Accomplished jazz trumpeter Jay Phelps debuts at the Fringe this year with Miles. It’s a look back on the life of Jazz virtuoso Miles Davis in general, and the creation of the album “Kind Of Blue” in particular. It mixes in many disciplines, including the acting talents of Benjamin Akintuyos as Davis, the music of the album, and Phelps’ music talen…

Jay Saunders and Nick Cheng are from Project Comedy; a part of Project Recce, which helps Military Veterans and Service Leavers to move from military service to civilian employment. As they describe it, “military humour is more than just entertainment—it’s a survival tool. It forges camaraderie, boosts morale, and keeps teams strong in the toughest…

As week 2 starts here in Edinburgh, let’s welcome Narin Oz to the pod. Returning to the Fringe with her fourth show, Inner Child(ish) sees Oz looking to reconnect with her titular inner child … through the medium of the Tom Hanks motion picture Castaway. Her inner child misbehaves, breaks rules, and flips reality around. Behind all this is Narin le…

Today, we listen to Annie Lareau talk about her life, which she is bringing to the Fringe in the show Fuselage. Annie was meant to be flying home from the UK with 35 university classmates for Christmas in 1988. They changed to an earlier flight, and Anie, who couldn’t afford the fee, stayed behind, as her friend boarded Pan Am 103. A flight where a…

1984 is a story that has been told countless times and becomes more relevant every time it is told. Box Tale Soup brings their version of the classic warning to the Edinburgh Fringe this year. I caught up with Noel Byrne to talk about the challenge involved in bringing a classic to the stage. Box Tale Soup has established itself as one of the leadi…

What if Cabaret, disaster movie, philosophy, and Geri Halliwell? You get Apocalypse Cabaret: Songs for the End of the World! To learn more about this one-woman cabaret show, I talk with Scout Durwood as she brings this dark delight to the Edinburgh Fringe. With a mix of original songs, standards and a dash of existentialism, we’ve got a lot of grou…

One of the delights of the Edinburgh Fringe is finding something that’s just a single step to the side of your average show. It’s in those little side streets where you can find something spectacular. Kit Loyd is on one of those side streets. He’s brought Frenzy to the Fringe, a delightful and engaging mix of comedy, physical theatre, and mime. It’…

Today’s guest is Saaniya Abbas. From the UAE comedy scene, she is the first local comic to officially debut a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe this August. How do you go from a sheltered upbringing in New Delhi to a sometimes controversial comedy career? We talk about Sanniya’s background and her first steps in comedy, before finding wider acclaim…

Some will know him from the dim and distant past as Barry Ferns. Edinburgh Fringe historians will know him as Lionel Ritchie. Others in the comedy scene of 2025 will know him, once more, as Barry Ferns. And there you have the premise for his Fringe show, My Seven Years As Lionel Ritchie. This strong narrative hour charts the highs and lows of being…

This week’s Fringe preview takes in not only a Fringe show, but the evolution of social media storytelling itself. Grace Helbig and I start by talking about he early days of content creation on the internet… I started podcasting with the Fringe Show in 2005 while Grace started during the first flush of YouTube in 2006. That starts us down a path of…

As we head through July, we’ll be bringing you preview interviews that help set the scene for Fringe 2025. That could be the history of the Fringe, how traditional and online media impact the arts, the future of the Festival in Edinburgh, and the impact it can have. In our first preview, Ewan Spence meets Henry Naylor to talk about his new solo sho…

The Edinburgh Fringe Show started in 2005, and as Fringe 2025 appears on the horizon, we’re going to get started on our 21st season covering the largest arts festival in the world. We have a few traditions in these parts. One of those is our prologue podcast—a chance to ensure the website, podcast feed, and all the other digital components are read…

You can find links to everyone on the Eurovision Podcrawl at linktr.ee/eurovisionpodcrawl. Welcome To The First Eurovision Podcrawl! Over the summer, a group of Eurovision podcasters are joining forces to create a series of episodes, each showcasing a different year of the Song Contest… but it has to be a year when a country first hosted Eurovision…

It’s not really over, we’ve lots to talk about over the summer, but in a way it really is over. The curtain has come down, JJ lifts the trophy, and has already asked to host the 70th Anniversary Eurovision. Before we leave the Press Centre, the Insight team and some friends of the parish have some quick thoughts on the Grand Final, our highlights i…

It’s Eurovision Grand Final Day! Or, as most of the world knows it, Eurovision Day! Eurovision Insight Podcast: Grand Final Preview From Basel, Saturday 17th May Dude Points is joined by Erik and Liz from the 12 Points for America podcast to discuss the Grand Final. Each of them will talk about the songs that have moved them, admired them, or even …

As the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest approaches, the community media teams who have been following the Song Contest all year round are joined by the mainstream media as they bring the Contest to a much wider audience. Yet these journalists have been working other beats and have other specialities throughout the year? How do they go abo…

Every performance at the Eurovision Song Contest comes not only from the artists but also from many collaborations behind the scenes that all work together to bring the best experience possible to those watching. That includes the Creative Director; their ability to reflect and project moods, emotions, meaning, and more to the audience can lift per…

And with that, we have our 26 for Saturday. The St. Jakobshalle stage is ready… before we reach the Grand Final ramp-up, let’s take a moment to review Semi Final 2. Eurovision Insight Podcast: Semi Final 2 Review From Basel, Friday 16th May In today’s podcast, Dude and Ewan discuss the importance of representation, the joy of big dumb songs, and st…

We lost five songs from Tuesday’s Semi Final, and now it’s time to find out the final six songs that will not make Saturday’s Grand Final. Settle in to discuss who’s through, who’s not, and the impact of the Big 5 performances this evening. Eurovision Insight Podcast: Semi Final 2 Preview From Basel, Thursday 15th May On today’s podcast, Dude Point…

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Meet The Semi Final 2 Artists …with Dude Points (DudePoints.fun). Join Dude Points as she chats with some of the artists performing in Semi Final 2; featuring Australia’s Go-Jo, Montenegro’s Nina Žižić. Denmark’s Sissal, and a bonus interview with Germany’s Abor & Tynna. Stay up to date with all the discussions, news, an…

Fifteen artists took to the stage in Basel’s St. Jakobshalle. Only ten could qualify for Saturday night’s Grand Final. There’s lots to talk about, and not a lot of time to do so. Nevertheless, lets talk about the immediate highs and lows in the hour after the curtain came down. Eurovision Insight Podcast: Semi Final 1 Review From Basel, Wednesday 1…

With the move to 100 percent televoting in the Semi Finals, tonight is the night for 15 acts at the Eurovision Song Contest. Ten will qualify for Saturday’s Grand Final, for the other five this will be the end of their competitive journey. What can we expect to see tonight, who should be worried, and what else can we expect beyond or fifteen? Join …

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Meet The Semi Final 1 Artists …with Dude Points (DudePoints.fun). Join Dude Points as she chats with some of the artists performing in Semi Final 1; featuring Portugal’s Napa, Norway’s Kyle Alessandro, Croatia’s Marko Bošnjak, and a bonus interview with the United Kingdom’s Remember Monday. Stay up to date with all the d…

As the team pack their bags and begin their journeys to Basel, some of us jumped on a podcast to put our fortune-telling abilities to the test. Eurovision Insight Podcast: One Last Round Of Predictions For Basel 2025 Fin Ross Russell, Dude Points, Martin Bishop and Anton Rasegård sit down to make some predictions ahead of Eurovision 2025 in Basel. …

The Eurovision Song Contest has never shyed far from experimenting with new technology and ways to engage the audience. With the announcement of a Eurovision Experience in Roblox joining the field for 2025, Ewan Spence sits down with RTE’s Suzanne Kelly to discuss bringing the Contest to the Roblox world. The Roblox Eurovision Experience does not s…

As Eurovision 2025 draws closer, what does it mean for a small Nordic district to welcome Europe’s biggest cultural event in their own unique way? In this episode of Chat Over Coffee, ESC Insight’s Ben Robertson sits down with Jessica Havulehto, the so-called KAJ Coordinator and local organiser in Vörå, the home district of Sweden’s representatives…

Once more, we go around the songs. Once more, we decide on hit, miss or maybe. And once more, a reminder that discussing art is subjective. With that, let’s gather around the podcast microphone before we head to Basel. Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #7 with SamsnSamantha Ross (12 Points From America) and Jamie Halliwell (BlueSky). Austra…

Artist welfare is becoming an ever-more important part of the Eurovision Song Contest. How can delegations support their artists through multiple sources of pressure during the Song Contest rehearsals and live shows, performances through the preview season, dealing with online reviews and critique, and more? Performance coach Francesca Aaen joined …

Hold on to your hats, we’ve got six songs to get through this week on the Jury. Gina Jones and Phil Dore sit with to Ewan Spence in the musical court to talk in-depth about the three minutes each national broadcaster will bring to Basel in May. Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #6 with Gina Jones (BlueSky) and Phil Dore (BlueSky). Albania: …

Once more, we head into the jury viewing room with a bag of hits, misses, and maybes. We’ll be awarding some of those to the five songs that join us before they make their way to Basel. Let’s discuss, debate, and decide on our personal scores. Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #5 with AJ Clay (The Keep Watching podcast) and Scott Reid (Blue…

With the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest just four weeks away, the community’s excitement around Basel is tinged with memories of Malmö. Over the last twelve months, countless discussions and changes have reshaped the Contest. We’ve invited Bakel Walden, the current chair of the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group, back on the ESC Insight podcast.…