When the pandemic hit, Louis Theroux found himself in lockdown, unable to continue the television work which has made him such a beloved household name (you may recall the When Louis Met series from the early aughts and the BBC specials that have followed.) So, like pretty much everyone else, he turned to podcasting. The resulting BBC Radio 4 product, Grounded with Louis Theroux, where he interviews various celebrities – Helena Bonham Carter, Sia, Oliver Stone – was audio iridium, managing to garner both critical plaudits and astronomical listener numbers, becoming Apple’s most listened to podcast of 2020.
It was only a matter of time before the behemoths would want to mine this eager audience. Enter Spotify, announcing an exclusive deal with Theroux in February, with the brand new series The Louis Theroux Podcast launching in early June. True to form, Theroux has invited some serious hitters to the table, but they’re an eclectic bunch, and each with plenty to unearth for this most disarming of interlocutors.
Theroux’s new pod kicks off with Eileen Edwards, better known to the rest of us as Shania Twain, and it’s a doozy. Twain is ready to talk, about being made to perform at bars after midnight as an eight-year-old, about her stepfather’s abuse, and about how she got her mother to leave him when she was just 13 years old. If that all sounds dark– and it is dark – it’s still Louis Theroux’s show, so there’s also a conversation about the most satisfying swear words.
Other stand-out interviews among those which have been dropping weekly since June 5th include a gripping conversation with singer Nick Cave that veers from grief to God via Kylie Minogue – Theroux may drive with deliberately dimmed lights at times, but he has a keen mind that’s a match for Cave’s intellectual heft. And his conversation with Queer Eye’s no-punches-pulled Tan French – who tells Theroux he looks like the kind of guy who would make fun of French’s homosexuality – shows how the host’s affable affect and curiosity can tip his guests into uncharted openness.
More than one guest seems to be as starstruck by Theroux as he is by them, but he simply won’t have it, and almost manages to convince us that he really is just an ordinary chap who’s genuinely surprised that legendary producer Nile Rodgers or A-list actor Samantha Morton are sharing stories with him.
Theroux meets his guests with empathy combined with a sharp eloquence, and he will bring up thorny subjects
His “I’m a bit clueless, me” shtick is a little overplayed, but there’s no denying it works. However, it’s the combination of his humoured wheeze and contagious joy in human interaction that makes these deep dives – they often clock in at well over an hour long – strangely easy listening. But don’t be fooled: Theroux meets his guests with empathy combined with a sharp eloquence, and he will bring up thorny subjects, though without imposing them on his guests, and never combatively. Confrontation, he makes clear, is not really his bag.
[ ‘Part of me wants to say, shut the f**k up, Louis Theroux’Opens in new window ]
In his coda to his Nick Cave interview, Theroux, at Cave’s behest, finds out his Enneagram personality type. Turns out he is the Peacemaker, something he admits to being “a bit disappointed” at. “I do have the slight weakness but also a strength of seeing everyone’s point of view,” he says, as if grudgingly. But that’s why his guests feel they are in the presence of someone with whom they can let their guards down. Theroux is like the everyman with whom everyman can be themselves. No wonder they – and we – want to spend time with him.
