PODCASTS — LISTEN AT YOUR LEISURE EMILY HOURICAN

Broken Record

itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/broken-record/id1311004083?mt=2 This never really took off — launched in November 2017, there hasn’t been a second episode yet — but that doesn’t mean to say the solo outing isn’t well worth a listen.

Created by Rick Rubin (super-producer who has worked with Ed Sheeran, Adele, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and zillions more, and founder of Columbia Records) and Malcolm Gladwell, the idea was episodes devoted to different songs, artists, and kinds of music. First off was Eminem, who released his Rubin-produced song Walk on Water featuring Beyonce, at the same time as the podcast. Known for his articulacy as much as his occasional truculence, Eminem describes Walk on Water as “a very mortal song. It’s mortality, it’s not being Superman”, adding, “What if I can’t come up with the best s**t I wrote every single time, you know?”

He also talks about his early influences — Ice-T, NWA, Audio Two — how pre-hip hop he was “such a nerdy kid”, and how much Tupac Shakur’s creative process influenced his own.

Then Gladwell jumps in to reveal that Rubin originally played the song for Jay-Z, and it was he who then convinced Beyonce to sing the chorus. Rubin also talks about playing Frank Zappa to Eminem, because “I thought the energy might be right for him.”

Dawn Chorus

www.rte.ie/radio1/mooney/generic/2018/0327/950416-dawn-chorus-2018 This is one to download and keep, because there is nothing more glorious than this annual celebration of morning birdsong. Who knew there was such a thing as International Dawn Chorus Day? Well there is, and for two decades now, Derek Mooney’s show has been marking the date with a live transmission of domestic birdsong, then teaming up with other dawn choruses across Europe.