Talk ’90s to me

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Cigs for breakfast! Oral sex in the kitchen! Wobbly cameras! E binges! Egg! Milly! Miles! Anna! Warren! And “the punch”. It’s 30 years since the groundbreaking houseshare drama This Life exploded onto our screens and gave us a candid look into the lives of young lawyers living together in London. What made this ramshackle saga work? And what made the characters so believable? Miranda talks over the tears, the tantrums and the fridge arguments with entertainment journalist, podcast host and Sir! Magazine writer Boyd Hilton.  • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:   BlueSky   Instagram   TikTok   Subscribe to our Spotify playlist  • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.  • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more  Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.   www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. What happens when you grow up on the most famous square in Britain? Natalie Cassidy was barely a teenager when she became Sonia Fowler and suddenly the nation was watching her first kisses, first heartbreaks and, yes, her many trumpet solos. In this episode of Talk ’90s To Me, Natalie looks back on life as a child star at the heart of EastEnders at its peak: the pressure, the pace, and the peculiar reality of growing up in public. From her love of Britpop to some of the most gloriously barmy storylines of the decade, it’s a journey that turned her into a bona fide national treasure. Listen to Natalie’s ‘Life with Nat’ podcast here. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.  www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. In 1994, a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Academy Award nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. It proved he was the real deal  and set him on course to become more than just an actor. Within a few short years he’d become the ultimate poster boy, with bedroom walls across the globe filling up with Leo pictures carefully snipped from teen mags. This week on Talk 90s To Me, Miranda is joined by journalist and author of the upcoming newsletter Celebrity Intelligence , Dan Wakeford  to revisit the hysteria the tabloids dubbed “Leomania”. From teen magazines and paparazzi economics to Leo’s infamous ‘Pussy Posse’ and the boom years of celebrity gossip, they unpack how the 90s media machine built the cult of Leo. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.  www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Jeff Buckley died in 1997 at just 30 years old, leaving behind only a handful of recordings but a huge impression on his fans. In the decades since, the mythology of the singer-songwriter hasn’t really faded. Buckley didn’t leave a long catalogue behind, but what he did leave was enough to make him a legend. This week, Miranda sits down with music Journalist Jude Rogers to talk about Buckley’s legacy, the lasting impact of his only full album Grace, and his haunting version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, which brought a new audience to the song. Jude also reflects on her own complicated history with Buckley, including an infamous article she wrote for The Guardian in 2007. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Connor Newson. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.  www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. British comedy got faster, stranger and more gleefully quotable in the ’90s than ever before. At the centre of it all was John Thomson, the everyman who helped turn The Fast Show into a cultural phenomenon, popped up everywhere from I’m Alan Partridge to Men Behaving Badly, and then pivoted to the Sunday night, must-watch dramedy Cold Feet. This week, Miranda sits down with Thomson to discuss the dizzying speed of ’90s fame, the catchphrases he still can’t escape, and the darker side of sudden success – phone hacking, tabloid harassment, and learning the hard way that fame in that decade came with very few boundaries. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Simon Williams. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.  www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. 1994, Loaded lands on newsstands and suddenly the tone of British magazines shifts overnight. Louder, cheekier, more irreverent than anything before. At the centre of it all is James Brown, the unlikely magazine wunderkind who rocked the world of ’90s publishing. This week, Miranda Sawyer sits down with James, author of new fanzine Zine Age Kicks to discuss his beginnings, the swaggering influence of the NME-era music press, and how a DIY, fan-first focus shook things up across the publishing world in the ’90s. But did these lads’ mags simply wink at modern masculinity, or help market a new era of sexism dressed up as irony? • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs [[ https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9781399816915 ]] through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.  www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Pop was trying very hard to look polished, predictable and a little bit American in the early ’90s… then Björk arrived, barefoot, uncompromising, and sounding like the future of music. She didn’t just release hit records. She blew open the idea of what a pop star could be: experimental but chart-friendly, weird but deeply human. In this episode of Talk ’90s to Me, journalist and author of Bjork’s Hegemonic, Emily Mackay joins Miranda to look back on Björk’s astonishing decade. The creative highs, the tabloid lows, the boundary-pushing videos and ask how one Icelandic artist quietly reshaped the entire sound and attitude of the ’90s. Photo: Mick Hutson RIP/Getty.  • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs or Emily’s book Bjork’s Hegemonic through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sali Hughes, Guardian beauty columnist and Beauty Banks co-founder, chats fashion and 1990s beauty. She breaks down Calvin Klein’s minimalist ads, the rise of Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg moments. They explore CK One’s unisex craze, slip dresses, and how bold marketing rescued the brand. Stylish, nostalgic and sharply observed.

Dan Foxx, comedian and co-creator of an Ursula musical, chats about queer-coded Disney villains of the 1990s. He dives into Ursula’s camp charisma and Jafar’s glamorous menace. They unpack Scar’s Shakespearean slyness and Hades’ wisecracking swagger. Short, lively takes on why these flamboyant baddies outshone the beige heroes.

Polly Hudson, columnist and former Mirror writer, revisits the Beckham wedding and 1990s celebrity fever. She unpack s the Vera Wang dress, purple thrones and Robin Hood–style decor. Short scenes on magazine deals, baby Brooklyn on show, and the notorious VD monogram punctuate a look at how one wedding reshaped media and fame.