Two posh British girls (Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton) take on the ‘highbrow’ and the ‘low-brow’ of the week’s news and pop-culture, creating an oft-hilarious commingle of the ridiculous and the sublime.
In the words of the witty duo:
‘The High Low is based on the founding message that life is best consumed with a mix of the trivial and the political. The errant chin hair to the Trumpian politics, if you will.’
Morphing the serious with the downright silly, journalists Alderton and Sykes take inspiration from Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, who coined the term ‘high low journalism’ in the 80s to label the blend of ‘water-cooler gossip’ and cultural/political commentary.
The double-act have received half a million downloads since their debut just six months ago, attracting a mostly-female fan-base to their witty musings on pop-culture, celeb gossip, politics and hard-hitting cultural happenings. Sykes and Alderton’s rapport is that of a couple of long-standing friends. Their podcast is a fantastic return to intimacy from the over exhaustion of screen-time – and it comes with none of the guilt, dread or FOMO that popular social media platforms too often inspire.
The episodes wind-up with an #AskTheHighLow segment, inviting listeners to email the pair with questions, problems, dilemmas and life conundrums. They don’t claim to be professionals nor therapists, merely to provide a forum in which they can give honest advice, encourage debate and connect together listeners for their own helpful discourse.
In last week’s episode, the two discussed Alan Yentob’s Imagine interview with Margaret Atwood for the BBC. They highlighted the problematic power structure of Scientology, referencing Alec Baldwin’s Here’s The Thing episode in which he interviews an investigative journalist into organized religion. A quick detour onto Katie Price’s (very sad) divorce and then onto Hilary Mantel’s epic piece on Princess Diana and ‘the princess myth.’ Also on the episode, Taylor Swift’s new song and image to match, and French President Emmanual Macron’s €10,000 makeup routine. Plus – soft cheese could be making your head smaller, and do you have Prosecco gums? The variety alone is sure to keep you entertained. Better get listening!
The High Low airs every Thursday, listen to the whole archive here.
We’ll be back next week with more guilt-free fun for your ears.
