Local Heroes Podcast

We Are Local Heroes
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At Local Heroes, it all begins with a story. Through our podcast, films, documentaries, events and creative collaborations, we explore the people, places, and stories that shape our communities. YouTube | Patreon www.wearelocalheroes.com #people #place #purpose #community

  1. 3d ago

    EP89 | George Clarke | Bricks, Books and Belonging | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan are joined by architect, television presenter and proud Sunderland lad George Clarke, who went from working in a small architect's practice in Washington at 16 to becoming one of the most recognisable faces on Channel 4. George grew up surrounded by builders, grafters and family who weren't afraid of hard work. His grandad built his own fishing trawler, his dad loved drawing, and a 10p book on architecture from Sunderland Library helped spark a lifelong obsession with buildings. After studying in Newcastle, George headed to London in 1996, working with some of the biggest names in architecture before heading to Hong Kong. Television wasn't part of the plan. In fact, when an agent suggested a screen test, he said no. And when he was offered the job, he said no again. Nearly 20 years on television later, he still insists he's an architect first and a presenter second. The lads get into leaving the North East, the opportunities that took him around the world and why, after 30 years, he's finally coming home. George talks about buying a historic Georgian building in Sunderland, the restoration project that's costing considerably more than expected, and his plans to open an independent bookshop with writers' accommodation, supper clubs and a space for the local community. There's also his passion for the North East, the places and stories hiding in plain sight, and why he believes we should shout about the region's brilliance, but perhaps not too loudly. Along the way, George shares the story of meeting his hero Sting, bumping into George Clooney, his love of Sunderland AFC, and why Durham Cathedral tops his list of the world's greatest buildings. Then there's the family history, his grandad's fishing boat, his nana selling homemade fishcakes around Sunderland, and the importance of never forgetting where you came from. On the menu: first pints, curry or gravy, fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, the correct order of salt and vinegar, a serious dislike of parsnips, a surprisingly passionate conversation about soup and a Greggs steak bake that nearly took the skin off his hand. This episode is a funny, warm and passionate conversation about buildings, books, family, opportunity and belonging. About following what you love, taking chances when they come along and why, no matter how far you travel, there's something special about coming home. Insta - https://www.instagram.com/wearelocalheroes/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearelocalheroes?_t=ZG-8tKWkdyntYm&_r=1 Website - https://www.wearelocalheroes.com/

  2. Oct 24

    EP88 | Jason Cook | Hebburn, Hyenas and Headlocks | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan are joined by comedian, writer and producer Jason Cook - the Hebburn lad who went from fixing engines in the Persian Gulf to turning his stories into a BBC sitcom. Jason spent seven years as a Merchant Navy engineer on oil and gas tankers, writing sketches on a typewriter in his boiler suit and posting them home in manila envelopes from all over the world. When he got back and saw his mates performing them at the Hyena Comedy Club, he quit the sea, sold the flat and sold the car. From there it's a ride: a German techno double act that opened music festivals without anyone being told they were comedians, a reboot of The Tube where thousands of people booed them off in front of Alex James, a gig booked between two strippers, and a bouncer who wanted £15 to let him into his own show. Jason makes the case that resilience is the whole job - everybody dies on stage, and the ones who last are the ones who come back. The lads get into writing Hebburn, the true family story the BBC decided was a step too far for telly, the 300 locals who stood in pin-drop silence for a night shoot, and the fight to get more North East telly actually filmed in the North East. Plus Murder on the Blackpool Express with Johnny Vegas, his podcast Things We Didn't Know with Carl Hutchinson, and Apocalypse Kev, his new prepper character. There's also the one-line prank on best mate Chris Ramsey that had him kicking open every door in his flat for six months. And then there's Dr Nigel and the giraffe. You'll want to stay tuned for that one. On the menu: past, present and future comedians, first pints, Jarrow Elvis, curry on a banana leaf in Cochin and a Greggs order with strong views on mince pie temperature. Jason's Laffs4Kids charity gig returns to Newcastle City Hall on Sunday 13 December, with an afternoon show at 1pm and an evening show. Tickets on sale now. Bring an unwrapped present - last year the audience collected over 21,000 for North East kids who'd otherwise have nothing on Christmas Day. This episode is a warm, daft and honest exploration into the mind of one of the North East's great storytellers - about taking the leap, failing in public, coming back for more, and never losing sight of where you're from. Insta - https://www.instagram.com/wearelocalheroes/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearelocalheroes?_t=ZG-8tKWkdyntYm&_r=1 Website - https://www.wearelocalheroes.com/

  3. Oct 17

    EP87 | Padma Rao | Shields, Sangini and Serendipity | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan talk to artist, writer and activist Padma Rao. Padma’s story begins in India, where she wrote, performed and worked in radio drama, before moving to Britain in the early 1980s and finding herself having to rebuild not just a career, but a sense of identity and belonging. It’s a fascinating conversation about migration, racism, Britishness, art, activism and the power of bringing people together. Padma also shares the story of Sangini, the Black women-led organisation that began with women gathering around a kitchen table and has spent more than two decades using art, craft and community to tackle isolation, health inequalities and help women find confidence and connection. And then there’s South Shields. Padma explains how arriving on the South Shields coast reminded her of Visakhapatnam in India - leading to one of those wonderfully strange Local Heroes moments when Chris suddenly realises he’s actually been there. A completely unexpected connection involving India, South Shields and Chris’s former life working with coffee farmers leaves Padma genuinely stunned. Her first impressions of Shields were sealed by something even simpler: a grandmother walking with her grandchild in The Nook who looked across and smiled at her. Padma remembers thinking: I can be here. I can stay here. South Shields became home. Naturally, it wouldn't be Local Heroes without eventually getting onto food. Padma confesses to a weakness for white chocolate, including emergency “gift” chocolate hidden on the top shelf that may or may not ever reach its intended recipient. And we establish one important culinary rule: rice can be left behind, but NEVER leave the lamb. Afterall, it's the king of meats. Funny, challenging, warm and occasionally unexpected, this is a conversation about finding your place, holding onto who you are and how food, art, music and a bit of human connection can bridge divides. Insta - https://www.instagram.com/wearelocalheroes/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearelocalheroes?_t=ZG-8tKWkdyntYm&_r=1 Website - https://www.wearelocalheroes.com/

  4. Oct 10

    EP86 | Sir John Burn | Discovery, DNA and Destiny | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with Sir John Burn for a fascinating conversation about genetics, medicine, curiosity and a lifetime spent looking for better ways to do things. John talks about growing up in West Auckland, County Durham, in a working class family where university, let alone a career in medicine, was far from an obvious path. After initially planning to become an engineer, a love of biology eventually led him into medicine and towards the emerging world of genetics, at a time when clinical genetics barely existed as a profession. That curiosity would go on to shape an extraordinary career. John shares the story of helping establish genetic services in the North East, building one of the region’s first DNA laboratories and playing a key role in the creation of Newcastle’s Centre for Life. He also talks about pioneering research into inherited cancers, the potential of aspirin in cancer prevention and how advances in DNA testing could transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat disease. But this is as much a conversation about mindset as it is medicine. John reflects on the influence of his entrepreneurial father, his instinct for spotting opportunities and his tendency to chase the next interesting problem. He also speaks openly about the importance of surrounding himself with people who could turn those ideas into reality. The conversation explores the future of the NHS, personalised medicine, DNA testing, diet, microbiomes and the difficult ethical questions that come with knowing more and more about our genetic makeup. Along the way there are stories involving Sting, Catherine Cookson, Anthony Gormley, an Archbishop of Canterbury, Newcastle United and why John has his own brass plaque on Newcastle Quayside. And, naturally, we finish with the important questions: chocolate biscuits, red meat and the enduring appeal of a Greggs pasty. A funny, thought provoking and hugely insightful conversation about discovery, DNA and destiny, and a North East life spent asking what might be possible.

  5. Oct 3

    EP85 | Ben Cleary | Beer, Balance and Brainwaves | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with Full Circle Brew Co founder Ben Cleary for a conversation about beer, business, community and the fine art of having a ridiculous idea and working out the consequences later. Ben charts the journey from a career in wine and opening Pipstop to falling in love with craft beer and eventually creating Full Circle at Hoults Yard - only to release its first beers on the very day the country went into lockdown. What followed was six years of adapting. From selling 80% of their beer into Europe during their first year to Brexit, rising costs, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the continuing pressures facing pubs, breweries and hospitality, Ben talks candidly about what it actually takes to keep an independent business moving forward when the ground beneath it keeps shifting. There’s also a fascinating conversation about how drinking culture itself is changing. Full Circle’s answer has been to think beyond the pint, building community through its Balance initiative, run clubs, sea dips, hikes and events - while exploring what a modern brewery can become as younger generations drink differently. Ben also reveals the next chapter: Full Circle’s first city-centre venue at Fenwick, bringing together beer, fried chicken, burgers and some potentially dangerous ideas involving champagne, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. Alongside the business conversation, things wander wonderfully off course: bald heads and factor 50, foot peelings, luxury camping, travelling circuses, beer made using tights, experimental mead, the tragedy of an inaccessible tin of corned beef and a forensic examination of exactly how a burger should be constructed. And, naturally, we finish with the question that really matters: Ben’s Greggs order. A funny, candid conversation about creativity, community and keeping an independent business moving forward - even when the original plan has long since gone out the window.

  6. Sep 26

    EP84 | Renoll Webb | Roots, Resolve and Red Leicester | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with chef and street-food entrepreneur Ren Webb for a remarkably open conversation about food, family, resilience and starting again. Ren talks about growing up in Slough, living with a stammer, experiencing racism and gradually finding the confidence to own every part of his story. He shares the huge influence of his Grenadian mum and his late dad - the man who took Ren and his brothers into the kitchen as teenagers and taught them to cook so they would “never have to depend on anyone.” That lesson stuck. From working in a butcher’s at 14 to professional kitchens, live-in chef jobs and eventually building his own Caribbean food business, Ren’s life has repeatedly found its way back to food. He also speaks candidly about some of the hardest periods of his life: homelessness, discovering that the little girl he had raised wasn’t biologically his daughter, difficult relationships, losing his dad and the challenge of rebuilding both himself and his business. Moving to the North East offered an opportunity to start again - initially on a friend’s sofa, before finding work, a home and eventually bringing his food business to the North East too. Alongside the more personal moments, there’s plenty of warmth and laughter as the conversation wanders through curry goat, jerk chicken, sugar sandwiches, the perils of putting pizza in a paper bag and Ren’s wonderfully questionable childhood combo of Red Leicester and strawberry jam. There’s even a three-course last meal - despite Dan's strict two course limit! A warm, funny and deeply personal conversation about family, identity, second chances and the role food can play in carrying our memories, our culture and the people who shaped us.

  7. Sep 19

    EP83 | Libby Walker | Class, Cheese and Comebacks | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with North East actress, presenter and performer Libby Walker for a conversation about creativity, class, resilience and what it takes to build a career when you come from the North East. From leaving Newcastle for London drama school and an unexpected detour via The X Factor, to returning home determined to help build a stronger film and production industry in the region, Libby talks candidly about working-class barriers, homelessness, financial betrayal and the health consequences of pushing herself too far - and how she somehow kept going, rebuilt, and turned those experiences into fuel for what came next. There’s community, filmmaking and a determination to create opportunities for others, before things inevitably descend into council estate cheese boards, Red Leicester, Greggs, last meals, first-date disasters and the surprisingly emotional business of eating an apple underwater in the bath. A proper Local Heroes conversation: creativity, class, grit, resilience and just the right amount of chaos. #LocalHeroesPodcast #LibbyWalker #NorthEast #WorkingClassCreatives #NorthernStories Insta - https://www.instagram.com/wearelocalheroes/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearelocalheroes?_t=ZG-8tKWkdyntYm&_r=1 Website - https://www.wearelocalheroes.com/

  8. Sep 12

    EP82 | Shah Lalon Amin | Curry, Community and Conversation | Local Heroes Podcast

    This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with award winning South Shields restaurateur and storyteller Shah Lolan Amin for a conversation about hospitality, family, food, identity and a changing Britain. From the lost art of great service and the standards learned in the restaurant trade, Shah takes us back to growing up in a Bangladeshi family in South Shields - working from a young age, pooling wages with his brothers, losing his first business and learning resilience from a Dad who taught him that five fingers are stronger together. It leads into a powerful conversation about the racism of the 1980s, the kindness of neighbours, multiculturalism, migration, misinformation and Shah's Coffee Table Project - using conversation rather than confrontation to find common ground. Along the way there are smoky restaurants, horrific ashtrays, guilty pleasures, his mum's cooking, extra cheese and an ambitious attempt to give a Greggs cheese pasty the Michelin treatment. A proper Local Heroes conversation: food, family, graft, humour and some of the bigger questions about the place we call home. #LocalHeroesPodcast #SouthShields #NorthEast #Hospitality #BritishBangladeshi Insta - https://www.instagram.com/wearelocalheroes/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearelocalheroes?_t=ZG-8tKWkdyntYm&_r=1 Website - https://www.wearelocalheroes.com/

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About

At Local Heroes, it all begins with a story. Through our podcast, films, documentaries, events and creative collaborations, we explore the people, places, and stories that shape our communities. YouTube | Patreon www.wearelocalheroes.com #people #place #purpose #community

Information

  • Creator
    We Are Local Heroes
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    90
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Local Heroes Podcast

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