My Insurance Downtime: Insurance Age content director Jonathan Swift

To kick things off Insurance Age content director Jonathan Swift gives a glimpse into his life outside insurance.

Screen time

Now my daughter is10, it has opened up the number of movies we attend as a family with the pay-off being for every Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Polite Society I choose, I then have to sit through the anime of One Piece Film: Red or Dragon Ball Super at her request.

My first love is still horror though, and I have to say I have enjoyed Pearl and Infinity Pool at the cinema this year.

On TV, Succession and The Last of Us have been particularly strong so far in 2023. I always enjoy Race Across the World and, at the moment, I have been bingeing Poker Face.

Music time

The one thing I came out of the Covid-19 lockdown with was a renewed interest in vinyl. So, now having bought a new turntable and dusted of some of my old 12 inches and LPs from my parent’s loft, I have started to collect again, especially in niche dance genres from Italo-disco to trance to breakbeat/hardcore. I always worry for my bank balance when I step in Phonica Records in Soho, London.

Live, I definitely go to fewer gigs than when I first moved to London, with my recent being US punk band Scowl. In truth, though, the gig I am most looking forward to hasn’t been announced yet, as I am desperate to see Taylor Swift when she brings her Eras tour to the UK.

Podcast time

In the main, my podcast listening is dedicated to film and sport podcasts. Although my favourite two are the Bob Mortimer/Andy Dawson football adjacent pod Athletico Mince and the Top of the Pops podcast Chart Music.

Reading time

I tend to do most of my annual reading on holiday, and spend the year downloading things of interest to my kindle in anticipation of reading a book a day by the pool/sea. I love a thriller, and am looking forward to digging into The Last Passenger by Will Dean and Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado among others come August, and I’m happy to take any recommendations from readers.

Sporting time

I am a season ticket holder at Dulwich Hamlet, which was recently relegated back to the Isthmian Premier League after a bit of a pretty woeful 2022/2023 campaign. One upside is the away days at Margate, Lewes and Hashtag United next season.

Exercise/me time

My days of running are long gone due to dodgy knees. Now my primary form of exercise outside walking my daughter to school and travelling from the station to work and back is 45-60 minutes on the exercise bike four to five per times a week while watching TV or listening to podcasts/music.

Hobby time

Record collecting has become my obsession of late, although, as a household, we do also own a disproportionate number of table-top games despite a few clear outs. I still find Lego incredibly therapeutic, and I always look forward to rebuilding the festive seasonal sets come Christmas. I think we have about 10 Lego Santas!

Cuisine time

I cannot claim to be a whizz in the kitchen, although I do like this time of the year as an excuse to get the barbecue or pizza oven out, and enjoy some al fresco dining.