The popular Movers and Shakers podcast – about living with Parkinson’s – was yesterday crowned Podcast of the Year at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.
This weekly Movers and Shakers podcast was launched in 2023, and features a group of famous friends sharing their experiences of living with Parkinson’s, with episodes recorded around a table in a London pub. Its stars include former BBC stars Jeremy Paxman (Newsnight, University Challenge), Rory Cellan-Jones (BBC News), Gillian Lacey-Solymar (Working Lunch) and Mark Mardell (The World This Weekend), with comedy writer Paul Mayhew Archer (who co-wrote The Vicar of Dibley) and High Court judge Sir Nick Mostyn.
Movers and Shakers was up against some impressive competition at the BPG Audio Awards, with its fellow nominees including The Rest is Entertainment with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman, Anita Anand and William Dalrymple’s history podcast Empire, and the second series of controversial BBC Sounds podcast I’m Not A Monster: The Shamima Begum Story.
In fact, the competition was so stiff that the chair of the award’s judges, journalist Simon O’Hagan, said: “Any one of our nominees would have made a worthy winner – the final votes by the judges was that close.”
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The whole cast of the Movers and Shakers podcast were thrilled with the award, with former BBC Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones saying:
“We could not be more excited to win this award, especially given the stellar competition. But we accept this on behalf of the Parkinson’s community and many who have written to us to say at last their concerns are being heard.”
The award is a boost for the podcast’s mission to entertain, inform and transform the currently patchy care and treatment of people with Parkinson’s in the UK. This includes their current campaign, The Parky Charter – developed with Parkinson’s UK, Spotlight YOPD and Cure Parkinson’s – which lists five things that people with Parkinson’s need from the government but are not getting. They are currently collecting signatures of support for this charter from the Parkinson’s community, before presenting the charter and petition to 10 Downing Street on World Parkinson’s Day this 11 April.
Speaking to Parkinson’s Life last year, Movers and Shakers co-host Paul Mayhew-Archer described the heartwarming response the podcast had with its listeners:
“I think there are a lot of very lonely people out there who think nobody really understands Parkinson’s. We’re saying: ‘We’re here, and it’s similar for us.’ ”
Gillian Lacey-Solymar added:
“It’s overwhelming that we have connected with so many people out there. I think they are grateful that we’re talking about the condition and perhaps that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Mark Mardell described how taking part in the podcast gave him a “jolt of recognition, that someone else has the same weird symptoms, the same strange thoughts and fears”, urging listeners to “Join us and you won’t be alone.”
The Movers and Shakers podcast is available on Audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts – find out more, listen to episode extras and sign the Parky Charter on the Movers and Shakers website.
