Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

This week, we slip into the strange, funny and quietly revealing world of anthropomorphism — the very human habit of seeing minds, motives and meaning everywhere we look.

First, Kevin pulls up a chair with scientist and bestselling author Justin Gregg, whose book Humanish explores why we dress up our dogs, get too attached to inanimate objects, and sometimes find ourselves arguing with ChatGPT. From friendly alligators to fauxnads, Justin explains how attributing human qualities to animals, objects and AIs can make us smarter, kinder — and occasionally a little delusional.

On our Parish Noticeboard, we trade the clamour of the city for the steady rhythm of cut tile and grout at the Hackney Mosaic Project — a place where volunteers piece together hope, community and colour one tiny tile at a time. It’s a gentle reminder that creativity can be a holiday from your own head, and that some of the city’s most moving artwork has a deeper story behind it than you might think.

Then Audio Archives returns with a newly unearthed — and increasingly unhinged — festive radio commercial featuring vanished 80s icon Jay Gladrock. What begins as a simple cereal advert soon descends into chaos, ego, and nut-based wordplay. It may well be the last surviving recording of Gladrock before he disappeared from public life entirely. Listener theories are, as ever, welcome.

Finally, we round things off with a festive Victorian Parlour Game: The Minister’s Cat. Straight from Fezziwig’s Christmas gatherings, this classic game of quick wits and alphabetical adjectives is your guaranteed cure for a post-turkey slump!

So settle in as we wander from curious minds to tiny tiles, from lost legends to lively language — all here in The Big Smoke.

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Links

🧠 Justin Gregg – Website

📘 Humanish by Justin Gregg – Book

🎨 Hackney Mosaic Project – Official Site

📚 Tessa Hunkin’s Hackney Mosaic Project – Book

🍁 Maple Leaf or Make Believe – CBC Video

🍁 Maple Leaf or Make Believe – CBC Article

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(01:35) Pub Quiz: Maple Leaf or Make Believe

(02:35) Justin Gregg Interview

(49:24) Parish Notices: Hackney Mosaic Project

(57:05) Audio Archives: Unreleased Commercial

(1:10:49) Victorian Parlour Games

(1:13:00) Live Christmas Show

(1:14:20) Maple Leaf or Make Believe Answers

(1:15:24) Outro

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Assistant Produced by Adam Wright

Original music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

Audio Archives written by Aidan Parker and performed by Jamie Sandersfield, Matthew Nicholson and Cait Roddam Jones

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

We’re slipping a little audio chocolate into your advent calendar: the true origin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, plus a reading of the original 1939 story that made him a star. A festive treat from The Big Smoke family to start the holiday season.

This piece was created by our host Kevin Bennett and is starring actors Adam Cunis and Hollie Hales. It warmed the hearts of the audience at our 2024 Christmas live show, so we wanted to share it with you as you open the first door of your advent calendars!

If you'd like to join the fun at our live show this year, click the link below for info and tickets.

Happy Holidays from The Big Smoke Variety Show!

🎟️ The Big Smoke LIVE Christmas Special is at The Phoenix Arts Club in Soho on 14th December, 2025 — expect ghost stories, games, music and festive mischief.

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(00:30) How Rudolph Came To Be

(05:27) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

(17:10) 2025 Live Christmas Show

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Assistant Produced by Adam Wright

Original music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

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Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

This week, we raise a glass to Britain’s most beloved institution — the pub — and explore how these living rooms of London connect history, community and creativity in ways as rich as any museum or gallery.

First, our guests pull up a stool: its pub historian Charo Havermans and artist Lydia Wood. Together they explore how pubs began in the hands of women, why they became vital community “third spaces,” and how a good pub can feel like stepping into someone else’s living room — or even stepping back in time.

On our Parish Noticeboard, we wander from one place of warm company to another — Hoxton Hall. A Victorian music hall with over 160 years of creativity, care and community under its rafters. Once home to circus acts and performing dogs, now home to a powerful Creative Health Initiative.

After all that history (and a few imaginary pints), it’s time to consult our hilarious and historical Doctor Quack, who finds himself called upon to assist with a delivery — a job he isn’t entirely equipped for.

Finally, we catch our breath with Archie’s Neuro Nuggets, as he strolls through Battersea Park to explain the soothing science of white, pink and brown noise — the perfect counterbalance to the lively chorus of the pub.

So pull up a chair, pour yourself your favourite pint, and join us as we wander from bar rooms to music halls, from questionable medicine to calming soundscapes — all here in The Big Smoke.

🎟️ The Big Smoke LIVE Christmas Special is at The Phoenix Arts Club in Soho on 14th December — expect ghost stories, games, music and festive mischief.

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(01:38) Pub Quiz: Kings Head or Kings Bed?

(02:30) Charo Havermans and Lydia Wood Interview

(51:46) Parish Notices: Hoxton Hall

(58:47) Dr Quack

(1:06:58) Live Christmas Show

(1:08:27) Archie’s Neuro Nuggets

(1:14:28) Pub Quiz Answers

(1:16:31) Outro

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Links

📚 Locals – Pre-order Lydia Wood’s Book

🗓️ Lydia Wood – 2026 Pub Calendar & Website

🎨 Lydia Wood – Instagram

🍺 Book a Historic Pub Tour with Charo Havermans

📸 Charo Haverman – Instagram

🍻 Back Behind the Bar: Pub Landladies of East London

🎭 Hoxton Hall

🐊 Dr Quack – Crocodile Dung Contraceptive

🥛 Dr Quack – Milk Blood Transfusion

🧠 Archie McAlpine – Neuro Nuggets

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Assistant Produced by Adam Wright

Original music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

Dr Quack written and performed by Jolyon Coy