PODCASTS/AUDIOBOOKS
The State of the Art BBC Sounds, review by Yvette Huddleston
This collection of five connected short stories from multi award-winning author William Boyd presents a wryly comic satire of the contemporary art world. The overarching narrative focuses on London art dealer Giles Flint-Greenfield, a specialist in post-war British watercolours. Giles is bored with and heading into a midlife crisis and is offered a potentially exciting and lucrative deal by a more successful (and unscrupulous) old art dealer friend in the hip world of the East London art scene. Soon Giles leaves behind conservative St James for trendy Leyton and swaps his tweed for black leather, but he does feel a little out of his depth… The impressive list of readers includes Ed Stoppard, Tom Hollander, Hayley Atwell, Adrian Scarborough and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
Your Place or Mine with Sean Keaveny BBC Sounds, review by Yvette Huddleston
Sean Keaveny is a man who doesn’t like to leave his house much, and for this entertaining series he invites celebrity guests to tell him about a favourite place they have loved visiting to see if it will entice him off his sofa. Among those Keaveny has heard from in this latest season, are broadcaster and baker Nadiya Hussain who sings the praises of Sylhet in Bangladesh, naturalist and explorer Steve Backshall who talks of his love for the Amazon rainforest and its its diverse wildlife and Maisie Adam who waxes lyrical about the joys of wintry Rovaniemi in Finland where you can enjoy the Northern Lights, heavy metal bands and black drinks. Resident geographer, historian and comedian Iszi Lawrence is also on hand with more information.
Legend: The Joni Mitchell Story BBC Sounds, review by Yvette Huddleston
In this fascinating six-part series, American singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop explores the life and music of legendary Canadian folk-rock musician Joni Mitchell. A pioneering artist whose work has been hugely influential, Mitchell has an incredibly impressive body of work. The series features plenty of opportunity to hear her iconic songs, as well as some of her earliest home recordings. The listener is taken on a journey from the remote prairie towns of Saskatchewan where Mitchell grew up to the bohemian idyll of Laurel Canyon in LA. Mitchell embraced the hippie idealism of the Woodstock generation and survived the tough materialism of the 1980s. She has retreated from fame many times, but now, at the age of 80, she is back on stage performing.
The Planet Earth Podcast BBC Sounds, review by Yvette Huddleston
Going behind the scenes of the filming of the BBC’s landmark Planet Earth series, this makes for extremely interesting listening. It offers insights into the amazing work that the natural history filmmakers do to bring the stories of life on earth to our television screens. We hear of some hairy moments – such as when the crew accidentally drove into the middle of a pride of lions – and the challenges that the production team have faced over the years, since the very first series in 2006, from night filming to extreme weather conditions. In the opening episode we also hear from David Attenborough himself on what it was like filming out in the field in his early days and how things have changed.