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| title = The Bugle |
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| host = [[John Oliver (comedian)|John Oliver]], [[Andy Zaltzman]] |
| host = [[John Oliver (comedian)|John Oliver]], [[Andy Zaltzman]] |
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| url = [http://www. |
| url = [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/thebugle thetimes.co.uk/thebugle] |
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| status = Weekly |
| status = Weekly |
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| audio format = [[Stream (computing)|Stream]], [[MP3]], [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]] |
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Revision as of 08:41, 29 June 2011
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The Bugle | |
---|---|
Presentation | |
Hosted by | John Oliver, Andy Zaltzman |
Genre | News, Comedy |
Language | English |
Updates | Weekly |
Production | |
Audio format | Stream, MP3, AAC |
Publication | |
Original release | 14 October 2007 |
The Bugle is a weekly satirical news podcast, hosted by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman, and distributed by TimesOnline. New episodes of The Bugle are released on Fridays with related material appearing on the official website.[1]
Features
- Celebrity Stories - Most weeks, either John or Andy recounts a story about what happened in their week. For John, this generally includes meeting famous personalities such as Bill Clinton, Aneurin Bevan, Jimmy Carter, or Natalie Portman. One memorable week, Andy recounted the tale of his son's home birth, with himself as the midwife.
- In the Bin - Since most readers of visual newspapers immediately toss some sections in the bin, Andy will announce a different part of the audio newspaper that has been pre-discarded. This feature will be the end of the introductory section of the Bugle, culminating with the final strains of the opening theme.
- The Soundproof Safe - More prominent in the 2010 episodes, Andy regularly announces the person/people that are trapped in that week's 'Soundproof Safe'. Usually, these people are obscure celebrities and well known people from history, including Henry Kissinger and the Pussycat Dolls. Due to the Soundproof Safe being 'Soundproof', the guests obviously cannot be heard. However, Andy and John seem oblivious to this fact. The only person to escape from The Soundproof Safe is former producer Tom Wright, who appeared on the show in episode 131 for the The Bugle's 3rd birthday.
- Ask an American - Occasionally, a guest known only as The American (voiced by The Daily Show producer and comedian Rory Albanese[2]) will appear on the show. He is a mildly offensive caricature of a working-class American; xenophobic, lazy, and ignorant. He is from New Jersey and often gets in heated debates with John, each twisting each others' logic in attempts to validate their points. Most of the time The American joins John Oliver in the New York studio but has appeared on the show over the phone. The American's brother, allegedly voiced by Jon Stewart, also appeared from Las Vegas.
- Hotties From History - This feature began roughly around the time the show reached double digits. For several consecutive weeks, Andy had been mentioning his attraction to Florence Nightingale with progressively more lewd language. His fascination culminated with John calling Andy out, however it only provoked Andy into encouraging listeners to e-mail in other historical figures they were attracted to. Hotties From History was born. John was initially against the idea, but when Andy put a slideshow of the nominations onto the Bugle blog and John had watched it, he declared that he had become a "total convert." The ground rules for the contest are only that the nominee have been dead for roughly half a century—otherwise it would be creepy. At the end of each month, Andy announced the male and female nominations with the most votes, crowning them "Mr. and Mrs. (Month)." Some of the stranger nominations for the position have been Joanna the Mad, Tiresias (Mr. and Mrs. June 2008), Johannes Kepler, and the Toba Eruption. The latter led to a new rule that nominees "must be human." The hosts announced on the New Year's show for 2009 that the feature would be ending, having run a suitable course.
- Audio Cryptic Crossword - Pioneered by Andy, this was a fan favourite. Towards the end of each show, Andy would give a space and direction in a crossword grid (available on the blog), followed by a clue. After a few weeks, John commented on how there was probably nobody actually doing the crossword, which Andy refuted forcefully. Each week, John would progressively declare his hate for the crossword in larger terms until it became a major divisive point between the hosts, each trying to rally support from fans in their favour. After the final clue was given in episode 29, John gave his opinion on the Crossword as a whole: "I see the glorious history of the Audio Cryptic Crossword as I see the glorious history of the Third Reich—a terrible idea that was rammed down peoples throats for far too long." Andy replied that he agreed with the Third Reich comparison, but for different reasons: It was "a triumph for persistence, doggedness, and the value of standing up to pressure from the other side of the Atlantic." The following week a listener named Elliot sent in a completed crossword, while another listener, Oliver Keyes, stated firmly that he was extremely glad the Crossword was over. Andy retorted that "people were glad when the war was over, but that doesn't mean it wasn't the greatest part of British history." The hosts have come up with several ideas for segments to fill up the space once occupied by the crossword, but none have lasted more than a couple of weeks.
- Emails - Each week includes Andy and John reading from listener emails. The emails are on topics ranging from the content of the show itself—the "Hotties from History" segment has historically generated a lot of email traffic—to listeners sending in material that they think might be of interest to the show hosts. One memorable broadcast included an extended riff by Andy and John on pictures sent in by a pilot of airplanes and other objects that resembled giant penises.
- Sport - Each show contains a brief section on sports. More often than note, Andy will mention unnecessary stories about cricket (which he has a slight obsession for) and also include made up sports reports from fictitious sports, including The World Procrastinating Championships, the World Indecision Championships and the World Series.
- The Forecast - Each show ends with John and Andy guessing about what will happen in the next week. Topics range from the mundane ("How many runs will Andy get in Cricket?", "Will either of us remember Mother's Day?") to the absurd ("Who is going to replace Andy (as a host) in 2039?" "John, are you going to be alive for next week's Bugle?").
Offshoots
- The Bugle Blog - Andy periodically updates a segment on the Times Online website with extra e-mails, information on the Bugle, and downloadable versions of the past few episodes. His failure to update the blog, for which he gives numerous excuses, has been a running joke on the show.[1] For a few episodes, Tom the Producer (see below) posted blog entries and was therefore the addressee of listener emails.
- @hellobuglers, a Twitter account.[3] Although it began as a complement to The Bugle, primarily publishing one-liner political jokes, it also serves as Andy Zaltzman's own Twitter feed. For example, Andy has used it to announce his guest appearances on other programs.[4]
- @Buglesamerican, a Twitter account[5] from sometime guest "The American" (voiced by Rory Albanese).
Producers
Tom
Tom Wright,[6] known solely on The Bugle as "Tom the Producer", was the producer of the show from episodes 1 through episode 107. He was first mentioned in episode 11 as Zaltzman announced his plans for the Hotties From History calendar. For most of the Bugle he remained silent, occasionally intervening to ask John and Andy to finish up so he can go home or responding to questions when asked. In later episodes he contributed more often, with listeners often addressing their e-mails to him directly. According to Tom's on-air answers to a number of questions sent to him by fans he is married, has a daughter, is Scottish, enjoys his job and does not ski.
In February 2010, Tom and his family emigrated to Australia. A week before his departure, he announced his intention to continue producing The Bugle remotely. However, in Bugle 106 (6 March 2010), it was announced that the next Bugle would be Tom's last as he had found another job. When asked by John and Andy what his new gig was, he refused to identify it on the grounds that it was a sensible show and that mentioning it by name would result in it being abused by Buglers. John and Andy agreed that this was an accurate characterization of their audience and did not pursue the matter further on the air.
Chris
After Tom left, he was replaced by Chris Skinner, about whom little has been said on the air. Chris has previously worked with Andy on "Yes, It's the Ashes" radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2009 and also produces "The Game" podcast for Times Online. When Chris first began producing the podcast, he restructured the standard musical cues quite a bit to jarring effect (e.g., he once played the podcast's closing music during the middle of an episode), but over time, his production became more similar to Tom's. Appearing to be younger and more enthusiastic, Chris occasionally participates in banter with Oliver and Zaltzman with his guest spots increasing in volume over time, an example being an extended conversation about the state of Australia in Bugle 140. Chris has been the subject of semi-ironic hate mail (and fan mail) from listeners,[7] apparently for no reason other than that he is not Tom, and this became a running joke of the show. Chris is the star of fuckyouchris.com, a site devoted to chronicling fan's ironic hatred of Chris. Despite this, fans now appear to only be sending hate mail as a good-natured joke (including the fuckyouchris website), accepting his role on the show's staff. He is the only member of the bugle staff to be a regular poster on the Bugle Facebook page - often insulting buglers and taunting them with his power to release bugles late or badly cut. It should also be noted that Chris "does not ski." Chris is an accomplished triathlete, which is mentioned in episode 157 when he finishes behind Pippa Middleton's ass in a recent Olympic qualifying triathlete event.
Ped
The enigmatic Ped subs for Chris when the latter is ill or on holiday. A man of very few words, about whom almost nothing is known, he is generally regarded as a most dependable hand on the tiller. Vague attempts at getting a Chris-style hate campaign going against Ped have so far not succeeded. Ped also deputies for Chris on The Game.
Paul
The only producer to be mentioned on the American side, Paul handles all the audio for John Oliver in New York City. Paul has been with The Bugle since the beginning. Paul plays the trumpet, which was shown in one podcast when The Bugle used short excerpts of Paul playing the trumpet for the musical interludes between segments.
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'.[citation needed] 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'.[citation needed] 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'.[citation needed]
Episodes
- A full list of episodes of The Bugle, including titles, release dates, and download links, is available at the podcast's RSS feed. The following list reproduces only the titles.
- Episode 1 - How like Vietnam is Iraq?
- Episode 2 - The Empire Strikes Back
- Episode 3 - California's Burning
- Episode 4 - Immigration Everywhere
- Episode 5 - 110 Per Cent Behind Musaharraf
- Episode 6 - OPEC: Let's talk oil and fiery rhetoric
- Episode 7 - 25 million people missing
- Episode 8 - Australians keep touching the Queen
- Episode 9 - Iran: Nukes or No Nukes?
- Episode 10 - Have an Adequate Christmas
- Episode 10A - The Very Best (so far!)
- Episode 11 - After Iowa, only 302 days left to go
- Episode 12 - Bush brings yet more chaos to the Middle East
- Episode 13 - After 443 years Sark finally gets democracy
- Episode 14 - Money, Money, Money
- Episode 15 - A Message to You, Rudy
- Episode 16 - Afghanistan in a zen state of chaos
- Episode 17 - The Guantanamo Graduates
- Episode 18 - Is Fidel Castro Roadrunner?
- Episode 19 - A Very British earthquake
- Episode 20 - Who's the least democratic of them all?
- Episode 21 - Swearing at the Queen
- Episode 21* - DVD Extras
- Episode 22 - Hugo 'crackers from Caracas' Chavez
- Episode 23 - How is Mugabe losing a rigged election?
- Episode 24 - Was Stonehenge an ancient tax dodge?
- Episode 25 - John Loves the Pope
- Episode 26 - Food! Nonexistent Food!
- Episode 27 - The Swimsuit Edition
- Episode 28 - Dead Hill Walking
- Episode 29 - Adults and Aliens
- Episode 30 - Volcano Porn
- Episode 31 - Sharon Stone fludges her pontullius
- Episode 32 - Obama and KSM
- Episode 33 - George Bush: 'Regrets? I've had a few'
- Episode 34 - You Will Know Us By Our Knobbly Fruit
- Episode 35 - Barack Obama and his disappearing change hat
- Episode 35 Asterisk - Independence Day Special
- Episode 36 - Oil Prices, recession & inflation but what do the G8 do? Have an 18 course meal
- Episode 37 - Barack Obama is coming to Europe!
- Episode 38 - Karadzic's Scooby Doo disguise
- Episode 39 - McCain, Andy and John plumb new depths with their Obama attack ad
- Episode 40 - Osama Bin Laden's taxi driver
- Episode 41 - Russia gets gold at new Olympic sport of invasion
- Episode 42 - An Olympics Special
- Episode 43 - Democratic convention special
- Episode 44 - Republican Convention Special
- Episode 44.1 - The sub-issue you have all been waiting for
- Episode 45 - Help to save investment banking
- Episode 46 - Economic Armageddon Approacheth
- Episode 47 - One Giant leap backwards for man kind
- Episode 48 - How Low Will They Go?
- Episode 49 - Joe the plumber now regrets chatting to Barack Obama
- Episode 50 - US Election nearly over!
- Episode 51 - Let it all be over soon!
- Episode 52 - Spoiler alert! Obama won
- Episode 53 - Obama and his not so secret code name
- Episode 54 - The Vegas Special
- Episode 55 - Thanksgiving Special
- The Real Episode 55 - Literally, shooting oneself in the foot
- Episode 56 - Selling Barack Obama's seat
- Episode 57 - Hats off to Obama, shoes off for Bush
- Episode 58 - Did you get peace in the Mid-East for Xmas?
- Episode 59 - Why Obama's inauguration will be like the Rio carnival
- Episode 60 - George Bush and Hello Barack Obama
- Episode 61 - Obama Inauguration Special
- Episode 62 - Obama and his do nothing wonderland
- Episode 63 - Foreign snow is invading Britain!
- Episode 64 - Bankers pretend to apologise to British MPs
- Episode 64 - Appendage 1 guided tour to the new webpage
- Episode 65 - Will Obama's stimulus package work? Who cares
- Episode 66 - Brown gets rubbish present from Obama
- Episode 67 - Monkey News Special
- Episode 68 - Obama and his Al Qaeda style video
- Episode 69 - Possibly the longest penis joke in the world, ever
- Episode 70 - G-G-G-G-G-GEEEE 20
- Episode 70.1 - The Easter egg edition
- Episode 71 - Does torture work?
- Episode 72 - The Real Swine Flu Vaccine
- Episode 73 - Are the Taliban skiing down the Swat Valley?
- Episode 74 - Claiming expenses for MPs that do not exist
- Episode 75 - What to do with Gitmo? Let fear decide.
- Episode 76 - Calling out North Korea
- Episode 77 - Gordon Brown gets a bad dose of the quits
- Episode 78 - Apathy or the far right? Europe decides.
- Episode 79 - Iran's theocracy: Letting God decide the election
- Episode 80 - Iran, Pick on a country your own size!
- Episode 80.5 - Special Independence Day Issue
- Episode 81 - The G8 the worlds slowest superheroes
- Episode 82 - Freedom of Speech Special
- Episode 83 - Obama; Pay for this or you will be dead!
- Episode 84 - Will China rule the world in the future?
- Episode 85 - I need a hero! Bill Clinton goes to North Korea
- Episode 86 - Burma triumphs in made up crime prevention.
- Episode 87 - Afghanistan celebrates election with fireworks!
- Episode 88 - Iran and its glitzy show trials
- Episode 88.1 - Travel Section
- Episode 89 - Good Health Bad Health
- Episode 90 - Bring on the crazy, Gaddafi!
- Episode 91 - Happy Birthday Communist China
- Episode 92 - Obama wins first pre-emptive Nobel Peace Prize
- Episode 93 - Peak Oil Special
- Episode 94 - Does the EU really want El Presidente Blair
- Episode 94 and a half - Autumn Bonus Bugle
- Episode 95 - Walls, Wars and power
- Episode 96 - Two star review for this year's Queen Speech
- Episode 96 and a bit - Thanksgiving for Berlusconi
- Episode 97 - Stupid Buildings Afghanistan and Shoes
- Episode 98 - Britain can no longer afford defence against aliens
- Episode 99 - Berlusconi takes a cathedral to the face
- Special Episode - Best of the first 99 - Your favourite bits
- Special Episode - The Musical Spectacular
- Episode 100 - Telegrams, Snow, The Devil and Pat Robertson
- Episode 101 - Barack Obama and how to lose hope and irritate people
- Episode 102 - Why the global economy is like Elvis
- Episode 103 - Climate change denial and a Narnia of nutjobs
- Episode 104 - Valentine's Day Special
- Episode 104a - Where is John?
- Episode 105 - Back off our islands Argentina!
- Episode 106 - The American right to flip the bird
- Episode 107 - An Ethics special
- Episode 108 - Eyes on Africa
- Episode 109 - In Rude Health
- Episode 110 - Britain Holds Its Breath
- Episode 111 - Some Seriously Bad Pope-ing
- Episode 112 - Birthday Party! Super Best Friends Invited!
- Episode 113 - Countdown to Vote-ageddon
- Episode 114 - Waking Up in a Different Britain
- Episode 115 - Exactly Five More Years of This
- Episode 115.1.1 - Recent Decents, May '10
- Episode 116 - Freeze The Oil
- Episode 117 - She Bored 'er colleagues
- Episode 118 - World Cup Special
- Episode 119 - Oil Never Do It Again
- Episode 120 - McChrystal Balls
- Episode 121 - I Spy With My Little Eye...
- Episode 122 - Donald Trump in Drag
- Episode 122a - History of the World Part 1[note 1]
- Episode 122b - History of the World Part 2
- Episode 122g - History of the World Part 3
- Episode 122d - History of the World Part 4
- Episode 123 - That clock is pimped out!
- Episode 124 - Brazilliant!
- Episode 125 - Donor Fatigue
- Episode 126 - Let's Talk About Peace, Baby
- Episode 127 - 12 Friends and 1 Champion
- Episode 128 - UN-couth
- Episode 129 - Kim Jong Unbelievable
- Episode 130 - Fire Sale
- Episode 131 - A Miner Celebration
- Episode 132 - Massive Cuts
- Episode 132 and a bit - Cut For a Reason
- Episode 132 and an old bit - No Bugle
- Episode 133 - Backwang Forever
- Episode 134 - Royal Wedding Souvenir Edition
- Episode 135 - Kim Jong Il-conceived
- Episode 136 - Do I Not Leak That
- Episode 137 - Crazies Special
- Episode 138 - A Christmas Bugle
- Episode 138a - More Old Gold
- Episode 138b - Review of 2010
- Episode 139 - *Spoiler alert* 2011 Preview Special
- Episode 140 - The Divorce of A Nation
- Episode 141 - Tunisia is Revolting
- Episode 142 - Egypt Erupts
- Episode 143 - Egypt crisis - a good time to buy a jumper
- Episode 144 - No Going Mubarak [note 2]
- Episode 144a - Lowlights 2011
- Episode 145 - Libyeah or Libyna
- Episode 146 - Long Over-Jew
- Episode 146a - Lowerlights 2011
- Episode 147 - Man Versus Nature
- Episode 147a -Zaltzman, live from Dhaka
- Episode 147b - More Zaltzman, live from Dhaka
- Episode 148 - Mayhem Update
- Episode 149 - #crucifybieber
- Episode 150 - Royal Wedding Preview
- Episode 151 - Regal Bugle
- Episode 152 - Compromised to a Permanent End
- Episode 153 - Wake up, Gaddafi
- Episode 154 - Keep it in your pants
- Episode 155 - The Queen Is On Fire !
- Episode 156 - Who's Tailin' Palin?
- Episode 157 - Reacting like a coiled donut
- Episode 158 - Hot Rod & Dragster Strike Out
- Episode 158a - Truly Offal
Notes
- ^ In the "History of the World" subseries, Andy pronounced the lowercase letters as being Greek letters, i.e. alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. For presumably technical reasons, the Greek letters were not rendered in the episode titles as α, β, γ, and δ, but rather as the Latin letters a, b, g, and d. Note also that the Greek alphabet does not follow the order of the Latin alphabet, which is why the episodes are a, b, g, d instead of a, b, c, d.
- ^ The episode was recorded a mere 40 minutes after Hosni Mubarak's resignation much to the presenters' surprise after his speech on 10th February
References
- ^ Bennett, Rosemary; Watson, Roland. "The Bugle". The Times. London. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ st_secular (2008-04-27). "thedailyshow: I saw John Oliver last night in Scottsdale". Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ "@hellobuglers". Twitter. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ "@hellobuglers". Twitter. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ "@Buglesamerican". Twitter. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
- ^ http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tomwright2
- ^ http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=113169382027094