First Person

Award-winning journalist and author, Marianne Thamm uncovers some of the extraordinary stories that lurk behind some of the most ordinary-looking South African front doors. Marianne asks questions, takes issue and peels back some of those ordinary layers to reveal the extraordinary lives underneath. She gets them to talk in the First Person. *First Person, a Kagiso Media Radio initiative, is produced by Jayne Morgan.

Background to this Legacy Podcast Series:

In 2016, when podcasting was just beginning to take off in South Africa, Kagiso Media Radio wanted to see what we could do with this new medium. The result was First Person – six sound portraits of ordinary people with extraordinary lives, presented by award-winning writer and journalist, Marianne Thamm and produced by one of South Africa’s podcast pioneers, Jayne Morgan. Together, they created compelling content that proved podcasts could capture imaginations like no other medium.

Now, eight years on, and in a very different podcast landscape, we’re going back to this ground-breaking series. We’re discovering that it has certainly stood the test of time – was ahead of its time in some ways - and presenting it once again to the thousands of listeners in this country who have now discovered the joy of listening on demand. By doing so, we hope we’re creating a whole new generation of First Person fans.
Once-off English South Africa Documentary · Personal Journals
7 Episodes

The Boys in Blue - Episode 6

South African police sergeant, Simphiwe "Charlie" Mgwetana, fed up with putting the same kids into the back of his police van every week, decided to use his own passion to change many of their lives. If you want to be inspired, and have your faith in humanity restored, take a…
12 Oct 2016 24 min

The White Sangoma - Episode 5

Through a chance encounter on the street, a white Afrikaans woman discovers she has a calling that takes her deep into the heart of South Africa – and her own psyche. In the fifth edition of First Person, Marianne Thamm maps Annelie DeWet's extraordinary journey into the heart of one…
14 Sep 2016 30 min

Backyard Addiction - Episode 4

Karl Thornton risks everything for the obsession that he can’t shake and that, day after day, uses up precious resources and takes him away from his family. What is it that has taken over Karl’s life, causing him to neglect his wife and children? Marianne Thamm finds out…
18 Aug 2016 25 min

Fifty Shades of OK - Episode 3

* Adult content advisory * Faeth Lyon-Wall (not her real name) tells journalist Marianne Thamm about how, feeling frustrated and rejected in her marriage, she embarked on a new sexual adventure where pain and pleasure mixed – and all with the blessing of her husband, who simply said "play safe,…
20 Jul 2016 27 min

Magic Mushrooms at 70 - Episode 2

Seventy-something grandmother, Monica Cromhout, has gone from law-abiding teetotaler to an evangelist for the benefits of psychedelic – magic mushrooms. Award-winning journalist Marianne Thamm charts the extraordinary journey that has led her to the forefront of the legal drive to have South Africa’s drugs laws declared unconstitutional.
1 Jul 2016 30 min

Interview with First Person creators

First Person creators Marianne Thamm and Jayne Morgan speak to East Coast Radio's Sirshin Moodliar on Trending Tonight on this brand new wholly-South African podcast series; the state of podcasting in SA in general and who'll be featured in upcoming episodes. If you're a fan already, or just curious to…
15 Jun 2016 14 min

Oscar-obsessed amateur detective - Episode 1

Oscar Pistorius. Everyone has a theory but what if you really knew something the police didn't? Best-selling author and journalist Marianne Thamm gets into the head of amateur detective Thomas Mollett, a man obsessed with solving two of South Africa's most famous and controversial murders - Inge Lotz and Reeva…
6 Jun 2016 29 min