Best Bill Woodcock Podcasts (2025)

1
91. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 2 54:18

14h ago54:18

54:18

In the first podcast Football Ruined My Life has done since the untimely demise of Patrick Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler are joined by the Daily Telegraph sports columnist Jim White. Forced to restart the episode because the Producer had failed to press the record button first time round, eventually the panel turn to the “the poisoned chal…

1
Encore: Will Poulter, Dave Beran, and The Bear 52:22

3d ago52:22

52:22

Season 3 of the smash hit FX/Hulu show “The Bear” roared to life just days ago, but Will Poulter (the actor who plays fan-favorite Luca) and 2014 F&W Best New Chef Dave Beran had been prepping for weeks. Poulter — like his co-star Jeremy Allen White — staged with Beran at his Santa Monica restaurant Pasjoli to learn how to accurately portray a prof…

1
90. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 1 38:47

8d ago38:47

38:47

It’s commonly known as “the poisoned chalice”. The only England manager to win the World Cup was Alf Ramsey in 1966. Nobody has done it since though a few have come close. In this, his last ever podcast, Patrick Barclay, along with Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler, analyses why that has been the case. Paddy and co. take the story from 1974 when Sir Al…

1
89. 1968 42:48

10d ago42:48

42:48

This is the penultimate podcast in which Patrick Barclay appeared. In it the original Football Ruined My Life panel of Paddy, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler analyse the year 1968, as the latest in their periodic examinations of one particularly memorable year. In football terms 1968 was the year that Manchester United followed Celtic to become the f…

1
Curtis Stone and the Clandestine Charcuterie Closet 49:54

11d ago49:54

49:54

The first food memory Curtis Stone has is getting in trouble for eating too much butter. Then again, the Australian chef and TV host has never been one for restraint. Once he realized he wasn't going to be a professional athlete, he went to work for Marco Pierre White — notoriously one of the most hard-driving chefs of all time, then hosted 140 epi…

1
88. The One With Omid Djalili (reposted episode) 52:15

12d ago52:15

52:15

This is the first of the last three episodes recorded with Patrick Barclay. We are re-releasing the podcast he made with the original Football Ruined My Life team of Patrick Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler because it was previously published the day we heard of Paddy’s tragic death and we removed it out of respect as soon as we heard the new…

1
The Return of Football Ruined My Life 4:46

15d ago4:46

4:46

Back in February, when we learnt about the tragic and shocking death of our friend and colleague, Patrick Barclay, we suspended the podcast and took time to consider if and how it can continue. Replacing Paddy is impossible; the breadth of his knowledge and his infectious (and mischievous) sense of humour made him unique. But here we announce our r…

1
Hawa Hassan and the Hot Dog Habit 48:16

18d ago48:16

48:16

When Hawa Hassan was five years old, she was living in a refugee camp in Kenya. By seven, she was resettled in Seattle with a few other refugees from Somalia, and waiting for her family to join her. Then the political climate changed, and she came to realize that they were never coming; she was on her own. The thing to know about Hawa Hassan is tha…

1
Romy Gill and the Slow Burn Book 46:51

25d ago46:51

46:51

Romy Gill puts in the work — always. Growing up in India, the chef, TV host, and author dreamed of being a cricket player and directed all her effort into that — and into lightly fibbing her way into her neighbors' homes to try different dishes than the ones she ate in her Punjabi household. It's this hunger and curiosity about other people and the…

1
Vikas Khanna and the Beautiful Lie That Saved His Childhood 49:15

1M ago49:15

49:15

When Vikas Khanna was growing up in a small town in India, the world was stacked against him. He was bullied by other children for wearing braces on his legs and not being able to play like them. But his grandmother and sister saw him for who he truly was: a lion. They brought him into the kitchen, and he roared to life. An extraordinary life at th…

1
Laurie Woolever and the Cone of Silence 57:43

1M ago57:43

57:43

Laurie Woolever has worked for chefs you've definitely heard of, most notably Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali. Those two men are notorious for their outsized appetites, but in her new memoir, "Care and Feeding," Woolever gets raw and real about her own insatiable need for drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs while navigating the grossness and…

1
Roy Choi and the Out-of-Body Emeril Experience 1:03:41

2M ago1:03:41

1:03:41

Growing up as an immigrant latchkey kid, Roy Choi spent a lot of time wandering the streets of Los Angeles alone, thinking he'd never fit in anywhere. He had a scar on his face from cleft palate surgery, and he thought of himself as an alley cat, slipping through the world unnoticed and he took in every detail of the way people interacted, especial…

1
Byron Gomez and the American Dream 1:01:30

2M ago1:01:30

1:01:30

Byron Gomez and his family arrived in the United States from Costa Rica when he was eight years old, and he was in for the shock of his young life. He spoke Spanish at home, he'd never seen snow or even a winter coat, and he had to find his place in a world that didn't always want him there. But at age 15, he found restaurants. He put in the very h…

1
Tinfoil Swans Is Serving Up Season 3: April 8, 2025 2:29

2M ago2:29

2:29

The award-winning Tinfoil Swans podcast from Food & Wine is back on April 8. We're bringing you even more intimate, informative, surprising, and uplifting interviews with the biggest names in the culinary industry and beyond, sharing never-before-heard stories about the successes, struggles, and fork-in-the-road moments that made them who they are …

1
Encore: Kevin Gillespie and the Restaurant of a Lifetime 54:37

2M ago54:37

54:37

There's a good chance you know chef and author Kevin Gillespie from his fan-favorite stint on Season 6 of Top Chef or his return on the All Stars Season 20, but the Georgia native's talent can't be reduced to the small screen. His new Atlanta restaurant, Nàdair, is a full-throated love letter to his Scottish heritage — something Gillespie's family …

1
Encore: Kylie Kwong and the Five Glass Ghosts 56:26

2M ago56:26

56:26

When chef Kylie Kwong announced that she was going to be shuttering her destination dining spot Lucky Kwong to take on a new role at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, working at the intersection of food, community, and education to honor the people and foods that have made Australian cuisine so distinctive and precious — it made sense. Kwong has alw…

1
Patrick Barclay 4:41

4M ago4:41

4:41

It is with deep sadness that Jon, Paul and I have to tell you all that our friend and fellow podcast host Patrick Barclay died suddenly on the morning of 12 February. All of us and no doubt many of our listeners who responded to Paddy's cheery Scottish burr over the course of 80 or so episodes will have cause to feel his loss. Out of respect we hav…

1
86. Home Internationals vs. Nations' League 43:23

4M ago43:23

43:23

This week the panel (and their producer) are bitterly divided on the contentious issue of the Nations League and its value compared to the old Home Internationals when England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland played with themselves. One side sees a desperation of the television companies and UEFA to ensure that no summer passes without an inte…

1
85. Penalties 43:14

4M ago43:14

43:14

Twelve yards away, the keeper can’t move off his line until the ball is struck. How does anyone ever miss a penalty? Well, as we all know they do miss and frequently it’s crucial in a match. So it can be too for the award in the first place of a penalty for handball with no intent to handle by the defender and for fouls when the forward has cleverl…

1
But Before We Go 34: Dittos! 15:06

4M ago15:06

15:06

Or, the contact highs we received as children in the 70s!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
84. Those We Have Lost In 2024 (and also remembering Denis Law) 49:40

4M ago49:40

49:40

A change of pace for Football Ruined My Life this week. In this podcast we’re looking back at football players and managers who died during 2024. Clearly we can only deal with a handful of the many who left us last year but what follows is the choice of Jon Holmes, Paddy Barclay and Colin Shindler as they discuss the lives and careers of the footba…

1
But Before We Go 33: How we listened, Part 2 17:41

4M ago17:41

17:41

More about cassette tapes, boomboxing, Walkman-ing, and the advent of the CD!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
83. The One With Ian Storey-Moore 42:26

4M ago42:26

42:26

The prolific goal-scoring winger Ian Storey-Moore turns 80 on the day this episode was published... and Football Ruined My Life has chosen to mark the occasion by giving him the greatest present a footballer of the 1960s and 1970s could possibly want - a guest appearance on the podcast with Paddy Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler. A star forwa…

1
But Before We Go 32: How We Listened, Part 1 31:10

5M ago31:10

31:10

In this episode, all about the LP, 8-track, and cassette!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
82. Centre forwards vs False 9s 52:51

5M ago52:51

52:51

Real centre forwards were old fashioned battering rams like Nat Lofthouse, Ted Drake of the great Arsenal side of the 1930s and Bobby Smith the rampaging leader of the Spurs double winning attack. As football has become more skilful, they have largely been replaced by False 9s as they are now called or deep-lying centre forwards as they were in the…

1
But Before We Go 31: New Years! 32:37

5M ago32:37

32:37

Our thoughts and memories on New Years Eve and Day!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
81. The One With Michael Rosen 54:30

5M ago54:30

54:30

He’s a well-known and much liked voice on Radio 4’s Word of Mouth programme as well as Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. But Michael Rosen is this week’s guest on Football Ruined My Life because he is a genuine Gooner - as visitors to the Emirates Stadium can see when they observe him depicted on the famous mur…

1
80. Our Third Postbag 38:10

5M ago38:10

38:10

As a New Year’s gift, the panel come bearing the bulging postbag containing our listeners’ emails. Once again we can report a high standard of literacy and a comfortingly accurate recall of matches and teams from the dim recesses of all our childhoods. One correspondent, the self-styled King Arthur, a Liverpudlian now living in Malibu California, h…

1
79. Yuletide Matches 45:40

5M ago45:40

45:40

Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Paddy Barclay wish all our listeners a very merry Christmas and we do so by recalling Christmas time matches from long ago. With far less choice on offer, both on television and on the dining room table, football at Christmas provided a fabulous feast of entertainment, the climax to which came on Boxing Day in 1963 wh…

1
78. Utility Players 42:33

6M ago42:33

42:33

Colin Shindler, Patrick Barclay and Jon Holmes examine the value of utility players – the player who could fill in anywhere on the pitch from right back to outside left. There is a marked tendency by current managers to favour specialisation over utility yet we all remember, usually with affection, those players who could “do a job” anywhere on the…

1
77. Brits Abroad 40:56

6M ago40:56

40:56

Colin Shindler, Paddy Barclay and Jon Holmes discuss the phenomenon of Brits Abroad, those British footballers who made the transition to the sun, sangria and shenanigans of playing for foreign teams. Jon of course became a one-man Lunn PolyTravel Agency for his clients in the 1980s but the phenomenon of British footballers travelling to foreign cl…

1
76. Screamers… 43:45

6M ago43:45

43:45

… is the word frequently given to goals scored, usually from outside the penalty box, like drawings in a Roy of the Rovers cartoon that bring the crowd to a fever pitch of excitement. Unless of course the goal has been scored by the opposition. In which case the spectacular goal will be suffered in a mute and somewhat resentful silence, one in whic…

1
75. 1992 43:11

6M ago43:11

43:11

It was the year of the Sky revolution in football but for Jon Holmes it was also the end of Gary Lineker’s career in England as he prepared to move to Japan and ultimately into the television studio. Leeds United won the last First Division and their manager Howard Wilkinson was the last English manager to win the championship. It was the year that…

1
Pati Jinich and the Bedtime Cookbooks 59:39

6M ago59:39

59:39

With her shows Pati's Mexican Table and La Frontera and cookbooks Treasures of the Mexican Table and Mexican Today, Pati Jinich uses her exceptional empathy, political science background, and fearless curiosity to share the stories of the people living, creating, and cooking all around Mexico, and celebrate our shared humanity. For the Season 2 fin…

1
74. Favourite Games 42:43

7M ago42:43

42:43

Paddy Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler talk about their favourite match and, to help them to do so, each of them invites as a guest on the podcast a player who took part in that match. If we could all take 8 matches to a desert island populated only by Roy Plomley and at some point you would be asked: “If seven of your matches were washed awa…

1
Joel McHale and the Spiced Steak Fantasy 36:29

7M ago36:29

36:29

You may know Joel McHale from his star turns on beloved shows like Community, The Soup, or Animal Control, his standup special Live From Pyongyang, or as host of House of Villains and Crime Scene Kitchen. Chefs know him from their nightmares — or rather as the menacing chef David Fields on The Bear. He's also a very talented cook, especially in the…

1
73. Wingers 46:32

7M ago46:32

46:32

Whatever happened to outside rights and outside lefts? You remember those speedy tricky wingers who beat their full backs on the outside, got to the dead ball line and centred so that their centre forward could charge at the ball and force it into the net. The men ploughing those lonely furrows seem to have disappeared. Why has this happened and wh…

1
“Bitchy Waiter" Darron Cardosa and the Tipping Conundrum 50:39

7M ago50:39

50:39

Since 2008, actor and writer Darron Cardosa has been setting the internet ablaze with his pioneering blog "The Bitchy Waiter" — which he has since spun into a rollicking book and stage show of the same name. Darron is also one of Food & Wine's most prolific and popular writers, and in this inspiring and emotional conversation, he shares his feeling…

1
72. Players into Managers 42:58

7M ago42:58

42:58

Why don’t great players automatically make great managers? Why did Bobby Charlton fail so disastrously at Preston when Kenny Dalglish succeeded so triumphantly at Liverpool as Johan Cruyff did at Barcelona? Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger had no careers at all as players but turned out to be great managers, Steven Gerard and Frank Lampard were grea…

1
Bobby Flay and the Review That Made His Career 49:14

7M ago49:14

49:14

Bobby Flay has been a fixture on Food Network since the beginning, written 18 cookbooks, and is pretty much a household name. But the thing that gets lost in the sauce is that he's a James Beard Award-winning restaurant chef who changed the restaurant scene in some bold and groundbreaking ways. He joined Tinfoil Swans to talk about his new book Cha…

1
But Before We Go 30: Halloween Tricks! 29:08

7M ago29:08

29:08

Memories of some of the most hellacious Halloween tricks ever!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
71. The One With David Peace 45:59

7M ago45:59

45:59

David Peace, the author of The Damned United, joins Jon Holmes, Patrick Barclay and Colin Shindler to talk about his latest novel. Munichs, details the story of Manchester United from 6 February 1958, the day of the plane crash that killed 23 people (including eight players) to the team’s appearance in the Cup Final in May 1958. He talks about what…

1
Tom Holland and the Sticky Pork Buns 41:47

7M ago41:47

41:47

When Tom Holland's parents enrolled him in dance classes as a kid, no one could have dreamed he'd end up as an international superstar, internet icon, and entrepreneur — and he still has to pinch himself to believe it. The Spider-Man actor joined Tinfoil Swans to talk about some horrible lamb shanks he'd cooked, his favorite pizza place, getting so…

1
But Before We Go 29: Halloween Treats! 29:12

7M ago29:12

29:12

Memories of monumental Halloween hauls!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
70. The Football Pyramid 35:50

7M ago35:50

35:50

This week the Paddy Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler ask each other how the Football Pyramid has changed over our lifetimes of watching the game. Our first memories were of football in the mid to late 1950s when life was bounded by the First and Second Divisions and the Third Divisions North and South. Of course, there was no Premier League b…

1
Dolly Parton, Rachel Parton George, and the Dumplings That Could Save the World 45:20

8M ago45:20

45:20

Dolly Parton is an American icon for all the right reasons. She's always been unabashedly herself, employing that authenticity, work ethic, humor, talent, and grace to make enduring art — and use her hard-earned platform and cash to support causes dear to her heart. She and her sister, Rachel Parton George, recently co-authored the cookbook Good Lo…

1
But Before We Go 28: Halloween decorating 27:34

8M ago27:34

27:34

A discussion of the best and worst Halloween decorating jobs of all time!By Bill Woodcock and Steve Hunt

1
69. Substitute! 42:13

8M ago42:13

42:13

The use of substitutes began in the English Football League at the start of the 1965-66 season. After years of the Wembley “hoodoo” it was initially a simple system of ensuring that matches were not spoiled by 10 men playing against 11 because of a bad injury. From that sensible position in 1965 we seem to have arrived at a situation today when an …

1
Yotam Ottolenghi and the Story of Comfort 46:16

8M ago46:16

46:16

Chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi is internationally beloved for his joyful and accessible approach to fresh ingredients in his restaurants, and also in his recipes for home cooks. The self-described "greedy little boy" from Jerusalem shares how he found his way out of academia and into kitchens; the ways he's trying not to be a nervous parent; and …

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Bill Woodcock Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen