Hogging the Mic

We may be heading towards the end of the term here at Warwick but that doesn’t mean we’re taking a break at Hogging the Mic! This week, we’re joined by former Music Editor and Editor-in-Chief, Cerys Turner, who is currently a News Reporter at the specialist schools publication, Tes. While universities and schools may only share the link of education, Rachel, Tom, and Lucy spoke to Cerys about how The Boar acted as the perfect training ground for her time at Tes. Hear how reporting on on-campus protests prepared her for her time in the schools newsroom, including covering a recent press conference with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and breaking down the recent SEND reforms in the Starmer government’s first schools White Paper. And as always, your hosts will also be spotlighting some articles that have caught their eye… this week from the upcoming print edition, which will hit campus next week. It’s the last print edition of the current exec, as we head into elections tonight, so definitely grab a copy when you’re around on campus. Of course, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

Joining us on Hogging the Mic this week is former Boar Comment Editor and Editor-in-Chief, James Appleton, whose journey has seen him go from student journalism, to jobs outside of journalism, to ending up back in the journalism-adjacent sphere. James spoke to Rachel, Tom, and Lucy about his time at The Boar back in the late 2000s, as well as his jobs since – teaching English as a foreign language, working in the charity sector, and also now as a Freelance Product Editor for Lonely Planet. We get the insight on how the adventures of travel writers end up on the pages of those famous ‘bluespined’ guides, as well tips on getting into the world of freelancing. Stick around and you may also hear some of James’ own travel advice…And of course, as always, your hosts will also spotlight some articles that have caught their eye this week. If you want your article featured in the next episode, then grab a pitch and get writing. As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Featured articles:‘The trivialisation of romance: It’s not just anything, it’s love’ by Bethany Sirianni (Books)‘’A big drinking bonanza of fun’: The Boar goes behind the scenes of the 46th Warwick University Real Ale Festival’ by Nikolai Morton (News/Features)‘Leamington 2-1 Curzon Ashton: Brakes end winless run with euphoric last-gasp winner’ by Joshua Keeble (Sport)Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

Hogging the Mic is back! After a festive break (and some time to settle into Term 2), we’re back and ready for a new season of Hogging the Mic – bringing you more of what you’ve got to know and love, but with a new lineup of special guests! And we’ve decided to kick off the new series with something a little bit different. We haven’t got an alum joining us today – instead, we’ve got a current member of the team who told us everything about her time at The Boar, from beginning as a Deputy Editor, through to sub-editing in Paris on her year abroad, to now recently taking up the role of Editor-in-Chief. Of course, we’re talking about the one and only Sanjana Iyer. Rachel, Tom, and Lucy sat down with Sanjana and unpacked her last four years at the paper, and spoke out about what’s to come over the next few weeks at The Boar. With The Boar’s charity print just around the corner too, your hosts (and Sanjana!) spotlight some of their favourite articles from across the print. We’re back with a bang!As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

Merry Christmas! As we celebrate the festive season at Hogging the Mic, we’ve got a very special episode of the podcast to bring you – to keep you company when you’re wrapping last minute presents, or enjoying a mince pie during Twixtmas, when you have no clue what day it is. On this extra festive episode of the pod, we’re joined by someone who will be a familiar voice to many of you listening – a legend of the Boar offices in recent years.Former Arts Editor, Abigail Mableson, who has recently made the move from Warwick to London to study for a Masters in Investigative Journalism at City St George’s, sat down with Rachel, Tom, and Lucy to discuss all things Boar, City, and Christmas. From meeting Radio 1’s Ali Plumb to settling into the capital, Christmas traditions to the iconic fringed presenter Abi would love to interview, this episode will bring you lots of fun over the festive period… As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.We’ll be back with new episodes of the podcast in the new year! Until then, thank you for all the support in 2025, and have a very happy holidays. Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

We’ve made it to the end of term! The festivities are in sight, but that doesn’t mean we’re stopping dropping episodes of Hogging the Mic for you to enjoy. And this week’s episode is a good one… This week, we’re joined by former News Editor, Evianne Suen, whose time at the helm of the section was just coming to an end as the Covid pandemic shut down universities and life across the country in March 2020. Since leaving The Boar, Evianne has gone on to study a Masters in International Journalism at City, and ultimately found her feet in roles at PinkNews and the concert ticketing platform Dice, where she currently works as a Social Media Manager. Rachel, Tom, and Lucy spoke to Evianne about all things journalism, social media, and even a little bit  about the world of music. And, after a hectic term here at the paper, Evianne also shares her tips on how to balance your time at The Boar with your academic work and social life… and ways to make sure you’re getting out of the offices before 10pm. We’ll also be teasing some articles from the upcoming December print in our usual spotlight section, and we’ll maybe even tell you a little bit about what you can expect from our next episode… but don’t expect too much of a spoiler! As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

Joining us on Hogging the Mic this week is former Music Editor, Emma Wilkes. Starting her freelance journalism career while still a student at Warwick, Emma has gone onto write for a variety of music publications including Kerrang! and NME, as well as national papers like The Guardian.Emma spoke to Rachel, Tom, and Lucy about her journalism career from her early days at The Boar right through to freelancing today. From attending festivals to writing features, Emma gives us all her tips and tricks on how to become a freelance writer in the journalism world. And of course, just like usual, your hosts will also spotlight some articles that have caught their eye this week. If you want your article featured in the next episode, then grab a pitch and get writing. As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Featured articles:‘“Why are you a billionaire?”: The necessity and authenticity of charity in Hollywood’ by Zara Siddiqui (Features/Music)‘Leamington vs Marine: Brakes hit rock bottom as winless slump continues’ by Joakim Mol-Romero (Sport)‘Teenage drinking may lead to future career success, study suggests’ by Sam Capper (News)Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

With The Boar’s November print hitting distribution stands across campus today, we’re back with another episode that celebrates the new print, highlighting just some of the amazing articles that make up this edition. As always, we’re also bringing you a conversation with a Boar alum – and, this week, that alum is Isabella McRae, who now works as a Senior Reporter at The Big Issue. Isabella sat down with Rachel, Tom, and Lucy to discuss her career in journalism, from her early days at The Boar to working on a range of initiatives and campaigns as part of her role today. The winner of multiple awards, including the PPA Next Gen Award in 2023 which recognises 30 rising stars in the UK media, Isabella has certainly got a lot of stories to tell and we dip into just a few of them on the podcast, including how The Big Issue supports people without a fixed address and how she has worked on campaigns to raise awareness of health issues including endometriosis and cervical cancer.As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

This week on Hogging the Mic, we’re bringing you a conversation with a Boar alumni who has quite literally done everything in journalism. The Independent’s News Editor Sian Elvin sat down and talked to Tom and Lucy about her experiences from over a decade in the newsroom – from her early days in The Boar offices, through to the local newsrooms of Kent and London, and into the world of national publications.What made Sian want to get into journalism? What was it like starting out at the Metro only a few weeks into the Covid pandemic? Why is diversity so important in the newsroom? And would she banish everyone else to talk to her dream interview guest? Sian answers all those questions and more on the podcast. Rachel will also be joining Tom and Lucy as always to spotlight some articles that have caught their eye from across The Boar this week, with articles mentioned from the Features, Sport, and Film sections. As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠⁠.Featured articles:‘National League to delay all kick-off times in EFL promotion protest’ by Charlie Cartwright (Sport)‘Is decolonisation within academia truly possible?’ by Imaan Aziz (Features)‘Back to school: Teaching and getting taught on screen’ by Gemma Rice (Film)Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

With Welcome Week behind us and term in full swing, we’re back with another episode of Hogging the Mic to accompany your university days – whether it be on a long U1 commute, a trek to the library or Tesco, or just as background noise while you procrastinate your module readings. Joining us on Hogging the Mic this week is Chris Hackett, a Producer/Director at ITN, who works on documentaries and live broadcasts for ITV, Channel 4, and 5. Chris took his first steps into journalism at The Boar as News Editor and Editor-in-Chief, before going onto work behind-the-scenes on some of the biggest factual and current affairs programmes of recent years. From documentaries on Partygate and Elon Musk, to Channel 4’s award-winning election coverage, Chris has done it all.Expect to hear stories about how the team behind Channel 4’s Dover 24/7 documentary series reacted to the Crowdstrike tech outage when recording, the decision to broadcast Jess Phillips’ emotional election speech last July when other broadcasters didn’t, and the slightly unusual location offered up by Prince Harry’s team to record his bombshell interview with ITV’s Tom Brady. As well as all those stories (and more), Rachel, Tom, and Lucy also spotlight three of their picks from The Boar this week, including a feature on the rise of yoga among sportspeople and the top TV and film picks for autumn. As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠.Featured articles:‘Almost 4,000 courses fall prey to university funding crisis, with humanities degrees hardest hit’ by Nidanyaa Thangavel (News)‘From pitch to mat: Why athletes are turning to yoga’ by Abi Pearce (Lifestyle)‘The perfect television and film guide to autumn’ by Mason Stannard-Parages (TV x Film)Music: ⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

Welcome to Warwick! We’re bringing you a bonus episode of the podcast this week – a week earlier than planned – to celebrate the start of the new academic year, as we celebrate all things Freshers! We’ve got an exclusive look at The Boar’s first print of the year, which will be out on Monday, and as always, our hosts have picked out the articles that have caught their eye across the paper. Also on Hogging the Mic this week, we’ll be bringing you our conversation with Rebecca Myers, a Boar alumna and former Editor-in-Chief, who’s gone on to work at two of the UK’s biggest Sunday newspapers – The Sunday Times and The Observer. In the episode – recorded before Rebecca left her role as Acting National News Editor at The Observer – Rachel, Tom, and Lucy speak to Rebecca about all things journalism, from her time launching new initiatives in The Boar’s Books section to heading up investigations at The Observer.Rebecca also opened up about the challenges she has faced as a female sports reporter in a male-dominated section, her switch from sports reporting to news reporting, and her experience gaining work placements while at University without having any contacts in the industry.As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠.Music: ⁠⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

This week on Hogging the Mic, we have two very special guests joining us – one of our guests is a familiar face at The Boar today, and our other guest is someone who was as equally familiar in the offices five years ago. Rachel, Tom, and Lucy are first joined by Martin Day, one of the current Editors-in-Chief at The Boar to speak about all things Freshers Week and what to expect from The Boar this year. From why you should join to what events are being held for freshers, this is a great conversation for anyone wanting to get involved with one of the country’s leading student newspapers this year. After that, we’re also treating you to a conversation with one of Martin’s predecessors, Jasmine Parker. A former Arts Editor and Editor-in-Chief at The Boar, Jasmine knows a thing or two about podcasts, having helped to set up The Boar’s very first podcast, Creating Conversation, during lockdown. She’s also well-versed in new beginnings and fresh starts, having taken up the role of Sub-Editor at the fashion and lifestyle magazine Tatler shortly after graduating from her Masters in Magazine Journalism. Jasmine opens up on her experiences and memories in this interview, and passes on the metaphorical baton of her journalistic wisdom. From guiding The Boar through the early days of Covid to now covering film premieres, hotel openings, and Olympic hospitality, Jasmine is a real open book and her conversation is not one to be missed. As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠⁠our website⁠⁠⁠.

Joining us on Hogging the Mic this week is Noah Keate, Live News Reporter at POLITICO. During his time at The Boar, Noah wrote over 250 articles across all of the paper’s (then) 15 sections. He also held the positions of Deputy Comment Editor and Deputy Books Editor. After graduating, he went on to study for his NCTJ at News Associates before beginning at POLITICO, where he still works today. Rachel, Tom, and Lucy take Noah on a trip down memory lane in this interview, talking about everything from why he decided against becoming a Section Editor at The Boar, to covering the death of the Queen just a few days into his NCTJ training, and even going behind-the-scenes of one of Westminster’s number one political newsletters.As well as speaking to Noah, your hosts also pick out the articles that have led the conversation in The Boar this week, with picks from the News, Arts, and Sport sections.As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠⁠our website⁠⁠.Featured articles:‘Warwickshire Pride site targeted by vandals for third year in a row’ by Danielle Tempest (News)‘Review: The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum’ by Abbie Fox (Arts)‘Coventry City maintain unbeaten start to season with thrilling Pride Park comeback’ by Joshua Keeble (Sport)Special mention: ‘Freshers allocated accommodation an hour from campus after University runs out of rooms’ by Rachel Gore (News)Music: ⁠⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

This week on Hogging the Mic, we're joined by our very first guest – quite possibly the perfect way to kick off our star-studded interview line-up. Rachel, Tom, and Lucy sit down and chat to former Chief Sub-Editor, two-time Section Editor, and all-round Boar legend, Reece Goodall, covering everything from his first article to his countless Whole Hogs to The Boar's infamous Lifetime Achievement award, which is named after Reece. With many other stories, anecdotes, and top tips along the way, this is an interview not to be missed. As well as that exclusive interview with Reece, your hosts also discuss the articles that caught their eye in The Boar this week, with picks from the News, Books, and Sport section. As always, you can join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on ⁠our website⁠.Featured articles:'ChatGPT launches study mode to encourage responsible academic use' by Tilly Dickinson (News)'Interview with Anna Fiteni, Warwick writing alum and author of The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire' by Sophia Hadjioannou (Books)'The Boar's Helen Trappelides declared MCC Young Female Broadcaster of the Year' by Maya Gordon (Sport)Music: ⁠HitsLab / Pixabay⁠Cover art: Rachel Gore

Welcome to Hogging the Mic, The Boar’s brand new podcast! Every fortnight, your hosts Rachel Gore, Tom Ryan, and Lucy Gibbons will bring you conversations with Boar alumni as well as discussing the most recent news from The Boar. In this week’s launch episode, things will be slightly different however, as the tables are turned and Rachel, Tom, and Lucy are put in the hot seat. Hogging the Mic’s Head of Digital Media Beth Sirianni takes to the mic to introduce you to your three hosts, getting to know the voices behind the podcast a bit better. From discussing how the podcast began to choosing their favourite articles, get ready for an introduction to the newest project here at The Boar. And stay tuned to the end of the episode where we’ll be teasing our very first guest who will be joining us on episode two of the podcast next week! Can you guess who our first guest is? Join in the conversation in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram @HoggingTheMic. You can also keep up to date with the latest news from The Boar over on our website.Music: HitsLab / PixabayCover art: Rachel Gore

Welcome to Hogging the Mic, The Boar's official podcast! Whether you're on holiday, on your commute, or somewhere entirely different, join hosts Rachel Gore, Tom Ryan, and Lucy Gibbons as they interview Boar alumni and discuss the most recent news! With 52 years of history here at The Boar, and multiple national awards to its name, if you’re interested in journalism, the local community, and student news, then come and join us – we'll bring new episodes to your podcast feeds every fortnight, so you've always got the latest news and interviews right at your fingertips.