Finding Andy, the gift

finding andy - Message heard

In 2019, the podcast’s protagonist, Loti, was on standing on a bridge in Manchester ready to jump. A passerby intervened and saved his life. For five years, Loti has only had a name: Andy. But for the last two, host Jake Warren and his investigative journalist sidekick Orla O’Brien have been trying to find him.

If I tell you much more, I’ll spoil the series, but know that this is sensitively handled, expertly told, and will make you realise that we are all more similar than we might like to think.

It follows on from the brilliant Finding Natasha, in which Jake sets out to find a Russian woman his mother credits with saving her life when she was a young ballerina training in the Soviet Union. Both series are a pleasure to listen to because they both feel so helpful. The antithesis of gratuitous true crime.

The Gift - BBc Radio 4

“It’s the perfect gift for those who have everything”, journalist Jenny Kleeman posits at the top of each episode, referring to at-home DNA test kits. In this podcast, she talks to people whose results have revealed shocking truths. From the daughters swapped at birth, to the woman who unwittingly unearthed a black market in selling babies. I listened to Series 2 (each episode is standalone, so you can pick it up wherever you like).

It made me simultaneously want to avoid the tests at all costs and to order one straightaway…. Is ignorance bliss?