The Bugle

Last updated

The Bugle
The Bugle Logo.jpg
Logo of The Bugle Podcast
Presentation
Hosted by Andy Zaltzman
Genre
  • News
  • Comedy
Created by
LanguageEnglish
Production
Opening theme"Tide of Empire" (George Chase)
Publication
Original release14 October 2007 (2007-10-14)
Ratings4.6/5  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Related
Website http://www.thebuglepodcast.com/   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Bugle is a satirical news podcast, created by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman in 2007. It is currently hosted by Zaltzman and a rotating cast of co-hosts including Alice Fraser, Nish Kumar, Anuvab Pal, Hari Kondabolu, Tom Ballard, Tiff Stevenson and Helen Zaltzman. It focuses on global news stories, especially about politics in the United Kingdom, United States, and India.

Contents

Oliver and Zaltzman co-hosted the podcast from 2007 to 2015, and Zaltzman has hosted it with a rotating set of co-hosts since a relaunch in September 2016. The podcast was initially produced independently and distributed by TimesOnline before becoming independent in 2011. It was part of Radiotopia from 2016 to 2018, when it switched to independent production funded by a voluntary subscription model. [1] As of April 2015, the podcast had received over 500,000 downloads a month. [2]

History

Andy Zaltzman at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2007 Andy Zaltzman.jpg
Andy Zaltzman at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2007

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman had previously partnered for satirical comedy radio programs Political Animal and The Department . Shortly after Oliver's move to New York to work on The Daily Show , the two were approached by The Times to do a satirical podcast. The first episode of The Bugle was released on 14 October 2007. New episodes of the podcast were generally recorded and published on Fridays with related material appearing on its official website.

At its launch, The Bugle was distributed by TimesOnline, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International. During the News International phone hacking scandal of 2011, The Bugle satirised its parent company in a manner which the New York Times characterised as "blistering" in an article published 15 August. [3] Over the course of a few weekly episodes prior to the New York Times' article, Zaltzman and Oliver had gone "straight for the jugular" regarding News International, its newspapers, and Murdoch himself. [3] Their barbs included a comment that The News of the World "would not be missed at all", as well as the assertion by Oliver—in response to the shaving cream pie attack on Murdoch—that despite the humour inherent in the attack, "[you] just don't want to find yourself with any misplaced sympathy for Rupert Murdoch." [3] The comedians jokingly marvelled with one another that no one in News International had yet shut down their podcast, with Oliver tapping his microphone and asking, "Should this not have been stopped by now? It doesn’t make sense!" [3] In response to the report from the New York Times, in an episode of The Bugle released 19 August, Oliver gave this opening monologue:

"Welcome to any first-time Buglers who are here because they might have read The New York Times' story on us earlier this week...but now that the story's in a newspaper that I'm guessing [Murdoch] reads cover to cover every day, I'm thinking there's an even smaller chance of us managing to not get fired now. So thanks very much, New York Times! Your trumpeting of this podcast may well turn into bugling the Last Post. I guess what I'm saying is—to our new listeners—'Hello and goodbye!'" [4]

On 14 December 2011, it was announced on the podcast that Times Online would no longer be hosting and distributing The Bugle. [5] Producer Chris Skinner stated the reason for cancellation was financial, rather than due to criticism of Murdoch. [6] Zaltzman noted that the never-broadcast pilot approved by News Corp executives in 2007 featured criticism of Murdoch. [7]

The first episode of the newly independent Bugle was published on 20 January 2012 and the podcast was funded by donations and merchandise purchases by listeners from October 2012 to mid-2016.

In the summer of 2014 The Bugle was put on hiatus so that Oliver could focus on his then-forthcoming television show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver with weekly Bugle publication having resumed in October. From summer 2015 to June 2016 episodes were published intermittently when the hosts' work schedules permitted.

On 3 June 2016, it was announced that Oliver would be leaving The Bugle as a permanent co-host, no longer able to regularly host due to family and work commitments. [8] The "fourth season" of The Bugle would continue to be hosted by Andy Zaltzman with various international guest hosts filling in for Oliver. The show was officially re-launched on 24 October 2016, supported by the Radiotopia podcast network. [9] Producer Chris Skinner remained on the show along with Zaltzman, and the first set of new co-hosts were Wyatt Cenac (US), Hari Kondabolu (US), Nish Kumar (UK), Anuvab Pal (India) and Helen Zaltzman (UK). [10] All except Cenac continued to appear on the show regularly through to 2020. Other co-hosts continue to be added to the roster, with some, including Tom Ballard (Australia) and Tiff Stevenson (UK) becoming long-term contributors. Alice Fraser (Australia), introduced in Bugle 4024, has become the most frequent presenter introduced since Oliver's departure, and was the creator and full time host of its first spin off The Last Post, which ran for more than 300 episodes in 2020. [11]

The Bugle left Radiotopia in 2019 and is now funded through voluntary subscription. [12] As a reward for donations, Zaltzman runs a Lies about Our Subscribers service, where he puts each donor's name to an unlikely fact. These are read in a list at the close of episodes. [13]

Guest co-hosts

Since the 2016 relaunch, the show's most frequent co-hosts have been Alice Fraser, Nish Kumar, Anuvab Pal, Hari Kondabolu, Tiff Stevenson and Nato Green. Other regularly recurring co-hosts are Tom Ballard, Josh Gondelman and Helen Zaltzman.

Other co-hosts to have appeared more than once include Chris Addison, Wyatt Cenac, Neil Delamere, Alex Edelman, Matt Forde, Jena Friedman, Lloyd Langford, Aditi Mittal, Al Murray, James Nokise, David O'Doherty, Sami Shah, Mark Steel, Baratunde Thurston and Felicity Ward.

John Oliver has co-hosted three times since the 2016 relaunch, including in episode 4100 and most recently, episode 4325.

Live shows

In 2017, the show began to add live shows, performed in front of an audience. Starting at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, followed by dates in London and Edinburgh, the live shows feature Zaltzman with regular co-hosts and Producer Chris. The show is similar in nature to the podcast, with added visuals, a listener Q&A and live audience-only content. These shows also are available in the podcasts feed for all listeners.

Producers

During the first several episodes of the show various "producers" are mentioned by name on air though none of them featured in the show's content.

Tom Wright, [14] known solely on The Bugle as "Tom the Producer", was the producer of the show from episodes 1[ citation needed ] to episode 107. He is first heard in Episode 21a, providing continuity to various out-takes from the first twenty episodes. Wright emigrated to Australia in 2010, and returned as a producer for the season 4 episodes recorded in Australia (4023, 4024, 4025).

Wright was replaced by Chris Skinner, [15] who had previously worked with Zaltzman on the Yes, It's the Ashes radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2009. In 2019 Skinner launched his own podcast, titled 'Richie Firth: Travel Hacker, [16] with Absolute Radio's Richie Firth, which featured a cameo from Bugle co-host Alice Fraser.

Ped Hunter has subbed for Skinner when the latter is ill or on holiday. [17] In 2020, Hunter was one of the producers of spin off series The Last Post. [18]

Offshoots

Reception

The Bugle has received many positive mentions in the media. A review by American blog Frozen Toothpaste described the podcast in a 2007 review as "a usually delightful, witty and deadpan satire". [24] Computing website Philosophical Geek praised The Bugle for its unique wit, saying that the reviewer found himself "laughing too hard to concentrate on anything else". [25] The Bugle, according to The Nerd Rage Blog, is "a thing of beauty" and "is quite simply, hilarious". Zaltzman's "bullshit facts" are complimented, as is Oliver's "biting sarcasm". [26] BBC Comedy review show What's So Funny described The Bugle as the benchmark in satire, in an episode dated 27 May 2011. [27]

The podcast has continued to gain positive press coverage in the "Season 4" era, a Financial Times review of its earliest episodes opining that "Anyone wondering if The Bugle would be a damp squib without Oliver needn’t have worried." [28] More recently, there has been particular praise for the show's most frequent 'guest host' Alice Fraser. The Spectator stated Fraser "vibes perfectly with Zaltzman’s hyper-articulate and anarchic style", [29] whilst Narc Magazine reviewed her live performance as "captivating, landing her punch lines every time with surreptitious asides into the mic, while Zaltzman whips factual news into delightful, fantastical nonsense, leaving you questioning what was real and what was not." [30]

Related Research Articles

<i>The News Quiz</i> British topical radio panel show (since 1977)

The News Quiz is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, and Miles Jupp. Andy Zaltzman was announced as the permanent host after series 103. The show involves four panellists, often comedians or journalists, who answer questions about events of the previous week, often leading to humorous and satirical exchanges. The show was adapted for television in 1981 and has also inspired other shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Addison</span> British comedian, writer, actor, and director

Christopher David Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Scharpling</span> American comedian, writer, and actor

Thomas John Giuliano II, known professionally as Tom Scharpling, is an American comedian, television writer, producer, music video director, voice actor, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly Internet radio call-in comedy program The Best Show with Tom Scharpling, the voice of Greg Universe in the animated series Steven Universe and its sequel series Steven Universe Future, and for acting as a writer/executive producer for the TV show Monk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Oliver</span> British and American comedian and presenter

John William Oliver is a British and American comedian who hosts Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work in the United States as the senior British correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for writing for The Daily Show and became its guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. He also co-hosted the comedy podcast The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously worked on the radio series Political Animal and The Department. From 2010 to 2013, he hosted the stand-up series John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central. His acting roles include Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom Community and voice work in the animated films The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), and The Lion King remake (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Zaltzman</span> British comedian (born 1974)

Andrew Zaltzman is a British comedian who largely deals in political and sport-related material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hari Kondabolu</span> American comedian

Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu is an American stand-up comedian and writer. His comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He was a writer for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell and the creator of the 2017 documentary film The Problem with Apu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyatt Cenac</span> American actor and comedian

Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He was a correspondent and writer for The Daily Show from 2008 to 2012. He starred in the TBS series People of Earth and in Barry Jenkins's first feature Medicine for Melancholy. He also hosted and produced the HBO series Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas.

Political Animal is a performance and radio show created by British comedians John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman in which various stand-up comedians perform political material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Albanese</span> American comedian and writer (born 1977)

Rory Scot Albanese is an American comedian, comedy writer and television producer. He was a showrunner, executive producer and writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which he joined in 1999 and was with until October 2013. He was an executive producer and showrunner of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earwolf</span> American podcasting network

Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate company founded by Ullrich, to form Midroll Media. Midroll was acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company in 2015. In July 2020, Sirius XM acquired Midroll Media, which includes Stitcher Radio and Earwolf, for $325 million.

7 Day Sunday is a British comedy radio talk show hosted by Al Murray on BBC Radio 5 Live. Broadcast weekly on Sunday mornings, the show takes an irreverent look at the topical news stories of the past seven days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Kamau Bell</span> American comedian and television host (born 1973)

Walter Kamau Bell is an American stand-up comic and television host. He has hosted the CNN series United Shades of America since 2016, and hosted FXX television series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell from 2012 to 2013. He is the host of the live radio show and podcast Kamau Right Now on KALW, and also co-hosts the podcasts Denzel Washington Is The Greatest Actor Of All Time Period with Kevin Avery (comedian) and Politically Re-Active with Hari Kondabolu. In 2022, Bell directed and produced the documentary miniseries We Need to Talk About Cosby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Zaltzman</span> English podcaster, broadcaster and writer

Helen Zaltzman is an English podcaster, broadcaster and writer. She produces the linguistics podcast The Allusionist, the entertainment podcast Answer Me This!, and the Veronica Mars recap podcast Veronica Mars Investigations.

<i>99% Invisible</i> Radio program and podcast on design

99% Invisible is a radio show and podcast produced and created by Roman Mars that focuses on design. It began as a collaborative project between San Francisco public radio station KALW and the American Institute of Architects in San Francisco. PRX has distributed the show for broadcasting on a number of radio stations and as a podcast on the Radiotopia network. On April 28, 2021, Roman Mars announced in an introduction of a re-released episode that 99% Invisible had been purchased by Sirius XM and marketed as part of its Stitcher Radio brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anuvab Pal</span> Indian stand-up comedian (born 1976)

Anuvab Pal is an Indian stand up comedian, screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He is occasionally featured as a rotating co-host on Season 4 of the podcast The Bugle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nish Kumar</span> British stand-up comedian and presenter

Nishant Kumar is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter, and podcast host. He became known as the host of satirical comedy The Mash Report, now known as Late Night Mash. He has also presented BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical comedy show Newsjack, the Comedy Central series Joel & Nish vs The World, the BBC Radio 4 programme The News Quiz and Hello America on Quibi. Since May 2023, he has been the co-host of the political podcast Pod Save the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiotopia</span> Podcast network on Public Radio Exchange

Radiotopia is a podcast network founded by 99% Invisible host Roman Mars and run by the Public Radio Exchange. The network is organized as a collective of some two dozen shows whose producers have complete artistic control over their work. Since its launch, podcasts in the network have been downloaded over 19 million times per month.

Megaphone is a Software as a service (SaaS) business owned by Spotify. The company provides software for podcast hosting and monetization as well as an ad network to generate additional revenue for podcast publishers. It was formerly an audio content producer started by The Slate Group as Panoply Media, and later shifted to focusing solely on software for monetizing, measuring and distributing podcasts of media companies and independent producers.

<i>Politically Re-Active</i> American political and comedy podcast

Politically Re-Active is a political comedy podcast hosted by comedians W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu. The left-leaning show, organized around guest interviews, launched in June 2016 and initially focused on the 2016 United States presidential election, but continued through October 2017. After a hiatus, it resumed in October 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Fraser</span> Australian comedian and writer

Alice Fraser is an Australian comedian, writer, podcaster, and actor.

References

  1. ↑ "Brexray Specs – Bugle 4091". The Bugle Podcast. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  2. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (24 April 2014). "'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver' Debuts April 27 on HBO". TVbytheNumbers. zap2it. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Goodman, J. David (14 August 2011). "Comedy Podcast Inside News Corp. Feasts on a Scandal". The New York Times . Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Zaltzman, Andy; John Oliver (19 August 2011). "Episode 165: Bashar goes to Madcon 1". The Bugle. London.
  5. ↑ @hellobuglers (14 December 2011). "BUGLE NEWS ALERT: The Bugle will be leaving Times Online in the near future. We will do everything we can to keep The Bugle going..." (Tweet). Retrieved 14 December 2011– via Twitter.
  6. ↑ Greenslade, Roy (15 December 2011). "The Times blows away The Bugle". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  7. ↑ Zaltzman, Andy. "Bugle 4001 – Tony The Tiger RIP" . Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "John Oliver has left "The Bugle," the world's best podcast". The New Republic. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. ↑ Sturges, Fiona (18 November 2016). "Podcast review: The Bugle: 'Silliness and laughter". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Buglemas Eve – a final preview , retrieved 5 November 2016
  11. ↑ The Last Post , retrieved 31 December 2020
  12. ↑ Mardavich, Audrey (4 January 2019). "Holy Sh*t – What a Year". Medium. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  13. ↑ Subscribe to the Bugle , retrieved 31 December 2020
  14. ↑ "Podcasting Down Under: Tom Wright on how Australia is innovating with audio". New Statesman. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  15. ↑ Goodman, J. David (14 August 2011). "Comedy Podcast Inside News Corp. Feasts on a Scandal". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  16. ↑ "Richie Firth: Travel Hacker".
  17. ↑ Podchaser – Ped Hunter Producer Credits
  18. ↑ Ped Hunter LinkedIn profile
  19. 1 2 @hellobuglers (5 December 2010). "FACT ALERT: I'm about to go on air on TestMatchSofa.com to commentate on the Northern hemisphere's march to cricket supremacy. Or a draw..." (Tweet). Retrieved 10 December 2010– via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "@Producerchris". Twitter. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  21. ↑ "The Last Post".
  22. ↑ @aliterative (6 November 2020). "@Davidp1985 I think unlikely. We just about cover bills, and daily is a huge amount of work. There will be SOMETHING cool next year though" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ↑ Peel, Jeremy (4 November 2020). "Watch Dogs: Legion's best writing is hidden in a radio station". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  24. ↑ "Review: The Bugle (Podcast) | Frozen Toothpaste". frozentoothpaste.com. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  25. ↑ "The Bugle podcast". Philosophical Geek. 3 April 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  26. ↑ "Protected Blog › Log in". thenerdrageblog.wordpress.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  27. ↑ "Episode 8, Series 1, What's So Funny? – BBC Radio 4 Extra". BBC. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  28. ↑ Sturges, Fiona (18 November 2016). "Podcast review: The Bugle: 'Silliness and laughter'". Financial Times. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  29. ↑ "The best comedy podcasts to brighten your day, Robert Jackman" . Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  30. ↑ "COMEDY REVIEW: ANDY ZALTZMAN: THE BUGLE @ THE STAND, NEWCASTLE (08.10.19)" . Retrieved 31 December 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.