New season this autumn
In Season 4 of Apples and Snakes: The Podcast, 10 Black British performance poets and artists speak openly about their craft, reflecting on how poetry transforms personal experiences into empowering moments that connect us all.
Each week from 21 October to Christmas 2025, a new poet digs deep, crunches a poem and discusses the poets they admire and the work they really feel.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcast and other usual listening channels. Alternatively, you can listen to each episode below. Season 4 will also be broadcast on our Youtube Channel.
Subscribe Here
The podcast is for anyone curious about the creative process and the artistry of performance poetry, for artists and those new to the genre. They are an invitation to listen to the heart of performance poetry by Black poets in a bold, vulnerable, and profoundly human way.
“This podcast gives flowers to the people who paved the way” Yomi Sode, podcast host
Meet the Poets of Season 4
Hosted by Yomi Sode, the season features conversations with Dean Atta, El Crisis, Kareem Parkins Brown, Keith Jarrett, Reece Williams, Salena Godden, Suli Breaks, Travis Alabanza, Zakariye Abdillahi, plus a surprise guest.
Tune in and Listen Up
We’ve recorded each episode and will stream them via our Youtube channel. Whether you’re on your morning commute, slamming gains in the gym or just need a little entertainment whilst cooking your evening meal, pop on the Apples and Snakes: The Podcast and immerse yourself in authentic and unapologetic conversation.
Why the podcast?
The Podcast is an expanding catalogue of what it’s like to be Black, British and a poet. We created this podcast in response to Black Lives Matter, to share the works and journeys of these important poets and performers. It’s a living archive, collecting the voices, poetry and thinking of these artists, made accessible to all.
“So many of our stories are still filtered, softened, or sidelined. A space like this allows for complexity, contradiction, nuance, all the things that make us fully human beyond the headlines or the hashtags.” Caleb Femi – part of Season 1, Apples and Snakes: The Podcast
LAtest Episode
S4 – ep10 – Sophia Thakur
Internationally acclaimed award-winning artist, best-selling author and performance poet – Sophia Thakur shines in this live recorded episode of the Apples and Snakes Podcast. Sophia has performed shows all over the world and tickets are always in high demand, usually selling-out within hours of going on sale. Her debut poetry book ‘Somebody Give This Heart a Pen’ became a #1 Bestseller and is included in many school curriculums. Recorded at Mason and Fifth, Yomi sits with Sophia to talk what it means to live as a poet — on and off the stage. Sophia reflects on her earliest entry points into spoken word (from Def Poetry Jam to her first performances), why certain rooms and circuits build muscle, and how her performance style evolved to an intimate, soft-power delivery. She shares her poem ‘Affirmation’, unpacking how self-affirmation, faith, and emotional honesty shape her writing process and why some pieces arrive as a “plea to myself.” The episode closes with a powerful performance video choice of Daniel Beaty’s ‘Knock Knock’, plus an honest look at poetry’s commercial possibilities and creative integrity.
Season 4
Featuring: Shirley May, Roy McFarlane, Tolu Agbelusi, Ty’rone Haughton, Roger Robinson, Anthony Joseph, PA Bitez, Joshua Idehen and Breis.
Season 4 takes on a twist from previous seasons. Host and guest explore the performance element of stage poetry. Through unfiltered conversations, together they explore what it means to feel, connect and speak truth to power.
Season 3
Featuring: Shirley May, Roy McFarlane, Tolu Agbelusi, Ty’rone Haughton, Roger Robinson, Anthony Joseph, PA Bitez, Joshua Idehen and Breis.
This season we are putting out even more episodes. To format is Yomi in conversation with only one guest, allowing us to get a little bit deeper. We’ll be getting a greater insight into the journeys of some of your favourite Black British poets so hit play and sit back.
We will be releasing an episode every other week and for the first half of this season.
Each episode goes deep into talking about poetry, journeys, moments that changed us and more. PLUS some poetry thrown in as an added bonus.
We are excited to have you on this new journey with us and want to hear what you think. Tag us #ApplesandSnakes/@applesandsnakes on socials..
Season 2
Featuring: Be Manzini, Tanaka Fuego, Josephine ‘Realitie’ Rollins, Adrian B Earle, Kenny Baraka and John Bernard.
The second series is back with a more condensed but equally honest lineup.
It will explore topics such as:
- Well-being and the importance of looking after yourself as an individual rather than creating well-being platforms that are focused on other people.
- What it is like to navigate this scene as a poet that has a disability
- And also talking to those that are on the frontline when it comes to working with creatives that are traditionally referred to as ‘Hard to reach’
If you have listened to previous episodes and liked what you heard then please subscribe to find out when the next episode will drop, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.
Season 1
Featuring: Nii Parks, Caleb Femi, Zena Edwards, Eklipse, Malika Kegode, Khadijah Ibrahim, Casey Bailey, Que, Kat Francois and Reece Williams
The episodes in series 1 gave a greater insight into the journeys of some of the UK’s most celebrated voices, talking through topics such as poetry from the self narrative, poetry in education and music with spoken word.
This series was recorded in two parts per topic; each episode includes a discussion on a topic with artists reading a poem from their collection.
Apples and Snakes: The Podcast is hosted by Yomi Sode with Sound production by Drew Horley.
Insert HTML here