Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wake With Kathy Burke Somethin’ Else/Sony
Origins Audible Originals
The Art of Longevity The Song Sommelier
Late Fragments Acast
My Dad Wrote a Porno Acast
I’m going to rattle through a few new celebrity interview podcasts this week (you can thank me later, etc). First up: Where There’s a Will There’s a Wake with the nation’s favourite actor turned occasional presenter, Kathy Burke. The concept? Death and how to do it, plus jokes. Burke is only in her 50s, but contemplating your own demise is a useful way of putting yourself in your place during middle age. “After all, every day lived is a day closer to death,” she says, cheerfully.
We might see the podcast as an excuse for Burke to chat to her (famous) friends, given that the first guest is her long-term pal Dawn French; the show promises Stewart Lee and Diane Morgan to come. But the subject matter gives the chat a kick: Burke asks French to plan her own death, funeral, wake, will and what she might like to do as a ghost. French fulfils the brief valiantly and hilariously: her design for her coffin and what she’d like done with her embalmed body after the ceremony had me howling.
Burke, though not a bad interviewer, isn’t as probing as some, but it doesn’t really matter. This isn’t Question Time, it’s a laugh, and Burke’s so thoroughly lovely that you feel as though any guest will shine as hard as they can, just to hear her filthy smoker’s cackle. Extra episodes promise to feature listeners and their death experiences, whether spooky or silly.
Another new celeb chat series, Origins, on Audible, is very different. In it, interviewer Phil Griffin talks to musicians about their origins: what influenced them, where they grew up, who their friends were, past experiences. His subjects mostly skew young – singers Billie Eilish and Camilo, rappers Doja Cat and Tobe Nwigwe, producer Flying Lotus – but these are clever, thoughtful interviewees and the results are intriguing, if bizarre. The soundscaping is a bit OTT (echoing words, illustrating sentences with relevant sounds, strange music), but fans will undoubtedly enjoy the shows, especially because each episode also includes an acoustic version of a couple of songs. Plus the interviews are great: intimate and unusual, made slightly otherworldly by the sound trickery.
Still, despite the flashy audio tricks, by far the weirdest thing about this podcast is the complete lack of context. Who is Griffin? Why are these famous people talking to him? Why soundscape the show in that way? Why not flag up that the musicians will be performing? The show provides next to no information, apart from a hugely lengthy list of producers and agents at the end. It’s frustrating. Audible makes some great podcasts but gives barely a line within its app or website as to what the shows are. So unless the host explains what’s going on, you’re flailing. How will anyone find Origins, and, once they do, how on earth will they know what it’s about?
A less flashy but more long-standing contribution to the “musician talking” podcast genre is The Art of Longevity, hosted by music business executive Keith Jopling, who talks to a wide variety of artists about how they’ve stayed afloat in the music business. Jopling is affable and the musicians respond accordingly, but some sharper questions and a more thorough edit would lift things a lot. A newer show, Late Fragments, hosted by journalist Chloe Fox, sees her talk to famous people aged over 80. The first two episodes feature the late Carmen Callil (her last interview) and Tom Stoppard. The beautifully voiced Fox lets the tempo be dictated by the interviewee, and thus, with Stoppard, things start a little slowly. But Fox asks excellent questions, and knows when to intervene and when not to, and these are enjoyable listens. You could imagine a more tightly produced version on Radio 4.
Just room to say “au revoir and thanks for all the pans” to My Dad Wrote a Porno, which is coming to an end. Jamie Morton, James Cooper and Alice Levine have decided that eight years is long enough, and though Rocky Flintstone (Jamie’s dad) will continue to write his loopy porn books, the podcast will no longer pick over each chapter. The team are releasing a couple of goodbye episodes, the last of which will feature the mysterious Rocky himself. Ah, what an utterly mad show this has been: a unique situation turned into a fabulously entertaining listen through excellent production, great hosting and the media savvy to know when to put out a series and when to hold back. A one-off. Unlike the ever-expanding celebrity interview podcast, there can be no other versions. MDWAP can never, ever be reproduced.
