Becoming a Podcast Person

A million years late to the game, I have finally delved into the wonderful world of podcasts. I think there’s always been a lot of content out there that intrigued me but I never knew when exactly to listen to podcasts. I prefer working and writing in pin-drop silence, in my downtime or on the train I read, when I drive I sing and when I walk the dog I listen to music and *sometimes* pretend I’m in a OTT music video… I was pretty set in my ways and didn’t much like the idea of mixing those habits up.

In the end, it took a podcast I couldn’t resist to finally get me to reassess when I could make time for podcasts. What was it? About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge. I’ll get into the why and wherefore in a moment, but for me, About Race was a gateway drug into the world of podcasts. I tweeted asking for recommendations a few weeks ago, but please, let me know what else is good. For now though, here are the podcasts I’ve started with.

(Oh, and if you’re interested, dog walking is now podcast time. It’s fine, I can do the music video thing in the car too).

About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge

Earlier in the year I read Eddo-Lodge’s debut non-fiction book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. You’ve probably heard of it because it’s been a huge success. It is brilliant. The history of race in the UK is long and complicated, rich and relevant, and I somehow got to university before it was ever really mentioned to me in an educational setting – that’s maddening.  While I loved Why I’m No Longer it left me wanting more… And then the podcast came along and was even better than the bloody book.

https://twitter.com/renireni/status/994464605312311296

About Race is a discussion about the racial history of the UK from the ‘recent past’ to now with political, cultural and academic guests who explore the ins and outs of key events in British race relations, how we can learn from disasters, repeat success stories and so much more. Guests range from Akala to Lily Allen’s mum Alison Owen, Diane Abbott to Gabby Edlin, Owen Jones to Meera Syal, Laurie Penny to Nish Kumar. It really is amazing and is essential listening if you want to better understand 2018 Britain.

Here’s hoping a second series will be coming soon!

My Dad Wrote a Porno – Jamie Morton, James Cooper & Alice Levine

Surprise to no one, when I mentioned I was dabbling in the world of podcasts, this was recommended to me by a number of people, I can’t imagine why… I’ve known about it for years but I’ve always been intimidated by the fear of never being able to catch up. Again, surprise to no one, catching up hasn’t been that difficult – how could it be when it’s so funny? My Dad Wrote a Porno is pretty well-known now (they’re doing live shows at the Albert Hall) but in case anyone doesn’t know the premise; Jamie’s father, “Rocky Flintstone,” has self-published his erotica Belinda Blinks. Jamie and his friends then rinse the novels on an extraordinarily popular podcast. What’s not to love?

Banging Book Club – Hannah Witton, Lucy Moon & Leena Norms

While I’m not a book club fan myself, there was no way I could avoid a podcast on books about sex. I’ve just been dipping in and out of this one as and when I’ve read the books they cover. So far, I’d say it’s pretty banging.

Project Pleasure – Anouszka & Frankie

Having followed Project Pleasure on Twitter for a while, when I finally opened up to podcasts it was at the top of my list. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve heard so far – sex positive conversations where female pleasure is a priority. Sex educator Alix Fox features occasionally, as they discuss sex ed, porn, masturbation, sexuality, periods and lots more of the good stuff.

Unexpected Fluids – Alix Fox & Riyadh Khalaf

This one is much less intimidating because I actually found it around the time it came out (recently) so there’s not as much pressure to catch up. It’s a podcast about bad sex – again, right up my street isn’t it? So far, the first couple of episodes have been, as the title would suggest, more about icky/sticky/funny sex than the depressingly painful sexual chit chat I spend so much time talking about, which is a much needed break. Alix Fox is one of the hosts and Hannah Witton features, suggesting that the world of British sex podcasts is a rather small one. This does mean you occasionally get the odd identical anecdote.

My Gilmore Girls inspired mantra for dating is: “every bad date is a good anecdote for the next,” and Unexpected Fluids applies this to sex. Except it’s more, “every bad hook up is a good anecdote for a BBC podcast.” Standard.

Ctrl Alt Delete with Emma Gannon

I won’t lie, most of my motivation for this podcast came from the fact that Dawn O’Porter features on multiple occasions and I love her. Reni Eddo-Lodge also features but I’m yet to listen to that episode. The talk with O’Porter that I’ve listened to so far, was particularly interesting to me because like in the more personal episodes of About Race, there’s a lot of talk about freelancing and I need as much advice as I can get. All the conversations about going freelance, from this podcast, About Race and the one below, have been really morale boosting which is so refreshing when so many people tell you, “you’re totally doomed.”

In Good Company with Otegha Uwagba

Again, you might’ve heard of Uwagba because of her hugely successful “Little Black Book” – a career handbook for creative working women. She’s also the founder of Women Who. Her book is still on my TBR for now, but I was led to her podcast by About Race, which signal boosts other great podcasts at the end of each episode. Again, I’m here for the freelance chat, but it’s also great to hear real, gritty, serious and amazing success stories from women in creative businesses.