Publicity - The Travel Guidebook Gap

Andy Meddick The London Travel Podcast Guy
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Where rolling stones gather moss...  Guidebooks do a great job of telling you where to go, but not why those places matter. On this travel podcast we explore neighborhoods through everyday spaces, including pubs – revealing rhythms, stories, and hidden histories. Favoring observation over itinerary, we give you the tools to make best use of your travel time, and not return home having missed out. Where guidebooks end, and understanding begins. Travel the way it could be.

Episodes

  1. Episode 8 Trailer - Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Marylebone Style

    SEASON 1, EPISODE 8 TRAILER

    Episode 8 Trailer - Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Marylebone Style

    We'd love to hear from you! Trailer for Episode 8 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Marylebone Style This is Marylebone. Its story - told through its pubs - is one of execution and resurrection, bodysnatching and high society, muddy fields and marble halls.  What?  You expected Sherlock Holmes, didn’t you? Well, your guidebook will cover the detective, we’re going to be detective, as today, we decode Marylebone, the Publicity way…  I’m Expat Andy, broadcasting from Miami in the Sunshine State. You’re listening to Publicity – The Travel Guidebook Gap.  Episode 8 drops March 9. Until then catch up on former episodes at publicitythepodcast.com

    3 min
  2. Covent Garden - Where London Veered off Script

    FEB 23

    Covent Garden - Where London Veered off Script

    We'd love to hear from you! In this episode, we rip the polished Instagram filter off Covent Garden and ask a far more interesting question than “Where’s the Apple Store?” We ask what scene this place is playing.  Beneath the street performers and opera crowds lies a district that has shape-shifted more times than London itself. From monastic vegetable patch to aristocratic social experiment, from chaotic fruit-and-veg battlefield to theatreland playground of actors, rogues, and bare-knuckle brawlers.  Designed as a pristine piazza for “Gentlemen and men of ability,” it veered way off script, and filled with market traders, taverns, gossip, vice, and spectacle. When you build a stage, London sends in a cast.  Through pub lore, architectural ambition, market mayhem, and near-demolition drama, we trace how Covent Garden became a pressure valve between power and performance - a place that was never what it was supposed to be, and is far more compelling because of it.  By the end, you won’t just see Covent Garden - you’ll decode it.

    34 min
  3. City of London - What the Pubs and M&S Reveal

    FEB 9

    City of London - What the Pubs and M&S Reveal

    We'd love to hear from you! What if the secret to understanding a London neighborhood and its pubs… were the grocery stores? In this episode of Publicity – The Guidebook Gap, Expat Andy takes us to the City of London - where historic pubs and modern finance meet. We reveal a travel planning superpower - The Publicity M&S Litmus Test. By learning to decode the type of Marks & Spencer nearby, we’ll know exactly what kind of neighborhood we're in - and what kind of pub experience to expect. This isn’t about lists, or lectures. It’s about reading the city, and going beyond your guidebook. We'll walk Fleet Street, duck into Leadenhall Market (pun intended), and sip stout in historic cellars. Most importantly, we’ll understand why certain pubs feel like neighborhood living rooms… and others... boardrooms with beer.

    35 min
  4. To the Thames Be Dammed - London’s Hidden River Pubs, Part 2

    JAN 27

    To the Thames Be Dammed - London’s Hidden River Pubs, Part 2

    We'd love to hear from you! Brutalist estates, haunted pubs, Roman temples, and a river you've never seen—Part 2 of our world exclusive Walbrook walk dives deep into the hidden heart of London.  Join Expat Andy as he traces the true, long-lost path of the Walbrook to its mouth on the Thames. Along the way: buried tributaries, literary ghosts, the city’s first coffee shop, and a riverside mystery that ends at a freight terminal. This isn’t just history—it’s a revelation beneath your feet.

    35 min
  5. 600 Years Off Course – London’s Hidden River Pubs, Part 1

    JAN 27

    600 Years Off Course – London’s Hidden River Pubs, Part 1

    We'd love to hear from you! Beneath London’s bustling streets flows a river you’ve never seen—and until now, we’ve all been walking it wrong. In this world exclusive, Publicity uncovers the true path of the lost Walbrook River, hidden for over 600 years.  Join Expat Andy as he follows this buried waterway from Roman Londinium through plague pits, pubs, and surprising side streets. From Islington’s ghostly springs to Shakespeare’s stomping grounds, this is history with a pint in hand and a story around every corner.

    41 min
  6. The Pubs That Built Notting Hill

    JAN 7

    The Pubs That Built Notting Hill

    We'd love to hear from you! A guided walk through 275 years of urban failure, reinvention, and the long, slow gentrification of Notting Hill - told through the pubs that developers built first (usually before they went bankrupt).  From gravel pits and pig farms to punk gigs and overpriced pints, we trace how these buildings reveal the neighborhood’s real story.  Featuring forgotten racetracks, bad drainage, Joe Strummer, Tsarist Russia, and one wildly confident pub that stood alone on a muddy hillside.  Welcome to the pubs that built Notting Hill - and survive to tell the tale.

    34 min
  7. Ice No Lemon Built London’s Pub Map

    JAN 4

    Ice No Lemon Built London’s Pub Map

    We'd love to hear from you! Why did Bermondsey’s working-class pubs serve up pints to tanners reeking of dog poo. While Hampstead boasts literary haunts filled with poetry and spa visitors?  It’s not luck. It’s topography - for the answer is buried deep. From glacial gravel, to wandering water, to the winds of fortune, this episode takes you on a rollicking ride through the forces that shaped London’s pub map long before the first pint was pulled. From gravel terraces and Victorian fogs to posh mews pubs and riverside alehouses, we’re mapping the city through sediment. You’ll learn why there are more Tube lines north of the river (hint: mud), why Belgravia even exists (money and dirt - literally), and how pub names like The Flask or The Woolpack are basically geological signposts in disguise. This isn’t trivia. This is the secret decoder ring for understanding where pubs are, what they meant, and why your pint tastes different in Hampstead than it does in Bermondsey. Listen before you plan your next trip - because the ground beneath your feet might just tell you more than your guide book.

    35 min
  8. Chelsea – Missed the Miniskirt, Don’t Miss the Pubs

    JAN 3

    Chelsea – Missed the Miniskirt, Don’t Miss the Pubs

    We'd love to hear from you! Welcome to Publicity - London By Pub - the travel podcast that helps you actually experience London, not just tick off landmarks. In this debut episode, we crack open Chelsea - London’s posh-meets-punk neighborhood -where our host Andy (a British expat now based in Miami) retraces a trip that should’ve been epic… but ended in full-on travel regret.  With Expat Andy on board, we’ll get to revisit Chelsea but with a walking tour of five iconic pubs, each one a portal into the stories guidebooks don’t tell - from royal scandals to Rolling Stones auditions to a still-unsolved murder in the cellar. From bohemian past to posh present, Chelsea's pubs are more than just pretty pints - they're cultural cornerstones. From The Cross Keys to The World's End, each stop reveals a different side of Chelsea - art, royalty, punk, pottery, and that unsolved murder. You’ll also learn why British pubs are disappearing fast, and why visiting them now isn’t just fun - it’s urgent. This is trip planning meets storytelling. A podcast to listen to before you pack your bag.

    30 min
  9. Publicity -The Guidebook Gap Trailer

    SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Publicity -The Guidebook Gap Trailer

    We'd love to hear from you! Ever traveled only to realize you walked past everything that mattered? Hosted by British expat Andy from Miami alongside an American traveler and a London local, Publicity explores London's neighborhoods through their historic pubs - not as drinking destinations, but as silent witnesses to the culture, revolutions, and stories that shaped each area.  With a balanced perspective added by two co-hosts – an American traveler, and a London local, and through conversations with architects, historians, interior designers, publicans, and local travel guides, the show uses pubs as decoder rings to help you actually experience London's neighborhoods rather than just recognize them.  Whether you're planning your first trip or your fiftieth, Publicity helps you avoid coming home with a suitcase full of FOMO and regrets, ensuring you remember what you felt and contributed to these living, breathing communities.

    3 min

Trailers

About

Where rolling stones gather moss...  Guidebooks do a great job of telling you where to go, but not why those places matter. On this travel podcast we explore neighborhoods through everyday spaces, including pubs – revealing rhythms, stories, and hidden histories. Favoring observation over itinerary, we give you the tools to make best use of your travel time, and not return home having missed out. Where guidebooks end, and understanding begins. Travel the way it could be.

Information

  • Creator
    Andy Meddick The London Travel Podcast Guy
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Publicity - The Travel Guidebook Gap
  • Show Website
    Publicity - The Travel Guidebook Gap