Eurovision Song Context

Episode 75: (Part 2) Eurovision: When Life Drops a Plot Twist

November 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 13 mins

alienation, breast reconstruction, brotherhood of man, cancer journey, candid conversation, cesár sampson, comfort songs, creativity, cultural identity, dark humor, eurovision, eurovision analysis, eurovision podcast, eurovision songs, feeling displaced, identity, keiino, konstrakta, left-handedness, loïc nottet, marginalization, mastectomy, michael schulte, music and emotion, music critique, resilience, s10, salvador sobral, songwriting

In this episode we talk with Sheldon about his Journeys I–III essays, identity, alienation, and what it means to belong. We move into a conversation about cancer, resilience, and the books we’re both reading right now — Let Them and Open When. Then we build a Eurovision-powered playlist designed for life’s hardest emotional moments.

Episode 76: (Part 1) Eurovision: When Life Drops a Plot Twist

November 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 26 mins

alienation, breast reconstruction, brotherhood of man, cancer journey, candid conversation, cesár sampson, comfort songs, creativity, cultural identity, dark humor, eurovision, eurovision analysis, eurovision podcast, eurovision songs, feeling displaced, identity, keiino, konstrakta, left-handedness, loïc nottet, marginalization, mastectomy, michael schulte, music and emotion, music critique, resilience, s10, salvador sobral, songwriting

In this episode we talk with Sheldon about his Journeys I–III essays, identity, alienation, and what it means to belong. We move into a conversation about cancer, resilience, and the books we’re both reading right now — Let Them and Open When. Then we build a Eurovision-powered playlist designed for life’s hardest emotional moments.

Episode 74: Personal Note

October 16th, 2025  |  59 secs

Episode 73: Vienna 2026! Helena Steinhart on Vienna in Culture, Inclusivity & ESC

September 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 11 mins

austria, conchita wurst, esc, esc history, euphoria, eurovision, eurovision culture, eurovision podcast, eurovision song contest, loreen, merci cherie, rise like a phoenix, teya & salena, udo jürgens, vienna, vienna tourist board, who the hell is edgar

Vienna has twice hosted Eurovision and remains one of Europe’s great cultural capitals. In this episode, Bradley talks with Helena Steinhart from the Vienna Tourist Board about the city’s food, culture, and inclusivity — and what fans can expect from a future contest in Vienna. They also revisit four iconic songs: Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like a Phoenix”, Loreen’s “Euphoria”, Udo Jürgens’ “Merci, Chérie”, and Teya & Salena’s “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”.

Episode 72: Accordions in Eurovision with Zydeco Accordionist Dwight Carrier

August 12th, 2025  |  44 mins 19 secs

Zydeco & Eurovision Accordions (with Dwight “Black Cat” Carrier)
Louisiana Creole zydeco, the accordion as a lead instrument, Dwight’s family legacy and touring stories, plus how the accordion shows up on the Eurovision stage (Mandinga, Eliza, Zdob și Zdub, Verka Serduchka) and what makes an unforgettable accordion hook.

Episode 71: Bonus: Sanremo Fashion with Donato Lospalluto

July 12th, 2025  |  8 mins 53 secs

donato lospalluto, eurovision, kate miller-heidke, sam ryder, sanremo, strauss, voyager, waltz into space

Bradley speaks with Donato Lospalluto, Ground Station Engineer and Operations Architect at the European Space Agency (ESA), about Waltz Into Space — an extraordinary project created with the Vienna Tourist Board to broadcast all 13,743 notes of Johann Strauss II’s “Blue Danube Waltz” into deep space.

They discuss how ESA converted the music into electromagnetic signals, transmitted it via a 35-meter deep space antenna in Spain, and sent it across the solar system toward Voyager 1 — correcting what the team calls a “cosmic omission” from NASA’s original Golden Record. Donato explains the physics of antennas, how ESA communicates with spacecraft millions of kilometers from Earth, and what it feels like to merge engineering, art, and human imagination.

They also talk about Strauss’s 200th birthday, Vienna’s cultural storytelling, public engagement with space science — and yes — a little Sanremo.

Episode 70: (Part 2) Sending Strauss into Deep Space with Donato Lospalluto and the European Space Agency

July 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 3 mins

donato lospalluto, eurovision, kate miller-heidke, sam ryder, sanremo, strauss, voyager, waltz into space

Bradley speaks with Donato Lospalluto, Ground Station Engineer and Operations Architect at the European Space Agency (ESA), about Waltz Into Space — an extraordinary project created with the Vienna Tourist Board to broadcast all 13,743 notes of Johann Strauss II’s “Blue Danube Waltz” into deep space.

They discuss how ESA converted the music into electromagnetic signals, transmitted it via a 35-meter deep space antenna in Spain, and sent it across the solar system toward Voyager 1 — correcting what the team calls a “cosmic omission” from NASA’s original Golden Record. Donato explains the physics of antennas, how ESA communicates with spacecraft millions of kilometers from Earth, and what it feels like to merge engineering, art, and human imagination.

They also talk about Strauss’s 200th birthday, Vienna’s cultural storytelling, public engagement with space science — and yes — a little Sanremo.

Episode 69: (Part 1) Sending Strauss into Deep Space with Donato Lospalluto and the European Space Agency

July 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 26 mins

donato lospalluto, eurovision, kate miller-heidke, sam ryder, sanremo, strauss, voyager, waltz into space

Bradley speaks with Donato Lospalluto, Ground Station Engineer and Operations Architect at the European Space Agency (ESA), about Waltz Into Space — an extraordinary project created with the Vienna Tourist Board to broadcast all 13,743 notes of Johann Strauss II’s “Blue Danube Waltz” into deep space.

They discuss how ESA converted the music into electromagnetic signals, transmitted it via a 35-meter deep space antenna in Spain, and sent it across the solar system toward Voyager 1 — correcting what the team calls a “cosmic omission” from NASA’s original Golden Record. Donato explains the physics of antennas, how ESA communicates with spacecraft millions of kilometers from Earth, and what it feels like to merge engineering, art, and human imagination.

They also talk about Strauss’s 200th birthday, Vienna’s cultural storytelling, public engagement with space science — and yes — a little Sanremo.

Episode 68: Bonus: Eurovision 2025 Postmortem with Suzie & Russ!

June 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 3 mins

eurovision

Episode 67: EXPERIMENTAL BONUS: Live Commentary Turquoise Carpet 2025 with Suzie & Russ!

May 11th, 2025  |  2 hrs 24 mins

Episode 66: Staging & Body Language Analysis in Eurovision 2025 with Mark Bowden!

April 13th, 2025  |  1 hr 20 mins

austria, bara bada bastu, behavior analysis, ebu, esc, estonia, eurovision, eurovision 2025 esc2025, eurowhat podcast, georgia, johannes pietsch, kaj, mark bowden, martin osterdahl, melfest, remember monday, sauna, sweden, tommy cash, united kingdom

In this episode, Bradley is joined by body language expert and author Mark Bowden (The Behavior Panel) to break down performances from Sweden, Estonia, Georgia, Austria, and the United Kingdom. They also take a closer look at Martin Österdahl’s body language — and his choice of Rolex.

Episode 65: Bonus: Eurovision 2025 Festival da Canção / Sanremo with Sheldon Rocha Leal

March 15th, 2025  |  1 hr 5 mins

achille lauro, bombazine, eurovision 2025, fedez, fernando daniel, festival da canção 2025, francesca michielin, italian music, jéssica pina, lucio corsi, marco rodrigues, margarida campelo, olly, portuguese music, sanremo 2025, the kolors, willie peyote