It's Raining Ben: The Podcast

Prime your pumps, because it's a special storm this week.

Never one to let an opportunity pass him by, Ben rounded his New Year's party pals into a radio ranch and recorded the whole thing. Expect made up songs, surprise call ins, high end cultural commentary, a teenage story about 9/11, another round of roll play, and as always plenty of final judgements.

You're welcome.

https://ia801502.us.archive.org/15/items/IRBNewYearSpecial/IRB%20-%20New%20Year%20Special!%202.mp3

Duck for cover and cover yourself in ducks, because for the second time it's raining Josh!

In a show conceived and performed through a fug of winter illness, Josh and Ben attempt to set the world's wrongs right. Given the season, we've laid the debate table with a feast of good topics and even better metaphors. Can you take the Christ out of Christmas? Can you paint with all the colours of the wind? Is jelly to be encouraged? Nothing escape the coruscating gaze of our two host.

Plus two Christmas songs, one that you probably won't have heard on the radio and one that you definitely won't have heard on the radio (because Ben wrote it)

https://ia801508.us.archive.org/0/items/IRBPJosh2/IRBP%20-%20Josh%202.mp3

Strip off and run naked through the town because it’s raining Jay!

IRB arrives in December with new purpose. After four months of bumbling around we finally know what we’re doing: trying to save the world. To that aim, Ben and Jay pass judgement on public transport snacking, national birds and flowers, and the ideal three fictional characters to take to a desert island. Add in the finest Single Use Jingle to date, a tight Question Section, and yet another voyage into the endless woods of actual cannibal, Shia Labeouf, and you’ve got a recipe for radio success.

Darn Tooting Bec.

https://ia801504.us.archive.org/28/items/IRBPJay/IRBP%20-%20Jay.mp3

Dig out your boots and stitch up your seams because it's raining Sara!

Trying their best to avoid a "couple's show", real life live-in partners Ben and Sara waste no time in tackling some big topics in today's Question Section: Cable ties or gaffa tape? Puppy or kitten? Chocolate or cheese? Puppy or kitten? Young forever or a lifetime supply of happiness? Puppy or kitten?

No stone is left unturned.

After those wars are won, Sara demands that artists stop working for exposure, the pair answer some listener's questions, and Ben takes Sara to the woods to face off with Shia LaBeouf.

It's a certified hoot.

https://ia801506.us.archive.org/5/items/IRBPSara/IRBP%20-%20Sara.mp3

Lock up your locks and batten down your hatches because it's raining Mik!

Forget everything you know about IRB, because Mik is taking it to a new and more terrifying place. Within the hour he proves beyond all doubt that life is a simulation, god is unreachable, news cannot be trusted, and your lightbulbs will turn against you. Ben attempts to lighten the mood by taking Mik into a wood with a cannibalistic Shia LaBeouf. Oh, and we discover, once and for all, that there actually is no point.

Enjoy.

https://ia801500.us.archive.org/10/items/IRBPMik/IRBP%20-%20Mik.mp3

Get to a safe spot and don’t stand under trees because this time, it’s pouring.

We’ve heard it rain Ben with Ben, and we’ve even heard it rain Ben without him, but for the first time it’s raining double Ben. After the initial thrill of coincidental christian name crossover has past, the two Bens get down to sort-of-answering some serious questions. Car vs. motorbike, smart technology vs. old fashioned conversation, sleep vs. staying awake: no topic is off limits.

But first names aren’t the only firsts this week. We hear the first instance of live listener interaction, as a question comes in mid episode via Facebook. We also hear Ben premiere his latest item, taking t’other Ben on a role playing adventure with a cannibalistic Shia LaBeouf. The quest continues next week, where it will inevitably earn itself a jingle.

**SPOILER ALERT: CONTAINS BENS**

https://ia801500.us.archive.org/9/items/IRBPBen/IRBP%20-%20Ben.mp3

Put down your parka and get rid of your goretex, because it's raining Chris!

This week we ask the question: can a glut of new jingles make up for a paucity of preparation. The answer, as I'm sure you'll agree (post, and during, and possibly even pre, listen) is a resounding "heck yes!". Ben quizzes Chris on the origins of Guilty Pleasures Totnes, and ask if any pleasure can really be guilty. Chris brings IRB its first musical exclusive, in the form of Albert Jones, and tackles the buzzing topic of snakes.

We also come very close not mentioning the US election which is happening as I type and might mean that this description comes to you through a fog of fallout or as some web-cached relic of a forgotten world.

Or things will just carry on as normal because two-party politics rarely changes anything. We shall see, and you, in the future, will have already seen.

https://ia801509.us.archive.org/4/items/IRBPChris/IRBP%20-%20Chris.mp3

Shake off your shelter and jump out of your PVC jumper, because it's raining Rowan!

After the mellow tones and mild controversy of last week's show, this edition of IRB takes a different tack. Prepare yourself for a medium-to-high level of energy and a slightly increased level of controversy. Rowan asks Ben whether ignorance is bliss and if a benign dictatorship might be better than an ill-informed democracy. Ben asks Rowan for his 3 favourite things about Donald Trump and whether a wooden board is a suitable substitute for a plate.

Seriously, prepare yourself.

https://ia801509.us.archive.org/25/items/IRBPRowan/IRBP%20-%20Rowan.mp3

Tear off your goggles and sacrifice your sou'wester because it's raining Ziggy!

Join us, if you dare, for possibly our most controversial episode to date. Ziggy asks whether Elon Musk is secretly evil, while Ben makes several attempts to handle the hot topic of racism and gets his hands rightly burned.

Ziggy claims that Britain is best summed up by a pub, while Ben overuses the word immigrant then labels all larches as dissidents and Lana Del Rey as a nuisance.

Before the hour is out, both make plans to monetise picnics.

It’s a delightful disgrace.

https://ia601506.us.archive.org/17/items/IRBPZiggy/IRBP%20-%20Ziggy.mp3

Put your mac in its sack and throw caution to the autumn, because it's raining Ella!

Ben is joined by illustrator, club master, and previously Australian lady, Ella. The two talk about increasingly-unstable-Britain's future in an increasingly-unstable-world and ruminate on the potentially impending world-war. It's also a bumper harvest for features as Ella builds the, now permanent, 'Biscuit Corner' and Ben debut's his new item, "Single Use Jingle".

Hold out for the final few minutes when Sara walks in for a chat about hair dye.

Who is Sara? What does she think about hair dye?

There's only one way to find out.

https://ia601509.us.archive.org/30/items/IRBPElla/IRBP%20-%20Ella.mp3