Eurovision Song Context

A podcast where we bring in smart people. We talk about smart things, then veer into glitter, wind machines, and geopolitics. Experts. Insight. Eurovision chaos.

About the show

We start with expertise and end up in Eurovision. It’s kind of our thing.

Eurovision Song Context is a monthly podcast that looks at the Eurovision Song Contest through an unexpected lens: expert insight. Each episode, a guest from a different field — psychology, fashion, politics, design, linguistics, and more — talk about their work and how it helps us understand 2–3 Eurovision entries in a whole new light.

Are these songs genuinely good? So bad they’re good? Or just weirdly unforgettable?

Longform episodes come out on the 12th of every month (the "douzeth"). We're where brilliant minds meet bad key changes.

Eurovision Song Context on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 42: (Part 1) EXTRA Marghe and Bradley meltdown 14 hours before ESC 2024. Skip if this is old news, optional listen

    May 11th, 2024  |  15 mins 45 secs

    (Part 1) EXTRA Marghe and Bradley meltdown 14 hours before ESC 2024. Skip if this is old news, optional listen

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    Episode 41: (Part 2) A Place of Our Own, with June Thomas

    May 1st, 2024  |  41 mins 8 secs
    alessandra mele, chanel, june thomas, katrina and the waves, lgbtq, lgbtq+, megara, queer, sandie shaw

    Welcome to Eurovision Song Context, a podcast about culture in ESC.

    We’re Bradley, and Margherita, and in this episode we’re joined by the amazing June Thomas. You may know her from Slate Magazine. She was its Foreign Editor, TV writer, and is now author of the new book A Place Of Our Own; Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture . We’ll talk about that, plus, classic Eurivision versus the contemporary Eurovision, Northern English pride, and Queer Women in Eurovision. We’ll also cover Sandie Shaw, Megara, Chanel, Katrina and the Waves and Alessandra Mele. See the shownotes at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm , or by looking in the episode description. Just a note: this episode is supposed to drop on May 12th, but we’re releasing early so you can focus on the Grand Final! Our next regular episode will be June 12th.

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    Episode 40: (Part 1) A Place of Our Own, with June Thomas

    May 1st, 2024  |  47 mins 1 sec
    alessandra mele, chanel, june thomas, katrina and the waves, lgbtq, lgbtq+, megara, queer, sandie shaw

    Welcome to Eurovision Song Context, a podcast about culture in ESC.

    We’re Bradley, and Margherita, and in this episode we’re joined by the amazing June Thomas. You may know her from Slate Magazine. She was its Foreign Editor, TV writer, and is now author of the new book A Place Of Our Own; Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture . We’ll talk about that, plus, classic Eurivision versus the contemporary Eurovision, Northern English pride, and Queer Women in Eurovision. We’ll also cover Sandie Shaw, Megara, Chanel, Katrina and the Waves and Alessandra Mele. See the shownotes at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm , or by looking in the episode description. Just a note: this episode is supposed to drop on May 12th, but we’re releasing early so you can focus on the Grand Final! Our next regular episode will be June 12th.

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    Episode 39: (Part 2) ESC's Hidden Language: Insights from Body Language Expert Mark Bowden

    April 22nd, 2024  |  47 mins 33 secs
    body language, europapa, eurovision, eurovision 2024, joost klein, lena, mark bowden, sam ryder, stage presence

    We’re Bradley, and Margherita, and in this episode we’re joined by one of the world’s top body language experts Mark Bowden. You may know him from the Behavior Panel on YouTube, TEDx or Truthplane. We’ll chat about the body language and stage presence of Sam Ryder, Lena, Wild Youth, and Mae Muller. We’ll also ask Mark to help Joost Klein stand out, win trust, gain credibility and WIN Eurovision 2024! See the shownotes at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm , or by looking in the episode description. Just a note: we are using our backup audio this time around, and you’ll be joining us a bit into our conversation.

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    Episode 38: (Part 1) ESC's Hidden Language: Insights from Body Language Expert Mark Bowden

    April 22nd, 2024  |  46 mins 30 secs
    body language, europapa, eurovision, eurovision 2024, joost klein, lena, mark bowden, sam ryder, stage presence

    We’re Bradley, and Margherita, and in this episode we’re joined by one of the world’s top body language experts Mark Bowden. You may know him from the Behavior Panel on YouTube, TEDx or Truthplane. We’ll chat about the body language and stage presence of Sam Ryder, Lena, Wild Youth, and Mae Muller. We’ll also ask Mark to help Joost Klein stand out, win trust, gain credibility and WIN Eurovision 2024! See the shownotes at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm , or by looking in the episode description. Just a note: we are using our backup audio this time around, and you’ll be joining us a bit into our conversation.

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    Episode 37: EXTRA: FantaEurovision with Marghe & Bradley (unedited) -- fantaeurovision.com

    April 12th, 2024  |  48 mins 30 secs

  • Episode 36: (Part 2) One night in Sweden- Bangkok to Malmo with Chef Pam Soontornyanakij

    March 12th, 2024  |  39 mins 18 secs
    abba, chef pam, chef pam pichaya soontornyanakij, eurovision, eurovision 2024, loreen and marcus & martinus, potong, sweden chef of the year, swedish food, thai food

    We’re joined by Chef Pam Pichaya Soontornyanakij, who is the youngest female chef to receive a Michelin star. We’ll talk about her experience being the only international judge in Sweden’s Chef of the Year contest, Thai food, Beef, Swedish food, Swedish food you can eat in Malmo, and Swedish food you can eat at home on the big day.– then we’ll talk about ABBA, Loreen and Marcus & Martinus.

    I also welcome a new cohost, Margherita!

    Check out the shownotes at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm to see additional content, or by looking in the episode description.

  •

    Episode 35: (Part 1) One night in Sweden- Bangkok to Malmo with Chef Pam Soontornyanakij

    March 12th, 2024  |  32 mins 48 secs
    abba, chef pam, chef pam pichaya soontornyanakij, eurovision, eurovision 2024, loreen and marcus & martinus, potong, sweden chef of the year, swedish food, thai food

    We’re joined by Chef Pam Pichaya Soontornyanakij, who is the youngest female chef to receive a Michelin star. We’ll talk about her experience being the only international judge in Sweden’s Chef of the Year contest, Thai food, Beef, Swedish food, Swedish food you can eat in Malmo, and Swedish food you can eat at home on the big day.– then we’ll talk about ABBA, Loreen and Marcus & Martinus.

    I also welcome a new cohost, Margherita!

    Check out the shownotes at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm to see additional content, or by looking in the episode description.

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    Episode 33: (Part 2) SanRemo supercast, complete with FantaSanRemo!

    February 20th, 2024  |  1 hr 4 mins
    alessandra mango, big mama, eurovision, fantasanremo, ghali, loredana berte, mahmood, marco mengoni, san remo, sanremo

    Margherita, Dave and Bradley cover all 18 hours of SanRemo, complete with FantaSanRemo.

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    Episode 32: (Part 1) SanRemo supercast, complete with FantaSanRemo!

    February 20th, 2024  |  57 mins 55 secs
    alessandra mango, big mama, eurovision, fantasanremo, ghali, loredana berte, mahmood, marco mengoni, san remo, sanremo

    Margherita, Dave and Bradley cover all 18 hours of SanRemo, complete with FantaSanRemo.

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    Episode 34: Big Announcement Next Month!

    February 19th, 2024  |  22 secs

  • Episode 31: (Part 2) Pop Songcraft & Eurovision at the Hague

    January 12th, 2024  |  39 mins 48 secs
    abba, celine dion, cotton eye joe, dancing lasha tumbai, emmelie de forest, eurovision, måns zelmerlöw, netta, only teardrops, rednex, verka serduchka, waterloo

    I'm joined today by Charlie Harding from the Switched on Pop podcast. We’ll talk about maintaining vision in song craftsmanship, the myth of the singular pop song creator, and Eurovision at the Hague. We’ll also talk about some iconic submissions from 1974,1988, 2007, 2013, and 2015,  including ABBA, Mans Zemmerlow, Verka, DJ BoBo, Netta, Emmelie De Forrest and Celine Dion . This time around Charlie and I listened to music that I can’t sample on the podcast; especially ABBA’s Waterloo and Honey Honey, Tame Impala’s Elephant, and the Beatle’s Obla Di Obla Da. Check these out and all the others in your podcast description or at the showpage at eurovisionsongcontext.fireside.fm