over the bridge

less of an essay, more of an announcement.

Aug 14, 2024

One day in 2017, a group of friends and I sat in a darkened studio built on an industrial estate in East London. Over the course of an hour or so we unpacked the question of “would you do Cambridge again?”

Four Black and mixed race men discussing their experiences as undergraduates in one of the world’s most elite Universities hadn’t been done before. It was a unique conversation which previously remained within the bounds of dorm rooms made open to the public, and people responded well to it.

This was the inception of what became a three year forray into the world of podcasting that saw many cool events take place: live shows, commissions, news appearances and even a few famous guests.

Then the COVID lockdown happened.

We maintained things for some time after, switching to virtual recording with the growing online tools launched during the period. I personally upskilled in real-time to produce and edit the podcast which was previously included in our studio fee.

Eventually and for no concrete reason besides life pulling each other in different directions, we stopped checking our inbox for guest requests and ceased recording after our 89th episode was uploaded in June 2021.

During our radio silence, a plethora of podcasts emerged. In fact, with barriers to entry plummeting and audiences shifting decisively to audio content, it seemed like anyone could and would set up a podcast on a whim which made for some excellent memes berating any group of men with a mic in sight.

For what it’s worth, good and bad came from it. The landscape has changed significantly but much has remained the same. People still value honest long-form conversations about topics they care about. In the spirit of contributing to and perhaps balancing the voices reflecting society and culture at large, and at a time that feels to be approaching extremes, it felt right to rejoin the conversation.

Three years later and big life updates in tow, we’re back again!