The Gospel According To… Edith Bowman

With an outstanding broadcasting career behind her, Edith bowman knows a thing or two about creating engaging audio. We caught up with the host of Soundtracking way back in Issue #003 of the magazine, to talk about laughing too loudly, not knowing too much and using your initiative…

PB: IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO JUST BEFORE YOU RECORDED THE FIRST EPISODE OF YOUR PODCAST AND GIVE YOURSELF ONE PIECE OF ADVICE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

EB: Don’t laugh too loudly. It makes me cringe when I hear my laugh. I guess I get carried away, which is only a good thing.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT GUEST?

Someone willing to have a conversation and allow that conversation to go wherever it may go. To not follow the usual premeditated answers that have been practised for a press tour. That’s why I love getting people out of that cycle.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT HOST?

Passion, genuine passion. I also think not being too informed on the subject. I’m a music and film fan, I know stuff but not everything and I like to learn from every guest, which I definitely do.

WHAT’S BEEN YOUR WORST PODCAST MOMENT?

When I got home after interviewing directors Valerie Farris and Jonathan Denton who had just released, Battle of the Sexes and something happened to the audio, there was this constant whine that meant it was unusable. I crawled to the PR people and asked if there was anyway I could get another 20 mins with them. Knowing they were off to Europe to do more press, I was willing to jump on a plane or train to do it. Thankfully they had another screening the following night and very kindly said come along and we can chat after that. They were such good sports and very gracious and generous with their time.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT PODCASTS THAT APPEALS TO YOU?

The good ones are very intimate and the best ones make you feel involved in the conversation, like you are in the room with them. The worst ones are where you can tell that the host/s just love the sound of their own voices and their opinions are the only opinions. Immediate turn off for me.

WHAT IS YOUR PODCAST/PODCASTER PET PEEVE?

Well it’s a funny one. The biggest compliment should be when people try and imitate what you do, but it doesn’t stop you from feeling a little pissed off that someone has basically ripped off your idea. They just wish they’d come up with it first and did it half as well as you do.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FOUND ANNOYING AS A LISTENER BUT THEN UNDERSTOOD WHEN YOU STARTED MAKING YOUR OWN?

Not really no. It’s such a wonderful world and opportunity for people to explore and share their passions and stories. Mine came out of sheer frustration. I did a similar show on 6Music, my idea that I came up with, they wouldn’t give me a regular slot, as I knew I could give them a really good guest every week. So I said, fuck it, I’m going to do it myself. That is the amazing thing about podcasts.

WHICH ONE EPISODE OF YOUR OWN MEANS THE MOST TO YOU?

Well there are two. The episode we recorded with Jon Favreau was our first ever and I am forever in his debt for being so enthusiastic and willing to jump on board with us. And then our very first episode with Ben Wheatley, he’s such a great supporter of the podcast, we appreciate his love so much. He’s been on three times now!

AND FINALLY, WHICH ONE EPISODE NOT OF YOUR OWN MEANS THE MOST TO YOU?

Oh man that’s a hard one. The one that has made me laugh the most and that I’ve probably listened to the most would be The Adam Buxton Podcast episode with Louis Theroux, the one where they drink an energy drink and get more and more wired the longer the chat goes on for. Genius and a great one to listen to on the tube, laughing out loud and making people think you are mad.

Listen to Soundtracking with Edith Bowman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps.