The post Stirring It Up: Andi and Miquita Oliver explore Scotland! appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>This season marks a big change with your first on-the-road adventure in Scotland! What inspired you to take the podcast on tour, and why was Scotland the perfect destination for this journey?
Andi: Scotland was the logical place for us to start our journey because Miquita is half Scottish and she has in the last few years become close to her Scottish family, she wanted to show me and discover for herself a part of her that we have never really thought about very deeply before.
Miquita and Andi Oliver at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. Photograph: Ebony-Louise Carrington @highestmediagroup
Miquita, you’re exploring your roots from your dad’s side of the family during this series. How has this personal exploration influenced the dynamic between you and Andi on the podcast?
Miquita: It opened up my mother and I’s relationship. Things that were stories became very real. I’ve been on a journey of my own getting to know all of my Scottish family. To have my mother join this adventure was something very unexpected for both of us. I truly believe my mother found out things about me on this trip that she might never have learnt otherwise. It’s made us closer in a way neither of us could have predicted.
Photograph: Ebony-Louise Carrington @highestmediagroup
As a food and culture-focused podcast, what unique Scottish culinary traditions or dishes are you most excited to dive into during your travels?
Andi: It was amazing to see how diverse Scottish food is! From seeing my old Great British menu alumna Roberta Hall at The Little Chartroom in Edinburgh to Mara with the wonderful Ross Cochrane in Aberdeen to gorgeous Julie Lin at Gaga in Glasgow, and foraging and having a picnic in the woods on the river Don in Alford with Leanne Townsend we experienced a full flavour explosion! It was so exciting, extraordinary food at every turn and of course everywhere we went the welcome, the hospitality was just beautiful, it’s embedded within the culture. The Scots know how to nice up the area!
What have been some of the most surprising or emotional moments you’ve experienced while uncovering your Scottish heritage?
A&M: Our time in the Highlands was extremely emotional. We had the joy of seeing seven or eight salmon swimming upstream at the Falls of Feugh. We made cider in the hills of Aberdeenshire, we fly fished on the River Dee and we sailed across the depths of Loch Ness. These are all things we never thought we’d get to experience together.
Miquita and her father, Robin. Photograph: Ebony-Louise Carrington @highestmediagroup
How do you think being on the road and visiting new locations changes the way you approach conversations with each other and with your guests?
Andi: This trip has been extraordinary for us we both learnt so much about Scottish culture and the innate ways that Miquita carries that culture within her. Interestingly it actually felt a bit like we had our metaphorical kitchen table with us! It’s intimate, it’s hilarious, it’s adventurous and it’s us, it’s human.
What can listeners expect from this series in terms of the themes and stories you’ll be covering? Will it be more focused on food, culture, or the personal family journey?
A&M: We think they’ll get a bit of all of that. It was so thrilling to get out and meet people working on exciting projects, the conversations that we had and people that we met really affirmed the things that we always hope to be true out in the world. Community is strong, creativity is explosive and people are essentially excellent and do their best to help and support each other. Our listeners can expect the Stirring It Up fun that we always have, the depth of emotional conversation, and we hope that they will learn along with us that Scotland is an incredible place. Vibrant, proud, passionate and thoughtful.
Photograph: Ebony-Louise Carrington @highestmediagroup
After this Scottish adventure, do you have plans to explore more family heritage or take Stirring It Up on the road again to other destinations?
A&M: Oh yes yes! we have PLANS yes we do! This is just the start of our next chapter, some of it will be about family heritage just not always our own family, we’ll be exploring culture, family, community, art in all its forms, heart and soul in some very surprising places. What comes next will be intriguing, illuminating, full of adventure and a whole load of fun along the way! What you can be sure of is that will be undeniably Stirring it up!
Listen to Stirring It Up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast apps >>
The post Stirring It Up: Andi and Miquita Oliver explore Scotland! appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Sonder & Salt: Rooted in a love for food appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Who are you and what’s your podcast about?
We are Harleigh & Malaika, and we host Sonder & Salt – the weekly podcast for food lovers. We wanted to create a space to explore our individual relationships with food and how our unique experiences influenced our preferences, opinions and seemingly insignificant food choices.
M: I’m a casual content creator, but I would love to do it full time one day. Over the years I’ve had a YouTube channel, a blog and even hosted weekly cocktail hours on Instagram live. My content is always rooted in my love for food whether it’s eating out, travelling to eat & explore or sharing recipes of my favourite meals.
H: Same for me really. If I bump into someone who says they recognise me I just say, ‘probably from the internet!’
What was the first podcast you ever listened to?
H: Another Round which was a Buzzfeed production hosted by Heben and Tracy. It was the highlight of my week and their drunk segment at the end used to give me the giggles when I was working on my dissertation. I still follow Heben on X and her recent commentary on the Beyonce album makes me want them back in a studio together so badly!
M: Food, But We Digress with Alex & Joshua. I found Alex on YouTube & fell in love with the in depth conversations about very specific ingredients and food topics. Some of the best episodes were about their favourite pasta shapes or debating whether it’s better to eat rice with a spoon or fork!
Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?
M: Harleigh will say I gave her no choice, but I would say it was meant to be!
H: We found each other on social media from our food blogs, developed a friendship and felt that there wasn’t a food centred podcast that you didn’t need to identify as a “foodie” to engage with.
Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?
M: I was really inspired by Alex & Joshua on Food, But We Digress. The conversations have always found the right balance between being entertaining and informative which is something we like to do. Although we’re not a guest based podcast, Comfort Eating with Grace Dent is a good example of having really intimate conversations with guests about their relationships with food and the things they love.
H: I love the interview style on The Sporkful and how when he travels to meet guests it really feels like you’ve gone with him. I mostly use Science Vs by Wendy Zukermann for any food science information on the podcast.
Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?
H: Claire Saffitz! Without a doubt. Her YouTube videos make me feel like she’s baking in my living room, so I need to have her chatting along with me in the studio.
M: I’d love to sit down with Staney Tucci or Chishuru’s head chef Joké Bakare – she’s the first black female Michelin-starred chef in the UK.
Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?
M: I’d say ‘Can you cook jerk chicken in an oven’ featuring Melissa Thompson.
H: ‘Food Love Languages’ is one of our most popular episodes so I usually suggest people start there.
Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?
Find us on Instagram,, X and TikTok at @sonderandsalt. For more of us individually, come over to our Instagrams @harleigh.reid @malaikamalz.
Sonder & Salt is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and other popular podcast apps >>
The post Sonder & Salt: Rooted in a love for food appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post AUDDY RECOMMENDS: 6 more of the best foodie podcasts appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Ruthie’s Table 4
Table 4 is situated near The River Café’s open kitchen which is one of my favourite restaurants. It’s the perfect spot to sit down and have a conversation with Ruth Rogers. She invites her guests to reminisce about family suppers, first dates, restaurants and comfort food. With guests ranging from Steve McQueen, Jamie Oliver, Martha Stewart to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, it’s well worth a listen. Listen now >>
Honey & Co – The Food Sessions
Coming from another of my favourite restaurants in London is the husband-and-wife chef-duo Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich……Honey & Co. Their conversations with incredible chefs and cooks from across the food industry is an inspiring, and mouth-watering, way to enjoy a podcast. From Yotam Ottolenghi and the OTK team, to Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley and Andi Oliver. This show won loads of awards in 2021 and it’s great. Listen now >>
Table Manners with Jessie & Lennie Ware
It’s one of the biggest podcasts in the UK for a reason and has been a staple on my list for years. I started listening to this because I was fascinated by the guests, but I have grown to love the banter between Jessie and Lennie too. The food always sounds delicious and with guests ranging from Stanley Tucci to Munya Chawawa and Dannii Minogue, it’s a great listen. I prefer the ones in their homes… but that’s me. Listen now >>
Comfort Eating with Grace Dent
Having followed Grace Dent’s career for years, it seemed like a natural transition into podcasts for her. Again, she interviews various famous people, but the twist is that she unpicks their favourite ‘comfort’ food. From Graham Norton, Amma Asante to Adam Kay there are some pretty eye-opening stories of what people eat behind closed doors. Listen now >>
A Slice of Cheese with Jenny Linford
If you love cheese, then this is a great listen. Speaking to cheesemakers around the world, A Slice of Cheese is a pretty in-depth view on cheese, cheese pairings and food that go with cheese. Understanding their journeys, struggles and how they make cheese a way of life. Listen now >>
Agony Uncles with The Hairy Bikers
The only show in this list that isn’t an interview show… and not strictly a food podcast, but it’s hard not to love these two. Given their background, not a week goes by without some sort of food dilemma being tackled (think Air Fryers, Flour Power and Pasty Passion). Agony Uncles is a lot of fun and the banter between Dave and Si as they are joined by Posh Tash to share their life experiences to solve listeners problems continues to delight. Listen now >>
Sally Miller is Chief Marketing Officer at Auddy, inspiring and engaging audiences through audio. Supporting creators, creating branded content and private podcasts.
—
This article was produced as part of a paid advertising package. To enquire about advertising with Pod Bible email info@podbiblemag.com
The post AUDDY RECOMMENDS: 6 more of the best foodie podcasts appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Bitter/Sweet: Meaningful meals connected to memory appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Tell us who you are and what your podcast is about – give us you elevator pitch!
Bitter/Sweet, is a six part podcast series, which explores how food connects us to our deepest memories. I introduce each episode with a personal story of my own before inviting the guests to share a profound moment in their lives, involving an evocative meal and share why it was so meaningful for them. They take us on an intimate journey into the fusion of flavours and layers of aroma, taste and texture that embrace that memory and brings their story alive. In one episode, restaurateur Jeremy King talks about how the generosity of an unexpected meal in France over 40 years ago had a profound effect on his life. In another episode, creative director Anna Burns recalls how a spicy bowl of noodles helped her to gain control over her life when she was a lost teenager in Cambodia.
Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?
I was excited by the medium, how intimate and immersive it could be and was inspired to create a podcast because of that. I was meeting people that I wanted to interview and this seemed like the ideal format for those conversations. I was also drawn to the idea that it could enable me to create something that represented how I saw and experienced the world, something that was unique to me.
This such a personal project, did having a team around you help bring the podcast together or was is difficult to share the work because of the personal connection?
It was a balance of both, sometimes it was tense and other times joyful! I love learning and I was privileged to work with people who have taught me a great deal about the craft of audio storytelling. I didn’t start with the intention of producing the project, in fact I did not know what a producer was or what they did. I became more involved in the process because it felt right to understand and shape the stories that I was a guardian of. My guests had entrusted me with their stories, given me time and offering up their vulnerabilities, the very least I could do was treat them with care, attention and tenderness. In terms of my personal stories the driving force for me was creating a body of work that was authentic, an opportunity for me to speak my truth and share that in the hope that someone could connect to it, feel it!
Were there any podcasts that inspired you?
I listen to a lot of podcasts but I was pretty adamant about not listening to food podcasts and any personal memoir or grief centred podcasts to avoid being influenced by their style and approach. It was important to me that I could hear my voice and remain authentic throughout and be guided by my intuition. I wanted to discover my style and remain true to that. There was a Transom episode with Micha Euceph that impressed me because of its insights about personal story narration and the space that was created with Arwen Nicks.
The revered music podcast Song Exploder is an inspiration for the project because it is deeply interrogative, immersive and compelling. It is also focused on a single narrative.
Who’s your dream listener for the show?
Someone who is thoughtful, reflective, interested in going deeper and experiences the nuances of each episode. Someone who just enjoys and feels the episodes, that can be anyone!
This is essentially a branded podcast, how did you balance the brand with the storytelling?
The brand is a distillation of the things that excite me; food, emotions and memories, now more so than ever! So I view this project as a continuation of the brand but perhaps a more personal and intimate expression of Miller Libertine.
Listen to Bitter/Sweet now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>
The post Bitter/Sweet: Meaningful meals connected to memory appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post The rise of the Christmas Special in podcasting appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The popularity of the Christmas special is not a new one as for years, we’ve waited in earnest for our favourite soaps, sitcoms and even music artists to whack out a festive episode or album, and this appears to be no different for the world of podcasting.
It’s no secret that podcasting offers one of the largest ranges of genres from comedy to serial and it seems that all are providing listeners with something special to mark the festive season.
We’ve compiled a list of our most beloved festive episodes to see you through the last minute tree hanging, the making of your Christmas dinner or even some private time away from prying family members or in-laws.
Wednesdays
Best friends Melissa and Sophie are bringing back the cultural importance of Wednesdays (shout out to the Mean Girls). The ladies are here to chat about boyfriends, help with your dilemmas, and of course, drink some wine. Join the ladies as this week they discuss dilemmas with a festive twist. Listen now >>
My Dad Wrote A Porno
To celebrate their 90th birthday, Abbey Road Studios invited the My Dad Wrote A Porno team to record Part One of two Christmas specials for 2021 in Studio 3! McCartney, Bowie, Winehouse…and now, Flintstone. Listen now >>
Shrine Podcasts: Christmas special
In the second of two Christmas specials, Shrine Podcasts has teamed up with fellow Line Of Duty podcast host Craig Parkinson for a deep dive into his time on one of the BBC’s most popular TV shows ever. This one airs on Wednesday, December 15. Listen now >>
The Tommy, Hector & Laurita Podcast – Christmas Special
Unpredictable and funny, carefree and intimate, join Tommy Tiernan, Hector Ó hEochagáin and Laurita Blewitt as they sit around the table in the henhouse at the bottom of a garden in the West of Ireland. Tommy, Hector and Laurita will be sharing gifts and festive stories in their first-ever Christmas special airing on Thursday 23rd December. Listen now >>
Everything Under the Sun with McFly’s Tom Fletcher
In this festive edition of Everything Under The Sun, Tom Fletcher from McFly (and Strictly Come Dancing, of course) answers Henry’s question, “which country does Santa deliver his presents to first, last and middle?” Listen now >>
The Rude Retellings – Read by Brian Harvey
Brian Harvey is back with six new episodes in The Christmas Collection of The Rude Tellings. The former East 17 star begins the podcast series with the classic poem, “Twas The Night Before Christmas”. Listen now >>
Off Menu
Looks like the Off Menu boys are also rocking around the Christmas tree with the launch of their festive special episode. What better way to get into the holiday spirit than with an absolutely disgusting instalment of Off Menu, where comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster are joined by a very festive Harry Hill Listen now >>
BBC Good Food
Is it your first time cooking Christmas dinner? Or are you an experienced cook who wants to boost your kitchen skills and get into the festive spirit? Throughout December, chef Tom Kerridge reveals his secrets, tips and tricks for the party season. Listen now >>
The post The rise of the Christmas Special in podcasting appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post #091 • Dan Snow’s History Hit • Thank You Next • The Pirate Ship appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Adam is here to walk you through the weeks podcast proceedings, with guests including the people behind Dan Snow’s History Hit, Thank You Next and The Pirate Ship!
THIS WEEKS GUESTS
Dan Snow’s History Hit • Acast • Spotify
Thank You Next • Acast • Spotify
The Pirate Ship • Online • Spotify
THIS WEEKS RECOMMENDATIONS
PODBIBLE LINKS
The post #091 • Dan Snow’s History Hit • Thank You Next • The Pirate Ship appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Kitchens: Lucy Dearlove from Lecker podcast launches a new series, appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your new show?
I’ve been making a food podcast called Lecker since 2016, which I often record in people’s kitchens, and after a while I started to notice how similar most people’s kitchens were. It didn’t really matter where they were from, what sort of food they regularly cooked, whether they were disabled or not; their kitchen would still be the same standard fitted design with 36 inch high continuous work surface that you need to be standing up to use, high and low cupboards, everything built into the corners etc. And so I just got really interested in where this design had come from and how we all ended up with such similar kitchens when other rooms in our homes allow for much more personalisation, even for renters. But I didn’t want to make a straight-up history show – the interesting thing about the fitted kitchen is that it’s really based on design innovations that happened around 100 years ago, and hasn’t really changed that much since. So it was important to me to show how people today live with this design, and all the implications of it, and also how we might approach kitchens differently in the future.
Kitchens is a self-contained series (although it sits on the Lecker feed), and the first time I’ve made something that’s quite like this. Each episode focuses on a different aspect of kitchen design, but they’re all interlinked and themes come up throughout the series that relate to other episodes. I’ve also edited a print zine featuring original illustrations and writing around the theme of kitchens from around 20 different contributors, which is available to order from leckerpodcast.com/kitchens from 16th August. I’ve done a collaborative zine before for the podcast and it went down really well so I thought a second one would be an interesting companion to the series.
On a personal level, Lecker is the overlap on the Venn diagram of the two things that interest me the most: audio and food. I’ve been working in audio (first radio, then podcasting) since around 2011, but before that I worked in hospitality and did a lot of cooking for a living. It was such an interesting job, both in terms of what I learned about food, and also of the people that I met during that time. It definitely laid the early foundations for starting Lecker.
Why podcasting? What is it about the format that appeals to you?
A question I’m often asked is how difficult it is to make a food podcast, since food is such a visual thing. But I’d argue that it’s only very recently that we’ve started taking such an aesthetic approach to cooking and eating, and there’s actually a much longer established oral tradition of sharing recipes and talking about what we like to eat. So I think podcasting is a great format to continue this tradition and it’s actually kind of liberating to not have to consider what a dish looks like before you post it on Instagram, for example; it’s equally if not more exciting to hear someone talk about what that food means to them and why they love it. In general I love the medium because of how varied it is, and how it can encompass so many different styles and content of audio.
Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?
For this series Avery Trufelman’s work was a big inspiration. I loved Articles of Interest so much, and her architecture series for Curbed, Nice Try, was something I listened to while figuring out how Kitchens was going to sound. I love the tone of her work – she’s very switched on to digital pop culture and the internet, and she explores quite academic subjects from that perspective which always makes her podcasts really fresh and exciting, as well as very informative. I also love the work of Lory Martinez, who runs a Paris-based podcast studio called Studio Ochenta and does extremely exciting things in multilingual audio storytelling. I love everything that the podcast Farmerama does, they’re such an inspiration for what you can achieve as a small independent team covering what is on the surface quite a niche subject, but manage to make every episode have such wide-ranging appeal.
There is a great mix of people you speak to in the first series, how did you chose who to feature?
It was important to me that each guest felt like someone who could talk very naturally about themes that I was interested in exploring. For example, Ruby Tandoh is someone I’ve wanted to speak to for Lecker since it started, and this felt like the perfect opportunity, as her new book is all about rejecting aspirational ideas in cooking and kitchens, and celebrating what you have and what you personally can do in the kitchen. This meant that rather than the interview being a more general or biographical conversation, we could get a lot more specific about things like…why so many cookbooks have such an aspirational aesthetic and why she’s not interested in doing that herself, along with her experiences as a working class food writer, and cooking in rented kitchens her entire life.
I wanted to make sure there was a good balance of ‘experts’ and people who could speak from personal experience (I put expert in scare quotes as all the experts featured in the series also spoke very eloquently about their own personal experiences and interests in the field too). So I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to people like Professor Deborah Sugg Ryan, who’s a design historian and a total authority on kitchens, along with Johnny Grey, a legendary kitchen designer renowned for his ‘Unfitted’ kitchen designs for people like Sting and Steve Jobs. But I also spoke to lots of people who aren’t kitchen experts at all, and maybe even haven’t thought that deeply about their kitchen before, but actually, it turns out, have a lot to say about it. Our kitchens are where lots of different ideas overlap but they’re also such a consistent presence in our lives that often we don’t give them a second thought. So it was really exciting speaking to Katie Pennick, who is an accessible transport campaigner, about how ideas about inclusive design might apply to kitchens, and how the layout of most kitchens symbolises lots of really negative assumptions that society makes about disabled people. I honestly learnt so much making this series!
Do you have a dream guest for future series?
I’m not yet sure whether there will be a series 2 of Kitchens! We will see. But I have lots of great plans for Lecker over the next year or so, including a three part series I’m making in collaboration with the great audio producer Katie Callin later this year about food and folklore on the Isle of Man. We’ve been funded by the Manx heritage foundation Culture Vannin to make it which is very cool. No guests confirmed yet but it will involve lots of herring.
Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?
The Lecker website has a whole page bringing together everything Kitchens related! Find it at leckerpodcast.com. Lecker is on Twitter and Instagram and here’s the Podfollow for your podcast platform of choice.
Listen to Kitchens now on ACAST, SPOTIFY, or your favourite podcast app.
The post Kitchens: Lucy Dearlove from Lecker podcast launches a new series, appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Pod Bible Podcast – The Pirate Ship / Tom Kerridge & Chris Stark appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Adam Richardson caught up with Tom Kerridge & Christ Stark in July 2021 to discuss The Pirate Ship podcast, how it differs from the regular food podcasts and how they’re going to make millions from a see through toaster! You can hear this conversation on episode 88 of the Pod Bible Podcast but for the full unedited version, check out the video above!
Listen to The Pirate Ship on Acast or Spotify.
Listen to the Pod Bible Podcast on Acast or Spotify.
The post Pod Bible Podcast – The Pirate Ship / Tom Kerridge & Chris Stark appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post #088 • Laughable • Til Death Do Us Pod • The Pirate Ship appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Adam is here to walk you through the weeks podcast proceedings, with guests including the people behind Laughable, Til Death Do Us Pod and The Pirate Ship!
LISTEN TO THIS WEEKS GUESTS!
Til Death Do Us Pod • Acast • Spotify
The Pirate Ship • Online • Spotify
PODBIBLE LINKS!
The post #088 • Laughable • Til Death Do Us Pod • The Pirate Ship appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Where to start with Table Manners with Jessie Ware appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Jessie and Lennie Ware first invited us round to theirs back in November 2017, when they had Sam Smith over for turkey meatballs. Since then they’ve had more than 150 celebs for tea, and become such a cornerstone of the podcasting ecosystem that it feels like a significant wedge of new chat pods since have tried to emulate its freewheeling, slightly chaotic energy.
The format’s simple: a guest heads around to the Wares’ for a really, really nice meal – of varying complexity and refinement, depending on what Jessie and Lennie can be bothered with that day – and a chat. That’s basically it.
It’s ingenious though. The loose structure tends to encourage unguarded conversation – see, to take an example from that first Sam Smith episode, Smith admitting they accidentally froze their hamsters as a child, and thought Mexico was in Europe – and the consciously lo-fi sound makes you feel like you’re standing at the kitchen island with a glass of cold Chablis on the go.
The guestlist has tended to be heavy on musicians in the past, with John Legend, Alanis Morrisette, Kylie Minogue and Carly Rae Jepsen popping up, though so have the likes of Ed Miliband, Riz Ahmed and Kiefer Sutherland, which might be the first time those three men have ever been in a sentence together. Here’s where to start…
S4 Ep 1: Nigella Lawson
If you’re a food podcast, then a visit from Saint Nigella of Lawson is the final benediction. Lawson is as effortlessly charming and engaging as you’d expect of the woman who’s done more than most to promote cooking for friends as the highest form of joy and fulfilment.
Despite having been a broadcaster for a good couple of decades, there’s a rare openness to Lawson in this episode. She talks about how making her mother’s chicken soup is “an act of devotion” since she passed away, and the underpinnings of her unifying theory of food. “Cooking as performance art has never interested me,” she says. Which is, you know, exactly the kind of thing that means more from someone who could quite easily do cooking as performance art.
There’s also the revelation that Lawson used to eat rice pudding for breakfast, which is an attitude to life we could all learn from. Listen now on Spotify.
S10 Ep 6: Dawn French
That unguarded conversation thing we were talking about really came to the fore with Dawn French, who was revelatory about what she’d discovered about herself since starting to write books in her late forties.
“What I started to discover when I started to write was that it was quiet and just me on my own in my own head,” French tells Jessie and Lennie. “What I think I’ve discovered about myself through my writing is that I’m a kind of functioning introvert. That’s who I really am.”
It’s a pretty startling thing for a lifelong performer to say, but that’s the kind of thing that people do end up saying on Table Manners. Alanis Morrisette’s experience of postpartum depression over lockdown, Zawe Ashton realising that moving her entire life to the seaside was a terrible idea, and David Schwimmer being incredibly lovely about his daughter. Listen now on Spotify.
S11 Ep 18: Paul and Mary McCartney
The deep love and unvarnished snappishness between the Ware Junior and Ware Senior is a key feature of Table Manners – along with hearing the clatter of plates and cutlery and everyone milling around in the kitchen, it’s the very real mother-daughter dynamic. Naturally, that sometimes spills over into bickering. In front of the former Beatle and his daughter, it turned into a proper barney.
“Usually, it’s just a nice chat over food,” Jessie reflected later. “But sometimes with my mum you get all the baggage of previous discussions we’ve had off-air coming to the forefront. That doesn’t stop when you’re meeting a legend.”
Most podcasters wouldn’t have the chutzpah to keep it in, but it quickly became a very big Table Manners moment. Plus, there’s the revelation that Macca puts his good eyesight at the age of 79 down to ‘eye yoga’. You could have locked him in a room with David Frost for six hours, and he’d never have got near that titbit. Listen on Spotify.
The post Where to start with Table Manners with Jessie Ware appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Talking podcasts with Off Menu’s Ed Gamble & James Acaster appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>
To celebrate the launch of Issue #015 of Pod Bible magazine, Scroobius Pip and Stu Whiffen had a nice old chinwag with the hosts of Off Menu – Ed Gamble & James Acaster. The guys discuss the show’s success, podcasting during the pandemic and their personal recommendations before opening some very special gifts to commemorate their appearance as cover stars!
– Read issue #015 of Pod Bible here!
– Listen to Ed & James on the Pod Bible Podcast here!
– Discover the best Off Menu episodes for a new listener to check out here!
Cover illustration by Dan Evans – idrawforfood.co.uk
The post Talking podcasts with Off Menu’s Ed Gamble & James Acaster appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO… Table Manners appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>Tell us about your show! What’s your podcast elevator pitch??
Jessie: Our podcast elevator pitch is a mother and daughter duo invite a guest round to their house for a ‘friday night dinner’. Friday night dinner was always a big thing in our house. I’d have friends over for dinner and mum would cook, but she couldn’t resist joining in the conversations we’d have and the podcast basically became a continuation of that. We’ve been lucky to have some really amazing and fascinating guests round to mums for dinner – it’s great fun – a great meal and a chat!
Why podcasting? What is it about the format that appeals to you?
Jessie: I don’t like to call it an interview as it’s a free-flowing conversation over the dinner table, but the longform lends itself to a much broader and interesting conversation. We always want the guest to feel comfortable so it’s very relaxing and natural. We always end up chatting about the most random of things and that’s what I love. we like to hope we get something different out of people.
What’s the secret to being a good podcast host?
Jessie: A good editor!! My producer/editor is magic and manages to cut out a fair few ‘f*cks’! She’s the one that makes me look good.
What do you think makes a good podcast guest?
Jessie: Someone who is up for it, open and says the magic words ‘I’ve never told anyone this before’. Someone who knows what they’re walking into & in our case, good table manners! We’ve had some amazing guests on the podcast; from all sorts of backgrounds and people who do all sorts of different jobs. We especially love it when we have a comedian on! We had Michael McIntrye on recently and we did not stop laughing from start to finish.
If you could go back to before you started out and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Jessie: Don’t interrupt people & don’t try to fill the pause after a question with another question. I wish I could say I’ve learnt my lesson!
What’s been your worst podcast moment so far?
Lennie: The podcast is really fun and there are no really bad moments, we always laugh a great deal. I remember setting myself on fire with a blow torch trying to outdo Jessie with crème brulee. A tricky time was when we had the lovely George Ezra. My other daughter Hannah opened the door to him and said “Hi I’m Jessie!” Don’t know why she said that but he was immediately confused. The short ribs we’d prepared were inedible and we had to order a takeaway!! We’ve also had a guest who ordered a takeaway in advance when we’d already cooked for them!!!
Which episode or episodes of your podcast mean the most to you?
Lennie: I have loved all the episodes. I was proud to have Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London who broke his fast with us over Ramadan. It was very special to have Nigella Lawson who really is a goddess. I loved talking to George Aligiah – who wouldn’t with that voice. I think to have kept going during lock down and have some amazing guests has been wonderful. We couldn’t cook for them but we certainly talked about food with Nick Grimshaw, Mel and Sue, Munroe Bergdorf and John Legend. Florence Pugh and Dua Lipa both had their dinner while we were all on Zoom!
Which podcasts or podcast hosts inspire you?
Lennie: I think The Griefcast is really important and helps unite people who are grieving – it is definitely inspirational. I love Jane Garvey – a completely wonderful host. Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes too but my big favourites are Chris and Rosie Ramsey.
Finally, what are your current favourite podcasts?
Jessie: How To Fail with Elizabeth Day, Keep It!, Dear Joan and Jericha, Dolly Parton’s America, Distraction Pieces with Scroobius Pip, Homo Sapiens, The Guilty Feminist and Human with Jess Mills.
Lennie: The Daily, That Peter Crouch Podcast, Homo Sapiens, Sh**ged, Married, Annoyed. I also like Modern Love.
Follow Table Manners, Jessie and Lennie on Twitter: @tablemannerspod // @jessieware // @thelionlennie.
Listen to the Table Manners podcast on Acast, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.
The post THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO… Table Manners appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Where to start with Off Menu appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>With the latest series starting today, we asked Off Menu superfan and meme supremo @nocontxtoffmenu, to tell us where they think new listeners should start…
Like a genie waiter bursting out of a lamp, Off Menu exploded onto the podcast scene in late 2018 and since the first episode has consistently brought listeners a delectable mix of humour and food chat through a hugely diverse selection of brilliant guests. Each week, comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster invite a guest into the “Dream Restaurant” where they choose their dream meal consisting of a Starter, Main Course, Side Dish, Dessert and Drink. It’s a simple premise that never fails to deliver some very big laughs from all the cuisine quizzing.
I’ve been a huge fan since the beginning and one rainy day, whilst listening on my commute home, I had an idea to set up a “No Context” Twitter account – where I could post out-of-context quotes from the podcast that were laden with double-entendre, bizarrely confusing or just outright hilarious. In two years, the account has grown to almost 30,000 followers, occasionally gets mentioned on the podcast and even has its own official merch made in collaboration with the Off Menu boys themselves! With the fifth series set to kick off on Wednesday 27 January, the good people at Pod Bible got in touch to ask which episodes I would recommend that best showcase the podcast. There are just so many to choose from, but here are my picks of what to delve into if you’re new to Off Menu…
Episode 15 – Sindhu Vee
Filled to the brim with huge laughs and incredible food choices that will surely have your tummy rumbling, Sindhu Vee’s visit to the Dream Restaurant stands out as one of the finest episodes simply because it strikes the perfect balance of side-splitting humour and good, honest food chat. Vee is a wildly entertaining and funny storyteller who deftly holds court as she dispenses tale after tale from her fascinating life. With stories of stolen wedding ceviche and eating four slices of pizza a day for 42 days to impress a guy, it’s a perfectly rounded episode with everyone on their top form and is a testament to how well the format of Off Menu worked from its early days.
“To the hungry person, even the doorway looks like crisps”– Sindhu Vee
Find out the context and listen to Sindhu Vee on Off Menu episode 15
Episode 50 – Joe Thomas
In this fan favourite episode, Joe Thomas (forever to be known as Simon from The Inbetweeners) visits the Dream Restaurant and gives us the most frantic, scatter-brained menu yet! There are more tangents here than a geometry textbook, as he skips and stutters back and forth through what is frankly an indecipherable and maddening collection of inexplicably hilarious yarns. His anecdotes (“Whatever happened to the Spaghetti Bolognese Boys?”) and his general thoughts (“Why is the 90’s four decades ago?”) are so bewildering that James “The Genie” Acaster has to take a back seat and play the straight man for once. “Never met you before, Joe… You are an absolute mess”, Acaster comments as the chat twists and turns and takes you to the most unexpected of places, climaxing with the infamous, epic tale of a lamb being buried in a garden. Truly an emotional rollercoaster that gets paid off beautifully in a follow-up surprise episode that dropped on Christmas Day 2020.
“Did it smell? Yes. What did it smell of? Blood.” – Joe Thomas
Find out the context and listen to Joe Thomas on Off Menu Episode 50
Episode 82 – Thomasina Miers
One of the joys of Off Menu is how rich the guest list can be and being a food podcast, it opens up the opportunities to have some brilliant chefs on board who really know their stuff. Famous chefs such as Tom Kerridge and Marcus Samuelson have made very memorable appearances in the past but recently ‘Masterchef’ winner and Wahaca co-founder, Thomasina Miers, was an absolute delight. There’s some excellent culinary conversation in here, even a whole recipe for some delicious Crushed Potatoes intricately and beautifully described by Miers. But it’s not all gabble about grub; there’s a whole lot of silliness in there too: a highlight being an extended conversation about things you can put up your butt that leaves the guest incapacitated with laughter.
“Butt plug” – Thomasina Miers
Find out the context and listen to Thomasina Miers on Off Menu Episode 82
This article was written by the mysterious entity known as No Context Off Menu. Follow @nocontxtoffmenu on Twitter or Instagram for more fan favourites and no context Off Menu fun.
You can listen to Off Menu on Acast, Spotify and all other podcast apps. You can also hear Ed and James discuss the show on Episode #012 of the Pod Bible Podcast before hearing Ed Gamble recommend one of his favourite shows on Episode #018 of the Pod Bible podcast, and James Acaster giving his recommendation on Episode #022 of the Pod Bible podcast.
The post Where to start with Off Menu appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post HAVE YOU HEARD? // Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>POD BIBLE: Who are you and what’s your podcast about?
JAY RAYNER: My name is Jay Rayner, I am a journalist, writer and broadcaster, possibly best known as the restaurant critic for The Observer and for my judging on MasterChef. In Out To Lunch, I take big names – the likes of Mel C of the Spice Girls, actor Richard E. Grant and comedian Romesh Ranganathan – out to a great restaurant, where terrific food lubricates the chat. In the current lockdown, we’re now staying In For Lunch, talking over video link with cracking take-aways. The series includes the likes of singer George Ezra, film director Edgar Wright, former Labour minister and Strictly star Ed Balls, and actress and writer Sharon Horgan.
PB: What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?
JR: It was the Butterfly Effect, the podcast series about the American porn industry by my old friend Jon Ronson, who was very early into podcasting.
PB: Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?
JR: I love long form interviewing. Before I wrote about food and restaurants, I wrote a lot of magazine profiles of big names, and enjoyed the opportunity to get to grips with a subject. Clearly a major broadcaster wasn’t going to let me do that, but I realised I no longer needed to wait for the call. We could do it ourselves.
PB: Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?
JR: The James Acaster and Ed Balls double act that is Off Menu is a lot of fun. (I was once a guest.) I like the detail and emotional intensity of James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure and Liz Day’s How To Fail.
PB: Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?
JR: I have been trying to get Jeff Goldblum. I’ve interviewed him once before, for The Observer, about our shared interest in jazz piano, and now I’d like to go a little deeper. I’ve found that some of the very best interactions have been with people I know a little before the podcast, like artist Grayson Perry and the actor Jamie Dornan (who had previously bought my companion slot on a review for charity.)
PB: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?
JR: That however relatively new the format or medium might be, all the skills and technique of traditional media apply. You still need to do your research into the person you’re interviewing and then you need to edit. No one wants to listen to people bang on for over an hour just because there’s no old media gate keeper telling them they should cut it. Everything benefits from editing.
PB: Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?
JR: As grand as it sounds there are none which make me cringe, or which I wish weren’t out there. So start with whichever is the most recent, then go right back to the beginning with Richard E. Grant and work forward.
PB: Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?
JR: My website, jayrayner.co.uk, has a lot of glorious stuff about me which I know is accurate because I wrote it. Also, my latest book My Last Supper, about my search for my last meal on earth, has lots of memoir in it.
Subscribe to Out To Lunch with Jay Rayner here.
The post HAVE YOU HEARD? // Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>The post Set Meals – The Return! appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>
The post Set Meals – The Return! appeared first on POD BIBLE.
]]>