An award winning* podcast in which Drs Adam J Smith and Jo Waugh talk about the form, function and future of satire. They also talk about the history of satire, but that doesn’t alliterate. Adam and Jo are joined by a series of special guests who will also talk about satire. * 'Best Pedagogical Project', The YSJSU Awards 2019
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Jo and Adam unpack the extraordinary Clacton by-election, where Count Binface takes on Nigel Farage after the Reform leader resigns and re-contests his own seat, calling the election a referendum on his political credibility. As the campaign descends into surreal farce, we ask whether Count Binface is effective satire, and what happens when satire becomes an active participant in democracy? Along…
Jo and Adam discuss Send Help!, Sam Raimi's new satirical horror in which a woman escapes her toxic workplace only to find herself stranded on a desert island with her awful boss. From there, they explore the long history of satirical workplaces, from The Office and The Office to Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, asking why terrible managers have become such enduring comic figures.…
Jo and Adam discuss Louis Theroux's latest feature-length Netflix documentary, 'Inside the Manosphere'. exploring the role of humour in his filmmaking. From awkward timing and fourth-wall breaks to defamiliarisation and deadpan observation, they discuss what Theroux's distinctive (and often parodied) style owes to satire. They then turn to one of the most talked-about novels of the summer, Caro…
This month, Jo and Adam unpack a hellish grab-bag of take on satire, ranging from campus culture wars to actual global wars. We begin with the Netflix adaptation of Vladimir, exploring the enduring appeal of the campus novel and the uneasy position of satire within the contemporary university. What does it mean to teach English Literature in the modern academy, and how well does Vladimir capture…
The episode our listeners demanded. This March, Jo and Adam turn to the film everyone is arguing about: Wuthering Heights. From casting discourse to meme culture, the adaptation has generated an extraordinary wave of online reaction... and a surprising amount of satire. Drawing on Jo’s expertise as a Brontë scholar (author of Charlotte Brontë and Contagion: Myths, Memes and the Politics of…
In this episode, Jo and Adam trace the long, shuffling history of the satirical zombie, from the consumer cannibalism of Dawn of the Dead to the suburban self-recognition of Shaun of the Dead , and the bleak media mirror held up by Dead Set. Along the way, they consider the evolving satirical function of the undead in the 28 Years Later franchise, with passing reflections on the undying TV…
Jo and Adam ease themselves into the new year by asking some deceptively simple questions about contemporary culture. They discuss Paul Feig’s latest film The Housemaid , and try to pin down why so many viewers are describing it as satire (and what, exactly, they mean by that). Along the way, they turn to meme culture, looking at online responses to the latest series of The Traitors and the…
Jo and Adam are back with their annual festive sketch, this year titled “The Grinch Who Stole Satire” : a cheerfully mischievous look at irony, earnestness, and why people keep declaring satire dead. Along the way, they explore the extraordinary new sci-fi satire Plur1bus , which imagines the horror of a world where everyone is happy; the satirical fuel behind Netflix’s cosy crime hit Wake Up Dead…
Join us for an episode filled with spectacular spats, bruised egos, and top-tier literary shade. This month, Adam introduces a riotous tour through Britain’s greatest writerly bust-ups: from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu shredding Swift in more ways than one, to Pope’s poisonously personal vendettas, to the mutual mockeries of Anne Ingram, Mary Leapor, Thackeray, Woolf, Gibbons, Brontë, and beyond.…
It's all treat and no trick this SpoOooky Season, as Jo and Adam welcome back Best Friend of the Pod, acclaimed novelist Leigh Stein, for a bumper Halloween special (rustle rustle). Together they discuss the origins and development of Leigh's new novel, IF YOU'RE SEEING THIS IT IS MEANT FOR YOU, a gothic satire set inside a TikTok hyper house. Leigh also fills us in on life as TikTok's resident…
