Talk ’90s to me

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Big Breakfast presenter, tabloid icon and 50% of THE rock power couple, Paula Yates was one of the most fascinating and complicated figures of the 1990s. A journalist, presenter, style icon and gossip column fixture, she helped redefine celebrity culture with her unconventional Big Breakfast interviews. Her high-profile marriage to Bob Geldof, and later relationship with Michael Hutchence, made her one of the most talked-about women in Britain. But behind the glamour lay a life shaped by family secrets, fame, heartbreak and tragedy. Miranda Sawyer is joined by Guardian columnist Polly Hudson to explore the woman who captivated Britain – and the legacy she left behind. ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode was recorded prior to the sad death of the brilliant Anthony Head on 5 June 2026. Diving deep into all things ’90s. Fangs for the memory! Buffy the Vampire Slayer began life as a teen horror-comedy film that came and went in 1992 with barely any impact. But five years later, creator Joss Whedon brought Buffy back for television, casting Sarah Michelle Gellar in the lead role and somehow transforming the story of a blonde Californian teenager killing vampires into one of the defining shows of the ’90s. At first glance it was all quips, questionable kung fu and a monster-of-the-week procedural tv show. But Buffy was using vampires and demons to talk about the horror of being a teenager which resonated with audiences around the world. Comedian, writer and star of Buffy Revamped Brendan Murphy joins Miranda to ask: why did Buffy hit quite so hard? And nearly thirty years later, does the Slayer still survive the rewatch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more. Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Paul Verhoeven’s camp, deranged, Vegas-based “erotic drama” Showgirls was a $45 million Hollywood gamble that became one of the biggest box office flops of the decade. Nominated for 16 Razzies, it got its lead actress Elizabeth Berkeley effectively blacklisted for almost 20 years. But thirty years later, things look very different. Once dismissed as pure camp excess, Showgirls has since been critically re-evaluated as a vicious satire of the American dream, capitalism and the misogynist entertainment industry itself. Comedian Chantal Feduchin-Pate joins Miranda to ask: was Showgirls really the worst film of the 90s? Or perhaps a fierce, misunderstood, protofeminist cult classic? • Want early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s… Elizabeth Wurtzel’s groundbreaking grunge-era memoir of depression, medication and alienation Prozac Nation divided opinion like few books ever have. How did it become the book of a generation? Does it stand up now? Did Wurtzel reinvent an old genre or start a new one? And would Lena Dunham’s Girls exist without it? Miranda Sawyer is joined by Sian Pattenden, culture writer, artist and musician, to discuss how Prozac Nation changed the game for young women writers. • Want early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist Listen to Sian’s band The Sha Sha Shanimals here. • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. It’s 1994, three schoolkids from Downpatrick get permission from their headteacher to go on tour with Elastica… and the rest is history. Ash arrive with the bombastic Girl From Mars and pure teenage nerve, somehow landing a record deal before they’ve finished their exams, then opening their A-level results live on BBC Radio 1! Frontman Tim Wheeler joins Miranda to revisit the madness, their complicated place in Britpop, and the 30th anniversary tour of their debut album, 1977. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Stuffed with high-glam, sex-soaked shots featuring the likes of Kylie, Johnny Depp, Madonna, Ewan McGregor and Uma Thurman, Sky Magazine was the glossiest badge of adulthood you could possibly leave on the coffee table. In an age when satellite TV was booming and the remote was king, it catapulted suburban Britain to the heart of Hollywood. Sky Magazine’s editor Simon Mills joins Miranda to revisit the glory days of the mag that turned TV listings into a lifestyle. From megastar interviews with Prince, Matt Dillon, Jason Priestley and Madonna to immaculate photoshoots to the mysteries of what was on at 6am on Sky One, it’s a flashback to a time when mags ruled the world… • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Cigs for breakfast! Oral sex in the kitchen! Wobbly cameras! E binges! Egg! Milly! Miles! Anna! Warren! And “the punch”. It’s 30 years since the groundbreaking houseshare drama This Life exploded onto our screens and gave us a candid look into the lives of young lawyers living together in London. What made this ramshackle saga work? And what made the characters so believable? Miranda talks over the tears, the tantrums and the fridge arguments with entertainment journalist, podcast host and Sir! Magazine writer Boyd Hilton. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. In 1994, a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Academy Award nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. It proved he was the real deal and set him on course to become more than just an actor. Within a few short years he’d become the ultimate poster boy, with bedroom walls across the globe filling up with Leo pictures carefully snipped from teen mags. This week on Talk 90s To Me, Miranda is joined by journalist and author of the upcoming newsletter Celebrity Intelligence , Dan Wakeford to revisit the hysteria the tabloids dubbed “Leomania”. From teen magazines and paparazzi economics to Leo’s infamous ‘Pussy Posse’ and the boom years of celebrity gossip, they unpack how the 90s media machine built the cult of Leo. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. British comedy got faster, stranger and more gleefully quotable in the ’90s than ever before. At the centre of it all was John Thomson, the everyman who helped turn The Fast Show into a cultural phenomenon, popped up everywhere from I’m Alan Partridge to Men Behaving Badly, and then pivoted to the Sunday night, must-watch dramedy Cold Feet. This week, Miranda sits down with Thomson to discuss the dizzying speed of ’90s fame, the catchphrases he still can’t escape, and the darker side of sudden success – phone hacking, tabloid harassment, and learning the hard way that fame in that decade came with very few boundaries. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Simon Williams. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Pop was trying very hard to look polished, predictable and a little bit American in the early ’90s… then Björk arrived, barefoot, uncompromising, and sounding like the future of music. She didn’t just release hit records. She blew open the idea of what a pop star could be: experimental but chart-friendly, weird but deeply human. In this episode of Talk ’90s to Me, journalist and author of Bjork’s Hegemonic, Emily Mackay joins Miranda to look back on Björk’s astonishing decade. The creative highs, the tabloid lows, the boundary-pushing videos and ask how one Icelandic artist quietly reshaped the entire sound and attitude of the ’90s. Photo: Mick Hutson RIP/Getty. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs or Emily’s book Bjork’s Hegemonic through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. The Disney Renaissance is usually remembered for its big tunes and Broadway bombast, but one of its most long-lasting impacts is the strength of its villains. From a sea witch inspired by the most transgressive drag queen of the ’80s to a Shakespearean lion schemer voiced by Jeremy Irons, these characters defined the era. Louder, stranger and far more interesting than the nice, beige heroes they were supposed to lose to. This week on Talk ’90s To Me, we’re diving into the gay Disney villains of the ’90s with comedian and host of Welcome to Hell Dan Foxx. We explore why Disney’s baddies were allowed all the flamboyance its heroes weren’t, how queerness became shorthand for glamour, danger and excess, and why these characters have grown in popularity in the decades since. • Go to ⁠⁠https://surfshark.com/t9tm⁠⁠ or use code T9TM at checkout to get 4extra months of Surfshark VPN!⁠ • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs or Dan’s book Bedtime Stories for Privileged Children through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. In 1999, Britney Spears exploded into pop superstardom. One song, one video, and suddenly she was everywhere with barely any build-up and no room to breathe. Was Britney’s debut a pop miracle, or the start of a life lived on other people’s terms? This week, Miranda Sawyer is joined by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, author Being Britney, to look back at culture that made her, adored her, and then watched as the consequences played out in public? • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to some mint merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon • Go to https://surfshark.com/t9tm or use code T9TM at checkout to get 4extra months of Surfshark VPN! Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs and Jennifer’s book Being Britney Pieces of a Modern Icon through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diving deep into all things ’90s. Cool. Violent. Funny. Quoted to death. Still feels modern today. This week on Talk 90s To Me, Miranda opens the briefcase on 1994’s Pulp Fiction, the film that didn’t just dominate the cinema, it rewired culture entirely. With non-linear storytelling, electric dance scenes, super cool hitmen and a soundtrack that instantly made you cooler just for owning it. This week, Miranda is joined by broadcaster, podcast pioneer and film buff Jamie East to unpack how Tarantino’s second film turned him into a household name, resurrected John Travolta’s career, launched a thousand posters, and became the film everyone pretended they understood the first time round. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to some mint merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices