Just The Tonic with Katie Derham

Oct 14 2022 16 ep. 29 mins 2

Just The Tonic with Katie Derham Podcast artwork

Music’s pretty powerful stuff. You don’t need me to tell you how much it can help us escape, or relax, comfort or energise. It’s been a complete lifeline for many of us over the past 18 months, that’s for sure. But music – and all the arts – does so much more than that. And in this new podcast series I want to shine a light on the extraordinary work that musicians do in all parts of our community to make people’s lives better. I’m Katie Derham, and I believe it’s Just The Tonic we need …
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Just The Tonic - Celebrating World Singing Day

Oct 14 2022 16 mins

In a special edition of Just The Tonic, Katie celebrates World Singing Day 2022 which takes place on Saturday 15 October. We hear how singing was a superpower for opera singer extraordinaire Nicky Spence as it helped him get through hard times when he was young. Soprano and National Treasure Lesley Garrett tells Katie about the health benefits singing brings to people wit

Just The Tonic - Music is for Celebrations

Aug 25 2022 35 mins

In this episode, Katie chats to Kit de Waal about her fabulous new memoir, Without Warning and Only Sometimes. It's an honest and funny account of her childhood, growing up in Birmingham with her four brothers and sisters, her Irish mother who brought her children up as Jehovah's Witnesses, and her father from St Kitts in the Caribbean. Kit didn't start writing until she was i

Just The Tonic - The Taste of the Opera

Aug 10 2022 34 mins

Katie meets singer extraordinaire Nicky Spence whose had an eventful year so far, full of personal ups and downs. His career is going from strength to strength – he's sung with all the major opera companies – but, he tells Katie, he'd give it all up to appear on … tune in to find out! AbracadOpera!, a new show for Sky Kids, is all about introducing young people to the op

The Power of Poetry with Ian McMillan

Jul 28 2022 33 mins

We're all about the word this week on Just The Tonic. Katie meets the Bard of Barnsley football club and presenter of BBC Radio Three's The Verb, poet Ian McMillan. He's on a mission to get everyone in the world writing - then he'll have a day off!We hear from young poets at Raddlebarn Primary School in Selly Oak whose poems feature in the Birmingham Children's Poetry Festival. Hea

Help Musicians with Lesley Garrett

Jul 14 2022 35 mins

Soprano extraordinaire and National Treasure Lesley Garrett has had an inspirational career in music. Support from the charity Help Musicians got her back on her feet after she suffered a serious illness in her twenties. She chats to Katie Derham about her work as a Help Musicians' Ambassador and pulls no punches in her view of the lack of government support for the arts. Like Sow

The Positive Power of Music in Hospitals and Care with Sir Richard Stilgoe

Jun 30 2022 24 mins

Katie is joined by star of stage and screen Sir Richard Stilgoe to chat about how live music can make all the difference to people in hospital and care homes. Richard's Orpheus Centre uses the performing arts to empower young adults with disabilities. He tells Katie how rapping helped one young man get an important message across to his dad. Music in Hospitals and Care improves he

Positive Power of the Arts with Carlos Acosta

Jun 16 2022 32 mins

Katie's back with a new series of Just The Tonic, the podcast that shines a light on the positive power of the arts. In series one, we looked at how music can help mental and physical well-being and in this series, we'll explore the benefits of getting involved in other arts forms too. For this episode, Katie's stepping back into the fabulous world of dance - she was

Rehabilitation with Roger Graef

Jan 12 2022 33 mins

In the final episode of the current series, Katie Derham finds out how music can help people in the prison system get their lives back on track.Katie chats to the renowned documentary producer, theatre director, and criminologist Roger Graef. Roger produced the groundbreaking and multi-award-winning Feltham Sings documentary filmed in Feltham Young Offenders Institution. Inmates an

Music Builds Communities with Emily Watson

Dec 20 2021 34 mins

It's a Christmas edition of Just The Tonic with Katie Derham!Actor Emily Watson chats to Katie about her support for The Citizens of the World Choir. Emily, Oscar-nominated for her role as virtuoso cellist Jacqueline de Pré, is their patron. They provide a lifeline for refugees and migrants arriving alone in the UK, helping them integrate through the power of music.Musical Directo

Inspirational Music Educators with Nicola Benedetti

Dec 08 2021 33 mins

Katie Derham explores how music education for children can be Just The Tonic. She finds out from Nicola Benedetti how music-making can help young people learn all sorts of life skills. Nicola has long been a champion of making music lessons widely available and, through her Benedetti Foundation, provided a lifeline for young musicians during the pandemic. The enormous benefits of