STAYING IN
ON THE BOX
Historic events and Hollywood excess, murder at the White House and a new Christie classic make for a marvellous March
by BENJIE GOODHART
PODCAST
by SARAH SHANNON
Strangers on a Bench
Ever wondered about the life story of the stranger sitting next to you on a park bench? Musician Tom Rosenthal evidently has and he decided to turn his curiosity into a podcast series. Each episode sees Tom sit next to strangers in London parks and ask if he can record an interview. It’s unclear how many reject his request, but the ones who do say yes invariably have a story to tell.
In one he speaks to an artist painting a watercolour, who tells him about wild swimming and the importance of finding the ‘edge’ of your capabilities. In another novel-worthy episode, a man describes how a chance encounter in a Hackney pub led him to leave his job and house, buy a bicycle and ride it to India.
This is not dissimilar to Alexei Sayle’s BBC Radio 4 series Strangers on a Train and although Rosenthal may not have Sayle’s comedy chops, he has a charm that wins confidences from every stranger he meets.