Podcast: Caitlin and David, Racquet magazine

On Monday evening this week I took my first ever trip over to Wimbledon to catch up with Caitlin Thompson and David Shaftel, the publisher and editor respectively of Racquet magazine. It was the first day of the tennis over in SW19 and they were celebrating in style, with a garden party hosted in association with Grand Slam Tennis Tours. There was Pimms, cucumber sandwiches and tasteful jazz, and as the evening came to a close we sat down to record a podcast conversation in front of a small audience of tennis fans.

I have to admit that I’m only casually interested in tennis, but that’s what makes Racquet such a good read for me. Because instead of obsessing over results or fastidiously testing the latest equipment, they want to use the sport as a way of telling broader stories, breaking out of the usual frames of reference to do justice to the game they love so much. It’s an archetypal tale of independent magazine making, and I loved hearing the details of how and why the magazine took shape.

If you enjoy it too, remember we have lots of other conversations with independent magazine makers available on Soundcloud and iTunes – this month marks a year since we released our very first podcast episode, so go back and dig through the archive to find the magazines you love. (And do check out episode one with Dan from Amuseum – a year later it’s still our most profane. But very charming too, of course.)

Photo courtesy of Grand Slam Tennis Tours