Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV Podcast
1) 1. The Social Experiment: Big Brother Is Watching You
Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale wind back to Britain's first ‘official’ reality show, to look at how it became a global phenomenon, the importance of authenticity, and how Jade Goody created a new type o...Show More
2) Offstage: Inside The X Factor - Episode 1
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of h...Show More
3) 10. A Format In Crisis & The Future of Reality TV: Love Island, Part 2
Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes look at how one of TV’s most popular shows became mired in tragedy and controversy. Where did it all go wrong? And is this the end for reality TV? Featuring interviews wit...Show More
4) 9. The Influencer Sausage Factory: Love Island, Part 1
Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale analyse how Love Island became a finishing school for influencers and a commercial juggernaut through its association with fast fashion. Featuring interviews with Megan Ba...Show More
5) 8. Lifestyles of The Mega-Rich: The Real Housewives & Selling Sunset
Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes slip into the moneyed world of the Californian 0.01% with the help of a Real Housewife and a Selling Sunset realtor, to examine property porn, toxic wealth, and why audien...Show More
6) 7. The British Docusoap: The Only Way Is Essex & Made In Chelsea
Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale look at how these BAFTA-winning reality shows became national treasures and explore why the ingredients for a good reality show are the same, wherever they are set. Featur...Show More
7) 6. Climbing The Ladder: Keeping Up With The Kardashians
Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes delve into the story of America’s First Family, the Kardashian-Jenners, and how they leveraged reality tv to redefine beauty ideals and create an entirely new category of ...Show More
8) 5. The Birth of Scripted Reality: Laguna Beach & The Hills
Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale tread a nostalgic path back to their teenage years and The Hills, which birthed reality’s first wave of lifestyle influencers. Featuring interviews with Spencer Pratt and ...Show More
9) 4. The Makeover Era: The Swan & What Not To Wear
Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes explore how the rise in cosmetic surgery collided with reality TV, and laid the foundations for our current preoccupation with self-improvement. Featuring interviews with ...Show More
10) 3. The Wild West Years: There’s Something About Miriam & Who’s Your Daddy
Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale deep-dive into some of reality TV’s most controversial shows in the early 2000s, exploring how the explosion in the genre caused ethics to fly out of the window. Featuring...Show More