Top Picks
12 podcasts to listen to about Cornwall
The perfect soundtracks to your drive time, cooking, working or walking.
Whether you want to listen to something around politics, comedy, films, fitness, health & wellbeing, books – you name it and there’s a podcast for you! We have combed the internet and found you a great selection of Cornwall-based podcasts featuring Cornish people, places and stories…
Hear from great literary writers, passionate female advocates, artists, historians, creative writers and more through these individual episodes and podcast series.
Know of anymore great Cornish podcasts that people should listen to? Tell us at [email protected]
Happy listening!
1. Oh! The Tales We Tell
Listen each month as Multivax take a dive into the arts and culture scene in Cornwall, and talking to guests who are a part of it. Listen in for stories, music, chat and more!
In the first episode, available from 1pm on 30th April, hear from Dan Woodfield of Kernow Bedroom Choir about their recent involvement in Gwenno’s ‘A Song for Cornwall’.
The ‘After Dark’ episodes share the work of some amazing artists in Cornwall, sharing stories, music, live performance all for your audible pleasure! Helping to expand the Cornish arts scene further, this open – mic style podcast will give you plenty to explore.
2. Cornwall Woman
Join West Cornwall’s Karen Pirie as she chats to cool Cornish women about their love affair with Cornwall. Hear about the witches of St Buryan and Britain’s first tax-paying witch. Or the art of foraging on Cornwall’s beaches and coast paths. Rachel Lambert shares her knowledge of the unfamiliar but delicious tastes, nutritional value and ecological importance of seaweed. Writer Jane Pugh also joins the Cornwall Woman podcast to talk about finding happiness as a single woman, through sea swimming, creativity and spending time with family and friends. Lastly hear from 21 year old Emily Stevenson who is an active beach cleaner and campaigner in Cornwall. Emily wore a dress to her graduation made entirely of crisp packets to highlight the current issues around plastic pollution.
All of these women are strong and passionate individuals who choose to live life the way they want, and make a difference. Listen to their stories and be inspired.
Click here to listen
3. North Cornwall Book Festival
The What’s On team had a great time at the North Cornwall Book Festival last year, hearing from authors such as David Nicholls, Michael Morpurgo, John Boyne and Patrick Gale. As well as a host of local talents including the fantastic Raynor Winn. If you’d like to find out what we got up to you can read our online blog here. Or even listen back to all of the author talks which are available as podcasts below.
Click here to listen on Soundcloud
Also available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts
4. Walks Of Art: St Ives with Emma Gannon
This is a special episode from Tate’s podcast collection which explores St Ives.
St Ives is a place known for its pottery, boats, beaches and beatniks. For over a century it has attracted artists who have new ways of looking at the world. Even David Bowie was a fan. Join Emma Gannon to find out what brought these like-minded people to this far-flung coastal town.
Click here to listen
5. National Trust: A Tale of Tin
The Cornish mining industry was once the envy of the world. Seabirds have now taken over the crumbling remains of mine shafts, engine houses and chimneys that still define the Tin Coast. This episode explores the geological events that threaded this stretch of coastline with tin and copper and the technological advancements that led to an army of workers excavating the metals from a warren of tunnels.
Click here to listen
6. Bodmin Keep War Stories
Intriguing and surprising stories behind the collection at Cornwall’s Regimental Museum in Bodmin. Find out how ordinary soldiers played their part in some of the biggest conflicts of the last century, from the impact of war on everyday life, to tales of extreme courage and daring.
Click here to listen
7. Wander the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall with Tim Smit
Explore the wonderful Lost Gardens of Heligan with its finder and restorer Tim Smit (who also established the Eden Project). Prepare yourself for some entertaining surprises as Tim discovers some of the more unusual produce of the magical vegetable garden. This podcast is part of the BBC Countryfile series.
Click here to listen
8. Celtic Myths & Legends
The Celtic Myths and Legends Podcast explores the folklore, mythology, legendary figures and folk customs of the “6 Celtic Nations” of Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and Isle of Man. Sian Esther Powell, who runs the podcast, is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Celtic studies and wants to share this with anyone with an interest in mythology and folklore, history or educational podcasts. Join Sian to hear tales about Cornish pixies, the giant of St Michael’s mount and the mysterious mermaids of Zennor.
Click here to listen
9. Two Old Choughs - A Tale of Two Hospices
To celebrate their 40th year, Cornwall Hospice Care launched a new podcast series featuring Tamsin Thomas (Head of PR & Communications) and Gina Starnes (Director of Clinical Services). Join them and their guests to hear about the many and varied aspects of Cornwall Hospice Care, hospice care in general and lots more.
Click here to listen
10. Nest Podcast
Nest is a epistolary project, written collaboratively by students and staff from Falmouth University’s writing community. A series of bi-monthly letters of fiction linked together by the prompt: ‘someone finds a nest.’ The writers do not communicate with each other about the writing process, but they instead respond to each other’s letters. You can hear them as stand-alone pieces or as a part of a bigger story, it’s up to you. Each episode of the Nest podcast features a reading of the newest letter and an interview with the writer discussing their process and influences.
Click here to listen
11. On the Hill
On The Hill is a new podcast which brings you stories about Cornish cemeteries and those buried there. Each episode reassembles the life of someone departed and the history of the time, and shares original creative writing inspired by them.
Click here to listen
12. Is the Pasty Really Cornish?
In this BBC Radio 4 programme, Dr Polly Russell & Sheila Dillon take a trip to the World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project to find out why the pasty remains an emblem of Cornishness for people around the world. Meet pasty makers from as far as the USA, Argentina, Jamaica, and closer, from Kent, Sheffield and Bristol. Hear from Bridget Galsworthy de Estavillo, who has helped to reconnect Mexican paste (pasty) makers with their Cornish heritage in the mountain communities of Hidalgo. And explore what the Cornish pasty says about a new generation’s sense of regional/national identity.
Click here to listen
13. Curious Under the Stars
This podcast radio play was written by our very own Cornish play write, poet and storyteller Annamaria Murphy. Curious Under the Stars is a 5 part series of a magical drama set in Glan Don, a mysterious village on the wild Welsh coast. Starring Sion Pritchard (Phoneshop), Emma Sidi (Pls Like) and Ifan Huw Dafydd (Gavin and Stacey). Find out what happens when a stranger arrives in Glan Don, with a plan that threatens the future of the village.
Click here to listen
If you know of any other Cornish podcasts that we haven’t mentioned please get in touch at [email protected]