‘Diving deep into a wild decade of chaos, creativity and hedonism…’
Journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer had a front seat to the various cultural machinations that defined the ’90s. She has recently captured this time perfectly in book form with her fantastic Britpop book, Uncommon People, and so she is uniquely placed to provide a fresh viewpoint on a decade that has already been poured over ad nauseum across several mediums. And so, it makes sense for Sawyer to return to the decade again with her new podcast, Talk ’90’s To Me…
While many of the topics covered so far are well worn touchstones by now (Oasis, Princess Diana, Nirvana etc), Sawyer also shines a light on some of the darker, less well-travelled corners of the ’90s with episodes on George Michael, The Prodigy and Madonna, and while some of the topics she chooses are clearly alien to her (she must be the only person of her generation not to have an in depth knowledge of Friends), the addition of various guests ensures that there is always at least one expert on hand to provide compelling insight.
The guests cover the full gamut of ’90s pop culture with musicians (Dave Rowntree from Blur), writers (Ted Kessler, Andrew Harrison) and fashionistas (Plum Sykes) and this holistic view is what ensures that Talk ’90s To Me never feels like a podcast that is treading over the same old ground. While there is definitely an absence of working class voices (Sawyer herself sounds almost comically posh – her pronunciation of ‘Blur’ as ‘Blurrrrrrrrrgh’ is particularly jarring), this is also a reflection of the lack of the working class representation in the arts in general, although the ’90s was a lot more diverse in terms of class within the arts than the cultural landscape we find ourselves in now.
Talk ’90s To Me works for both grizzled ’90s survivors such as myself and for newcomers alike. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. It has the potential to become the most essential ’90s podcast since Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?.