It’s FA Cup semi-final weekend and, unbelievably, all the EXPloaded team have skin in the game but while Bill and Ben are born and bred City and Chelsea fans, Tim reveals that only a celestial intervention sealed the deal with his love for Leeds. Whatever.

Bill gets a promise about his cock from Calvin Klein, Ben has a weird thing with misaligned nipples and a legendary interview with Damon Albarn (then Blur frontman and pretend “lad’) is only marginally less controversial than the winner of the inaugural Crisp World Cup. The truth about “the fix” is in.

Did you know that it’s very possible for us to get to Mars but not so easy to get back? We’re using this to our advantage to get rid of some people we’re not so bothered about keeping on Earth. Guess who’s first up. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comment box or at [email protected]

01:13 Issue Five Highlights

02:47 Football Cover Choice

04:00 Why Tim Supports Leeds

05:44 Foggy Matchday Miracle

08:38 FA Cup Serendipity

13:09 Send Them to Mars

16:19 Damon Albarn Interview

19:46 Car Park Quotes Corner

21:44 Chaos In The Subs Office

22:19 Editors At Large Hangout

23:54 Barbara Ellen Calvin Declined

24:48 Calvin Klein Interview Story

26:59 The Crisp World Cup

29:53 Planet Of The Vapes

32:12 Gen Z Slang And Silent Walking

33:46 Social Media And Fanzines

36:12 Old School Football Phone Lines

38:16 Rogue Of The Week Finale

Back in the 90’s, somebody somewhere thought it was a good idea to let a chaotic group of dysfunctional berks loose on A-List celebrities all over the world. We were in over our heads but nobody told us.

Tequilla-soaked Reservoir Dog Michael Madsen – still dressed as Mr Blonde for a photoshoot – is taken to an East London “boozer” by Bill on a Friday afternoon. The Hollywood actor soon breaks down in tears before going rogue in grand style.

Ben ends up in bed with a Neo-Nazi and, as attention around loaded grows, the magazine sends Tim to New York to make sure its first supermodel shoot, featuring Elle Macpherson, goes according to plan. It doesn’t. And a ransom has to be paid.

Plus, Bill and Ben’s next issue cover picks, office life before Health and Safety and regular feature “Planet of the Vapes” – well, do you know what Gen Z’s call “a girl dinner”? Clue: It’s like “boyfriend jeans”, or something. No, us neither.

00:00 Wild Date Confessions

00:50 Podcast Intro Chaos

01:30 Theme Getting In Over Your Head

02:49 Bill Meets Michael Madsen

05:12 Tequila Tears And Fallout

08:55 Ben Digital Dating Disaster

12:00 Tim Lands Elle Macpherson Shoot

14:54 New York Fashion World Shock

17:19 Money Threatens The Shoot

20:06 Brandy Phonebox Negotiations

21:37 Shoot Saved Photos Held Hostage

23:17 Cover Shoot Triumph

24:38 Sell Me The Cover

24:54 Danny Dyer Pitch

26:05 Joe Marler Debate

28:57 Carpark Quote Corner

30:29 Inside Loaded Office

32:37 Yucca Plant Chaos

35:16 Best Issue Three Picks

35:27 Oasis Early Interview

37:54 Torino Ultras Feature

40:24 Girl Dinner Trend

42:12 Final Sign Off

Remember when Gary Oldman gave loaded magazine a legally-binding promise? (we do and we will be calling it in very soon) Meanwhile, Liz Hurley can’t stop flirting with us; and Kurt Cobain’s tragic demise almost stops the launch issue from hitting the shelves.

Post loaded launch, there is plenty of love but also immediate hostility from the usual suspects who just didn’t get it. The Guardian branded it part of “yob culture” (although many of their journalists secretly loved the magazine) but the EXPloaded podcast team argue that loaded’s fanzine-like energy, irreverence and honesty were totally overlooked.

Tim, Bill and Ben revisit “the difficult second issue”, tight deadlines and huge pressure. Bill picks the Leslie Nielsen cover feature as a highlight while Ben selects “Nirvana’s last picture show” - a controversial photoshoot by Martin Goodacre featuring Kurt Cobain posing with a gun - and remembers interviewing the smacked up singer in New York just before his death.

Regular feature “Planet of the Vapes” sees the team critique Gen Z for filming on their phones in public and complain about becoming the victims of “monkey managing” - whatever that is.

00:00 Thatcher Kids Banter

00:35 Podcast Intro Setup

00:56 Peers React To loaded

02:14 Hostility And Word Of Mouth

03:33 Press Backlash Lad Culture

05:15 Independent Review Debate

08:45 Elitism Class Critique

09:36 Impact And Fear Of Failure

11:06 Media Moments And Celeb Praise

13:39 Why It Blew Up Fast

15:33 Thatcher Children And DIY Ethos

17:12 Planet Of The Vapes

18:51 Phones Rewired Our Brains

20:45 Johnny Ive Invents The Rectangle

23:14 Quitting Social Media

23:44 Social Media Brain Rot

24:01 Monkey Messaging Explained

24:58 Weaponized Incompetence

26:21 Issue Two Cover Story

26:44 Why Leslie Nielsen

30:09 Nirvana Last Photos

34:46 Platinum Rogues Feature

38:14 Private Eye And Theft Tales

40:13 Sell Me The Cover

42:51 Wrap Up And Next Week

Tim Southwell, Ben Marshall, and Bill Borrows recap the first issue of loaded and talk about how it gatecrashed the early-90s men’s magazine party looking for trouble. The EXPloaded podcast team discuss Gary Oldman as cover choice and other features such as Tim’s interview with Liz Hurley and Tiger Woods, once the 17 year old golfing prodigy had been dragged out of the shower by his mum. His own mum, not Tim’s. Then there’s skydiving, Paul Weller and Eric Cantona uncensored, and Beavis and Butt-Head. The team discuss how the term “lad” began as innocent pub slang but soon became a pejorative media label, and contrast loaded’s non-PR-led approach with modern publications serving as mere publicity vehicles. Ben and Bill recall getting Clash frontman Joe Strummer and actor Robert Carlisle by just asking them as, suddenly, famous people started queuing up to be in loaded because that was the place to be. The conversation takes in masculinity, internet-amplified extremism and incel culture while regular feature “Planet of the Vapes” takes in the curious habits of Generation Z. loaded’s energy and journalistic influence is credited to Hunter S. Thompson and a future episode is promised to recall Bill’s two legendary run-ins with the Godfather of Gonzo himself. The episode ends with Ben and Bill pitching possible cover stars to Tim as if O.G. loaded was still a going concern. He has to choose one of them, but who will he choose?

00:00 Strummer Pub Encounter

00:20 Podcast Intro Banter

01:36 Why Oldman Cover

03:46 Who Else Covered In Glory

05:19 Super Lads Meaning

07:28 Haunted Studio Aside

08:47 Masculinity Internet Shift

13:44 Gonzo Journalism Roots

18:17 Carpark Quotations

20:57 Sell Me the Cover

23:22 No PR Just Get Them

25:10 Friendly Interview Subjects

25:36 Gary Oldman Cover Pitch

26:27 Knighthood And Politics

27:47 Planet Of The Vapes

31:31 Old 78s And Streaming

33:33 Napster Changed Everything

36:28 First Issue Favorites

40:38 Tiger Woods Day Out

43:57 Underdogs And Up Yours Attitude

45:18 Wrap Up And Thanks

Tim Southwell, Bill Borrows, and Ben Marshall bicker their way through the origin story of loaded, starting with how soulless and try-hard the early-90s men’s mag scene felt and asking: what if a magazine actually sounded like your funniest mate in the pub? Tim recounts teaming up with James Brown via Leeds United and being on a Barcelona trip in 1992 that sparked the “best night ever” vibe the magazine would bottle. They salute publishing genius Alan Lewis for backing proper writing, discuss the stillborn versions of the magazine that never made it (“The Right Stuff” and “Rogue”) and explain how loaded’s radical design and focus on peculiarly British humour, icons and idioms helped forge its identity. Despite depressingly negative focus groups full of idiots, huge magazine company IPC green-lights the project for some reason but then drops the bombshell: You’ve got eight weeks to launch, we want a circulation of 45,000 a month and you’ll also have to prove received wisdom - “men don’t buy magazines” - wrong. What could possibly go right?

00:00 Cold Open Banter

00:17 Podcast Intro Reset

02:24 Origin Story Begins

03:43 Alan Lewis Champion

07:33 Barcelona Spark Moment

08:34 Britain Shifts Gear

13:00 Taking the Leap

13:54 Finding the Voice

17:10 Loaded British Language

18:48 The Shane MacGown Experience

20:44 Building the Dummy

21:11 Focus Groups Explained

21:35 Behind the Focus Group

22:49 Brutal Feedback and One Fan

24:25 Why Focus Groups Fail

25:50 The Execs Who Said Yes

27:51 Loaded Culture and Voices

30:28 Secret Project at IPC

33:15 Green Light and Eight Weeks

34:26 Monkey Tangent and Chaos

37:03 Sales Targets and Big Risks

39:01 Men Don’t Buy Magazines Myth

39:36 Next Episode and Wrap Up

NEW PODCAST!

Tim Southwell, co-founder and editor of loaded and the magazine’s former editors-at-large Bill Borrows and Ben Marshall introduce their new podcast - EXPloaded. The chat is about the hedonistic 1990s, being recruited to join loaded and how they were all in the right place at the right time. They discuss how DIY punk journalism shaped loaded as a “national fanzine” as much as a magazine. Looking back at early-90s Britain, they cite post-80s grimness, political disillusionment, football violence, and then the optimism sparked by acid house and other emerging cultural shifts as catalysts for change. They also argue that existing men’s magazines like GQ felt fraudulently aspirational, exclusionary and London-focussed. There was a gap for a magazine that reflected their lives. Guess what happened next?

00:00 Podcast Setup

00:40 Meet Bill Borrows

01:12 “Different Times”

02:14 Bill Joins Loaded

04:25 Ben Marshall Tapped Up

06:58 IPC - Very Big Magazine Company

08:09 Fanzines and DIY Roots

12:43 Early Nineties Mood

15:20 Acid House Turning Point

16:02 House Hits Britain

17:09 From Gloom to Optimism

18:13 Smash Hits meets Take That

19:37 Pushing Robbie Over The Edge

21:20 Fun At Gay Times

23:29 All Change

25:59 Aspirational Magazines Stink

28:51 Why Magazines Mattered

30:34 Next Episode Tease

Come back on 1st April for the first EXPloaded podcast episodes