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 [email protected] 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