On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to designer and magazine aficionado Jeremy Leslie. Jeremy’s platform, magCulture, sells a huge range of magazines from its London shop and online, posts regular reviews and essays via its journal, runs annual conferences in London and New York, as well as recording a regular podcast of its own. A passionate advocate for editorial design, Jeremy has established himself as a commentator on the subject through the magCulture online Journal and a series of books.

In the episode, we discuss the origins and growth of magCulture, as well as Jeremy’s personal favourite magazines. Jeremy also addresses the myth of ‘the end of print’ and shows how the industry has indeed changed, but for the better.

Timestamps:

• 1.03 – magCulture, murder and The London Magazine
• 2.44 – The origins of magCulture
• 5.52 – Early magazine influences
• 10.48 – Devalueing print: the end of NME
• 12.40 – Curating magCulture: what makes a good magazine?
• 16.50 – The myth of 'the end of print' and how magazines have changed
• 22.16 – What's doing well and what's lacking in magazine culture
• 24.49 – Current favourite magazines

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On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to poet and editor Paul Stephenson about his debut collection, Hard Drive, that has been shortlisted for the Polari Book Prize this year. Paul has previously published three poetry pamphlets (Those People, The Days that Followed Paris and Selfies with Waterlillies), and he occasionally teaches for the Poetry School.

We discussed absurdity and the limitations of language, poetry as a source of healing in times of grief and Paul’s broad use of form.

Timestamps:

0.05 – Intro

0.54 – Writing on trains and while travelling

2.07 – Paul reads ‘Anglepoise’, ‘The Thesis’, ‘Signature’, ‘Collecting you from Golders Green’ and ‘The Hymn of Him’

7.38 – Poetry as healing in times of grief

10.31 – Use of form: Oulipo restraints

12.03 – Logistics of putting together a poetry collection

15.08 – Absurdity, Auden and Alice Notley: the limitations of language

19.06 – Humour and emotion in poetry

22.32 – How to edit a poetry collection

26.00 – Labelling the collection as a ‘queer’ book

28.09 – The numerous meanings of the title: ‘Hard Drive’

29.29 – Things that had to be left unsaid in the collection

30.45 – The next book? Contemporary dating and situationships…

33.37 – Poets and art Paul’s been enjoying recently

35.22 – Paul reads ‘Writing to your Mother’

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to Joshua Jones, writer and artist from Llanelli in south Wales. Joshua was a Literature Wales Emerging Writer and a Hay Festival Writer at Work. He has published various poetry pamphlets, including Three Months in the Zebra Room and The City on Film, both out this year.

On this episode, we talk to Joshua about his book, Local Fires. A collection of interconnected short stories and his first work of fiction, Local Fires was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Polari First Book Prize.

We chatted about the benefits of multiple POVs and interconnected stories, how not to get sued when writing autofiction and Joshua’s love of Chicago indie rock band, Joan of Arc.