at home in the last year, are they craving the company of the radio? everyone was incredibly worried about podcasts but radio did really well during the pandemic because people were stuck at home and the one thing that radio is really good at is the community. it was interesting being an audio reviewer at the time because all the other art forms dropped off. and so suddenly, every time we reviewed anything, it was on the front page of the observer which is unusual for me. and what people wanted was a companionship and i do think that radio is really excellent at that. there s a lot of podcasts that can do that but didn t do that throughout the day that the way a radio station can. it s still the most intimate form of communication. and also, if you have a favourite station, they lljust switch it on and they are happy to listen to the vibe that station throughout the whole day.