Advertise on podcast: Niche ID with Laura Markwardt

Feel the fear. And listen anyway. London-based author Max Lury won the Curtis Brown Prize in 2022 (No Ghosts), and the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize in 23/24 (Santa Fe). And yet, Max tells me he still can’t quite articulate the haunting feeling of absence and drift that emanates from our current technological moment. Fragments of it are captured through themes and scenes from his debut novel, No Ghosts, like friendship, memory, empty spaces, symbols and impermanence. Max calls his approach, “surrendering to things that don’t make a lot of sense.” Trusting ourselves to sit in that discomfort, even channelling these uncertain states of being towards something generative, represents hope, building presence from absence. Even if, like the characters in No Ghosts, we’re stuck in a loop performing past versions of ourselves. A genre-spanning conversation that dances between discomfort, fear and fascination. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show, leaving a review and sharing with your friends 3 Subscribe to the Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

Matt Willocks, Director at Good Sport Magazine and Studio joins me to talk about his recent essay, The Future is Trail. In the piece, Matt uses his background in ecology and the theory of Optimal Distinctiveness to examine how niche outdoor sports are redefining sports culture. The conversation ranges across analogue aesthetics, a complicated relationship with technology, and Matt’s run crew, AM:PM in the context of belonging, “We can be for anyone, but we can't be for everyone,” he tells me. Thinking about ideas around ‘belonging’ more broadly is something I’ve taken away with me. Specifically the paradox at the heart of how we align with groups and interests that come to define our identities. We want to feel part of something, and be validated by a group. And yet we also want to feel unique, autonomous, and self-defined. For many, the ‘optimal zone’ is at the edges: finding a group that’s small or specific enough that it makes us feel special compared to the mainstream. Chosen community is an act of self-expression, and as ‘unique’ as each one of us feels, that search for belonging unites us all. Links → @willocks_, Good Sport Magazine, Good Sport Substack Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show, leaving a review and sharing with your friends 3 Subscribe to the Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

Artist and architect, Hanna Benihoud established her own independent North London Studio in 2016. A decade later, she’s made her mark across the city designing large-scale sculptures, murals, and immersive installations. Hanna maintains a prolific, interdisciplinary output by keeping some activities just for herself. Not monetised, off the market and off the main grid. No irony intended, but it’s an approach that pays off. Case in point: Hanna’s a stealth “one-woman ambassador” for (steady-state cardio, 90s classic) step aerobics, without posting a single Triple-Knee on her feed. Insert your own fire emoji here. Ambition lives separately and success is measured through metrics Hanna’s set in advance with her “half-hippie, half-corporate” mentor, “I have it posted on my monitor. Tell stories. Make things. Get paid.” she tells me. “One thing doesn’t need to connect to the other. But if I’m doing those things, I’m living a successful life.” TLDR: A conversation that begins with architecture ends with laser tag, via domestic pitch decks, iconic graffiti (RIP Helch), secret social accounts and the true story of proposing in a dark room wearing a balaclava. Hanna’s also renovating her home on Youtube. And that project’s definitely not a secret. Links → Hanna’s Studio, (non-secret) @hanna_benihoud_studio, and her Youtube project. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show, leaving a review and sharing with your friends 3 Subscribe to the Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

In conversation with Sj Hockett (she/her/they) creative and founder of IRL.Sport: ‘An independent online and print publication exploring sports and movement from an outside perspective.’  Manchester-based Sj resides with her partner Izzi and KhⒶos, the pug cross. She’s worked in apparel design and visual identity for international cycling brand, MAP, as a Creative Director for Knog and Design Director for Space Between. Currently working on creative projects with Work in Progress Ldn, and Domino Records.  The curation and design behind IRL Sports (IG here) is influenced by the flow state in motion, intersections across riding and skate culture, and the classic DIY ethos of punk zines: passion-led stories born of obsessive fandoms that burned hard and fast. Sj’s own obsession with sport began through documenting the competitive cycling world, and culminated in commissions across international races like the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. Sj studied Physics at Leeds, and that scientific background informs her stoic relationship with creative uncertainty. It’s a physical worldview equally grounded in both logic and poetry. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show and sharing with your friends 3 Subscribe to the Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

Creative advisor and entrepreneur, Kel Rakowski ( of @h_e_r_s_t_o_r_y) joins me with her dog, Mishka, at home in Brooklyn to talk about her three pillars of focus: creativity, process and taste. A self-identified “late-bloomer,” Kel’s personal story starts with making friends on the internet as a teen, and spans coming out, founding (and selling) a multi-million dollar business, losing her creative self, finding her creative self and growing her Popular Substack to 10k+ 📈 subscribers. But no hero’s journey happens overnight. Kel spent two years experimenting with her output before she honed her focus. Her style of research-as-creative-practice is unguarded, honest and full of practical advice that’s grounded in her own obsessions. She calls it, “Getting to know yourself to get to know your work.” TLDR: You start by committing consistently to the creative work, any creative work, and the self comes next. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show and sharing with your friends 3 Subscribe to the Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/ [Cover icon photo credit: Dahlia Dandashi]

A special wrap episode sharing my takeaways from the second season, all shaped by conversations with authors, artists and creators across the modern cultural landscape. Themes include: The ecology of the nicheTaste, discernment and curationThe ambition of ‘the thing’Acting into significanceDefining your own terms of successGratitude here for everyone who shared their stories and theories with me. And thanks to everyone who listened, supported and shared the podcast. Season 3 drop TBC. Follow and be the first to know. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show and sharing with your friends 3 Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

"If you haven't seen the humour in something, you haven't seen the truth." That's Sussex-based author, John Higgs, known for his non-fiction books on counterculture, history, and biography. You might know him from The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds (2012) or his follow-up, Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the 20th Century. He’s also written books on Timothy Leary, Watling Street, William Blake, Bond and The Beatles, Doctor Who, and most recently David Lynch in Lynchian (2025). John’s also worked in video games design. At one point here, he compares writing to programming, and I kinda regret not digging in more to ask him about game theory and the commonalities between world building and the creative process. We got everything else covered though. Order, chaos and the future of counterculture. Rest assured. Much of what we cover (the creative process, quitting jobs, proof that book reviews don’t count and that the “metric-led online world is bollocks”) align with the Niche ID ethos, but also work as compelling frameworks for the “random and extraordinary” world that we forever exist (and continue to resist) in. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show and sharing with your friends 3 Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

In conversation with Professor Leigh Wilson, in the School of Humanities (English Literature) at University of Westminster. Leigh is co-editor of Contemporary Women’s Writing and works on modernism, the role of publishing in literary culture, and the experimental novel through the 20th century. She also co-runs a project on the Contemporary Small Press at Westminster. This work brought Leigh together with audio producer, Kate Bland, to found Spiracle in 2022, an independent literary hub specialising in audiobooks, articles and podcasts. In this episode, Leigh shares her take on communal literary culture, the magic of being "mesmerised by a voice" and why she engages her students to engage with audio for a “deeper, immersive experience.” Does listening count as reading? Leigh says yes, it does. So now you know. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for comments, reviews, following the show and sharing with friends 3 Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

In conversation with Alison Williams, the creative polymath behind the Guardian-recommended podcast, War Hall: Theatre of the Mind, starring 96-year-old cinema legend Angela Allen. The first series of War Hall is grounded in the rich social audio history of Walthamstow’s assembly Hall and the words from a 1930/40s brochure of that time via Alison, sum it up: "The bombs were falling all around but the music was divine" Alison has also held roles at Film London, working from Pinewood Studios. She master-minded Moomins: The Woman Who Fell In Love With An Island exhibition at Walthamstow Wetlands that ran from 2021 to 2022, and she’s currently at PRS Foundation, which is the UK's leading charitable funder of new music and talent development. This conversation goes everywhere. It’s packed with art (Robert Henri, Delia Derbyshire, Disney, Lynch), creativity against all odds and (of course!) some magical thinking. It's really worth checking out the the accompanying Niche ID newsletter on this one for more links, visuals and rabbit holes. Don’t miss Alison's The War Hall bonus episode being released on 8th May 2026 for VE Day. Enjoying Niche ID? Thank you for following the show and sharing with your friends 3 War Hall: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/war-hall/id1861527488 Niche ID newsletter: https://lauramarkwardt.substack.com/

Most runners move to a new city, and join their local track club to find their people. Pruzan’s Jessie Hyman co-founded a whole new brand. Settling in London from NYC, Jessie links Pruzan’s 2022 origin story not just to the search for the perfect pair of marathon shorts, but to her search for a sense of self, and ultimately, a performance running community that moves through the world like she does. Discovering the women’s running collective, Hot Boys Athletics, was the unlock Jessie was looking for, and she hit her stride. Today, Jessie combines real feedback from her friends in training with her background leading user insights at Spotify to iterate on products that, “don’t look like anyone else.” We talk about that point of difference, alongside fashion, fandoms and non-measurables that sit behind definitions of success. Jessie tells me “As runners, we’re all just chasing that race experience that feels like you’re floating. It’s once in a blue moon,” she says, “but may we all have it a few times.” Enjoy. @pruzanSupport charity: water with Jessie this 2026 London Marathon. Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow the show and share with your friends. Subscribe to the ⁠Niche ID newsletter⁠ for episode updates.

Photographer and director, Ben Rayner started his music zine as a teenager in the halcyon days of 90s Essex/London. He tells me that whole point of the thing wasn’t to make a profit. It was to open up a world that would eventually lead to his “obsession” with taking photos constantly. It was an era that built life-long friendships, and a rich archive of ‘becoming’ that Ben would eventually take Stateside, where he's now based in New York. The days when you could make friends over a band T-shirt were something special, and Ben’s work continues to put that real, kindred energy on permanent record. Get Ben's latest publications: I’m a million different people from one day to the next and Mud, Sweat & Tears. @Benrayner and Benrayner.com Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow the show and share with your friends. Subscribe to the Niche ID newsletter for episode updates.

While passion might get a print issue started, operational rigour is what keeps the lights on. My latest guest, Megan Wray Schertler has mastered the art of that tension. Splitting her time between Berlin, New York and Reykjavik, Megan spent her early career at cult titles like Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman and Interview Magazine before co-founding her own magazine business consultancy, In Real Life Media. Megan defines modern magazines as both a signal of discernment to build audience trust, and a valuable cultural archive. Our conversation explores how titles can thrive not just through smart distribution, but through building unique worlds that both founders and fandoms themselves are excited to be part of. And it all starts with “knowing your why.” Megan hosts the all-woman panel at IRL Media’s Print-First Futures, an event celebrating innovation in the print magazine industry, on March 20 at Head Hi in Brooklyn, NY. Read Megan’s piece for Huck Magazine about physical magazines making a comeback. Follow ⁠inreallife.media on Instagram⁠. Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow the show and share with your friends. Subscribe to the ⁠Niche ID newsletter⁠ for episode updates.

My latest guest is Oriana Leckert, Head of Publishing at Kickstarter. Alongside helping creators bring their dream literary projects to life, Oriana’s also written and edited for Vice, MTV News Slate and many more. Her first book, Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Hubs of Culture and Creativity , grew out of a multi-year project capturing the rise and fall of under-the-radar creative spaces across New York City. My favourite parts of our conversation land on definitions of publishing success, cultivating your audience (note, these two things are correlated), books as identity signals, and the evolving self-publishing landscape as an influence on more traditional publishing models. Provided you have the reach, the ceiling for niche publishing is “endlessly high,” which is where you can calibrate the level of your ambitions. Lastly, don’t guess. Ask. Nurturing an empathetic relationship with your audience and “asking your people what they want” is sometimes overlooked, but it’s one of the most practical strategies any creator can adopt. As Oriana tells me, “they just might surprise you.” Episode image photo credit: Kirsten Nicolaisen Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow the show and share with your friends. Subscribe to the ⁠Niche ID newsletter⁠ for episode updates.

In conversation with Max Leonard, Publisher and Creative director at Isola Press. Max creates award-winning photo books and stories of adventures that explore place, space, culture and history. We discuss the publishing (and self-publishing) industry with reference to Max’s 2024 book with Henry Iddon, Mountain style: British Outdoor Clothing 1953-2000, and his new book, One Ride Away.. the memoir of legendary mountain bike pioneer, Tom Ritchey, out this spring 2026. We talk about the on-going value of social media in community-building and project funding, championing British outdoor brands, and the current status of the non-fiction book market alongside podcasts and audiobooks. Max explains how imposing limits on the scope of your own projects allows space for the story that sits behind them. Each of Max’s books documents an evolving outdoors culture, his own narrative always landing somewhere in the vastness of the mountains. Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow the show and share with your friends. Subscribe to the ⁠Niche ID newsletter⁠ for episode updates.

London-based Laura Bryan is Insight Director at Spring Studios. With a background in design and luxury fashion communications, she has worked across various research and cultural strategy roles from Jump Innovation to Discover AI. Laura’s essay on the theme of ‘quiet disobedience’ and ‘small acts of rebellion’ for the School of Critical Design was published last year. Those ideas feel like they gain momentum the more we explore what it means to question society’s status quo. We discuss strategic creative processes, and IRL brand-adjacent experiences (print, events, live reads). Laura explains case studies from fine jewellery to no-alcohol, using macro/micro trend signalling, in-field work and identifying intersections of culture and category to uncover truths that resonate with audiences. My favourite idea here is that no research is wasted. A past rabbit hole (trust me, I have many) can that bring depth to new projects.    More broadly, Laura’s ideas around ‘interconnectedness’ frame strategy as divergent thinking and pattern-matching, with nuance and human connection at its core.  There are no binaries here. Laura blends commercial acumen, with experience-honed instinct and real-world research. Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow the show and share with your friends. Subscribe to the ⁠Niche ID with Laura Markwardt ⁠newsletter for episode updates.