Stuff On My Phone (29)

One of the problems of driving around in a roof-racked van with multiple ladders, is that the radio aerial has a shorter life expectancy than a World War Two fighter pilot. So, when the occasion arises where I need some aural pleasure, I turn to 4G or WiFi internet access on my phone. Binge listening, a grateful sanctuary from the tedium of ferry travel (waiting on piers and plying the high seas), usually centres around topical news satire and science documentaries.

There's not much radio I would willing listen to these days: news coverage is either too shouty or just too polarised (honestly, if balance is a couple of folk from either end of a political spectrum cancelling each other out, where's the moving towards a solution?); talk shows are just soul-crushingly depressing (the only thing worse than no-one being able to have an opinion is everyone having an opinion - and again, from the outer reaches of the topic de jour); music, for so long a go-to option, has left me cold (such that now, along with many other folk, I rely on downloaded playlists); and sport (at least for a Middlesbrough supporter) is too much of a roller coaster ride.

There has always been the calming influence of Test Match Special, but synchronising my work with international sporting fixtures is not a schedule for financial success.

However, last week, I had a bit of a revelatory moment when I fortuitously discovered the BBC's 'Fortunately' podcast with Fi Glover and Jane Garvey. This podcast began in 2017, so I was able to gaze rapturously at a list of 127 episodes, and look forward to the pleasant thought of mellowing out on plenty of upcoming journeys, listening to these two amazing ladies.