The Big Smoke Variety Show
The Big Smoke Variety Show is a one-of-a-kind podcast hosted by theatre director and Canadian living in London, Kevin Bennett, blending the playfulness of classic TV variety shows with the depth of a cultural salon. Each episode features fascinating interviews — with guests like the former Ravenmaster of the Tower of London Christopher Skaife, Olivier Award-winning actor Giles Terera, clothier and BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee star Patrick Grant — plus authors, historians, entertainers, scientists, and experts of all kinds. You’ll also hear regular recurring segments on everything from the newest branch of neuroscience — neuroaesthetics — and how it can change your life, to one of London’s licensed Mudlarks sharing the historic treasures he’s found in the River Thames. Expect lively conversations, surprising stories, and original comedy — from hilarious sketches to mini radio plays. If you love discovering big ideas, quirky characters, and the rituals that bring us together, this podcast is for you. In a world driven apart by social media algorithms, The Big Smoke Variety Show invites you to gather, laugh, and hear stories you won’t find anywhere else.
Episodes
Hello friends! Whether you’ve been along for the ride these past two years or have just stumbled across our show now, welcome and thanks for tuning in.
This is just a quick note to let you know that The Big Smoke Variety Show is taking a little hiatus. We’ve decided to recharge our creative batteries and think about how we want to continue bringing wonderful stories, fascinating conversations, and a sense of community t...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
Back in 1861, the phrase “silly season” was coined to describe that sleepy stretch of summer when there wasn’t much real news to report, and newspapers filled their pages with wonderfully oddball stories instead. So, we’ve done the same—bringing you another double dose of mythical tales perfect for long summer evenings.
In this week’s Silly Season we have tw...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
Back in 1861, the phrase “silly season” was coined to describe that sleepy stretch of summer when there wasn’t much real news to report, and newspapers filled their pages with wonderfully oddball stories instead. So, we’ve done the same—bringing you a double scoop of silliness perfect for long summer evenings.
This week, everyone’s favourite apprentice...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we take another peek behind one of your favourite recurring segments and venture down to the foreshore with Sean Clark the Mudlark's Latest Find.
Kevin is joined by Sean Clark, Sam Caetoven and Angela Bridge — a true muddle of mudlarks — for a conversation about the strange, beautiful and deeply human world of searching the banks of the River Thames.
Together, they explo...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we take a peek behind the nugget and explore one of your favourite recurring segments: Archie’s Neuro Nuggets.
Kevin is joined by Archie McAlpine, whose quick, actionable insights have taken us through the fascinating ways our brains respond to the world around us — from fractals, ASMR and nostalgia to laughter, sound, creativity and the hidden power of paying attention.
...Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we throw open the doors to Variety Week and descend from one of London’s most magnificent pub loos into a magical podcast takeover from our favourite apprentice magicians.
First, London’s very own Loo Lady, Rachel Cole Wilkin, returns with another stop on London Loo Tours. This time, Rachel takes us beneath the Princess Louise Pub in Holborn, a Victorian gin palace home ...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we step into the fascinating world of juggling — from ancient Egypt and Covent Garden street performance to opera houses, ballet studios, flying apples and the strange beauty of objects in motion.
Kevin is joined by Sean Gandini, co-founder of the internationally renowned Gandini Juggling ensemble. Raised in Havana, Cuba, Sean was first drawn to magic and mathematics before di...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we throw open the doors to Variety Week and journey from the secrets hiding behind London’s blue plaques to an ancient tale of love, fate and devotion from the forests of India.
First, comedian and blue plaque tour guide Kate Sharp returns with another stop on her delightfully unhinged walking tour of London. This time, Kate leads us to Dollis Hill and the former Post Office R...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we brave the sting and fly into the surprisingly fascinating world of wasps — from Shakespeare and Aristotle to cockroach hunters, paper architects, picnic pests. We explore some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures.
Kevin is joined by Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at University College London and author of Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps. ...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we throw open the doors to Variety Week and descend into the wonderfully strange — from apprentice magicians wrestling with the laws of reality to historic London loos wrestling with the laws of plumbing.
First, fan-favourite trainee magicians The Strange Brothers return from the Xander Eldrick Institute of Illusion, Divination and, of course, Dance. This time, Salazar Strange...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we log on and step into the complex world of China’s internet, a digital landscape shaped by innovation, censorship, and the ever-shifting boundaries of freedom and control.
Kevin is joined by journalist and author Yi-Ling Liu to discuss her new book, The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet. Yi-Ling’s work has appeared in The New Yo...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week we wander away from the ordinary and into a world of folklore, hidden histories, and strange things waiting to be found — from shapeshifting spirits in the north of England to forgotten objects emerging from the River Thames.
First, in a brand new segment, Stories You Haven’t Heard, Kevin takes us to Northumberland for the tale of the Hedley Kow — a mischievous bogg...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we strike a match and step into the strange, smoky, and surprisingly human world of alchemy — where fire is sacred, emperors chase immortality, and one man’s glowing urine helps shape the story of modern chemistry.
Kevin is joined by award-winning journalist, adventurer, and author Dr Kit Chapman to discuss his new book The Age of Alchemy: How Early Innovators Shap...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week we take a rather unexpected journey through the city — from flushing away the everyday to restoring what we might otherwise dump. This episode explores how even the most overlooked spaces and objects can tell powerful stories about how we live.
First, our new segment, Let’s Go to the Loo! Kevin is joined by Rachel Cole-Wilkin, creator of London Loo Tours, for a guided exp...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week we press start on the world of video games. From ancient history to interactive storytelling, we explore not just what games are, but what they might become — and what they can reveal about how we understand the world around us.
Kevin is joined by Dr Richard Cole, Senior Lecturer in Digital Futures in the Department of Classics & Ancient History at the University of Bristol...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week we turn our attention to the objects that surround us — the everyday things we carry, discard, and barely notice — and ask what they might reveal about who we are and the times we’re living through. From museum collections to sensory experiences and a little magical mischief, this episode explores the curious relationship between the material world and the mind.
Kev...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we follow the rich and robust story of coffee in London, from smoky 17th-century coffeehouses to the modern-day communities forming around a simple cup.
Kevin is joined by historian Dr Matthew Green and Redemption Roasters’ In-custody Training Manager Thomas Clare to explore the past and present of London’s coffee culture. From the first coffee house in St Michael’...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week we lean into that strange, in-between season — when winter lingers, spring teases, and the city begins to stir once more. From the quiet reflection of Covent Garden’s Actors’ Church to the tidal rhythms of the Thames, we explore how London — and perhaps all of us — finds its way from darkness into light.
Kevin is joined by Reverend Simon Grigg, rector of...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week we stroll the hard streets of South London, tracing the world that shaped one of the greatest entertainers of all time, and the music halls that lit up Victorian London. Along the way we celebrate the city’s living performers too, from Underground buskers to a little magical mischief on our own audio stage.
Kevin is joined by curator and author Dr Jacqueline Riding to exp...
Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
This week, we step into the ‘undiscovered country’ — and explore the one subject we so often avoid: death. But rather than dwelling in darkness, this episode asks a more vital question: what can mortality teach us about how to live?
Kevin is joined by social historian and bereavement counsellor Dr Molly Conisbee, author of No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Morta...
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