Homo Sapiens podcast: homosapienspodcast.com
Under the Skin podcast: russellbrand.com
Saturday Review (Radio 4): iPlayer
A couple of celeb-hosted podcasts this week. First, Will Young’s new offering, Homo Sapiens, launched to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act (which decriminalised sexual acts between two men, as long as both men were over 21 and the deed took place in private). Homo Sapiens aims, it says, to be a Woman’s Hour for LGBTQ+ audiences.
I’m not sure it’s that, but Young hosts with his friend Chris Sweeney, a director, and the two clearly get along. There’s genuine warmth between them, and they sound unnervingly alike (this is often the way with podcasts: think of Adam and Joe or Invisibilia’s presenters, Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller – good friends can adopt one another’s mannerisms and delivery). In fact, at times during this first episode, Young and Sweeney sounded so similar in style and opinion it was as if only one person was talking. Youngey, perhaps. Luckily, Youngey was lovely.
The idea behind the show was for the pair to interview big names from the queer community, but not solely about their work. Youngey wants the personal stuff, too. So in the first episode they talked to Owen Jones, whose opinions are well known – he’s a respected Guardian columnist and broadcasts on YouTube – but whose life remains mostly under wraps.
Jones spoke a lot about when he came out, who to, what their reaction was, that sort of stuff. He told a hilarious story about his mum’s response when he first introduced her to a boyfriend. And he spoke seriously, too, pointing out that homophobic abuse in schools is often aimed at straight kids because such abuse is rooted in gender policing. “Almost all men, at some point, will be homophobically abused,” he said. Are you acting male enough? If not, you must be gay.
Honest and endearing, Jones was still careful to be positive. “When we talk about this, I worry. You know, that idea that being gay means your life will be miserable and lonely and the danger is when I talk about [problems], people will say, ‘Ah you see, they were right.’ And that isn’t true! Coming out is like coming up for air.” What a lovely phrase.
The other celebrity podcast I’ve been enjoying is Russell Brand’s Under the Skin. I know, I know: come back! Actually, Brand has always been a great audio presenter, but in previous shows, both radio and podcast, his ego was allowed to run riot to sometimes horrible effect. So it’s refreshing to hear that in this podcast he puts the emphasis on his guests. They are all clever people, to whom Brand posits various rambling but serious questions.
He wants Answers with a capital A: the meaning of life, the short cut to spiritual awakening, the revolution that will overthrow the president, the place of economic and political systems within history, how terrorism works and if it can be stopped, ditto religion… Not much small talk here. High-profile guests such as Adam Curtis, Naomi Klein, Yanis Varoufakis and Yuval Noah Harari join Brand in trying to unpick humanity’s most tangled knots. And… it works, more often than not.
The latest episode has Will Storr discussing why the selfie is an indication of the narcissistic western approach to individuality, and it’s fascinating. It’s noticeable that Brand, who is doing an MA at Soas on religion in global politics, has got less manic as the podcast has continued. Often, his self-generated broadcast series (I’m thinking of The Trews, in particular) have descended into ego-fuelled self-indulgence, but Under the Skin hasn’t so far, and is getting better all the time. Each episode lasts an hour and, honestly, I recommend them.
Just enough room to do a little jig of joy at the news that Radio 4 has rethought its awful idea to get rid of Saturday Review. Station boss Gwyneth Williams has eaten humble pie with great grace and the show has been reinstated (though it never quite left). Good. Still, I wonder if BBC TV will ever bring back some form of cultural review? Dancing a little jig or, indeed, holding your breath for that one is not recommended.
