Today (BBC Radio 4) | BBC Sounds
Your Call (BBC Radio 5 Live) | bbc.co.uk
Brexit: A Love Story? (BBC podcasts) | bbc.co.uk
You may be unaware of this, but there are several podcasts out there specifically designed to analyse reality TV shows. Love Island had loads, I’m a Celebrity… a few, even Strictly has an official BBC one (as well as one from the Telegraph, which illustrates Strictly’s demographic). You could spend hours and hours listening to people chat about Ashley’s chilly professionalism, or if Joe has enough YouTube supporters to topple the immensely charming Stacey. Such chat wouldn’t change the results, though.
I thought of these podcasts last Wednesday, when listening to the radio furore ahead of the Conservative leadership contest. On the Today programme, Laura Kuenssberg gave as nuanced an analysis as she could, while Nick Robinson pointed out that, outside parliament, on that damp piece of grass where flag-wavers jump up and down as politicians do pieces to camera, some minions were setting up a microphone and podium. “It doesn’t look like anything’s happening,” sighed Robinson, and returned to Dominic Littlewood, who was analysing the money markets. “The pound has been doing very little,” reported Littlewood. And then, suddenly, Theresa May was talking! Just before 9am, luckily, in the usually throwaway 8.50 slot. She gave a bit of blether about – oh God – “taking back control” for a tight three minutes, and then we were back to the studio. Where John Humphrys called her Mrs Thatcher by mistake, and Today was allowed to continue for an extra 15 minutes.
Over on 5 Live, on Nicky Campbell’s Your Call, things got livelier. Rachel Burden of the breakfast show was staying on to monitor social media and texts. “I’ve had to phone my childminder,” she said, which I liked. (Has any male presenter ever done this?) Callers were irate, articulate and funny. “Bless you, my son,” said Paul from Wigan, when Campbell pointed out that he was being joined by Peter and Paul. “This is beyond a joke,” said another caller. “I can’t vote Conservative because of this, I can’t vote Labour, I’m a political orphan.”
Adam Fleming from 5 Live’s Brexitcast came on. He said that the EU negotiators didn’t really care who was prime minister, they just wanted someone who could pull parliament together and get the deal through. Take back control! “They’re a bunch of nerds!” said Peter from Eastbourne, about those who called the no-confidence vote, and everyone in Labour. I think only Theresa May wasn’t a nerd. Odd, no?
I have to say that those who feel the BBC is biased in one way or another would do well to listen to Campbell and Burden: they challenge everyone, robustly, but in a warm, inclusive manner. Anyway, there was much political sticking-in of knives (Alan Duncan on Boris Johnson: “He’s a publicity phenomenon, not a parliamentary phenomenon. He’s never there!”), plus huge exasperation from everyone who phoned in. And it was – like the reality show podcasts – all gossip and opinion. Froth. Frippery. It doesn’t change the vote, whichever vote is discussed. It just allows everyone to chat, to let off steam. Remember when we used to go to the pub to do that?
For those who find such blether too silly, may I recommend Radio 4’s PM’s Brexit: A Love Story? It’s completely un-thrilling. Originally, it was an episode-by-episode overview of the political history that led up to the 2016 referendum. It did this, and then carried on. Eventually, the show will catch up with the present and it, too, will just be high-octane gossip. For the moment, though, it’s a careful and clear-headed presentation of just how odd British attitudes have always been towards Europe. Mark Mardell, of The World This Weekend, is our host and very good he is too.
A postscript. In 1985, Neil Postman, in Amusing Ourselves to Death, wrote this. “When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when a cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainment, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk… then a nation finds itself at risk.” Somewhere inside us, we know this. But we just can’t stop chatting.
Three shows about chess
The Perpetual Chess Podcast
The Garry Kasparov of chess podcasts, Perpetual Chess offers a weekly interview with a chess star – player, promoter, educator – plus extra stuff such as reports from the World Championship. Ben Johnson hosts, enthusiastically and informedly, and this is an enjoyable listen, though far more enjoyable, I imagine, if chess is your life. More than 100 interviews to choose from, with international masters and grand masters, plenty of whom seem to also excel in other forms of puzzle-solving. There are even a handful of women in there.
Across the Board
What an odd show this is. Three series of short programmes where Dominic Lawson conducts interviews over a game of chess (you used to be able to follow the game on the Radio 4 website, but that’s gone now). Lawson actually asks questions such as: Can women be as good at chess as men? (to politician Rachel Reeves). Commentary on the game is given by grand master Daniel King in the whispered style of a snooker game. Answers are a bit stilted, because the players are concentrating on the game, but there are some good interviews in here.
The Chessboxing Podcast
For many of us, chessboxing consists of the Wu-Tang Clan’s Da Mystery of Chessboxin’, and that’s about it. But there is a real-life, thriving chessboxing scene, where players play chess and then have a boxing match. And so there’s also a podcast: an upbeat, slightly scatty listen where the host – the so-called Grievous Bodily Farmer (real name Gavin Patterson) - can’t always be bothered to learn his interviewees’ names. There’s more of a boxing emphasis than a chess one, though if you go to the website, there are chess links to follow.
