Year: 2024

A special edition of the BBC Radio 5 Live Boxing podcast is being recorded in front of a live audience in Liverpool, featuring three boxing champions from the city.

It’s the next part of Steve Bunce’s Across the UK tour with the podcast. He will be hosting a homecoming event for the three fighters, Natasha Jonas, Callum Smith, and Nick Ball, who have all won world titles.
As well as their future plans, the trio will discuss the latest from the world of boxing and answer questions from the live audience which members of the public can be a part of.
Talking about hosting the event in Liverpool, Steve Bunce said: “There aren’t many cities or towns in Great Britain where fifteen- and sixteen-year-old boxers are celebrated. Liverpool, like Belfast, is one of those cities and that’s the true judge of a cities boxing calibre.
“All cities can have an outlier … a one-off man or woman who carries the flame, but how deep does it go? Liverpool it goes very deep … it goes right into the heart of city and the communities where those boxing gyms are.
“We are delighted to be hosting our next event in Liverpool, it’s going to be a fantastic conversation and we hope as many local boxing fans can join us as possible.”
This is the fifth date of the 5 Live Boxing Tour which has already taken place in Belfast, Cardiff, Cromer and Leeds, as 5 Live celebrates local boxing heroes at each of the shows.
The event will take place on Wednesday 17th July at Punch Tarmey’s in Liverpool. Tickets are free will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. You can apply for a maximum of two tickets here. […]

A special episode of The Secret Life of Prisons podcast pays tribute National Prison Radio’s Rock Show host James Phillips, who has passed away after losing his battle with cancer.

James shared his journey with listeners after being diagnosed last year and presented his final show just weeks before his death.
James was in prison in 2014 when he first heard National Prison Radio’s Rock Show and decided he was going to become its next hos. He managed to get a transfer to HMP Coldingley, in Surrey; the prison where the show was based at the time.
While he was there, he met the Prison Radio Association’s Chris Impey, and ended up creating his own version of The Rock Show.
After his release, he moved back to his home in the north-west of England. He was contacted by the station to see if he wanted to host the show again.
James presented the show in a variety of invented locations – on an abandoned ship in the middle of the ocean; in the biscuit aisle at a supermarket; in front on an increasingly-fractious studio audience; in a mysterious hospital. He used sound effects and AI-generated voices to create entire stories that made this far more than just a music show.
As well as winning Gold the Best New Presenter at the ARIAS, James’ Rock Show also won gongs for Best Music Entertainment Show and Best Specialist Music Show in 2022 and 2023. And just a few weeks before he died, James won silver in the 2024 ARIAS for Best Music Entertainment Show. He was also shortlisted in the Creative Innovation category.
The special episode of The Secret Life of Prisons podcast sees presenters Phil and Paula joined by Rock Show producer Ollie and Scout Tzofiya Bolton – a paid-up member of the Rock Show Family while she was in prison, to talk about James’s work.
Listen to the podcast here. […]