2015 was a big year for podcasting. After the record-breaking audience numbers for Serial late in 2014, it seems the collective appetite for story-driven audio was whetted. With the promise of bigger audiences, established podcasts could get better advertising deals, which translated to more money for new programs to be launched. Today, the audio eco-system is vast and thriving. As a commuter, podcasts have a central role in my day, keeping me company while I wait for trains or walk home through my Brooklyn neighborhood. They regularly make me laugh out loud, or cry, or think of arguments for an imaginary debate with the hosts. Of the hundreds of episodes I listened to this year, these are the five[1] that really stuck with me.

“The Living Room”, Love and Radio (March 6, 2015)

If this episode hasn’t already won some kind of podcasting Pulitzer, it should. At once voyeuristic and strange, human and heartbreaking - this is an episode to listen to alone.

"Quit Already!”, Reply All (December 2, 2015)

Reply All has been one of the consistent revelations of 2015 for me. Alex Goldman and P.J. Vogt were the first people to be poached from NPR by Gimlet media, and from the quality of the episodes this year, it seems like it was the right move. Every episode contains some beautiful nugget of humanness, plucked out of the weirdness of the internet. This episode tells the story of Lucía Mendizábal, a Guatemalan grandma who accidentally started a huge political demonstration by posting on Facebook. Once you’re deep into a couple of episodes, try skipping to “Today’s the Day” from August 27^th, where P.J. and Alex remember that there’s a world outside the studio.

Rukmini Callamachi, The Longform Podcast (February 18 & 19, 2015)

In this two-part interview journalist Rukmini Callamachi discusses her career reporting on terrorism. One of the earliest reporters of the rise of the Islamic State, Callamachi has written important articles about their recruitment methods, their beliefs and the blood-curdling efficiency with which they kidnapped women and children to enslave them. A highlight of the interview is hearing Callamachi speak about her research methods, which include engaging with IS members on Twitter.

“The Problem We All Live With” Part 1 and Part 2, This American Life (July 31 and August 7, 2015)

If you’ve heard of any podcast, you’ve heard of This American Life. Under the watchful editorial gaze of Ira Glass, the program has been syndicated throughout the US since the mid-90s. It’s been a podcast since podcasts have existed, and its influence on the medium can’t be understated (least of all because they’ve trained half of the producers currently making the stuff). In this two-part series, This American Life reporters Nikole Hannah-Jones and Chana Joffe-Walt discuss one of the most burning issues of our time – the systematic inequality of opportunity for people of colour – and tell a story about one really effective way of battling it. Prepare to be shocked, angry, hopeful and determined to make things better.

 “Sam Phillips and the Early Years of the Memphis Recording Service: We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime”, Fugitive Waves (January 13, 2015)

Fugitive Waves is the podcast of the Kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, a production duo who have made some of the best radio documentaries out there since partnering up in the late 70s. Through a mixture of archival recordings and interviews, this episode introduces us to the world of Sam Phillips, the man who discovered Elvis, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash, to name a few. Listen to this episode when you’re in the mood to time-travel. If you want more mid-century Memphis, try their other episodes, “Electronic Memories: R.A. Coleman’s Memphis” and “WHER: 1000 Beautiful Watts – The First All Girl Radio Station in the Nation”, Parts 1 and 2.

Bonus

I would be remiss to ignore Karina Longworth’s twelve-part series about Charles Manson. This truly is a tour-de-force of podcasting: it is incredibly well-researched, well-written and mainly very well-produced (I have to admit that I found some of the voices, and her tendency to over-articulate, a tad on the irritating side). If you liked Serial, if you’re interested in cults and the 60s and drugs and Hollywood (and who isn’t!) this is definitely for you. 

And for Frasier fans, listen to this: https://soundcloud.com/talksaladandscrambledeggs/talksalad-009

We're hosting a festive knees-up to remember on 3rd December, and you're invited! Click here for tickets, or read on to find out more...

2015 has been a good year here at Oh Comely; we’ve celebrated bodies, contemplated the weather and turned five to name but a few things.

As such a great year draws to an end, it seemed like the perfect excuse to throw a party. There’ll be workshops to dip into from the wonderful people that we’ve worked with over the last twelve months, some of our favourite photographs and illustrations pinned to the walls, tunes playing, and most importantly, a ginormous Secret Santa for everyone to get involved with.  

 Workshops

* Christmas Crowns with The Flower Appreciation Society *Limited Numbers

* Customised Christmas Cards with Prickle Press 

* Paper Diamond Decorations with Origami-est

* Merkin Knitting Tutorial with Sophie Scott

Other Activities Include:

Varosha Lamb painting portraits live and displaying outtakes from our reader shoot, in-grid show collection (offering an exclusive discount), a chance to star as an Oh Comely cover girl in our photo booth, Venus Vinyl spinning the best hits of 2015 playing into the night, gingerbread decorating and much more…

The Oh Comely Christmas Shop will also be open for business selling Christmas Subs, back issues, exclusive merchandise, prints and one-off collaborations.

Come along, bring a pal, be merry and don’t forget your Secret Santa Gift!

Date: Thursday 3rd December 2015.

Time: 19:00-21:00

Place: 71a, Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4QS

Ticket Price: £12 - workshops, drinks, food and goodie bag included. Get yours here! 

Images (Top-Bottom): Rosanna Durham, Prickle Press

The latest Oh Comely Box is shrouded in a cloak of secrecy. Which is handy because Issue 28, out at the end of November, is all about Secrets. We’ve been pondering, wondering and plotting about the creations we want you to uncover in our curious box of delights.

Without giving too much away – this is the Secrets issue after all - we were inspired by the story of Pandora’s box. Based on Greek mythology, it is at once a dark tale and one filled with hope. Hope comes in many forms and we’ve been discussing our own versions of Hope. Keep an eye out on Twitter and Instagram next week for more.

One of the most important elements about our box of treats for you, oh lovely subscribers, are the collaborations with illustrators, designers and makers that make up such an important part of curating the box contents. Karolin Schnoor is a London-based illustrator and designer and she is our guest illustrator and collaborator this month. 

Karolin has created some beautiful drawings for us based around the Pandora’s Box tale and some of these will adorn our box along with illustrations of slightly sinister creatures that make an appearance in the magazine. We’re not filling the box with anything too scary, we promise, but there will be some mysteries to uncover.
You can see here, that Karolin has been working on some beautiful drawings and intriguing ideas and they hint at what you might discover inside.

Psst! The theme for Oh Comely’s upcoming Christmas issue is 'Secrets'. In it, we’ll be reminiscing about teenage diaries in all of their mortifying Technicolor glory, and we’re on the lookout for readers brave enough to divulge the secrets of their former selves. 

If you’ve kept any notes on unrequited corridor glances, unfair curfews, or unfinished homework, we’d love to take a peek at them.

To be considered, send a photograph of your diary’s front cover and of an extract/page you think would be of particular interest to [email protected] by Monday 26th October with the subject heading ‘Diary Casting Call’. We’ll be publishing our favourites in November. 

Here at Oh Comely we work with extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; we even get to be involved in their vision. 

At the end of September we grabbed the ladies from The Flower Appreciation Society and Tie Dye High Five, as well as our Associate Editor Jason Ward and laid out a Feast of Creativity at The House of St Barnabas.

The weekend was a vibrant mix of things to do, things to eat, look at, listen to, watch and of course, dance too. But amongst the pizza eating and typewriting was an installation by Hester Reeve with a quiet message of what the festival was all about. And it started with a giant teapot in Soho Square.

The festival shines a light on a problem that many of us walk past everyday but which few of us engage with. There are 10,500 temporary bed spaces in London’s homeless hostels and 14% of people in homeless accommodation are in paid work. The House of St Barnabas is working to increase that number and Art Social is both a celebration of their success and a campaign for helping more – not only into lasting work, but to help gain the top levels of Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs, the theme for this year’s festival.

This October, The House of St Barnabas’ not-for-profit members’ club is celebrating its second anniversary: two years of social change, fairer employment, challenging stereotypes and redefining the members’ club model by promoting values of openness and inclusivity.

When the club opened its doors in October 2013, something unique and radical was born. The imposing and historic building, beautiful interiors, delicious food and drinks menu and impressive art collection immediately denote luxury and quality, while the integration of the Employment Academy creates a place that improves people’s lives, bringing members together through a common purpose of believing in a fairer society.

It is this symbiosis that sets The House of St Barnabas apart, and generates a different kind of membership pool - an outward looking group of people who want to see real social change.

The House of St Barnabas

Each issue of Oh Comely, we take great pleasure in inviting a Guest Illustrator onto the team. They work on a series of original briefs fitting the theme of the issue, and bring their unique aestheitc to Oh Comely's pages. 

Issue 27, out now, is no different. Themed on 'Body' it was always going to be a challenge to find an illustrator who explored this most sensitive of subjects in an unexpected and canny way. In the hands of illustrator Marie Gardeski, reader, you're in for a treat. 

Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Marie's work is subversive, humuorous and always unexpected. Think Beatrice Potter after dark. Over her four hand-drawn illustrations, she takes us right back to the days of childhood, exploring how toys and dolls become assembled in the mix-and-match imagination of childhood. Her fleshy characters take on personalities that are larger than life and all the more stranger. 

Read our full interview with Marie Gardeski, and see her Oh Comely illustrations in issue 27, out now.

2cm x 22cm x 29.5cm

This little row of numbers denote the exact dimensions of Oh Comely’s subscription box, designed to fit an array of objects - and a copy of the magazine - snugly in its bottom.

Photo by @_l__t___

For those of you who haven't come across it before, the Oh Comely box is a physical manifestation of the magazine’s contents in 3D form, and the Wheels Box is the most recent addition to the collection. We thought we might share a little sneak peek into how each box is created.

The contents of each box are driven by theme and can be conceived by means of any of the following methods:

1. The Eureka moment - a dazzlingly brilliant concept that makes the purveyor of the idea jump from a sitting position, punching the air.

2. The staff brainstorm - ideas batted around the room accompanied by multiple cups of tea, sheets of paper and biscuits. 

3. The rain on my parade - a casual remark by an office visitor that nails the concept you’ve been agonising about for days in a simple phrase.

We then work closely with our collaborators to bring the items to life, carefully measuring dimensions, exploring colour and playing with wording. When the finished items appear in the office, the heart misses a beat; will they look as we’d hoped? Has the colour printed well? Do the fiendish calculations add up? More often than not it's a wonderful "phew" moment: the Face Changer rotates precisely as we'd planned. The hand-enamelled pin badges gleam perfectly on the lapel.  

Then, it's down to packing. We stock up with the right tools for the job: coffee and cake from the bakery round the corner, hours worth of cheesy music. Each item is then packed carefully by hand - wrapped with tissue, tied with string, stamped and stickered - then addressed and picked up by the postman to be delivered through your letterbox. 

Each box is different: an exciting new challenge. We're now working away on the next installment - the Body Box - will be out at the end of September. You can order yours here, or buy the Wheels Box here. 

Long, languid summer afternoons are made for getting stuck in to a good book, and we have just the thing. We've got a whopping 50 copies of Penguin's Bonjour Tristesse to give away to 50 eager readers!

Written by Francoise Sagan when she was only eighteen and first published in 1954, Bonjour Tristesse was an overnight sensation. Publishing assistant Tamara gave the novella a read; here's her quick review: 

Set in sticky, sultry southern France, seventeen year-old Celine is spending the summer with her philandering father and his young new girlfriend. This debauched and unprincipled set-up - which Celine revels in - is turned on its head when Anne, an old friend of her father's, arrives at the villa. Filled with naivety, sex, instant gratification and heady decisions, Bonjour Tristesse is a wonderfully sticky summer read. 

To claim your copy, simply comment on the Facebook post with your favourite book you've read this summer, and then fill in this form with your postal address - the first 50 to write in will be sent a book.