Real Folk - Inspiring life stories.
Jo chinwags with guests from diverse backgrounds and delves into their lives so far. Guests include actors, adventurers, comedians, dancers, artists, singers, filmmakers, foster carers, authors, entrepreneurs, linguists and more.
Who would we be without our stories? Sharing, listening and learning about our experiences is the essence of being human.
26. Marc Burrows - Author, critic, comic & musician
Jo chews the Christmas fat with author, critic, comic and musician, Marc Burrows (https://www.marcburrows.co.uk/). Jo delves deeper into what inspired Marc's latest book The Story of the Christmas No.1 - Mistletoe and Vinyl (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Christmas-No-Mistletoe-Vinyl/dp/0857162853). Listen up for some festive music facts. Find out why Simon Cowell (https://www.instagram.com/simoncowell/?hl=en) makes the X Factor (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEY1ejsweY4DgMwOVJeEaBA) winner a Christmas No.1, why The Beatles (https://www.thebeatles.com/) are to blame for everything and who tried to ban Christmas.
He writes, mostly about music and film, for The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/uk), The Observer, (https://observer.co.uk/) The Quietus (https://thequietus.com/), the i Paper (https://inews.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOoouyhiEDak4hyRxDKG7ffBzj3ZMw3BMBcjXtQiG_vNE2ThB0qH4), Music OMH (https://www.musicomh.com/), the New Statesmen (https://www.newstatesman.com/)and Hey U Guys among many others. His biography of the brilliant, Sir Terry Pratchett (https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/), The Magic of Terry Pratchett (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Terry-Pratchett-Marc-Burrows/dp/1526765500) was published in 2020 to considerable acclaim, winning the Locus Award for best non fiction in 2021. Also check out his book The London Boys: (https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Boys-Bowie-Bolan-Teenage/dp/1399008439) Bowie (https://www.davidbowie.com/), Bolan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bolan) and the 60s Teenage Dream. Buy Marc's marvellous books here. (https://www.marcburrows.co.uk/s/shop)
He has a background in stand up comedy and has performed several runs of his one-man shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as around the country.
He plays bass in the cult Victoriana punk band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing.
Enjoying Real Folk? Why not listen and subscribe to Jo's (https://www.instagram.com/joburkeinsta/) other podcast, Utter Burke (https://utterburke.transistor.fm/), also available FREE wherever you listen.
2 Oct 2025
25. Claire Storey - Stage and TV Actor/Writer
Jo is feeling autumnal so pull up a chair grab a cuppa and join her for a cosy natter with tv, stage and voice actor, Claire Storey. (https://clairestorey.com/about/) You may recognise her from the long running, award winning, BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer) series Call the Midwife (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0118t80). Claire has also popped up on your tv screens in almost all our beloved soaps including Emmerdale (https://www.itv.com/emmerdale), Coronation Street (https://www.itv.com/coronationstreet), Holly Oaks (https://www.channel4.com/programmes/hollyoaks) and Doctors (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mh9v). Find out how she became an actor, why everyone thinks she's a Northerner and all about her sensational, self-penned (https://www.instagram.com/clairestoreyaudio/?hl=en), one woman show about the fabulously flamboyant painter Gluck (https://www.npg.org.uk/schools-hub/gluck-by-gluck) (Hannah Gluckenstein) (https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/magazine-gluck-brighton-museum-art-gallery-diana-souhami).
Follow Claire here. (https://www.instagram.com/claire_storey_actor/?hl=en)
Jo's (https://www.instagram.com/joburkeinsta/) other podcast, Utter Burke (https://utterburke.transistor.fm/), is also available FREE wherever you listen.
28 Aug 2025
24. Sarah Callaghan - Spoken word artist & award-winning comedian
Jo's back with a bang, after a summer hiatus, with the multi-talented, Sarah Callaghan (https://www.youtube.com/@sarahcallaghancomedian) who was named a Time Out (https://www.timeout.com/) One to Watch. Tune in for a frank and inspiring chat about comedy, performance poetry, her experience on BAFTA Award-winning spoken word series Life & Rhymes on Sky Arts (https://www.sky.com/watch/series/5787670d-0e12-4adf-ba54-26c2a5acac17)- Hosted by Benjamin Zephaniah (https://benjaminzephaniah.com/) featuring Kae Tempest (https://www.kaetempest.com/), John Berkavitch (https://www.berkavitch.com/) and Adaya Henry (https://www.instagram.com/adayahenry/?hl=en) and everything in between. Including her critically acclaimed stand-up shows that achieved sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe (https://www.edfringe.com/)/Soho Theatre (https://sohotheatre.com/), living and moving to Australia, finding her soulmate, mental health and taking time out to breathe.
Real Folk First - Sarah also performs one of her poems 'Proceed without Certainty' and shares how her band 'The Free Thinkers' (https://www.instagram.com/_thefreethinkers/?hl=en)was formed. Listen to Soft Life (https://youtu.be/nTSqT2TKpSU?si=_7yD-A64Teaf_9n0) the other performance piece Sarah mentions.
Watch Sarah's comedy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZX4AP7mRl4) and performance poetry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hv0vT9zFVM&t=11s) and follow on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/scallaghan1/?hl=en). Her poetry can also be found in the new book from two-time Sunday Times (https://www.instagram.com/thetimesbooks/) bestselling poet, Hussain Manawer (https://www.instagram.com/hussainmanawer/?hl=en-gb), I WANTED TO QUIT TOO (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wanted-Quit-Too-Stories-Heart/dp/1399705806).
Jo's (https://www.instagram.com/joburkeinsta/) other podcast, Utter Burke (https://utterburke.transistor.fm/), is also available FREE wherever you listen.
Podcast Authority Score: 11 / 100
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