Sound on

For the last few weeks I’ve been jotting down the podcasts I’ve loved as I go. As many of you know, I have a decent commute and am very much a podcast person — so this is the backlog, emptied out.

Good Bad Billionaire is back (from the excellent Zing Tsjeng and Simon Jack). Spielberg — I knew the films, not the deals. He takes 2% of the ticket revenue at Universal’s theme parks, in perpetuity, roughly $30 million a year, forever, and turned down up to a billion to walk away in 2017. There’s also some good Jaws chat in there too. The Beyoncé one is good too. I’m saving Mr Beast and Ronaldo for the holiday drives with the kids.

Leading had Rory Stewart interviewing Jack Clark , co-founder of the AI company Anthropic. He’s British, from Brighton, did creative writing, got D grades in English at school. His description of what they’ve built: they’ve “taught sand to think.” I found it fascinating. He also mentioned he keeps himself calibrated on the technology by writing a newsletter on the side — a man building one of the most powerful things on earth, staying sane with a Substack.

Then Adam Buxton, back with Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke — both pure nostalgic giggles. The Enfield one had me laughing out loud on the train. Chrissie Hynde once called him “sperm of the devil,” Paul McCartney has seen Harry’s genitals. I went home and made the children watch the Kevin the Teenager sketch (again) — the one where he turns thirteen on the stroke of midnight.

The Kathy Burke is just as good: her dad, the punk and Two Tone skinhead years, Joe Strummer saying the right kind thing at the right moment, the creation of Perry, and a properly funny chat on comfy trainers, painful bras and getting older.

Desert Island Discs had Anna Maxwell Martin, who took me from belting Whitney in the car to weeping over The Streets inside one episode, brilliant song choices:

DISC ONE: I Love To Boogie – T. Rex
DISC TWO: The Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
DISC THREE: Together In Electric Dreams - Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder
DISC FOUR: Gianni Schicchi: "O mio babbino caro" (Lauretta) Composed by Giacomo Puccini and performed by Maria Callas (soprano) and Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin
DISC FIVE: When A Knight Won His Spurs – The Choir of Salisbury Cathedral, directed by David Halls
DISC SIX: Dry Your Eyes - The Streets
DISC SEVEN: Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell
DISC EIGHT: Tell Him - Lauryn Hill

Louis Theroux has Gary Lineker on, and it’s a proper sit-down — Louis back to the big hitters, which is where he’s best.

And then not podcasts, but football. I’m a fair weather fan: I’m in two sweepstakes (come on Senegal, come on Egypt) and i loved staying up late to watch the first England game with my son. Fascinated by what the half time talk must have involved - Does he shout? Is he unnervingly calm? More tournament to come…..I’ll learn the names of the players by the next one!

Give me your fav podcasts..need to bank some for hols…

S x