Richard Herring, the man with more podcasts than all of the other podcasters combined, has recently added another: The Twelve Shows of Herring, as he performs all of his solo shows in sequence over the next few weekends. ‘Someone Likes Yoghurt’ is coming up this weekend; I remember laughing till my face hurt when I saw it in Edinburgh ten years ago.
Also twelve parts, but not much of a laugh, is the recently completed series about Charles Manson’s Hollywood on You Must Remember This. It’s exhaustively researched and pulls together all sorts of links with different cultural players; so, though the gore is unavoidable given the subject matter, it’s a learned take rather than sensationalistic. Hunker down for an audiobook-length task – I raced through four episodes whilst making a complicated birthday cake.
To soothe yourself afterwards, how about a dose of Jarvis Cocker’s Wireless Nights? I’ve had these stacked up for ages and am only just now catching up. But look how soothed I am!
If you’ve not yet heard AMT320, rectify immediately in order to learn about registering your baby, 80s classic Overboard, and sensible dominatrix-relationship management. Peeking over the hill, ready to leap into your ears by the end of this week: new episodes of Guardian Tech Weekly, and The Allusionist. Martin is covering Ben Folds on the new Sound of the Ladies Podcast; and on the latest episode of Passion Pods, I’m discussing my feckless mess of a career. If any of you are having a bad A Level Results Day, perhaps this will be comfort that, a whole other lifetime hence, it won’t matter a jot.
What’s in your ears, dears?
Recommend shows in the comments.
…talk about things till your jaw falls offfffffff.
It’s hanging by a thread, I tell you! By the end of the week there’ll be a new episode of the Sound Women podcast, in which I meet Jo Whiley; and early next week I’ll be hosting a special edition of the Media Podcast from the Woman in Film and TV Awards.
But RIGHT NOW for your listening pleasure, here’s the new Z List Dead List, a fun history show in which I discuss the life of Sigmund Freud’s best friend/deadly rival Wilhelm Fleiss, progenitor of many theories which let’s euphemistically call ‘eccentric’.
I’m also on the latest International Waters, along with Simon Kane, Jackie Kashian, Brian Fernandes and host Dave Holmes, AND a very festive hit from New Kids on the Block. Be afraid.
UPDATE: the Sound Women episode is now GO:
Speaking of festive, now would be the optimal time to listen to the AMT Christmas album, full of Christmakkakwanzaa cheer.
Listen! I am alone at a crossroads!
OK I’m not, but if I were, I’d keep myself company by listening to Bob Odenkirk on Bullseye, and Rebecca Front on RHLSTP.
At the previous gathering, I was about to go off to listen to true crime podcast Sword and Scale. I have now done so, and I think a lot of you will be thrilled by it; but in my old age I’m becoming a lot more squeamish and pathetic, so after a while I repaired to the gentler crimefest of Val McDermid‘s Radio 4 book of the week about forensics. It reminded me of the books I used to get in my Christmas stocking. Make of that what you will.
Next on my playlist is 4 Extra’s Chris Morris special, Raw Meat Radio. What have you been listening to, dears?
Amid all this talk of other things to listen to, don’t forget to apply yourself to Answer Me This! Episode 286:
In which we discuss:
castles
Oktoberfest
chilled red wine
velvet ropes
decorative sticks
babysitting vs kitten-sitting
Mardi Gras vs Pancake Day
Navajo rugs vs dreamcatchers
Glastonbury scheduling EcuadorPanama hats London’s cat cafe
mythical bestiality
and
the first ever porn film.
Plus: Olly was all business, no pleasure at his school leavers’ ball; Helen prefers the pong of garlic breath to perfume; and Martin the Sound Man worries about worldly souvenirs making him into a bellend. Don’t worry Martin, you were already a bellend! JK. (Or is it?)
Today’s Bit of Crap on the App contains more perfume-chat, in which Olly sabotages any future he had as a department store perfume salesperson. Pinch your nose and spray the app into your ears from your iDevices, Android or Windows gadgets.
Here’s something that doesn’t stink: today’s episode-funders Squarespace.com offering you a 10% discount off their services for a whole year if you use the code answer3. What a breath of fresh air!
And finally, we ask that you take a deep breath and send us your QUESTIONS: call the Question Line (call 0208 123 5877 or Skype ID answermethis) or email answermethispodcast@googlemail.com.
Back in a fortnight!
Helen & Olly
AMT286 Child-Friendly Rating: 42%. First three quarters are clean, apart from a couple of questioneer-led swears. The episode ends on a question about porn films, but by then your children will probably have fallen asleep during the earlier question about road signs.
•Little Atoms always makes me feel cleverer after listening, like I’ve read a good book. It was a particular treat to hear AMTpal John Grindrod on there discussing his recent book Concretopia, which makes mid-20th century town planning a thousand times more interesting than you thought it could be.
Fun fact: I fainted at John Grindrod’s book launch. Concretopia = the new Beatlemania! Luckily I did not faint whilst listening to the podcast, but I have decided not to attend any more book launches immediately after donating blood.
• Little Atoms presenter Neil Denny also tells a true story on the new Best of Spark London. (And if you didn’t hear me talking about my dead grandparents on another recent episode, I encourage you to click here to do so.)
• Congratulations to the Picturehouse podcast for reaching 200 episodes! The Picturehouse, Brixton Ritzy flavour, is my favourite cinema; don’t make me choose a favourite film podcast between Sam and Simon here and Mark and Simon. NB to make a great film podcast, at least one of you must be called Simon.
• Our friends at Maximum Fun have launched their annual donation drive. If you want to support independent creators of entertainment – and/or you enjoy such shows as Bullseye, One Bad Mother, Sawbones, Jordan, Jesse, Go!, Judge John Hodgman, International Waters and more – do chip in.
Listen to our regular gigs too:
• Catch up on AMT285 if you still haven’t heard whether Nora in Malawi accepted Greg in Baghdad’s proposal of marriage, or why AMT is only one step removed from Olympic gold medal glory (admittedly, that step is quite significant). • There’re all the retro AMT episodes (nos.1-170), plus our albums, available for a trifling price at answermethisstore.com. •Olly’s on LBC every weekday 1am-4am. If you’re an insomniac, a night worker, or in a time zone where those hours are compatible with waking life, tune in. • Every Saturday evening I’m on BBC 5 Live’s Saturday Edition, available subsequently as the podcast Let’s Talk About Tech. • Martin the Sound Man makes numerous other podcasts, including Brain Train, The Global Lab and The Sound of the Ladies.
No need to shout “Hey Mr DJ! Play my motherjeffing song!” like a twat; if you want to recommend a podcast for the Thursday Listening Party, do so in the comments.
As promised, we’re back from our little break – Olly at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Helen at the Wizarding World of her own living room – and without further ado, it’s time for Answer Me This! Episode 151:
This classic episode is available to BUY NOW for just 79p at the Answer Me This! Store, through a secure server, without DRM restriction. CLICK HERE to find out more and support our podcast. (This helps keep our most recent episodes free)
Rusty from our hiatus, we try to remember what that ‘conversation’ thingy is that we used to do, and harness the following subjects in the hopes that they’ll cumulatively become one:
dental floss sticks
inflated pig bladders
Mark Lawson
sexy Humpty Dumpty
minstrels Porn: The Musical vs. Les Mis
truth vs. not lies Tycoon with Peter Jones Terri Hall (not to be confused with Terry Hall) the Spitting Image Chicken Song
unequal phone relationships
crows
Stewart Lee
Paul Daniels
stoned assassins
the sack of Troy
the Hogwarts Express conductor
invisible dog leads
and
Brian Krakow.
Plus: Olly finally understands why he’s booked in for so many appointments at the GUM clinic; Helen wants praise for her more obscure career avenues, thanks; and Martin the Sound Man wants to see a bit more of Ian Holm. Quite a lot more, in fact. But if he can’t get Holm’s pants off, Caitlin Moran’s would be a welcome consolation prize.
This week’s bonus bit on the app is a question from Catherine about why a kitty is called a kitty. As in a financial kitty, not a cute wickle cat, though just the linguistic similarity is enough for Olly in his now inevitable slide into becoming one of these.
We crave your QUESTIONS for the new series, so deliver them to us in the form of a voice mail left on the Question Line 0208 123 5877 or Skype IDanswermethis; alternatively you can deliver them emailwise to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. And, as we announced on today’s show: everyone who gets their question into an episode this month wins a copy of the Answer Me This! book! Yes, we’ve bloody well written a book. It comes out on 4th November. You can read a sample of it here where there are also links for pre-ordering it, if you are inclined to be an early adopter.
See you next week,
Helen and Olly
PS Here’s a family-friendly(ish) clip of Alice in Wonderland – An X-Rated Musical Fantasy. If you can make it past the actors speaking in rhyming couplets to anything even faintly stimulating, we salute you.
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