Crossed Wires co-founder Dino Sofos on bringing the UK’s biggest podcasts to Sheffield

On one sunny weekend last June, Sheffield suddenly felt like a city reborn.

Europe’s largest purpose-built foodhall had just opened on Cambridge Street. A stunning 80 foot mural was being painted in Pound’s Park. And thousands of people had flocked to the city centre for something else brand new: Crossed Wires – the first run of the festival rightfully billed as the UK’s “biggest podcasting party”.

Across three days, Sheffield venues hosted top podcasts featuring the likes of Katherine Ryan, Romesh Ranganathan, and Adam Buxton. The city was bustling with big names, podcast fans, and Sheffielders all admiring these rejuvenating developments.

“I feel like it was the first time a lot of people have been into town for a long time,” says Dino Sofos, co-founder of the festival. “Then suddenly they saw Greg James is there and Adam Buxton’s there… We had all these amazing people and just a buzz in the city.”

The reaction from locals showed the efforts put into the event had been well received: “People were coming up to us and going: thank you so much for doing this in Sheffield. And our response to that was thank you for having us  – because really we couldn’t have actually done this anywhere else.”

A year on, and as Crossed Wires is set to return with another stellar lineup next month, I meet Dino in the new headquarters of his podcast production company Persephonica.

Nestled within the recently renovated Leah’s Yard, the site’s industrial history and exposed red brickwork makes the space feel charming, yet unassuming – a modest venue for a company whose work has helped drive the meteoric rise of podcasting in the UK.

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When Dino founded the company back in 2021, they launched the hugely successful show The News Agents and now produce a smorgasbord of chart-topping podcasts such as the award-winning Miss Me, Political Currency, and Dua Lipa’s brand new Service 95 Book Club.

A selection of podcast headlining Crossed Wires 2025

Dino, 41, had previously held various audio roles at the BBC and was influential in expanding their podcasting slate as Editor of BBC News Podcasts and creator of the long-running Newscast.

Leaving London after years of working in the capital led him to return to his hometown Sheffield, the city where he was born and bred, and graduated with a University of Sheffield degree in politics and french. The new Persephonica headquarters came with the move back to South Yorkshire, as did a new wave of creative inspiration.

“It’s such an amazing city and there are so many brilliant creative people here,” he reflected. “There’s this really funny thing that I’m noticing, which is that people who, like me, have come back to Sheffield are like: This is amazing. What a great city.

“Why don’t we do this thing? Or why don’t we start a festival? Or why don’t we bring our business here?”

The middle of these ideas is perhaps the more unusual one. However that was the exact question raised on a walk with two friends and now fellow Crossed Wires co-founders: The TV and radio presenter Alice Levine and Sheffield’s Tramlines music festival co-founder James O’Hara.

All equipped in the fields of audio or live entertainment, the trio came up with the idea of a large-scale festival to celebrate all things podcasting for the ever-growing base of podcast listeners.

Festival co-founders James O’Hara, Alice Levine, and Dino Sofos via Pedalo Photography

“There are small podcast festivals,” Dino explained, “but there was nothing that was national, multi-venue, and big name acts.

“I work in the podcast industry and there’s loads of stuff for podcast producers to go in a conference centre with a lanyard on and talk about advertising and stuff. That’s great. But this is for the community of listeners that podcasts have built around them.”

Encouraging listeners to ditch their headphones for a day and experience podcasts live was a concept that Dino was no stranger to, having previously worked on live events for Persephonica’s shows and experiencing the “amazing phenomenon” in real life.

Miss Me, the 2024 British podcast awards winner hosted by childhood friends Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver, sold out back-to-back shows at the Hackney Empire theatre in London in its first year.

“We came out of those live shows going: I’m not sure what that was, but it wasn’t a live podcast recording,” he recalled. “It felt like a club night because every time we played a bit of music, the audience were out of their seats.

“Listening to podcasts is a very solitary experience. But when you get into a room, you can just suddenly laugh at all the jokes together. It’s really moving.”

Bringing this live atmosphere to Sheffield involved a helping hand from Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, who the Crossed Wires team pitched their vision to. Since then, both have been “hugely supportive” of the event.

“They gave us enough of a runway to make sure it was here for three years. I’m not sure how many other cities we could have pitched up and done that in,” Dino explained.

The backing reaped its rewards, with more than 45 per cent of last year’s attendees coming in from outside of Sheffield – results that the team are hoping to build upon when they press play on Crossed Wires 2025 before the first weekend in July.

This year’s lineup includes Jordan North and William Hanson’s Help I Sexted My Boss, Greg James’ Tailenders, and Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett’s Dish – plus many more recognisable voices.

From sport, to news, to true crime, to food, to comedy it is truly an eclectic lineup – “something for everyone”, Dino said.

“When you’re building a line up it’s really tricky because lots of people want to do it and can’t do it. And sometimes you feel like you’re fighting a losing battle.

“It then seems there’s a moment where it all comes together, you look at the names on the piece of paper, and everyone’s like: That’s a really good lineup.”

More of this year’s festival headliners

This year also sees the expansion of Fringe events, free shows that are designed to be “good enough that you would go and pay”.

In collaboration with BBC Sounds, recordings from Newscast, Russell Kane, and even a 100th anniversary episode of the Shipping Forecast will be available for ticket holders to watch and enjoy free of charge.

“We’ve got all these BBC legends doing shows for free and I can’t think of another festival in the UK where there is that much great free stuff,” Dino noted.

“We’re really proud of that because it’s so nice to be able to give something back to not just the people of Sheffield but podcast fans because listeners really invest in those shows and give so much their time. So it’s so nice to be able to bring people together and get them in a room with Adam Fleming and Chris Mason, or the Gardeners’ Question Time panel and just have a bit of a celebration, have a bit of a party for a weekend and what better place to do it than in Sheffield?”

The venue for this will also breathe new life into an iconic destination from Sheffield’s past: The Cole Brothers building. Home to retailer John Lewis until 2021, it became Grade II listed the following year and is currently sat dormant in the heart of the city centre. Developers Urban Splash have plans for a new multi-purpose venue within the site, although estimates currently indicate that will not be ready before the end of 2027.

As a Sheffielder, it’s a building Dino remembers fondly and is clearly excited by the prospect of its doors reopening – albeit temporarily: “It’s such an amazing space. It’s a beautiful modernist building in the in the middle of Sheffield which has now been listed and thankfully is going to be protected. It’s just such a shame to have this building sitting empty and I think everybody feels that way.

“So we had the idea of can we get in there and put our Fringe in that building? Just because everybody will be curious to get inside.”

Headliners and a Fringe are not all though, as street food, a pop up stage for local podcasts, and a special edition of daytime clubbing event Day Fever will contribute to the festival spirit that draws the crowds into Crossed Wires.

Some of last year’s attendees from the world of audio will also now become participants for this year’s festival by bringing their own shows. However, few have got quite so heavily involved as Radio 1 Breakfast DJ Greg James, who is now the festival’s Creative Director.

Greg James, Dino Sofos, and Alice Levine during Crossed Wires 2024

“He did a show with me and Alice last year and afterwards he very quickly came to us and said ‘I really want to be involved next year’,” Dino said.

“Alice and I got together and said do you want to come and help run it with us because honestly, we’re knackered, this is a lot of work and we need your help. And he didn’t even flinch.”

The participation of student volunteers from the University of Sheffield was another aspect which Greg “really loved”.

“He started in student radio so has just got that passion and he really loved the fact that we had lots of people from Sheffield University volunteering, recording podcasts, being volunteer, helping with the talent, and helping produce some of the shows.”

The breakfast presenter has also crucially played a major role in landing some of next month’s biggest shows.

“He’s really throwing himself into it,” Dino continued. “Straight away he brought the guys from Tailenders. He then called up Michael Palin and got him on board because he thought who’s the best person from Sheffield who I want to speak to. So he’s called up Michael and got him on board.”

The Monty Python star – who it is fair to say is currently one of few people without a podcast – will sit in conversation with Greg on the opening night for “Nobody Expects the Michael Palin Podcast!”

It will feature anecdotes from his career, from growing up in Sheffield, and potentially some scripts from his times treading the boards in drama at school.

This is one of the shows that Dino himself is especially looking forward too. “I’m such a huge fan,” he confessed, “When Greg sent me and Alice a text to say he’s confirmed he’s in, we just couldn’t believe it.”

Greg James and Michael Palin will take to the stage together next month

Beyond 2025? The intention is for the festival to continue to be “firmly part of the fabric of the city” for the long-term: “This is our home and we want to be here for as long as Sheffield want us to do the festival.”

“As soon as we finish this year’s festival, we’ll be thinking about next year and we’ve already started having conversations about people who couldn’t do this year but do want to next year.”

The future for media in Sheffield more broadly is a lot brighter courtesy of Crossed Wires, Persephonica, and Dino. This was, he says, a clear intention. Beyond the opportunities the city already presents, he recognises the need for more, citing Sheffield students – particularly journalism students – as an example for a lack available opportunities for entering the media industry.

“People are just having to leave the city to go and get jobs in the media, which isn’t right,” he says. “There should be opportunities for people to work in the city or the region that they grew up in and not have to leave.

“I think the responsibility is on people like myself, who are from here and who set up businesses, to put our money where our mouths are and create opportunities for the next generation of journalists. Otherwise we’ll just be in this permanent cycle of people who are privileged enough to be able to do unpaid work experience and unpaid internships while they’re living in London, getting those jobs because that’s how it works. We need to fight against that and I feel extremely passionately about that.

“Being from outside of London, you’ve got a different perspective on life. You’ve seen living in this city how people were made redundant from big industry and have struggled to get back on the employment ladder. You’ve seen communities being decimated. You see that first hand. Being able to take that into a newsroom in London or wherever it is hugely valuable.

“That is getting harder and harder. I know from what I’m hearing from students that getting work experience is really tricky because there just aren’t those opportunities.

“My first bit of work experience was at the BBC in Manchester and if it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have got anywhere – so it’s really important.”

Would student Dino have been attending Crossed Wires? “I’ve always been a huge radio and audio nerd,” he said, “So I would have been volunteering and queuing up at the Fringe to get my place to watch Newscast 100 per cent.”

Crossed Wires returns to Sheffield Friday 4th – Sunday 6th July. Tickets are still available at crossedwires.live

Featured image by Pedalo Photography