BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

We are going to shamelessly jump on the new TV bandwagon,

which is the TV adaptation of the novel Normal People by Sally Rooney about two teenagers falling in sort of love in Ireland.

And like all good TV shows, there is a companion podcast, which is presented in this case by

Riyadh Kalaf. Hello.

Hi, how are you doing?

Good, thanks. How are you doing with your companion podcast to the most successful new TV show in ages?

You know the funny thing is they came to me and they said hey you know there's this book that we're making into a show and

do you want to present the podcast with Ivana Lynch and I

I'll have a look at the first episode and if I am obsessed with it then we'll go.

And I honestly was about five minutes in and I thought sign me up I'm there

because it's based in Ireland it's two Irish teens and county Sligo sort of you know

falling in love and having all the dramas that come with teenage life.

And it was so weird to see my teenage life reflected back at me for the first time.

Because you're so used to seeing it Americanized aren't you?

And for the 12 people who've not seen it yet or read the book, what just give us a flavor of what it's like.

It's a beautiful, really raw and authentic story that follows these two teens,

Marianne and Connell, who are in secondary school. that's where we find them but we follow

them for four years through secondary school into university and to the point where

they're just about to jump into adult life and in that period they've got all sorts of issues

There's mental health there's sexuality issues there's domestic, I mean it's really tough to watch at times, but Lenny

Abramson directed it and he just made it feel like you're not even watching a TV show.

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