Podcast review: Best of Belfast
Northern Ireland’s history has a tendency to influence people’s perception of its present, often conjuring images of bombs, bullets and in some cases a sinking ship.
However, the Best of Belfast podcast is aiming to change these misconceptions, one conversation at a time.
Presenter Matthew Thompson grew up “hating Northern Ireland and couldn’t wait to leave”.
But after three years working with the homeless in New York City he ended up getting married and coming back home.
Whilst working as a bicycle courier for Deliveroo he eventually fell in love with his home city and the Best of Belfast podcast was born with the hope that he could encourage other people to love it too.
Now, 300 episodes later, he has successfully shone a light on Belfast’s creativity rather than its conflict. The unfiltered, hour-long podcast is published every Monday morning capturing conversations with some of Northern Ireland’s finest folks, from household names to unsung heroes.
Grace is a 91-year-old with a passion for quilt-making and travelling but she is also a record-breaking member of the Ormeau Park parkrun
The episodes feature local legends such as Mary Peters, Voy Vance, Shane Todd and Julian Simmons. These interviews are both entertaining and enlightening with Matthew asking questions we never knew we wanted the answers to.
In his interview with Simmons, he asks the presenter about his earliest memory to which he responds: “My first memory is sitting on an aircraft beside my father and being gloriously sick all over his trousers as the aircraft was bumping about the skies on a flight from Belfast to London.”
Although I’m yet to hear a more amusing opening to a podcast it’s usually the hidden gems like Grace Chambers who are even more interesting to listen to.
Grace is a 91-year-old with a passion for quilt-making and travelling but she is also a record-breaking member of the Ormeau Park parkrun.
“I didn’t know I could run, 90-year-old people don’t run,” she laughs.
“But I’ve been doing it every week... I couldn’t say I love the parkruns though because 5K is quite a long way to.
“But you’ve got to venture otherwise you don’t do anything.”
The podcast is an occasionally funny and often poignant rambling exploration of the magic that occurs when you get the right people together in a room and give them the opportunity to share some stories.
