It was twenty years ago today . . . 

Well, okay, twenty years ago last Monday when Ben Hammersley coined the term “podcast” in The Guardian. And I paid no attention. Maybe that’s because ten years passed before podcasting really took off with the debut (in October 2014) of Serial. And everyone listening in their cars or through their earbuds on morning walks became obsessed with true crime.

Except for me. 

Yes, true to form, I ignored the whole podcast phenomenon – until my younger, hipper teacher friends said, “What’s wrong with you?” And truth to tell, I was getting tired of blasting my car stereo with Broadway musicals and episodes of The Jack Benny Show. In 2016, I was only a year into writing this blog – which, as it turns out, is soooooo 2003 (the year WordPress was born) – and I was feeling hip, groovy, and cool that I thought I would turn my focus on this podcasting thing, despite my antipathy for true crime.

And for once, my timing was good: 2016 was the year that you could finally search “Agatha Christie” in the podcast forums and come up with something. I had received a message from Kemper Donovan (it occupies a place of honor in my “About” post here) telling me of a new podcast that he and his friend Catherine Brobeck were starting that would be all about Agatha all of the time. And Kemper has stayed true to his word for the last 7+ years – although, if you join his Patreon account, which I have, he has stuck his toe into the waters of Christie contemporaries and followers, such as Anthony Berkeley and Christianna Brand. 

As you might imagine, other podcasts have followed, and as I’m always on the lookout for stuff about my favorite author, I have listened to as many as I could. There have been a few misses, like the trio of college students who started reading through the canon but had trouble pronouncing “Poirot.” My choices for hearing about Christie currently boil down to four podcasts, consisting of two veterans at the game and two newbies. All of them provide a different perspective, and so I never feel like the information is getting overly repetitive. 

Honestly, though, by this time in my life I know a lot about the author. The true pleasure for me isn’t so much the information received as the joy of hearing people converse on the subject. To be candid, I have gone through most of my existence pretty much on my own where Agatha Christie is concerned. When we stood around the water cooler at work, we discussed politics, not Poirot; we eschewed the thrilling game of detection for Game of Thrones. Nothing beats talking about the things you love, but listening to others talk about them is almost as good. And I’m not breaking any confidences here when I tell you that all the podcasters I’m about to mention are open to exchanging ideas and opinions with listeners. 

So, as Christie herself might say . . . pick your poison . . . 

* * * * *

ALL ABOUT AGATHA

Hosts: Kemper Donovan and Catherine Brobeck

Debuted: 9/15/2016

Concept: “To read/analyze/critique/adore all 66 of Christie’s mystery novels, and to rank them according to certain pre-set criteria, (as well as) to provide a robust and convincing answer to the age-old question of why Agatha Christie is as enduringly popular as she is.”

I’m happy to say as a fellow Californian (Kemper is based in L.A.) that no podcast is more clearly dedicated to Christie’s writing itself than All About Agatha. The program’s early format was comfortingly regimented: each title was examined and ranked according to a set of criteria involving plot, characterization, setting and tone. Before a final score was delineated, the modern age would assert itself as points were deducted for “stuck in their time” issues of insensitivity to race, gender, sexuality or ableism. Now, as Kemper himself will be the first to tell you, rankings are subjective and are meant to be taken all in fun. Still, it was heartening to see how passionate the hosts could get wrangling over a single point in a score, just as it could rankle when one of my favorite titles came in for some rough assessment. 

Interestingly, Catherine and Kemper may have felt the same way because they began to institute periodic reexaminations of their rankings, and this resulted in “corrections” in placement for various titles. I think that’s one of the myriad of things we all appreciate: the wisdom of the podcast to recognize that taste is an ever fluid affair, and assessments we made in the heat of the moment are always worth another look when calmer heads may prevail (*koff* Death Comes As the End *koff*).

Up until November 2021, it became a rite every two weeks or so to stuff the AirPods in my ears and trudge off into the morning to listen to the latest novel ranking or story analysis or expert interview. As the list grew, so did the number of fans who welcomed the banter between the pair. Remember, this was the height of the pandemic as well, and it became deeply comforting to step away from the societal ooze for an hour or two and listen to Catherine and Kemper attempt to prove that Endless Night should rank higher than Crooked House, A Murder Is Announced, or Death on the Nile (Omigod! It certainly should not!!!!) 

And then, tragically, Catherine died, and we suffered the loss together like a family. The Christie community rallied together and assisted Kemper in finishing the last half dozen rankings. And now the conversation has expanded its focus to more general topics in the Christie-verse. Kemper has brought in a variety of authors, scholars and genial Agathologists to discuss her work onstage, or in relation to her faith, or to look at her influence on other writers, both among her peers and in the contemporary world. 

Those writers now include Kemper himself, whose debut mystery The Busy Body definitely gives a few nods to the Queen of Crime. It’s the first in a series, and it will be exciting to see how Kemper’s own Agathology will inspire his heroine’s further adventures. Meanwhile, All About Agatha continues to flourish, and long may it do so. Did I mention how we’re all patiently waiting for Kemper to re-read and rethink Death Comes As the End and (hopefully) gives Christie’s only historical mystery a deserved bump in the rankings.

SHEDUNNIT

Host: Caroline Crampton

Debuted: October 24, 2018

Concept: “Shedunnit is a storytelling podcast that unravels the mysteries behind classic detective stories. Host Caroline Crampton uses the novels of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Gladys Mitchell, Josephine Tey and other classic mystery writers to evoke the social and literary history of the golden age of detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s.”

I came this close to meeting Caroline Crampton, on an afternoon in London that turned out to be one of my favorite afternoons of all time. On the eve of my first Bodies from the Library event, I met up with fellow bloggers Moira Redmond and Kate Jackson and authors Christine Poulson Martin Edwards at a lovely old museum for high tea. Caroline was supposed to join us, but she had a family event. (It’s okay, I forgive you, Caroline.)

Christie is certainly not the sole focus here, but she looms large in Ms. Crampton’s overarching examination of the Golden Age of Detection, with special (and much deserved) emphasis on the creative women at its center. And so, while I may not get all Agatha all the time, it’s fascinating when she pops up in connection with a certain historical event or a peer’s writing. Thanks to Caroline, I can also hear something about other favorite writers, like Josephine Tey or Ngaio Marsh – and, yes, there’s something for the boys about Carr and Berkeley and others. Caroline even runs a Shedunnit Book Club, exposing her readers to a wealth of new/old authors. 

This is the most slickly produced and written of the podcasts. The jaunty music makes you imagine you’re riding along with “Bundle” Brent in her Hispano Suisa. Caroline crafts an excellent essay and expands upon it with interviews from a wonderful assortment of speakers, some of whom knew these classic writers personally. Quite often, the show provides a fresh perspective on writers I thought I knew pretty well. I have to say that my favorite episode was the one where Caroline proposed determining The Very First Detective Story by hopping back through time from one classic mystery to another until she reached . . . well, far be it for me to spoil the ending (but I deduced it nonetheless and heartily approve of her choice!)

Caroline is based in the UK and has written books on other subjects. The Way to the Sea (2019) was all about the Thames River, and her latest work, A Body Made of Glass, which will be published this year, is described as “a definitive biography of hypochondria.” 

TEA AND MURDER

Host: Rebecca Thandi Norman

Debuted: November 7, 2022

Concept: “Tea and Murder is a part book club, part interview show. Each episode explores a part of Agatha Christie’s universe by focusing on a single book or story. It’s an irreverent, analytical look at Agatha Christie mysteries that asks the question: why do we love the things we love?”

Rebecca is American-born and now lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she is the Editor-in-Chief of Scandinavia Standard, an English-language website and writes articles, both online and in print, on fashion, design, culture, art, travel and lifestyle. Like so many of us, she grew up reading Agatha Christie and decided to start a periodic podcast, which is currently wrapping up its second season. Each episode centers around a specific Christie title (novel, story or play), that title being suggested by the episode’s guest. 

As to those guests, Rebecca has brought on an impressive array of experts, including Dr. John Curran, Christie biographer Laura Thompson, author Sophie Hannah, even fellow podcasters Caroline Crampton and Kemper Donovan. But the list is more eclectic than that, reflecting my sense of Rebecca as not so much a Christie scholar but a fan who also possesses a passion for many topics and is interested in seeing both how a favorite author fits into these other worlds and how other people – many of them not Christie fans – feel about the writer in context with their other main interests.

This can result in the odd experience of the specific Christie title under discussion feeling almost like an afterthought in a discussion, but it can also make us see things from a fresh perspective. Or it can frustrate us . . . like the discussions about Death on the Nile and Cards on the Table (two of my favorites) with folks who had never read a Christie book and weren’t particularly interested in returning to her. Ah, well . . . to each their own.

My favorite episodes so far tend to be those with other writers – like Jean Kwok, who discussed how A Caribbean Mystery inspired her own story that was included in the recent collection of new stories about Miss Marple. (It was one of the best!)  Or Marthe Jocelyn, who hadn’t read much Christie before she began her four-book series about Aggie Morton, Victorian sleuth. The perspective on Crooked House of a children’s book author was fascinating, as it was when Robin Stevens, author of the Murder Most Unladylike series, discussed Hallowe’en Party. 

The podcast is a fairly bare-bones affair with a basic structure. Rebecca asks her guests how they came upon Agatha Christie for the first time (lots of Enid Blyton readers out there!) and then they discuss the guest’s specialty. When the conversation gets back round to Christie, Rebecca provides publication data and invites the guest to deliver a one-two minute synopsis of the book-of-the-week. The rest of the episode can be a deep dive or a shallow skim of the book, depending on the way the speakers connect it to the general topic at large; this can make the premise of the podcast as “part book club” feel a little shaky sometimes. A jeweler came in to talk about The Mystery of the Blue Train, and while a fabulous ruby does loom large in the plot, I can’t say that Christie’s novel was ever the main focus here. (Some fans might argue that this is justified!) I did learn a lot about the difference between precious and semi-precious stones.

As much as it’s clear that the host really does love her Christie, (but not And Then There Were None! What gives with that, Rebecca???), she never puts the author on a pedestal, which allows her guests the freedom to cover what they see as “weaknesses” or problems in her work. I can’t say I always agree with points that people make here, but leave it to Agatha to generate controversy in our modern age! 

THE SWINGING CHRISTIES

Hosts: Dr. Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown

Debuted: January 6, 2024

Concept: “Sex. Drugs. Rock ‘n’ Roll. Agatha Christie?? Agatha Christie may not be the first person you think of when you think of the Swinging Sixties, but her writing has much to say about the big topics of the day. Join Dr. Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown on a rad journey through time with the Queen of Crime.”

It’s hard to evaluate a podcast based on only two episodes so far. When you look at the pop art rendition of the author and read the concept, the words that come to mind are: “Cheeky devils!” And there’s definitely something delightfully playful about this set of free-wheeling conversations between Agatha scholar and author Dr. Mark Aldridge (Full disclosure: I have his books on Poirot and Christie on the screen on my shelf and the Marple book on order) and his friend Gray Robert Brown. It feels like sitting in a pub with your boys, chatting away about everything under the sun while on the jukebox Petula is singing, “England swings like a pendulum do!” 

The conversations fly fast and furious (this American is admittedly sometimes a bit tripped up by the British accents), but there’s a wealth of scholarly detail in here. I think this podcast is more for diehard fans of the author. I say this for a couple of reasons: first, no matter how much the hosts try to defend her output between 1961 – 69, this was not Agatha Christie’s Golden Age as a writer. But then (second reason), Mark and Gray do not provide a deep, point-by-plot-point analysis of these novels; rather, they use the texts as evidence of Christie’s relationship with the decade. 

Of course, there are inferences to be made here that the whole project is ironic. Christie epitomized the Golden Age, when authors born during the Edwardian era flourished, and then far too many of them continued writing past their sell date. And yet the podcast sets out to make an argument that much can be learned, both about the author and the time in which she was still living, by looking at her books. After two episodes, the jury is still out about how deep that connection will be, but the journey, so far, has been a lot of fun. 

The first episode, “Sex,” reminds us all that Christie did know about the subject – it provided a motive for many a classic in her oeuvre. When she talked about it in the 60’s, she herself was often ironic about people’s preoccupation with it and, most of all, with the belief of the younger generation that the elders who spawned them knew nothing about the facts of life. As the guys point out, the references to sex in 60’s Christie are often hilarious in this regard. The second episode “Rock ‘n’ Roll” seemed to labor harder to make a connection. Sure, Christie mentions the Beatles and other groups, although the characters she inserts in novels like Third Girl can feel like parodies of these young musicians. Mark tells a wonderful story that was related to him by Mathew Prichard, Christie’s grandson, about her true feelings about the Beatles. (Spoiler: she felt about Paul McCartney’s ballads the same way my mother did, which paved the way for me to buy all their albums.) Still, the episode skimmed over the cataclysmic changes wrought in society by this emerging music scene and how it might have affected or paralleled what was going on with Christie as a writer of traditional mysteries. 

Still, I like how Gray and Mark have chosen a very narrow field and then, through their choice of topics, used the times to explore Christie in a wholly different way. They look at her books, plays and films in equal measure, and they clearly have the scholarship to back it and the exuberant joy for their topic to make it interesting. Next time the subject is “Money.” I know Christie had a lot of it and that she gave a lot of it away to taxes. I can’t imagine how the boys will connect her money matters to such a transformative decade where, I can only imagine, Christie was rarely the subject du jour. It’ll be interesting to see where the hosts fly with this; I can only imagine it’ll be cheeky. 

After all these years of reading and studying her, I think I can guess how Agatha Christie might have felt about all these podcasts. She would have wondered what all the fuss was about, and she would have avoided being a guest herself as she never really liked ad-libbing about her books or her process. I’d like to think she would be secretly flattered over how many people access their Spotify or Apple, scroll past the Rachel Maddows and Crime Junkies and Stuff You Should Know in search for new insights on a cherished favorite. I’ve been reading Agatha Christie since the 1960’s, and I still can’t get enough.