David Lammy steps into the interviewer’s chair while James is on holiday for a very special interview with Idris Elba. The pair chart Idris’ journey to stardom, from his childhood spent mostly alone, getting the buzz for acting, moving to America and getting his big break on The Wire, right up to his first film as a director, Yardie. There’s no talk of James Bond in this conversation, but we think you’ll agree, there are much more interesting things to talk about with Idris Elba.Yardie is out 31st August. Book your tickets at yardiefilm.co.uk

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Poet and two-time Mercury Prize-nominated rapper Kate Tempest joins James O’Brien for a deep and fascinating interview about art, poetry, transcendence, the human condition, and the dark and beautiful worlds that art and performance can take you to, and we think you’ll agree that this conversation goes to some extraordinary places too.

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Happy Mondays and Black Grape frontman Shaun Ryder joins a starstruck James O’Brien for a rock ’n’ roll rollercoaster of an interview. We journey from Shaun’s early days in ‘monochrome’ Manchester, to the formation of the Mondays, the technicolour highs and explosive lows of band life, break ups and reformations, coming off drugs and embarking on new journeys with Black Grape.

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He’s a DJ, a record label boss, a producer and an entrepreneur, but Steve Aoki is really only interested in one thing: building a community. This insightful interview with James O’Brien takes us through Steve’s journey to superstardom, from his childhood struggles with otherness and racism, finding solace in music and the constructive rage of hardcore punk, sowing the seeds of what would become his empire, and finding his way back to the stage as one of the biggest EDM performers in the world.

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It’s a laugh-packed interview this week! James O’Brien chats to comedian Mark Steel about growing up in a town that was boring by design, the hilarious misadventures that come with living in a squat, Jeremy Corbyn and left-wing politics, and his varying degrees of success in trying to trace his biological parents. Oh, and Mark has possibly the deepest voice ever recorded on a podcast. Enjoy!

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James is away finishing his new book, so we’re doing things a little differently this week. Yes, it’s a ‘Best Of’, but it’s the best of the guests that might have slipped under your radar. They may not be household names, but they have rich and interesting stories that we think you’d like to check out. Normal service will resume with a brand new interview next week, but in the meantime you can go back and check out the episodes mentioned in the show here.Scroobius Pip: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/35-dave-haslam-on-madchester-ecstasy-ha%C3%A7ienda-art-djing/id1290769207?i=1000413419523Paris Lees: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/14-paris-lees-inspiring-journey-to-become-first-trans/id1290769207?i=1000399993418June Sarpong: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/6-june-sarpong-talks-diversity-and-the-british-class-system/id1290769207?i=1000394493486Michelle Lyons: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/31-michelle-lyons-278-executions-life-watching-death/id1290769207?i=1000411332918Dave Haslam: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/35-dave-haslam-on-madchester-ecstasy-ha%C3%A7ienda-art-djing/id1290769207?i=1000413419523Jack Monroe: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/19-jack-monroe-poverty-politics-and-life-on-the-margins/id1290769207?i=1000402956881John Amaechi: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/18-john-amaechi-talks-race-breaking-nba-homosexuality/id1290769207?i=1000402058077Nimco Ali: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/15-nimco-ali-the-fight-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/id1290769207?i=1000400440975

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What happens when you just say ‘yes’ to everything? What happens when you ask random people to join you, when you’ve no idea what you’re asking them to join? Danny Wallace asks these kind of questions, and boy, does he get answers.Danny joins James O’Brien for a witty and revealing interview about his his early days working with Ross Noble and The Mighty Boosh, having Jim Carrey play a version of him in a movie, and his undying belief that people, on the whole, are good.

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In the world of Christian music, Vicky Beeching was one of its biggest stars, but she had a secret, something she’d hidden away for over 20 years: she was gay. In this inspiring interview, Vicky takes James O’Brien through her journey, discovering a talent for music at a young age, her struggles reconciling her feelings with her faith, and a life-threatening illness that changed everything.

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Caitlin Moran has a lot to say. Some of it is rib-crackingly funny. Some of it is eye-opening and jaw-dropping. Not all of it is related to the human anatomy, but every word is worth your time.James O’Brien is certainly kept on his toes in this whipcrack of an interview, covering everything from masturbation to politics, Love Island to feminism, and a lot of chat about vaginas.Strap in, folks. We’re going full force on this one.

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Novelist, journalist and top-notch conversationalist Howard Jacobson joins James O’Brien for a gloriously sprawling interview, exploring everything from Howard’s birth during a WWII bombing raid, his disdain for “the will of the people”, everyday antisemitism, and his late success as an author, proving beyond proof that it’s never too late for anyone to become what they were meant to be.

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