Recent projects: Recent Episodes
Bespoken Media
Heriot-Watt University's academics and senior leaders on how their work is changing the world. Hosted by the university's chief scientist Professor Tadhg O’Donovan. Listen.
Patrick Kielty on Ireland's 1994. Patrick and producer Ruth Sanderson on how 1994 was an extraordinary faultline in Irish life, for Radio 4's Archive on 4. Listen on BBC Sounds.
Cat Carter came to Bespoken for support to launch a podcast to help build her EQUK social enterprise. Listen to the series here.
Beyond Boundaries connects school-leavers with the university's inspiring and insightful teaching staff, to encourage them to apply to Aberdeen. Listen here.
Celebrating 60 years of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Hosts Ed and Rachel explore the stories of the Trust’s past, present and future, travelling the length and breadth of Scotland. Listen here.
Ethnically-Korean refugees fleeing war in Ukraine. Produced by Amanda Hargreaves for the BBC World Service, presented by So Jeong Lee
If you can walk on fire, you are brave enough to do anything, right? www.podfollow.com/brave
Five of the world’s top female climbers are thrown into a race to be first to climb all of the world's 14 highest mountains. For the BBC World Service - listen here.
For the BBC World Service, Maddy Savage on how Sweden has become Europe's gun crime hotspot.
A linguistic collage of modern Scotland, from Multitrack Audio Fellow Stephen Maguire. Listen here.
Phil Lewis and team offer hard-won practical advice for independent consultants: podfollow.com/consultancy
Box-fresh poetry with Scotland's Makar Kathleen Jamie, co-host Ally Heather, and guests
The swine flu vaccine that appears to have triggered a narcolepsy sleep disorder. Maddy Savage reports for BBC Witness History: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3bxp
Chicken Shop Date creator Amelia Dimoldenberg is the first guest on our new series of Grazia Life Advice: https://pod.fo/e/15eb83
In Sweden’s far north, indigenous Sami people say their culture is threatened by carbon-cutting industries. Listen at BBC Sounds.
Created for https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/online-safety-podcast/ (SWGfL), part of the https://saferinternet.org.uk/https://saferinternet.org.uk/ (UK Safer Internet Centre), Interface is online safety for teachers and education professionals.
How campaigners fought to get gender-neutral personal pronoun ‘hen’ included in Swedish dictionaries. Maddy Savage speaks with Nasim Aghili from the queer art collective Ful, for the BBC World Service 'Witness History' strand. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3c3l
After an incident of sexual assault, BBC Springwatch naturalist Lucy Lapwing tries to renew her love of being alone in nature. Listen here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00180d0 Produced by Jac Phillimore, with sound design by Joel Cox.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0017f1b (Archive on 4) charting the impact of the 1992 rave at Castlemorton Common, and how it led to the 1994 Criminal Justice Act. Presented and produced by Tom Barton. Sound by Barney Philbrick and Joel Cox. Listen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0017f1b
The World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and others have pledged to end yellow fever epidemics by 2026 - creating the EYE Strategy to do so. We produce their podcast with partners Bengo Media. LIsten at https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy/podcast#:~:text=%27EYE%20on%20yellow%20fever%27%20is,yellow%20fever%20epidemics%20by%202026. (podcast (who.int)) or https://lnk.to/EYE-on-Yellow-Fever (EYE on Yellow Fever (lnk.to))
A 4-part series for Accenture on climate change and business sustainability, made in partnership with Headland Consultancy https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/insights/sustainability/building-sustainable-futures (https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/insights/sustainability/building-sustainable-futures)
A series to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the office of the Scottish Children's Commissioner.
Alistair Heather is not proud of some of his past interactions with women. The Scottish writer explores what more he and all men can do to help women feel safer in the world. Listen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0015mgx
An https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015hwr (immersive audio experience) for BBC Radio 3's After Dark festival at Sage Gateshead. Composer and sound artist Rob Mackay at five locations where remains of Hadrian’s Wall can be found in Newcastle, complemented by the words of writers and poets as they respond to the sounds of Tyne.
Innovation in energy networks, with Innovate UK and Ofgem. Listen: https://www.podfollow.com/brightspark
Musician https://islaratcliff.com/ (Isla Ratcliff) meets the people who inspired her album The Castalia.
Working with Dr Jacqueline Conway and the Waldencroft team, we developed and now produce this branded podcast showcasing their organisation's leadership consultancy prowess.
BBC Stockholm correspondent Maddy Savage on provocative and practical ways Swedes made menstruation less taboo. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct2zjj
People with lived experience of climate change share stories and perspectives with scientists and decision-makers, for the Glasgow Science Centre and the Natural Environment Research Council. http://www.podfollow.com/climateconversations (www.podfollow.com/climateconversations)
Local Zero has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months. In COP26 fortnight, we held 'Local Zero Live' with a world-class expert panel. https://pod.fo/e/f5e0c (https://pod.fo/e/f5e0c)
Dr Pamela Jenkins shares stories with people who've grown up as the children of parents with mental illness, for the charity Our Time. http://www.podfollow.com/myfamilymentalillnessandme (www.podfollow.com/myfamilymentalillnessandme)
Explore Heriot-Watt University’s innovative and ground-breaking work in business and STEM. Listen here: http://www.podfollow.com/afuturemade (www.podfollow.com/afuturemade)
This inspiring series, sponsored by Nike, explores the many reasons busy mums get out to play; among them Joy, Inspiration, Resilience and Discovery: https://planetradio.co.uk/podcasts/why-i-play/ (https://planetradio.co.uk/podcasts/why-i-play/)
This BBC Radio 4 documentary recalls how the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak affected a Herefordshire farming community: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000y6kf (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000y6kf)
Scottish Ballet asked us to deliver training and format development, as well as bespoke audio assets, for their podcast pilot: https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/podcast (https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/podcast)
The Kings Fund's monthly podcast, exploring big ideas in health and care, is edited and mixed by Bespoken: https://podfollow.com/kings-fund-podcast (https://podfollow.com/kings-fund-podcast)
Our BBC Radio 4 documentary Able To Parent follows wheelchair-user Emily and her partner CJ as they decide whether they want to try for a baby. Producer: Leeanne Coyle Listen in full: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000v2t4 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000v2t4)
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne joined OnFARM to launch a new scientific research fellowship to better understand Equine Grass Sickness. Listen to the episode in full: https://pod.fo/e/b8942 (https://pod.fo/e/b8942)
Adventurer Bear Grylls' BecomingX strives for 'a world where everyone can realise their potential'. We made their 'The Educators' podcast with Capita. All episodes here: https://www.capita.com/c/capita-and-becomingx-educators (https://www.capita.com/c/capita-and-becomingx-educators)
Grazia Beauty Life Lessons gets savvy make-up tricks, smart skincare finds and relatable wellness advice with Beauty Director Joely Walker. Listen here: https://planetradio.co.uk/podcasts/grazia-beauty-life-lessons/ (https://planetradio.co.uk/podcasts/grazia-beauty-life-lessons/)
Climate change and energy experts Dr Rebecca Ford, Dr Matt Hannon, and PhD student Fraser Stewart are your trusted guides in Local Zero - from EnergyREV. Listen: http://www.podfollow.com/localzero (www.podfollow.com/localzero)
Bauer asked us to give the latest series of Grazia's interview format a more professionally produced touch. Rhiannon Evans asks the smartest women around for 6 pieces of advice that they live by - and one that they wish they had ignored.
With our partners Scene and Herd PR and Marketing, we are proud to produce a podcast series celebrating rural Scotland, in lieu of the sadly cancelled 2020 Royal Highland Show.
Before Dr David Nabarro became World Health Organisation special envoy on Covid-19, he visited Edinburgh University to lead a wide ranging dialogue on the future of food. Bespoken recorded and produced this one-off podcast documenting the event.
Our daily diary of Dyson lockdown life rose to #4 in Apple's ‘Kids & Family’ chart, was one of Spotify's "podcasts that brought us joy" in 2020, and got on-air praise from ITV This Morning. Listen at http://www.podfollow.com/love (www.podfollow.com/love)
We were commissioned to make 4 podcast episodes to tempt tourists to Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, as part of a wider 'Scotland Starts Here' PR campaign. We look at the fierce and bloody history of what is sometimes called 'Britain's Wild West', check out amazing food and drink options and a range of outdoor activities, and learn about the area's world-beating textile heritage. In a feedback email, Scotland Starts Here project lead Jemma Reid said "Bespoken's professionalism, dedication, passion and commitment was nothing but first class. The attention to detail, the creative input and the understanding for our destination and requirements shined." Listen to the whole series at https://scotlandstartshere.com/podcast/ (https://scotlandstartshere.com/podcast/)
Scene and Herd's response to Coronavirus and the UK lockdown was to launch #OnFARMHelps knowledge and information podcasts. This is a mini-series of quick turnaround podcasts recorded on smart-phones with timely, practical, and sensible advice to help farm and food-based businesses in Scotland to survive, and even thrive, in the current economic uncertainty.
OnFARM tells stories from rural Scotland. It celebrates rural enterprise, rural community, rural creativity, and much much more. FARM stands for F-ood, A-griculture and R-ural M-atters. OnFARM is made by the brilliant team at Scene and Herd PR and Marketing, with technical and editorial support from Bespoken. In a piece of feedback, Anna from S&H said, "Bespoken take quality recording and editing to the next level. Despite already high expectations, the finished product far exceeded what I had hoped for." Listen to the whole series: http://www.podfollow.com/onfarm (www.podfollow.com/onfarm)
In partnership with the Union advertising agency and Bauer Media, we produced 5 short podcasts for the Scottish Government, designed to inspire more recent graduates to consider teaching in Scotland as a career. In each episode, a teacher shares their inspiring, rewarding and sometimes challenging classroom experiences. They talk about their reasons for choosing teaching, their passion for the job and why they’d recommend it to others. Find the whole series: https://teachinscotland.scot/news/why-teach-our-podcast-series/ (https://teachinscotland.scot/news/why-teach-our-podcast-series/)
The #Wisegal podcast from Oxford's Sarah Wiseman art gallery is a great example of how Bespoken can work flexibly with clients of all sizes. We produced episode one from start to finish. In the process, we also used it as a model to train our client, Sarah, to produce her own podcasts. She then had the confidence to record episode 2 on her own. Sustainable good value for the client - and rewarding for us! Check out the Wisegal website: http://www.wisegal.com/ (www.wisegal.com/)