David Hepworth Quotes

One of the reasons why 'Here's The Thing', Alec Baldwin's series of podcasts with 'artists, policymakers and performers', is so good is because he's a big name, so the guests have to deliver.

- David Hepworth

'Bombshell' is a remarkable podcast. In the course of it, three people who know what they are talking about cover 'military strategy, White House mayhem, and the best cocktails'.

- David Hepworth

The packaging of Led Zeppelin's IV doesn't have the name of the band, doesn't have the name of the album: It's got a guy on the cover with a load of sticks on his back. This record didn't quite get to No. 1 in the United States - it went to No. 2 - but stayed on the charts for years and years and years.

- David Hepworth

For a wide-ranging look at literary matters, the 'Book Review Podcast' from the 'New York Times' is still one of the best. Presented by Pamela Paul, each episode has an interview with an author - recent guests have included Neil Gaiman and Sana Krasikov - plus a roundup of the uppers, downers and hanging-arounders on the U.S. bestsellers chart.

- David Hepworth

Bobby Bones is a young country DJ who does a widely syndicated morning show. He's at his best with his BobbyCast, in which he talks to Nashville up-and-comers such as Kelsea Ballerini and Lauren Alaina. Guests are encouraged to relax on Bones's couch and talk about anything they like.

- David Hepworth

For magazines seeking to extend their reach into podcasting, half the battle is finding members of staff who don't sound like the kind of people you wouldn't care to be stuck in a lift with.

- David Hepworth

The 'PBS NewsHour' podcast is the audio version of the nightly TV broadcast.

- David Hepworth

'The Canon' is a film podcast that also has much in common with books podcast 'Backlisted.' Both suggest you can get a lot of pleasure out of things that aren't new.

- David Hepworth

If you listen to 'Pod Save America', which is run by former Obama staffers and Democratic party partisans, you'll be exposed to ads for home delivery of everything from gourmet meals to underwear, presumably in the belief that you're too busy being fabulous to go near a shop.

- David Hepworth

History is written by the victors. The victors in daily life tend to be those who live longest.

- David Hepworth

I think getting people's focus, getting people's attention on anything has never been harder, because the media has done everything in its power to try and dissolve people's attention, shift it round absolutely all the time.

- David Hepworth

Both traditional broadcasters and podcasters are betting heavily on the growth of voice-driven technology and so-called smart speakers, the theory being that it is as easy to ask Amazon's Alexa to play you the 'Guardian Books' podcast as it is to get it to play Capital FM.

- David Hepworth

I make no apology for the fact I like to hear people talk about work. It's the acceptable way of talking about life and people.

- David Hepworth

'I Was There Too' talks to people who played non-starring roles in big movies. That means the likes of comedian Jimmy Pardo, who didn't make it to the finished 'Dreamgirls.' Still, he recalls that when an actor is put on hold for a movie, he gets paid for two weeks just for sitting at home waiting to be called.

- David Hepworth

'Twenty Thousand Hertz' investigates the role of audio professionals in our daily lives, from the engineering that ensures a car door closes with that reassuring finality to the Foley artists of Hollywood who synthesise the sounds of marine life using old kitchen equipment gathered at the pound shop.

- David Hepworth

Back in the 1980s, state-of-the-nation fictions were all set in Manhattan. Now, they're all in Trump country. Early in 'S-Town,' we're introduced to an actual maze, every branch of which leads to a further junction. This may also be a metaphor.

- David Hepworth

The 'Backlisted' podcast describes itself as 'giving new life to old books'. In each episode, John Mitchinson and Andy Miller are joined by a guest from the world of books who brings along some overlooked gem to enthuse about.

- David Hepworth

I don't think most rock stars are particularly calculating. I don't think they sit there and think, 'I will do this; therefore, on Monday, I will sell another 200,000 records'.

- David Hepworth

Karina Longworth, the genius behind 'You Must Remember This', has quite correctly spun off her series about the Sharon Tate murders as a separate podcast called 'You Must Remember Manson' to mark the passing of the man who unleashed hell because he couldn't get a recording contract.

- David Hepworth

It is the melancholy fate of all young legends to becoming better known for the things they did to exploit fame than the things that made them famous in the first place.

- David Hepworth

Lucy Kellaway's columns in the 'Financial Times' lend themselves to podcasts because they usually consist of her giving a brisk ticking off to some CEO or subversively wondering whether we're really as busy as we pretend we are.

- David Hepworth

The great children's author and illustrator Shirley Hughes marks her 90th birthday by appearing as Michael Berkeley's guest in 'Private Passions'.

- David Hepworth

Half the battle with successful podcasts is in the naming; here, the big media owners have a lot to learn from the smaller operators.

- David Hepworth

'The Anthill' is the podcast wing of The Conversation, the site that presents news and views derived from the academic and research community.

- David Hepworth

Formed in 1967 and still performing regularly half a century later, Fairport Convention are Britain's equivalent of the Band. Unlike the latter they have maintained cordial relations.

- David Hepworth

Justin Hayward was a teenager when he was drafted into the Moody Blues in 1966. He brought with him one song he had written for his girlfriend. This was called 'Nights in White Satin,' which subsequently made a fortune for a lot of people.

- David Hepworth

The age of the rock star was coterminous with rock n' roll, which, in spite of all the promises made in some memorable songs, proved to be as finite as the era of ragtime or big bands. The rock era is over. We now live in a hip-hop world.

- David Hepworth

From Public Radio International, there's 'PRI's The World', which is the States looking out at the rest of the globe. Elsewhere, the 'Global News Podcast' from the BBC World Service offers something similar.

- David Hepworth

The ads that podcasts manage to sell tell you a lot about who they think is listening. They include services that promise to make your investment portfolio ethical, deliver exotic, ready meals to your home, or guarantee better sleep thanks to luxury bed linen.

- David Hepworth

'Spectator Books' is presented by the genial Sam Leith. Leith has a little catch in his delivery that quickly becomes addictive. It's things like this that give podcasts their charm.

- David Hepworth

Talking about smart thinking, The British-made 'Brain Training Podcast' is a brief daily workout for the mind that could easily get addictive.

- David Hepworth

Some of the vintage comedy on Radio 4 Extra wasn't very funny to begin with, whereas some things just get funnier regardless of the changes in public attitudes over the years.

- David Hepworth

The age of the rock star ended with the passing of physical product, the rise of automated percussion, the domination of the committee approach to hit-making, the widespread adoption of choreography, and, above all, the advent of the mystique-destroying Internet.

- David Hepworth

In 'The High Low', in some respects an audio version of 'Grazia,' Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton wonder whether they missed something in their survey of the Harvey Weinstein story. Maybe they did, they decide.

- David Hepworth

The '30 for 30' strand started life as a series of behind-the-scenes docs for the sports channel ESPN. It has now spawned an equally fascinating series of podcasts. Like the films, these podcasts don't rely on access, the usual currency of sports journalism, and are strangely excited by stories that are complicated and require telling at length.

- David Hepworth

There's only one podcast subject that can give Donald Trump a run for his money when it comes to vulgarity, excess, and base comedy, and that's football.

- David Hepworth

The 'Sodajerker' podcast is the work of Liverpool songwriting duo Simon Barber and Brian O'Connor.

- David Hepworth

Upload Radio is a new venture offering content creators and bedroom DJs the chance to get their own programmes on the air by buying time.

- David Hepworth

'You Must Remember This', the podcast about 'the secret and or forgotten history of Hollywood's first century', has a thread dedicated to Dead Blondes, which is a clue to where it's coming from.

- David Hepworth

'Constitutional' is an unashamedly educational podcast from the 'Washington Post.' Sub-titled 'a podcast about the story of America,' it's presented by Lillian Cunningham, who engages scholars to explain the fascinating story of how a nation is designed from scratch.

- David Hepworth

Fortunately... 'With Fi and Jane' features BBC veterans Fi Glover and Jane Garvey sitting in the BBC cafe, nattering about whatever interests them.

- David Hepworth

The podcast by 'The Kitchen Sisters' celebrates the staggering variety of a society of immigrants via its food, from the Sheepherders' Ball in Boise, Idaho, through the favoured cuisine of Emily Dickinson to the unbelievable rituals of the great rural barbecue.

- David Hepworth

If you don't work near a water cooler and hanker for the company of fellow natural history enthusiasts, 'The Blue Planet II Podcast' has Emily Knight and Becky Ripley enthusing infectiously about and delving deeper into the most recent episode.

- David Hepworth

Radio 4 Extra is the network which offers the broadcasting version of eternal life.

- David Hepworth

Anyone born in the year 1950 who grew to fancy themselves as a soulful 18-year-old bought 'Songs of Leonard Cohen' upon its original release in 1968. For many of them, it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

- David Hepworth

If, like me, you've never watched 'Game of Thrones', the podcast 'Binge Mode: 'Game of Thrones'' ought to be unlistenable. It isn't, thanks to the energy of the two expert presenters Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion, who have the wit to laugh at their own deep-dive devotion and are helped out by some smart editing.

- David Hepworth

An interesting way into the celebrity interview podcast is via their dogs. Celebs may not be keen to let us into their homes, because they don't like us to see how wealthy they are. However, tell them you want to go for a walk on Hampstead Heath with them and their mutt, and they're only too happy.

- David Hepworth

'The Daily' from the 'New York Times' - which offers smart analysis of one key story - sets the pace here, and can see you through one standard train commute.

- David Hepworth

The 'Art of Charm' podcast can be intimidating. Not just because it's the work of a lawyer called Jordan Harbinger. Not simply because Jordan has worked out how to weaponise all the many elements of the human personality that go to make up charisma in order to get people to listen to him, be impressed by him, or hire him.

- David Hepworth

'Adrift With Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port' features Absolute Radio escapee Geoff and erstwhile colleague Annabel doing something similar. All are appealing individuals with plenty to say, tentatively getting used to their new freedom to talk about anything.

- David Hepworth

All political careers end in failure, but few did it so quickly as David Cameron's. He came to power promising not to 'bang on about Europe' and ended up having the continent's name chiselled into the lid of his political coffin.

- David Hepworth

The people who talk on the edgier 'Song Exploder' have often made their entire record on their desktop. It's never been easier to compete, but it's never been harder to win, either.

- David Hepworth

'Podcasting House' is pivotal to the BBC's plan to scatter the seed of its various non-broadcast audio products beyond the narrow silos of the people who happen to listen to the programmes from which they arise.

- David Hepworth

The podcast 'A History of Jazz' began telling its story in February - 100 years after the recording of 'Livery Stable Blues' by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the start of jazz as a legitimate branch of music.

- David Hepworth

The podcast most likely to encourage you to fully appreciate your food is the episode of BBC World Service's 'The Food Chain' in which Antonio Carluccio talks to Emily Thomas about his life in five dishes.

- David Hepworth

When Shanthi Ranganathan was the featured turn on 'Hip Hop Saved My Life With Romesh Ranganathan,' we learned she didn't allow him to have a girlfriend until he'd finished university, and she learned - to her unfeigned horror - that he used to sneak girls into the house when she was out.

- David Hepworth

'Unjustly Maligned' is a neat idea for a podcast. Antony Johnston invites a believer to make the case for a cultural artefact that consensus tends to deride.

- David Hepworth

John Lydon must be more famous for his efforts on behalf of dairy products than his music.

- David Hepworth

Radio people can't entirely shake off radio habits when they start doing podcasts. They sometimes bring with them things we don't need, like producers and explanatory voiceovers.

- David Hepworth

The podcast 'Note to Self' is 'the tech show about being human'. Human notions of privacy have changed.

- David Hepworth

Richard Hoggart's cultural analysis 'The Uses of Literacy' was published in 1957, but its influence still hovers over anyone setting out to write seriously about people's affection for things that aren't serious, such as the products of pop culture.

- David Hepworth

Mongolia is a country of only three million souls. One million of them live in Ulaanbaatar, where, despite the skyscrapers, half the population sleep in tents. One of the few Mongolians to become famous outside his home country is Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar, who won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World prize.

- David Hepworth

The neurologist calls it 'Non-REM parasomnia'. For the sufferer, it might mean rising in the middle of the night, getting your motorbike out, going for a ride, and waking in the morning with no memory of the experience.

- David Hepworth

Others may recognise their world in 'Eat Sleep Work Repeat'. This podcast is the side project of Bruce Daisley, who works at Twitter. It consists of him talking to experts about what makes us happy at work and why.

- David Hepworth

The opening solo on 'Once in Royal David's City' is still the most dramatic radio moment of the year.

- David Hepworth

According to the producers of gripping podcast 'Death, Sex & Money', these are the three things we think about a lot but need to talk about more.

- David Hepworth

Songwriters often seek the company of fellow songwriters to help finish what they've started, and these days, many do it at songwriting camps.

- David Hepworth

A gap in tone is opening up between podcasts and broadcast radio. The people who produce the former know their listeners have given them permission to go deep into their subject. The people who do the latter live in fear they've already gone too far.

- David Hepworth

'They Walk Among Us' is the work of husband-and-wife team Benjamin and Rosie. In the past, they've covered the Shannon Matthews case and the career of the prisoner known as Charles Bronson.

- David Hepworth

There's a tendency to locate the cliche of the 'strong woman' exclusively in the present day, as if those many women who endured such inconveniences as the Depression and the Second World War were porcelain compared to, say, Amy Schumer.

- David Hepworth

British podcasts tend to shamefacedly shuffle the ads towards the end. Americans put them up front and promote them enthusiastically. I think the Americans have it right.

- David Hepworth

'The Weeds' is a timely podcast from the news and opinion website Vox. It leaves the coverage of the Punch and Judy politics to others and confines itself to the details of policy.

- David Hepworth

Podcasting is a personal medium, and I savour those moments where details of the podcasters' lives glint through.

- David Hepworth

Famine is a consequence of poverty.

- David Hepworth

There are lots of podcasts that look at films from the audience's point of view. There are also plenty that look at it from the combatants' point of view. It's invariably the case that the less likely you are to have heard of the people talking, the more interesting they'll be.

- David Hepworth

Jim MacLaine was the hero of Ray Connolly's 1973 movie 'That'll Be the Day', about a young man turning his back on a university education at the turn of the '60s in order to try his hand in a rock n' roll band.

- David Hepworth

It's been a while since I checked in with Malcolm Gladwell's 'Revisionist History' podcast. The episode 'The King of Tears' suggests the author is raising the bar. His argument is that country music is the genre that makes us cry because, unlike rock, it's not afraid of specifics.

- David Hepworth

'Intrigue: Murder In The Lucky Holiday Hotel' is a podcast put together by the BBC's Carrie Gracie that investigates the story behind the death of British businessman Neil Heywood in the Chinese city of Chongqing in 2011.

- David Hepworth

'How I Built This With Guy Raz' asks entrepreneurs to tell the story of how they made their name and, in some cases, their fortune. Whether they're in the business of selling burritos or dating apps, there's inevitably something you can learn from their stories.

- David Hepworth

Christmas is a time for slipping into familiar patterns.

- David Hepworth

Podcast listening, much like radio listening, is largely a question of habit. And the most powerful habits are the ones that fit into our daily routine.

- David Hepworth

Many pop songs seem to be more potent now than in their heyday.

- David Hepworth

I loathe anyone impressed by fame or money.

- David Hepworth

Radio 3 shows such as 'Between the Ears' also make the kind of podcasts that draw the most from your noise-cancelling headphones. The programme commissions ideas that make adventurous use of sound.

- David Hepworth

I wouldn't wish a night of 1971 television on my worst enemy. But the records of 1971, again, still live for us now. And they had the benefit at the time of having the kind of uninterrupted, unimpeded concentration of a huge generation of people. Because the only thing I wanted to spend money on when I was 21 was records.

- David Hepworth

'Athletico Mince' started life as a football podcast but has dropped the football, unless the latest on the state of the 'hair island' atop Steve McLaren's head is your idea of football coverage.

- David Hepworth

As more podcasts become available, it's becoming a challenge to keep everything in order.

- David Hepworth