For many of us, our homeschooling efforts during Covid have involved plonking the kids in front of a laptop or tablet, so that the digital school teacher can guide them through their phonics.

But who does the calm but engaging voice belong to? She's Claire Wyatt, and in the years leading up to the pandemic, that anonymous lady in the computer - who taught everyone else's child with friendliness and affection - was actually struggling to have a child of her own.

She speaks to Elinor Hamilton about the challenges of having a much-wanted baby at the start of the pandemic, and how even the Jolly Phonics lady herself struggled to find anything remotely jolly about home schooling.

Produced by Karl Svenson at Tadah Media, with music from Beats Bakery.

Recorded in June 2021.

Most of the voices we hear in our day-to-day lives are anonymous. They tell us to put our shopping in the bag, or to stand clear of the doors please. In Hollywood movies, though, the voices we hear are often famous faces as well as voices, with their life stories splashed across headlines around the world. So, talking to people like them is not the point of this podcast. We like to tell the stories of the voices we recognise, but don't actually know.

One voice that's been heard across Hollywood is the one belonging to Javier Fernández-Peña, who isn't a household name by any means, but his voice is known to millions as the one belonging to Buzz Lightyear when he suddenly turned Spanish in Toy Story 3. 

While Javier's character delighted families across the world, the man behind the voice talks about how drug addiction changed his family life forever, and the messages he's since received from the great beyond.

With Elinor Hamilton. Produced by Karl Svenson from Tadah Media.

Trish Bertram will be familiar to television viewers as the continuity voice which has appeared between programmes on and off for years. In her view, though, her finest hour was when she became the voice of the Olympics. (But only just.)

She takes Elinor Hamilton through a career built entirely on blagging her way in, and explains how she managed to face workplace sexism head-on in a somewhat unconventional way...

Produced by Karl Svenson at Tadah Media.