of podcast, audiobook and audio drama lovers. A pocket-sized podcast of 30-minute episodes, it features a diverse list of books and guests, giving you a great overview of the book world outside the traditional bestseller lists. Listen on Audible or elsewhere.

Book Shambles

Book Shambles is an easy-going podcast that’s been running in one form or other since 2015. Using books as a jumping off point, hosts Josie Long and Robin Ince invite a different special guest each week to dive into interesting, passionate and shambolic discussions. Recent interviews include Marian Keyes, Nell Frizzell and Katy Wix. [It’s also one of Eddie Izzard’s favourite podcasts! – ED] Listen now on Acast >>

Book Cheat Podcast

Admittedly, Book Cheat isn’t quite in the World Book Night spirit of encouraging everyone to read… but it does tap into the sense that we’re all playing catch up when it comes to books – especially the classics. This is a fun podcast where host Dave Warneke reads the book so you don’t have to. Each episode Dave tells two special guests all about a classic novel or play, and by the end of the show, both you and they can pretend you’ve read it. From Austen to Tolstoy, Shakespeare to Hemingway… Dave lets you devour a classic in a single sitting. Listen now on Acast >>

The Dabblers’ Book Club

And of course, I’m including mine at the end because not only is it pretty good, but it also embodies so many things I’m passionate about. Working-class and state-school voices in literary criticism, and authentic, un-sanitised conversation that gives space for different perspectives and experiences. Non-stuffy book chat and funny one-star reviews. We’re a book podcast for people who like reading but don’t always feel qualified to talk about it. Maybe you went to state school or haven’t read any of the greats but still want to talk about books in a normal way. Just about every fortnight, my co-host Curtis and I read and have a fairly sweary chat about a novel, while incorporating our own anecdotes and life experiences. Guest special episodes feature interviews with the likes of Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart and barrister and author Hashi Mohamed. Listen on Acast now >>

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The Blindboy Podcast

Each week plastic bag mask wearing Blindboy (one half of musicians and comedians The Rubberbandits) picks a topic to share his views or self declared “hot takes“ on… which may well sound unbearable, but what unfolds is always a strangely relaxing, history laden exploration of the widest range of topics from one of the best minds, and voices, in podcasting. LISTEN NOW >>

Say Your Mind

As the media is starting to realise, actress, director and public speaker Kelechi Okafor is one of the most powerful and important voices around at the moment. Say Your Mind sees Kelechi express her thoughts and views each week in the way they are best delivered: unfiltered. LISTEN NOW >>

The Sarah Silverman Podcast

Huge, established names jumping on the podcast band wagon can annoy some of the veterans of the scene… but when award winning comedian Sarah Silverman launched her podcast in 2020 she quickly became undeniable for her reasoned, rational and hilarious takes on the issues that she encounters in her day to day life, or that her listeners put to her. LISTEN NOW >>

Have You Heard George’s Podcast?

At this stage, what more can be said about George the Poet’s amazing offerings in the podcast world? They have won plaudits and awards left right and centre… and deserved every one of them. A mixture of storytelling, music and fiction builds a world of insight and art. LISTEN NOW >>

The Rob Auton Daily Podcast

In 2020, poet, comedian & Yorkshireman Rob Auton put out a podcast every single day. With durations tending to fall somewhere between 3 – 15 minutes these little nuggets of poetry, comedy and just wonderful thought are the ultimate binge podcast. LISTEN NOW >>

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Scroobius Pip founded Pod Bible magazine alongside Stu Whiffen and Adam Richardson back in February of 2019 but is best known as a podcaster, actor, rapper and label boss. His podcast Distraction Pieces began in 2014 and continues to deliver fascinating conversations week in, week out. Pip runs the company with Stu and Adam and contributes regularly to the magazine and Pod Bible Podcast. Head to Scroobiuspip.co.uk for more, and follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Have you listened to these solo podcasts? Or do you think we missed a podcast? Let us know on Twitter, or send us an email info@podbiblemag.com.

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During Pride Month, many interesting, emotional, and powerful queer stories are being told across podcasts everywhere. But this story about performer Stormé DeLarverie, born to a Black mother and white father in New Orleans 100 years ago this December snuck into my ears when I was not expecting it.

Before moving to Quibi earlier this year, The Nod had been using podcasts as their medium of choice since the summer of 2017 to tell stories of Black life in America. Each episode takes you somewhere new, winding through history and geography, covering facets of everyday life and the pop culture that influences it. In amongst their first twenty episodes is the story of a drag king from the deep south who moved north in the 1940’s and lived her young life as a straight man.

Stormé’s journey, including her time as the only woman in a traveling drag show called The Jewel Box Revue, is staggering. Anyone familiar with the history of the Stonewall Riots may know what she went on to become an integral part of New York City’s queer scene. But if you don’t know anything about Stormé, or about the intersection of queerness and race, you need to give this episode a listen.

The team behind The Nod, Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, weave masterpieces of quality podcasting in every episode. In the case of “The Cowboy of the West Village”, Brittany guides us through the life of a mixed-race lesbian who was born into a deeply unaccepting time and found a way to fight not only for herself and her queer community, but to love unendingly. That is the takeaway, to keep fighting and to keep loving with your whole heart.

Episodes of The Nod can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. You can check out The Nod with Brittany and Eric now on Quibi.

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