The British Podcast awards - why George the Poet swept the board

At the fabulous and fun British Podcast awards on Saturday evening, there were some worthy award winners. It was great to see PM’s daily work of reporting faith, The Grenfell Tower Inquiry, win a gold; also the wonderful You, Me and the Big C; plus Classic FM’s Case Notes and the funny indie This Paranormal Life, which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago; and the lovely Multi Story, featuring surprising stories from BBC local radio.

Congratulations to all the winners, then… but there was only one real winner. And that was 28-year-old George Mpanga, AKA George the Poet, whose show, Have You Heard George’s Podcast?, won an unprecedented four gold awards, plus two silvers, as well as the gold of golds: the podcast of the year award. When I tell you that George’s podcast won gold in the categories of new, smartest, fiction, and arts and culture, perhaps you will form an idea of what sort of listen it is; when you learn that the silver awards were in current affairs and moment of the year, you may change your view.

Whatever you think about this podcast before you listen to it – and we all bring assumptions to any cultural experience – Have You Heard… will turn your expectations inside out. George uses his show to create something unique. He provides a mix of drama, news, poetry, observations, lived experience, experimental ideas and music, and lets each form step up and fall back as needed. “I can never get enough ideas out of my head,” he says. Sometimes he explains: unpicks a drill track, or a news report, or talks us through a single thought process. Sometimes he acts, as do others, giving us a true-to-life-but-not-actual-life scene. Sometimes he interviews people or uses real-life audio. We meet characters whose speech forms into rhythmic cadences and rhymes so gradually that you only half notice that they’re speaking poetry. We visit places: a party in Kampala, a living room on a London estate, a funeral, a class in school. And – hallelujah – listeners are expected to keep up, to go with the flow in all senses, not to question the form but to relate to the content.

There are many topics covered in 2018’s eight-part series. Most concern, discuss or are relevant to young British BAME people, but this is not an exclusive programme. George covers the Grenfell Tower fire, the 2011 London riots, whether music causes crime, how a connection to another country can both offer and remove a sense of self. He gives us surprising takes on the glamorisation of violence, on school segregation, on poverty and self-motivation. “The biggest barrier to any idea is fear… My fear just wants me to see my faults. See my shortcomings, see my flaws. It’s like my fear don’t believe my source, and it acts like it’s looking out for my interests, by regulating the ideas I invest in. But fear only really cares about itself so I have to support my ting.”

And he tells the truth. An episode such as the one about Grenfell is not documentary, but it is true. The episode where he addresses the fallout from his being strip-searched by police goes places you do not expect, avoiding the cliches, and it’s all true.

Aside from this, the sound design is properly high quality, with muffled phone chat, voice-note pings, computer key taps moving in and around the voices. Plus, the music, absolutely fundamental to this podcast, and discussed by George within it, is treated with the respect it deserves. Tracks from Mucky, Dun D and Chika Dole pop like they should, but as well as this, co-producer and score composer Benbrick creates wonderful soundscapes that chivvy the action along.

Honestly, just stop reading this review right away and start listening instead. Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a rich listen, a beautifully wrapped gift for us listeners and a thoroughly deserved, sweep-all-before-it solid five-gold winner.

Three non-interview podcasts hosted by comedians

Happy and You Know It
In Mental Health Awareness Week, I can wholeheartedly recommend this funny, inclusive podcast about depression. Comedians and actors Ricky Grover, Miles Chapman and Sam Underwood talk with hilarious honesty about their struggles with the black dog. Grover, in particular, makes me howl when he’s on a roll, whether he’s banging on about his newfound joy in a keto diet, or how hard it is trying to get fit when depressed: “getting on the crossfit with my eyes closed”. Medication is also discussed: “It’s like Windolene,” says Grover. “The more you use of it, the better it gets.”

The Breakup Monologues
This is sort of an interview show, but one that’s centred around romantic failure. Comedian Rosie Wilby, who’s also written a book on the subject, talks to various friends, mostly comedians, about their best and worst relationship break-ups. Dolly Alderton, Richard Herring, Sofie Hagen are just some of those with great stories. Wilby livens things up with little quizzes and pertinent questions. The podcast has more of a chatshow feel than an in-depth one-on-one, and the live shows are excellent.

Drunk Women Solving Crime
Comedians and writers Hannah George, Catie Wilkins and Taylor Glenn invite a guest to talk about a crime that they’ve experienced. Then they all try to solve a historical offence and, finally, consider a listener’s crime. This is all done, usually, while everyone is having a few alcoholic drinks (not always, though). The result is funny, a little bit depressing (as one guest, Jen Brister, points out, there are a lot of crimes that involve “unwanted willies”), and thoroughly entertaining. I just recorded an episode with them and can report that we completely solved all the crimes available.