GENERAL INTERVIEW

Indy podcasts making waves at the BPAs: Effin’ Hormones

Published on August 12, 2022

The winners of the 2022 British Podcast Awards were announced in a ceremony in London on 23rd July. The BBC show Dear Daughter was the big winner of the day, taking home the Best Family Podcast and the Podcast of the Year award. Our Issue 21 cover-stars Redhanded took home the Listener’s Choice award for the second year in a row and James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds won Best Arts & Culture Podcast supported by Pod Bible.

We know how much work goes into making a podcast – and to make great, award-winning podcast is always worth celebrating. We’re really keen to share the groups and individuals that are running on passion by highlighting the indy podcasts who made waves. First up is the winner of the Best Wellbeing Podcast (the award with perhaps the best presenters – Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina). Effin’ Hormones is a podcast all about menopause, and it’s bringing much needed conversations to the public. According to the BPA press release, one audience member tweeted “Hearing Idris Elba say ‘menopause’ made my ovaries twitch”. We caught up with Helen and Emma to talk about the show.

Pod Bible: Congratulations on the BPA win! How do you feel?

Helen: Blummen ecstatic! We started recording in lockdown, at home, so to be recognised publicly in this way is brilliant. I’m also very very proud to bring back some silverware (or goldware!) for the perimenopause and menopause crew!

Emma: I’m still in a permanent state of shock and simultaneously beaming with pride. I can’t stop telling people about it! It’s such a HUGE accolade. I’ve tried and failed to even get shortlisted before with another podcast – so to come back with GOLD is mind blowing!

Beena: Pretty damn good! It’s been brilliant to have been in a category like this in the company of such immense podcasts. Everyone is doing great work to try and make life better for people using this incredible medium but it feels extra special to be recognised for something that started out as a lockdown experiment. It’s heartening to know that we’re reaching people and our listeners are getting something out of it.

PB: What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

Helen: Radiolab. Jad Abrumrad (who used to Produce and Co-Host it), is my audio hero. I’ll never forget an episode where they recreated the sound of a space walk, it blew my mind. Dolly Parton’s America (also by Jad Abrumrad) is one of my favourite ever podcast series.

Emma: My first was S-Town which is utterly crazy and utterly brilliant and I don’t think I’ve heard anything as good since. It’s basically about a mad man who hates his town in Alabama but the investigative journalism is next level as is the amount of work that must have gone into it. It’s an awesome piece of narrative lead story telling that you get utterly sucked in to.

Beena: Serial and All Killa No Filla – discovered them both around the same time in 2016. I also love Coming Out Stories – hosted by Emma Goswell!

PB: Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

Helen: It was a bit of an accident for me. I’d worked in radio as a producer for many years, then more recently went into podcasting. I was excited by what I saw as the “on demand of radio”. Having spent a year working in it, I now realise it’s a far more complex and nuanced medium than that – and an even more exciting place to be!

I’d wanted to make a podcast about perimenopause for a couple of years, so when I heard my friends talking about their hormonal ailments one time when we were having a slightly tipsy lockdown zoom, I thought “this is it! This is the podcast!” Luckily the girls all said yes when I asked them to do it with me!

Emma: I’ve worked in radio for decades as a producer – but more recently as a presenter. I’ve done literally thousands of live interviews which I’ve loved – but in radio you’re always in a rush. There’s always a news junction or travel to get to in time or a song to play and I often felt I wasn’t getting the most out of my interviewees. Podcasts give us the space to breathe and get to grips properly with the subject matter. And I’m passionate about talking about the menopause – so when Helen suggested it – it was a firm YES from me!

Beena: I’ve been dabbling in the world of audio for a few years new (special shout out to Reform Radio!) and was instantly enamoured by sheer the power of it; the endless possibilities in storytelling, the depths in which you can explore a subject, the anonymity if affords people when tackling tricky issues and the fact that there is something for everyone, no matter what floats your boat. And you can listen anywhere! Anyone who knows me, knows how evangelical I am about podcasting. When Helen suggested that we have a crack at making Effin Hormones after listening to us banging on about the ridiculousness of how little info there is out there about Perimenopause, I was completely game – couldn’t think of a better medium to do this subject matter with!

PB: Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

Helen: I’m all about great storytelling, so podcasts that nail that do it for me. ‘Things Fell Apart’, ‘American Vigilante’, ‘Tunnel 29’ – these are all podcasts I’ve loved over the past couple of years. ‘Brown Girls Do It Too’ was a huge inspiration for me for ‘Effin Hormones’, particularly when it comes to talking about subjects that are deemed taboo. That podcast taught me that if you have a bit of a laugh and you just put it out there and be proud – you can make pretty much anything OK to talk about.

Emma: ‘Have you heard George’s podcast’ was ground-breaking and won ALL the awards a few years back. It taught me that podcasting can be genre breaking and can be anything you want it to be. In radio we’re always following rules and conventions but you can throw away the rule book when it comes to podcasting.

Beena: Sooo many! I’m a huge narrative fan but also love a good music or comedy podcast too. There’s something about the informality of chat based podcasts that make you feel like you’re part of the conversation and in on the joke. Honourable mentions to Revisionist History, Dolly Parton’s America, Blood on the Tracks, Where is George Gibney, Ballad of Billy Balls, Bad People, Titting About and most recently I’ve enjoyed Its….Wagatha Christie.

PB: Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

Helen: We seem to mention Yoga With Adriene in almost every episode so it would have to be Adriene Mishler. Adriene – your yoga videos got me through lockdown, thank you!

Emma: We’ve already spoken to Kate Muir – the journalist who brought us the Channel 4 doc on the menopause in 2021 but I’d love to chat to Davina McCall too. For many she’s been the face of the menopause revolution for the last 2 years and I’d love to get her reaction to how much has changed for women since then.

Beena: For Effin Hormones, I would love to have the MP Carolyn Harris on – she is the Chair of the All Parliamentary Group on Menopause. She’s doing some cracking work!

PB: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

Helen: Be yourself. Authenticity is one of the best things about podcasting. You’re in people’s ears talking directly to them, so they’ll spot it a mile off if you’re faking it.

Emma: Don’t underestimate the hard work involved. Just because you’ve got a good idea and a functioning microphone and laptop – these things don’t make themselves. There’s a lot of planning, production and editing to take up hours of your time!

Beena: Less is more and always, always think about your audience.

PB: Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Helen: ‘Meet the Gang’. It’s our first episode and you get all our silliness and seriousness encapsulated in that episode.

Emma: I’d say episode 3 of season 1 where we talk to actress Sue Devaney. I’m sure you love her in Corrie but you will be blown away by how hard the menopause hit her and especially her mental health. For anyone who doesn’t understand the devastating effects of peri menopause this is a good place to start.

Beena: For me the episodes that made me think “we’re onto something here” was when we spoke to Sue Devaney and Karen Arthur. They opened up o much – and their stories are so powerful.