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Award winning indie food podcaster and journalist, Gilly Smith illustrates the power of the pod again this month with interviews with top food writers, among them the new Queen’s son, and the team behind Ottolenghi’s latest book.

Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith is based around four food moments chosen by the author, Desert Island Discs style. The 30 minute weekly podcast, now in its fifth year, has consistently featured interviews with the best of British food writers, including Claudia Roden, Yotam Ottolenghi, Tom Kerridge, Felicity Cloake, Olia Hercules, Sheila Dillon, Anna Jones, Raymond Blanc, Sophie Grigson,Chris Van Tulleken, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, James Rebanks among many others.

This month (September 2024), Gilly talks to the three writers behind Ottolenghi’s new book, Comfort and reveals a fascinating dynamic behind the throne. With Yotam locked in an interview with old media, Gilly chats to Tara Wigley, Verena Lochmuller and Helen Goh who reveal how Ottolenghi,...

The British Podcast Awards are now open for entries at britishpodcastawards.com

The awards will return for a second year to Here at Outernet in Central London on Thursday 26th September 2024. Tickets will be on sale soon.

Recognising excellence, passion and originality in British podcasting, the awards champion those in front of and behind the microphone.

Thousands of podcasters will be trying to scoop awards across enterable 23 categories, including Entertainment, Wellbeing, Business, Fiction and New Podcast, plus the publicly voted Listeners' Choice. With over 230,000 votes last year, it’s the category that gets podcasters campaigning for votes on their shows and through social media.

The British Podcast Awards has also introduced the 'Best Host(s)' category to celebrate the brilliant up-and-coming voices in the podcast industry.

The awards were the first to champion George The Poet’s seminal series, as well as hits Griefcast and Dear Daughter. Previous winners have reached new,...

Exclusive: Sky Studios has denied that it is piloting a Hugh Bonneville comedy about slavery amid a backlash from Black creatives on social media.

The Comcast-owned European studio said Forty Acres depicts Bonneville’s character reflecting on the genesis of his “generational wealth” and is “categorically not a comedy about slavery.”

The working title is, however, a play on a failed Civil War reparations program known as “40 acres and a mule.” Forty acres happens to be the size of the estate owned by Bonneville’s character.

Sky has not formally announced the project, but it was reported on by the British Comedy Guide. The publication initially said the pilot, penned by Wonka and Hijack star Rufus Jones, was about “historic slavery.” The story has since been updated to say Forty Acres is about “Britain’s murky colonial legacy.”

British Comedy Guide‘s original piece sparked criticism on Twitter (now X). London Hughes,...

‘Quicksand’s Flx Gets New CEO

Joshua Mehr has been named CEO of Flx, the Swedish producer behind Netflix’s series Quicksand. Pontus Edgren, who part-owns the company alongside founder and Creative Director Felix Herngren and majority shareholder Sf Studios, is stepping down as CEO. According to a press release, Edgren has chosen to leave “on his own initiative” and has been “in dialogue with Flx’s owners for some time to ensure a smooth succession.” Mehr has been with the company as Head of Business Affairs since 2015 and is stepping up to the CEO post with “an extremely good understanding of the industry and Flx in particular,” said Iréne Lindblat, CEO off Sf Studios and Chair of the Flx board. Flx’s behind series such as Sunny Side, Love & Anarchy and Quicksand, feature films such as The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared and Comedy Queen,...

Since its conception and rise to international acclaim, the multi-award-winning Have You Heard George’s Podcast? has transcended any genre. In this gripping new chapter titled After Empire, George The Poet presents a compelling exploration of African history through the lens of Cold War intrigue; a true crime saga weaving in poetry, music and archive footage with George’s characteristically stylish and soulful storytelling.

Coinciding with Black History Month, George takes a deep dive into the African independence movements of the 1960s, telling poignant tales of struggle and sacrifice that have framed some of the most important and least discussed events of the last six decades, from the perspective of some of history’s unsung heroes.

We travel in time to hear stories about fascinating people like Patrice Lumumba, the independence leader and the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president.

Steve Carsey has taken over as Chair of Audiotrain, the training and skills initiative run by producers’ trade body AudioUK which increases skills and knowledge for audio production professionals making podcasts, radio and audiobooks.

Steve is the Managing Director of Bertelsmann's Audio Alliance UK and their international podcast studio/label Storyglass. He will be Chair of Audiotrain in addition to this role. Previously he was a Senior Director at Audible for nearly seven years. Before that he held various roles, including in television for ITN Productions, Steadfast TV, Endemol Shine Group and Mentorn.

He replaces David Prest, MD of Whistledown, who founded and was Chair of the programme since 2014.

Audiotrain has so far provided a large number of one-off training days, lasting from an hour and a half to a full day, across practical production skills through to entrepreneurship and company management skills. It estimated that it has so...

BBC Sounds continues to champion the growing UK podcast sector as it joins Spotify’s Megaphone, an industry leading podcast publishing and monetisation platform.

With Megaphone’s technology, we will be able to dynamically recommend relevant content to audiences on other podcast platforms in the UK, helping listeners discover more brilliant audio they’ll love from across the BBC, wherever they listen. Thanks to this new approach, we will transform the way we highlight BBC programmes on other podcast platforms, demonstrating our commitment to the growing podcast listenership in the UK.

Podcasting icon Jon Ronson announces the return of the phenomenally popular and acclaimed BBC Radio 4 podcast Things Fell Apart for a second series in 2024, and the long awaited Chapter Four of George The Poet’s groundbreaking Peabody Award winning Have You Have You Heard George’s Podcast? launches this autumn.

Plus details of a raft of exciting new...

How To Fail’s Elizabeth Day will be the Chair of Judges for this year’s British Podcast Awards. Named the British Podcast Awards' Rising Star in 2019, Elizabeth's hugely successful podcast How To Fail has since reached over 40 million downloads and she launched Best Friend Therapy with psychotherapist Emma Reed-Turrell in 2022. The #1 Sunday Times bestselling author follows in the footsteps of Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, George The Poet, Dr Rangan Chatterjee and Miranda Sawyer.

To cap off a particularly hellacious year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gifted us the first episode of their Archewell Audio podcast on Dec. 29. Throughout the episode, which was a 2020 holiday special, we heard from the likes of Stacey Abrams, Christina Adane, José Andrés, Brené Brown, Rachel Cargle, Deepak Chopra, James Corden, Matt Haig, Elton John, Hussain Manawer, Naomi Osaka, Tyler Perry, and George the Poet. While the episode's quotes about 2020 were at times both uplifting and reflective, the true highlight came at the end when Harry and Meghan shared a sweet moment with their 1-year-old son, Archie. "Archie, is it fun?" Meghan asked before Harry had him repeat "Happy New Year" with a giggle. Listening to the three of them laughing, along with Archie's slightly English accent, is a sound we'll keep coming back to when we need a pick-me-up.

Harry and Meghan chose to close out the podcast...

Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, are kicking off their multi-year audio partnership with Spotify with a holiday special featuring a royal court’s worth of A-list guests.

The stand-alone special (listen below) promises “a collection of personal anecdotes and inspirational stories from a variety guests around the world … plus a surprise or two,” according to a press release. Billed guests include Stacey Abrams, Christina Adane, José Andrés, Brené Brown, Rachel Cargle, Deepak Chopra, James Corden, Matt Haig, Sir Elton John, Hussain Manawer, Naomi Osaka, Tyler Perry, and George the Poet.

Following the pattern set by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground, the royal couple’s exclusive podcast partnership with Spotify, which starts in 2021, became known earlier this month. It followed the announcement of a Netflix deal earlier in the year. Archwell Audio is their production banner and teamed with Spotify-owned Gimlet Media to produce the special.

George Mpanga wanted to make a TV show. Looking to expand his conscious-growing work as the internationally recognized musician and spoken word artist George the Poet, he wanted to bring those talents to a new venue.

He was told he didn’t have the requisite experience. So he took on a new challenge: Take all of the current affairs-centered ideas he wanted to bring to sociology and humanities students and transfer them to an audio setting.

“Embedded deep in the logic of how we approach the podcast and the soundscape is a kind of stubbornness and determination to show that we can make visual some very elaborate ideas, with or without a production credit,” Mpanga told IndieWire.

So along with producer, composer, and songwriter Paul Carter, who works under the name Benbrick, they set out to tackle the principals of episodic storytelling with a podcast of their own. Together, the...

An average of 5.4 million viewers tuned in to see the BBC’s coverage of the “One World: Together at Home” concert, which saw artists such as Lady Gaga and The Rolling Stones perform from their living rooms to celebrate healthcare workers.

The U.K. version also introduced extra performances from British artists like Sir Tom Jones, who sang a rousing version of “Glory of Love”; pop group Little Mix, which sang their hit single “Touch”; Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, who performed Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin'”; Jess Glynne, whose song “I’ll Be There” was performed against a moving montage of frontline workers in action; George the Poet, who read out a poem dedicated to the country’s key workers; and The Kingdom Choir, who closed the show with “Make You Feel My Love.”

In the U.K., the public broadcaster’s flagship channel BBC One screened...

The U.K.’s Broadcasting Press Guild held its 46th Television and Radio Awards at London’s Banking Hall on Friday, with “Chernobyl” and “The Virtues” among the winners.

The Bpg Awards, given for work commissioned or premiered in the U.K. and screened in 2019, are selected independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers.

“I’m proud to say that, for the second year in a row, a record number of votes were cast for the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, which is testament to the enduring qualities of the Bpg and the continued vibrancy of British television,” said Bpg chair Jake Kanter.

“Chernobyl” (Sky Atlantic) was named best drama series, while “The Virtues” (Channel 4) won the award for best single drama or miniseries.

Film and TV director Michael Apted was awarded the Bpg Jury Prize for the “Up” series, which began in 1964 with a profile of 14 seven-year-old...

Prince Harry attended the Sentebale Audi charity concert at Surrey's Hampton Court Palace on Tuesday evening following his meeting with the Prime Minister of Nepal. Sentebale is the Duke of Sussex's charity, which he set up with his good friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, and means "forget me not" in the Sesotho language. The concert aimed to raise funds and awareness for young people affected by HIV and AIDS in southern Africa and featured special performances by Rita Ora, George the Poet, Inala, Morena Leraba, and the B Positive Choir. The 34-year-old prince looked handsome as always as he flashed a few smiles in a navy blazer and gray trousers.

Sadly, Meghan Markle didn't make an appearance, as she's currently on maternity leave after welcoming baby Archie on May 6. However, she did surprise us all over the weekend when she unexpectedly showed up at Trooping the Colour. While the...