Episode 4: Food & Drink

In this episode, detective Melusi is sent into the streets of Islington to uncover the history of food, drink and the spaces that shaped everyday life in the borough. Guided by local experts, he follows a trail through markets, dining halls, and gin distilleries, revealing how trade, industry, and working-class communities transformed Islington over the centuries. From the bustling meat trade of Smithfield to the chaos of the gin craze, the evidence is everywhere - if you know where to look.

Stops on the trail include:

Smithfield Market: London’s historic meat market, operating since at least the 12th century and rebuilt in 1868 by Horace Jones. Once a site of livestock trading, public spectacles, and even executions - including that of William Wallace - it remains the UK’s largest wholesale meat market today (albeit whose days are numbered).

St Bartholomew’s Hospital area: a site tied to the darker history of Smithfield, where public executions took place, reflecting the area’s role as both a centre of commerce and spectacle.

Alexandra Trust Dining Rooms: founded by Thomas Lipton with the support of Princess Alexandra, these dining halls provided affordable meals for working-class Londoners in the early 20th century, serving thousands with innovative large-scale kitchens.

Whitecross Street Market: a historic street market that once served a poor and densely populated community, now a vibrant food destination offering global cuisines. The area was also home to a notorious debtor’s prison and an 18th-century red-light district.

Clerkenwell Gin Distilling Sites: including the legacy of Booth’s Gin and other distillers, which flourished during the 18th-century gin craze - a period famously depicted in Gin Lane, highlighting the social consequences of widespread alcohol consumption.

Islington guides, in order of appearance: Jane Parker · Nigel Smith · John Finn · Jonathan Wober

Produced by: Sandy Waugh

With thanks to: Jane Parker and the tour guides at Islington Guided Walks

Presented by Islington Guided Walks and City St George’s, University of London

To book a walk or find out more, visit Islington Guided Walks

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Episode 3: Literature

In this episode, detective Mokshika is sent into the streets of Islington to investigate the borough’s rich literary past. Guided by local experts, she uncovers a web of connections between iconic writers and radical voices who shaped literature - and society itself. From the shadowy personal life of Charles Dickens to the rebellious legacy of Joe Orton, the evidence is everywhere - if you know where to look.

Stops on the trail include:

Northampton Park: Once home to Ellen “Nelly” Ternan, where her long and controversial relationship with Charles Dickens began - raising questions that still intrigue historians today.

Colebrooke Cottage, Islington: the home of Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb, co-authors of Tales from Shakespeare and central figures in a vibrant literary circle that included William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Angel, Islington: a key meeting point near the Lambs’ home, where literary salons brought together some of the most influential thinkers of the Romantic period, including Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley.

25 Noel Road, Islington: the former home of Joe Orton, where his meteoric rise - and tragic death alongside partner Kenneth Halliwell - marked one of the most shocking literary stories of the 20th century.

Islington Library & Museum: where Orton and Halliwell’s infamous altered library books are preserved - once considered criminal damage, now celebrated as subversive art.

Islington guides, in order of appearance: Jane · Jonathan · Alan · Chris

Produced by: Sandy Waugh

With thanks to: Jane Parker and the tour guides at Islington Guided Walks

Presented by Islington Guided Walks and City St George’s, University of London

To book a walk or find out more, visit Islington Guided Walks

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 2: Women and suffragettes

In this episode, detective Jackie heads into the streets of Islington to uncover the story of women’s emancipation told through the people and places in the borough. With the help of the Islington Guides, her travels take her from a familiar local pub to the site of a notorious prison as she hears about amazing women from Shakespearean times to the modern era. Her journey ends with the explosive events around the women’s suffragette movement. The evidence is everywhere, if you know where to look.

Stops on the trail include:

Dame Alice Owen pub, St John Street: named after a philanthropist who pushed the boundaries of convention to leave a remarkable legacy which continues almost 500 years since her birth.

Statue of Mary Wollstonecraft, Newington Green: Controversy has longs surrounded the life and works of radical thinker and mother of modern feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft. It is natural therefore that her statue is similarly divisive. What makes it quite so unusual?

Site of Holloway prison: Hundreds of suffragettes were incarcerated here during the fight for women’s emancipation. We hear about Islington women who were at the forefront of the campaign and about Constance Markievicz the first woman elected to Parliament.

Site of Lyons Tea House, the Angel: Situated in one of the early 20th century buildings at the Angel, the Lyons tea shop offered liberation for women in all sorts of ways, from work to social gatherings and one unexpected indispensable facility...

Islington guides, in order of appearance: Jane Parker · Alan Travis · Johannah Barrett · Oonagh Gay

Produced, mixed and scripted by: Jackie Imas and Hannah Grieve

Presented by: Islington Guided Walks and City St George's, University of London

To book a walk or find out more, visit Islington Guided Walks

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 1: Migration & Culture

In this episode, detective Julie is sent out into the streets of Islington to investigate the migration and cultural history woven into the borough. Guided by local experts, she follows the trail from the Irish ballrooms of Holloway Road to the once crime-ridden streets of Saffron Hill, and the groundbreaking arts centre that once hosted Bob Marley - the evidence is everywhere, if you know where to look.

Stops on the trail include:

 St Joseph's Church, Highgate Hill: known locally as "Holy Joe's," this striking Roman Catholic church reflects the Irish influence in the area, particularly following the Great Famine of the 1840s.

The Whittington Hospital: home to a powerful monument honouring the 40,000 nurses and midwives from the Caribbean and Africa who came to Britain between 1948 and 1973, and a reminder of how migration contributed to the NHS.

The Gresham Ballroom, Holloway Road: once a beloved Irish dance venue, where top bands from Ireland performed for nurses, workers, and the wider Irish community until its closure in 1998.

Saffron Hill, Clerkenwell: the heart of London's "Little Italy," where thousands of Italians settled from the 1830s onwards, building a community of street musicians, craftspeople, and shopkeepers against the odds.

St Peter's Italian Church:  a Roman basilican church built to serve the Italian community, and home to a moving memorial to those lost when the Arandora Star was torpedoed in 1940.

Terroni's: a Clerkenwell institution since 1871, still serving Italian coffee and food today

The Keskidee Centre, Gifford Street: a pioneering Black arts and community space that ran from 1971 until the 1990s, hosting theatre, political debate, and even a visit from Bob Marley

Islington guides, in order of appearance: Jane Parker · Richard Cohen · Robert Smith · Avril Nanton

Produced by: Isabella Anderson, Lucy Antonatos, Julie Béguin, Chloe Sackur

Mixed and scripted by: Julie Béguin and Chloe Sackur

Presented by Islington Guided Walks and City St George's, University of London

To book a walk or find out more, visit Islington Guided Walkshttps://cityunisounds.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Pilot Series, where every episode is a pilot for a new podcast. This episode features Gas Tricks, the first episode of In Focus #HealthTaboo, a series that breaks health taboos into the spotlight.

Gas Tricks goes behind the fart taboo to uncover why you fart, what’s normal, and what your body is telling you.

Join fearless podcasters Thuy, Mokshika & Jackie as they step into the world of fart engineering. From experimenting with their own gas production to testing dietary effects on emissions, they blow away the stigma and uncover some explosive truths.

Adding science to the stink, Julie Thompson from Guts UK brings the facts behind farts, helps decode the experimental results and shares gut-friendly tips to keep your digestive health in check. Discover red flag signs which may point towards health issues like irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, stress-related flatulence and more.

Written, edited and produced by Mokshika Sharma, Jackie Imas, and Thuy Dong.

Expert insight: Julie Thompson, Information Manager Guts UK, the charity for the digestive system.

Chart your fart: Launched by Australia’s national science agency, download the app here.

Original music for trailer: Adam Wakeling

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Pilot Series, where every episode is a pilot for a new podcast. This episode features In Situ. Statues can be quirky or grand, romantic or controversial - but what they often are is overlooked. 

There are more than 1,500 statues and monuments in London. How many do you notice as you rush by?

In Situ invites you to join host Saskia Cookson, and her friends Julie and Melusi, on an intimate and playful journey as they ask big questions about statues, commemoration and the changing identity of urban spaces. 

In Situ mixes street interviews with storytelling to explore the city of London, its history and how its inhabitants and tourists alike find connections to public art.

In this episode, they visit Bob the Cat in Islington, The Meeting Place at St. Pancras Station, and the Nelson Mandela statue in Parliament Square.

Subscribe to In Situ wherever you get your podcasts, and if you want to support the show further then why not share it with a curious friend!

Hosted by Saskia Cookson. Produced by Saskia Cookson, Julie Béguin and Melusi Ncala.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The City Magazine Show is a weekly variety show, each episode is centred around a theme. This week’s theme is storytelling.

In this episode Lucy Antonatos speaks to Podcast producer, documentary maker and investigative journalist Brenna Daldorph who shares some fascinating insights into crafting a story for audio.

Elly Young is back home in California and talks about how growing up around LA has shaped her perception of storytelling.

And finally, some MA in Podcasting students share their favourite pieces of storytelling and why they find them so inspiring.

Hosted by Elly Young and Max’ed Aadan. Produced by Melusi Ncala, Saskia Cookson, Elly Young, Lucy Antonatos & Thuy Dong.

Edited by Thuy Dong.

With thanks to Chloe Sackur for her contribution to the episode.

Made by MA Podcasting students at City St. George’s University. Go to cityunisounds.com to listen to more of our podcasts and find out about our work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Pod Lab: Experiments in Audience Growth, a miniseries produced by Podcasting MA students at City St George’s University, London.

In this episode, Sara Farolfi sits down with Jacob Jarvis, managing editor at Podmasters—the indie powerhouse behind hit political podcasts like Oh God, What Now, The Bunker, and American Frictions. Jacob shares how Podmasters built its audience from the ground up and their strategies to keep their listeners engaged. He also dives into the role of social media in community-building and the growing impact of video in the podcasting world.

Follow Jacob on X here: @jacobjarv

And find Podmasters here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/channel/podmasters/id6445001390

Hosted, produced and edited by Sara Farolfi.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Pilot Series, where every episode is a pilot for a new podcast. This episode features Gen Z Love, a podcast the looks at the complexities of modern dating for Gen Z. Hosted by Manav Pallan, your typical video game-playing, matcha-sipping Gen Z.

In the first episode, Manav is on a mission to understand why Gen Z ghost each other and why it hurts so much. He speaks with Gen Z people who ghost and have been ghosted to understand if his experiences are universal. We hear from a social psychology expert who shares his findings on why ghosting hurts so much.

We accompany Manav on a journey to see what he learns about this topic if it changes his perspective and if he is hopeless or optimistic about his generation on their journey to find love.

Produced by Max'ed Aadan and Angel Falese.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pod Lab: Experiments in Audience Growth – "The Art of Episode Artwork"

Host Mokshika Sharma welcomes you to The Pod Lab, a miniseries exploring podcasting innovation, created by MA students at City, St George’s University, London.

In this episode, we dissect the power of episode artwork—why it matters, how to use it effectively, and the bigger industry debates shaping its role in podcast discoverability. Whether you're a creator or a curious listener, we’ll break down the dos, don’ts, and creative strategies to make your visuals stand out.

Featuring insights from:

• Adam Bowie’s analysis of Episode Artwork vs. Show Artwork
• Lucy Antonatos’ take on Tackling Podcasting’s Discoverability Dilemma

Hosted & Edited: Mokshika Sharma

Produced by: Max’ed Aadan, Jamie Adam, Isabella Anderson, Hannah Grieve & Mokshika Sharma

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.