Penguin launches new youth culture podcast, This is Spoke

Penguin Random House UK is today launching This Is Spoke, a new podcast series for Generation Z, the first episode of which goes live today.

This Is Spoke is a 12-part podcast series discussing youth culture through a music and literary lens, told through stories and conversation between some of the UK’s hottest cultural influencers. Along with hosts Chidera Eggerue aka THE SLUMFLOWER, and YouTuber and poet Suli Breaks, the podcast features guests including writers and poets Emma Dabiri, Caleb Femi and Yomi Sode, musicians Maverick Sabre, Nadia Rose and Caitlyn Scarlett, and actors and presenters Femi Oyeniran, Amelia Dimoldenberg and Yinka Bokinni, amongst others.

Each episode aims to be provocative, fun and authentic, tackling themes ranging from whether artists have a responsibility to be political and women in male-dominated industries, to microaggressions and institutionalized racism. The aim is to provoke and encourage debate amongst Generation Z listeners – aged 17 to 24 – on some of the most important and contemporary issues influencing their lives, empowering them to join in and speak out. 

Suli Breaks : “This is news broadcasting; but relevant topics for relevant people.”

You can find the first episode here featuring activist and model Munroe Bergdorf and South London soul singer Poppy Ajudha discussing being creative and its effect on mental health, in the episode titled ‘We Need To Talk About Ye’.

This Is Spoke will also host a live event at Unit 8 Copeland Park in Peckham on Saturday November 17th. The event will be made up of interactive workshops, idea sharing and a live recording of the podcast, followed by a DJ set and performance by Ghetts. 

For more information on the podcast and live event, visit the This is Spoke website: thisisspoke.co.uk

Penguin is teaming up with Fremantle and BMG to launch the podcast, which was borne from an internal initiative championing innovation and collaboration between colleagues across divisions of the international media company, Bertelsmann, under which all three companies sit. Open to colleagues at any stage in their career, the initiative challenged them to consider what they might create and achieve together using their shared experience across content, digital, publishing, broadcasting, music and education. 

Darryl Foster, Development Producer at Fremantle, said: “In creating This Is Spoke we set out to build a platform that was useful, relevant and entertaining. A place where the hottest UK music and literary talent are brought together to share ideas, great stories and provoke culturl debate. This Is Spoke is all about providing a platform for collaboration, creativity and conversation and it's been a passion project for everyone involved.”

Derek Withshire, Marketing and Communications Executive in the Penguin Audio team added: “Producing the This Is Spoke podcast has been one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on. It’s a much needed platform with two of the most insightful young voices of their generation.”