Smith & Waugh Talk About Satire: Recent Episodes
Satire No More
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
Jo and Adam are back sooner than expected with an episode so topical it'll almost certainly by out of date by the time you finish reading this sentence! Rishi Sunak has called a general election, but something seems different this time... At the time of writing, there seems little expectation that the Tories can keep hold of office and, with one PR catastrophe after another, some are even speculating that they're actually TRYING to lose. Meanwhile, Labour seems to be expending all of their energy on pumping out memetastic TikToks whilst Ed Davie is apparently having the holiday of a lifetime. Suffice to day, the internet is drowning in satire. But fear not, Adam and Jo are here to sort the Juvenalian from the Menippean, identify the various subjects of critique and say then everything is bathos. Also featuring further updates on the Mitford sisters and the 18th Century.
We need to talk about campus satire, again. Jo and Adam take a deep dive into two recent cultural takes which wear their satirical ambitions very much on their sleeves: the movie American Fiction, written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Jeffrey Wright and based on the novel by Percival Everett, and the controversial new novel by Lionel Shriver, Mania. Each examine their respective satirical targets through the lens of an academic protagonist on the edge, and each wield the blistering scalpel of satire with varying degrees of success. Jo also explains why the Mitford sisters would never want to be confused for one another. SSE!
Hot on the heels of their recent foray into the Brontë “Potatoverse” (see Ep61), Jo and Adam stumble upon what alleges to be a complete history of English Humour which manages to condense women’s contribution to the comic canon into just 7 pages, badging what it terms the distinct humour of the female sex as a kind of “small beer and small potatoes.” This account is written by none other than the celebrated author of “An Inspector Calls”, J. B Priestly, and it claims that there are no fewer than THREE comic women in the literary canon: Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell and Nancy Mitford… Jo and Adam also check in on old friend of the pod, Liz Truss, and examine Count Binface’s frighteningly plausible campaign for London Mayor. Finally, they are also delighted to share a very special preview of a recent episode of Dogeared: A Bookish Podcast, upon which they recently appeared as guests to discuss, satire, Jane Eyre and Jonathan Swift.
Hot on the heels of their sell-out live show at the York Literature Festival (which only saw a slight drop off on the day in terms of the expected number of visitors), Jo and Adam return to investigate a series of urgent satirical questions. Was Anne Brontë the most satirical Brontë? Did Charlotte Brontë like Jonathan Swift? Are the viral Reborn Doll videos on TikTok sincere or satirical? And where oh where is amateur photographer Katherine (or Kate) Middleton?
Jo and Adam celebrate their 60th episode by each taking a deep dive into a work of satire very deep to them but that they've never discussed at length on the podcast before. For Jo, it's the funniest book of all time, George and Weedon Grossmith's The Diary of a Nobody (1892), which unleashed upon the world the character of Charles Pooter, the godfather of so many sitcom characters, ranging from Homer Simpson to Alan Partridge. And for Adam, it's Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, one of the most unfairly misrepresented texts in the literary canon thanks to almost immediate bowdlerization as a children's classic. The full novel is horrific, scandalous, fantastical and hilarious. Jo and Adam also discuss Gregg Wallace's recent interview in The Telegraph and the satirical responses it provoked, and ponder the mechanics of the Radio 4 sketch show We Forced A Bot To Write This Show.
For the lucky ones who presented this podcast to Episode 59, they have the chance of winning a life-changing amount of low-key kudos. But if a Traitor remains undetected, they’ll steal all their credibility... So, Adam and Jo, are you Faithful, or are you Traitorish Behaviour? Smith & Waugh return for their first episode of 2024, taking a mediumish dive into the phenomenon of character comedy and considering the satirical potential therein (with reference to Garth Marenghi, Alan Partridge and Brian Butterfield), checking in on the Barbie-Ken-Oscar discourse, before having a big old chat about whether the film Poor Things is satire.
One magical winter's night, a Satireman comes to life and a magical adventure begins... That's right! They'll be satire tonight, and you'll soon be walking in a winter hinterland, because it's time again for the most festive of all festive traditions: the annual Smith and Waugh Talk About Satire Christmas Special! First up, Jo and Adam read the magical picture-book tale of a living Satireman who flies away to meet the real-life Father Christmorris. Then Adam and Jo will take you on a deep dive into the most polarising film of the year, Emerald Fennell's Saltburn. Is it a superficial grab bag of scenes from better texts and films, or a satire about British class dynamics in the 2020s? And exactly how significant (and satirical) are Jack Wills hoodies? Finally, Jo and Adam confront three revenant ghosts of Smith and Waugh Christmases past: Armando Iannucci's Pandemonium, Netflix's The Crown and ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Merry Christmas, one and all, and to all, a satirical night.
Universities are home to reality warping bureaucracy, towering moral hubris, endemic charlatanism and rampant neoliberalism... according to the campus satire Jo and Adam discuss in this episode. Inspired by the new Nic Cage movie Dream Scenario and the return of Frasier Crane(this time returning as a Harvard professor), Adam and Jo are taking a deep dive into a world of satire that hits very close to home.... Featuring discussion of campus satire by such authors as David Lodge, Lorrie Moore, Anne Fine, Alison Lurie and, of course, Kingsley Amis. Also featuring an update on Adam's new research interest in continental breakfasts.
Jo and Adam dish up a meaty treat for you to get your teeth into this spoOoky season, with a bumper Halloween investigation into satire's long-standing fascination with cannibalism. From Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal of 1729 (that the best way to solve the Irish famine would be for absent English landlords to eat the babies of their beleaguered tenants), to Chelsea G Summers' 2020 novel, A Certain Hunger, which features a nymphomaniac cannibal food critic, through to Gregg Wallace's even more recent documentary, Miracle Meat, which proposes solving the cost of living crisis by harvesting cheap meat from human stem cells, cannibal satire is a trope with a rich and tasty history. Adam and Jo also serve up some meditations on the close kinship between horror and comedy more generally, and take a look at the political horror of Channel 4's Partygate docudrama.
Jo & Adam draw this year's "Smith & Waugh Big Satirical Summer Read" to a close with a deep dive into the novel everyone is reading, Rebecca F. Kuang's Yellowface. What is it actually a satire of? How is the satire working? And to what extent is satire an appropriate tool for interrogating questions about race and representation in contemporary culture? Adam & Jo also dissect some of the more extreme responses to the novel, especially on TikTok. Elsewhere in the episode they also pay tribute to Look Around You, the excellent Robert Popper satire currently available on iPlayer, and discuss some of the controversy surrounding this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Adam also shares a disturbing experience he had recently where a person he was dating turned out to be a Cheetah.
Jo and Adam take a deep dive into the film everyone is [being compelled to keep] talking about: Greta Gerwig's Barbie. Is it a satire, and if so, what are the its targets? Can you really critique the relationship between systemic capitalist patriarchy, gender stereotypes and artificial manifestations of female emancipation in a film which is itself a vast corporate endeavour designed to ensure everyone keeps buying and celebrating Barbies? What does it mean for a film literally made by Mattel to explicitly critique Mattel for encouraging children to fetishise consumerism, whilst also being released as part of the biggest film marketing campaign in recent cinema history? And does any of this enhance or diminish the film's satirical bite? Certainly there's lots to talk about, alongside Jo and Adam's own toy-related memories and a disturbing experiment with the "BAIrbie" A. I. Engine. Contains massive spoilers.
In a desperate bid to amass quantifiable impact for their research... Adam and Jo talk about the satire they've identified in their recent projects, both of which involve the relationship between literature and medicine. From 'living barometers' to 'fits of apoplectic rage', it seems when it comes to discussions of wellness and weather, satire is never far away. They also take a deep dive into the world of Winnie the Pooh to answer a recent listener question about the possible statues of Eeyore as a Juvenalian satirist. Also featuring the launch of the Smith & Waugh Satirical Summer Read 2023, in which you are all invited to join us in reading Rebecca F Kuang's brand new satirical novel, "Yellowface."
Right, deep breath. Firstly, are you OK? After checking in with Holly & Phil (stalwart re-occurring secondary characters on their podcast since at least 2020), Jo and Adam turn their attention to the latest season of Black Mirror before discussing the increasingly popular genre of "satirical podcast." These are fictional podcasts that pretend they're real to perform varying degrees of diagnostic parody on the podcast format itself (with varying degrees of success) and they include: From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast, The Ron Burgundy Podcast, Call Jonathan Pie, Dear Joan and Jericha and St Elwick's Neighborhood Association Newsletter Podcast. Adam and Jo also talk about the weather, but perhaps not in the way you might expect...
Horatian, Juvenalian, Menippean? Jo and Adam examine some of the big satirical moments of the coronation of Charles III to work out what kind of satire they were, what they were targeting and, more importantly, whether or not they were funny. From "Poundland" Penny Mordant's big sword, to the spare Camillas and the King's revision cards, all the way through to the things that no other country can do, when it came to generating memes the British public very much rose to the occasion. Jo and Adam also consider the mainstream satire of Harry Enfield (The Windsors: Coronation Special), Frankie Boyle (Farewell to the Monarchy) and Stewart Lee ('God Save the King, but what about the Planet', The Guardian). Along the way they also pause to dwell on bigger questions: what is Menippean satire? What does it actually mean to swear allegiance? And is it a corrigible or incorrigible fault to have a big nasty face for genitals?
Jo and Adam prepare to celebrate the momentous, landmark, historic event everyone is talking about... that's right: their 50th episode! This time they're talking about satire and privilege, as seen in Otessa Moshfegh's stratospherically popular novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) and the recent films (now available for streaming on Amazon Prime and Disney Plus): The Menu (2022) and The Triangle of Sadness (2022). They also share their plans for the other (perhaps equally significant) occasion on the horizon - the coronation of King Charles III (who is here for a good time, not a long time) - and experiment with branching out into the weird world of ASMR.
Jo and Adam speak to Drs Jasmine Jagger and Heather Hind, curators of 'Comic Women's Poetry of the 19th Century': an ever-growing, open access digital archive which, at the time of writing, holds over 1000 comic poems written by more than 200 19th-century women. After talking about the enormous volume of hilarious and prescient comic works that Jasmine and Heather have found, Adam and Jo return once again to the question of why it is that - if so many women have been doing so much satire all this time - satire is still considered to be (and to have always been) a man's game. Perhaps, they suggest, it is because the figurative language used in so many (male-authored) definitions of satire is coded as masculine, creating a critical blind spot in which generations of readers and scholars have failed to recognize that women have been engaging in satirical behavior all along... Jo and Adam also talk about Skinner & Minner's Literary Journey: Pope & Swift on Sky Arts and compare the shocking leaked covid-era Whatsapp messages of key government officials with a series of parody Whatsapp messages of key government officials published in Private Eye magazine a year earlier.
In a very special episode, join Jo and Adam as they perform a set at the Farsely Constitutional in Leeds in late October 2022. And the question Adam and Jo decide to tackle, unscripted, in front of a live, public audience is: What has satire ever done for us? Satire is great at calling things out, but has it ever actually - even once - ever made an actual difference? To answer the timeless quandary, Jo and Adam share a series of case-studies from the history satire and try to determine whether or not they changed anything. These include a ghoulish satirical hoax (18th century), a sustained campaign of satirical harassments (19th century) and the satirical saturation point of Boris Johnson (2021-22), among others. Special thanks to Dr Adam Booth for giving us this opportunity to talk about satire LIVE as part of his "Quantum Sauce" series.
Satirists ricochet, take their aim, and fire away, fire away at Harry, Prince Andrew, MFA students and horror writers. This month, Adam and Jo discuss Spare and M3GAN, and discover a surprising amount of parallels with two other satirical novels: Garth Marenghi's "Terrortome" and Mona Awad's "Bunny". Truth, todgers, AI, and the creative process feature throughout the show. Also, what would the podcast sound like if it were scripted by ChatGPT? Host One and Host Two find out.
Would you like to hear a (satirical) Christmas story? Then wrap yourselves up warm, settle down, and listen as Mama Satyre tells a heart-warming festive tale that has to be heard to be believed... That's right! It's that most magical time of year: time for the annual Smith & Waugh Christmas Special! Join us for the story of Snarky, the human boy inexplicably raised as a Satyre (a male nature spirit with ears and tail resembling those of a horse and a permanent, exaggerated erection), a thorough investigation into whether or not The Crown and I'm A Celebrity are in any way satirical and our host's recommendations of two books to buy that satirical person in your life this Christmas: Christopher Wilson's Hurdy Gurdy and Rutu Modan's Tunnels. Merry Christmas to all and to all: Sit Up, Shut Up and Eat Our Satire! Ho ho ho.
Forty-five episodes into the podcast, the focus finally turns to Jo’s specialist trivia subject: the life, work and legend of the Brontë sisters. Best known for their novels, poetry, their tragic and untimely deaths and for inspiring a song by Kate Bush, Jo reveals that the Brontës also have a fascinating (and entertaining!) relationship with satire. Charlotte, for instance, bitingly satirised her brother Branwell in her infamous juvenilia. The sisters and the biographical myths they inspired also been the targets, some of which are surveyed here. Adam and Jo also discuss the recent film Emily (not actually a satire, though you’d be forgiven for thinking it might) and Jo shares her vision for a new instalment in the Real Housewives franchise.
Jo and Adam take on the big questions: what is TikTok? What is irony? Is rain on your wedding day more ironic than ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, or not as ironic as that? Once this is sorted, they chat to novelist, poet, and regular SAWTAS guest, Leigh Stein, about her recent adventures on TikTok and her observations about the way its users respond to irony and satire (or don't). We chat about Colleen Hoover, Flowers in the Attic, and Leigh's forthcoming novel. Then Adam and Jo finally deliver their long-awaited Big Summer Satirical Read Round-Up, where they evaluate Julia May Jonas's Vladimir, John Boyne's The Echo Chamber, and Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Plot. Isn't it satiric - don't you think?
From the moment Joe Lycette appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 4 Sept and (ironically) offered the incoming Prime Minister a ringing endorsement, a veritable Tsunami of satire was unleashed across the UK. Wave after wave of satire swept through the internet. From the bin bag stuck on a the podium outside 10 Downing Street, to the This Morning Energy Bills themed Wheel of Fortune, to Chris Pine’s disassociating face — suddenly everything was a once in a generation meme making opportunity. Jo and Adam are here to pick through it all in what was very nearly their most topical episode ever. [This episode was recorded on 8 Sept 2022].
This was going to be the Smith & Waugh Satirical Summer Reading Challenge episode, but after the summer news cycle was flooded with comedy headlines – almost all in someway dealing with controversy or cancellation – Jo and Adam have put their satirical fun in the sun on hold to think about one of the biggest questions in contemporary comedy: is it funny to say the unsayable? And, more to the point, is it satire? Together, Adam and Jo try to salvage some meaning from a series of fascinating events: Mock the Week is terminated, Jerry Sadowitz is cancelled [from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival], Frankie Boyle is triumphant [despite joking about sexual violence] and South Park celebrates 25 years on the air. Also featuring quick visits to Adam’s “18th-century Observation Corner” and Jo’s brand new “Gen Z Corner”.
After a thoroughly uneventful week in British politics Jo and Adam struggle to think of any topical satire that they can meaningfully talk about... NOT! In the immediate wake of the "Pincher Affair" and the revelation that he met - unaccompanied - with a former KGB agent during his time as Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson is hit with a world beating volume of government resignations: over 50 in less than 48 hours. What a lot of churn! Surrounded by speakers blasting the Benny Hill theme into 10 Downing Street, Boris Johnson finally decides to call it a day... or does he? He appears at the podium and delivers a bombastic self congratulatory speech which sounds a little like a resignation, but then returns to duty, later revealing that he will remain in place for the time being as a "care-taker" PM. Seconds later, Rishi Sunak, who had been among the very first to resign mere days before, publishes his campaign video to be the next leader of the Conservative party. Suffice it to say, there was plenty to chew on for amateur and professional satirists alike, as an unprecedented wave of surreal, incredulous and downright farcical gifs, memes, tweets and sketches subsumed the internet. In this episode, Adam and Jo pick through and discuss some of the satirical highs and lows of this weird week in politics, before calling upon the expertise of Professor Robert Phiddian, author of Satire and the Public Emotions (CUP) to try to understand what all of this might tell us about satire's relationship to what neuroscience names the CAD Triad of Emotions: Contempt, Anger and Disgust. And finally, they also launch the Smith & Waugh Satirical Summer Reading Challenge.
Did you have a good street party this weekend? Did you get tangled up in bunting? Did you wrestle with a gazebo? Did your neighbor try to start a conga? Did you encounter a Platinum Pudding Maker? No, neither did Adam and Jo. As the nation is strongly encouraged to partake in a frenzy of patriotic worship and monarchical affirmation, Jo and Adam consider the long tradition in British Royal Satire (dating back, of course, to the eighteenth century) before picking out a couple of key satirical moments from the jubilee celebrations (and their immediate aftermath).
Jo and "Adam" bring listeners up to speed on some shocking backstage drama in the land of Smith & Waugh before taking a deep dive into the weird world of satirical hoaxing. On a quest to clarify the difference between a regular hoax and a satirical hoax, your intrepid hosts gloss the history of literary hoaxes before examining a series of mind-bending modern examples of the form. Did a stand-up comedian called Liam Evans really advocate for "problematic" comedians to be prosecuted using hate crime laws? Did Gwyneth Paltrow really try to sell a diamond-encrusted disposable "diaper" for $200? Are second grade teachers in Austin Texas really teaching young students about the "Furries" as part of a week celebrating sub-culture? Did an activist really believe he could bring peace to the Berkley Protests by giving away free cans of Pepsi Cola? And is there really a movement in America dedicated to proving that all birds have been replaced by deep state surveillance robots? Adam and Jo also welcome onto the show their new unpaid intern, Human Geographer and Music-Maker, Dr Benjamin Garlick.
Jo and Adam are joined by poet, author and academic Sam Riviere for a wide ranging conversation about satire, originality, plagiarism, the inherent challenges of existing in a world where performance and genuine participation have become indistinguishable and, well, just about all of the problems with everything really... In addition to being a celebrated, award-winning author, Sam is also often described as writing satire "fueled by genuine rage." Adam and Jo talk about the long-standing relationship between satire and rage (or at the very least, the performance of rage) before asking Sam if he feels like "genuine rage" is really the engine of his own satire, with particular reference to his recent debut novel Dead Souls. Dead Souls appears, on the surface, to satirize the contemporary poetry/small art publishing scene but, as the novel progresses its satirical impulses spiral outwards to skewer almost everything about life in later-stage capitalism including but not limited to: the culture sector, higher education and social media. Elsewhere in the episode Jo and Adam offer the internet's very last take on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars (is it a useful analogy for how satire works???) and reflect on their recent experience of interviewing the viral internet comedian and animator Alistair Beckett King.
As Russia invades Ukraine, Jo and Adam ponder the most pressing question: what does the first European conflict in decades will mean for satire? They also reflect on the unlikely backstory of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who, in the ultimate case of satire imitating life, fronted a satirical sitcom in which he played a man who surprisingly became the Ukrainian President in the years immediately before he surprisingly became Ukrainian President. Then they discuss a recent Guardian AMA with (close personal friend of the podcast?) Armando Iannucci. And then, at last, after talking about all those topical men, they finally mark IWD22 by forging visibility for women by celebrating the achievements of two satirical women: Eliza Haywood (and her periodical The Parrot) and Dorothy Parker.
Happy Anniversary to SAWTAS! It’s been three years to the day since Adam and Jo first took to the airwaves. In this episode, they reflect on their tremendous and unlooked-for success, and take a moment to consider whether it’s possible to talk about satire without being pretentious (spoiler: yes). Once that’s established, they talk to special guest Dr Andrew Bricker from Ghent University about satire, libel, and the law, and the ways that all of those things were connected in our very favourite century, the eighteenth one. We explore how the law responded to satirists, and how satirical work shaped libel laws in that period, and consider the legacies of that relationship today. Along the way, we hear about a fascinating addendum to the Jonathan Swift/Lady Mary Montagu dressing-room-based scrap, talk about cancellations, comedy, and a little bit of Brontë business too. From twenty-first century pseuds (not us, we’re talking about Private Eye) to eighteenth-century feuds - it’s our anniversary and we’ll talk about satire if we want to.
Andrew, author of Libel and Lampoon: Satire in the Courts 1670-1792 (Oxford University Press, 2022), will also be joining us at the York Literature Festival in March.
As the fabric of the social contract in Britain further disintegrates in the wake of increasingly outrageous revelations about behaviour behind closed doors at 10 Downing Street during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jo and Adam talk about the one divisive topic that's really gotten everyone really raging in this cold, miserable month of January: Adam McKay's Netflix original movie Don't Look Up! Is it too smug? Is it too simple? Is it too self-satisfied? Is it too satirical, or not satirical enough? These are the questions that polarised everyone over the holidays, and they're the questions Adam and Jo are wading into in this episode, which takes as its theme the end of the fcking world. They also talk about Ben Elton's 1989 satirical novel Stark*, which tackles very similar ground to McKay's film only with "total toxic overload" as the catastrophic and unstoppable threat to human civilisation rather than a huge flaming meteor that everyone can literally see coming. And, of course, they'll also reflect on satirical responses to Party-Gate. They just hope the PM can hang on long enough for this episode to come out and still be relevant...
Christmas isn’t Christmas until everyone is dead of a new mutant variant! Only kidding. Christmas isn’t really Christmas until Jo and Adam have dropped their self-indulgent Christmas episode, and this year they’ve pulled out all of the stops and thrown a big illegal party in 10 Downing Street during a national lockdown and the police are refusing to investigate. Only kidding. It isn’t a party, it’s a gathering. It’s cheese and wine. Ok, it’s not really any of those, it’s a podcast, but as you can imagine the question of whether a party quacks like a duck, and whether that duck can be satirised, is occupying a lot of Adam and Jo’s headspace this Christmas. But never mind that now. All you need to know is Jo and Adam are here with some Christmas consumer advice on what to get the satire fan in your satirical fam: Armando Iannucci’s mock-epic satire on COVID-times, Pandemonium, and Sam Riviere’s multi-layered satire on the creative arts, Dead Souls. Merry Satirical Christmas, one and all.
In a special bonus episode Adam and Jo are joined once again by novelist and culture writer Kat Rosenfield for a deep dive into one of the strangest literary scandals of recent years, and that is the scandal of the Bad Art Friend Scandal. If you haven’t heard about this yet, fear not, because Jo, Adam and Kat explain all before returning to the short story at the heart of this scandal, Sonya Larson’s The Kindest, and ask: could it be satire?
Jo and Adam are joined by culture writer, podcaster and novelist Kat Rosenfield to discuss the challenges faced by the satirist in 2021, the state of satire in young adult fiction and Kat’s brand new novel No One Will Miss Her, which The Washington Post has described as “amusingly satirical and darkly bloody.” Kat has reported for MTV News and her work has appeared in such outlets as Wired, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Unherd, Playboy, The Spectator (USA) and Reason. She’s the author of many novels, including Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone (2012) and Inland (2014), she collaborated with Stan Lee on The Alliances and she is co-host of the hit podcast Feminine Chaos.
In this momentous episode, Jo and Adam finally return to their trusty recording booth for the first episode to be recorded in-person and on-location since March 2020. Once back in the booth Adam and Jo mark the anniversary of Chris Morris's Brass Eye Special, "Paedogeddon!", which remains one of the twenty-first-century's most polarizing and controversial works of satire twenty years later. They're joined by Dr Robert Edgar, Senior Lecturer in Film and Media and fellow member of the York Research Unit for the Study of Satire (YRUSOS), who helps them determine whether or not Morris is a classic satirist in the Juvenallian tradition of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope or indeed, as he was branded by the tabloid press at the time, some kind of demented "media terrorist." Jo and Adam also revisit their discussion of Bo Burnham's Inside from the last episode and add a few further, qualifying reflections. This is satire, reboothed.
In the second half of Adam and Jo's wide-ranging conversation with poet/novelist/journalist/satirist Leigh Stein, they turn their attention to the target's of satire in Leigh's latest collection: What To Miss When? (Penguin, 2021). Did the "cancel culture" phenomenon intensify during the pandemic because a lot of people were locked down with nothing to do but manufacture outrage and demand moral purity? Is there a difference between a Karen and a Btch? And was there more to our intense but fleeting obsession with Tiger King than met the eye? Jo and Adam also take a look at Bo Burnham's Netflix musical special, Inside*, and wonder whether or not they've missed something crucial... Check out the episode show-notes.
Jo and Adam are joined by returning guest, poet/novelist/journalist/satirist Leigh Stein for a discussion of her new collection of satire-inflected pandemic poetry, What To Miss When (Penguin, 2021). In a wide-range discussion, Adam and Jo also talk about: the power and purpose of poetry and its potential as an effective medium for satire; the challenges that confront anyone hoping to represent the first year of Covid-19; and what kind of satirical poem they themselves would write if ever they were required to do so. Tune in again tomorrow for part two of this interview with Leigh, in which everyone talks about cancellation, Karens and Bo Burnham. Read the shownotes.
Popular Edgelords Jo Waugh and Adam Smithare joined by Nicole Graham to talk about the popular card game 'Cards Against Humanity.' The game's own promotional materials claim that is it intended as a work of satire, but is it really? Nicole discusses her recent book chapter 'Laughing with Horrible People: Reaffirming Ethical Boundaries Through Laughter' in which she applies an eighteenth-century framework for understanding humour to the famously offensive card game to determine how it works and who is culpable for the cards played during a game should they cause upset or offense. Jo and Adam also talk about their own relationship with board games, CAH's imminent cancellation and what happened when the government decided to use a very familiar font when sending out their important announcement about Coronavirus.
As the temperature finally rises, but so too do infection rates, Adam and Jo take an episode to reflect on satire released during the between times: that is, the time between lockdown and the often-promised full easing of restrictions. These include: the second season of This Time with Alan Partridge, Borat’s American Lockdown and Borat Debunked and a recent exhibition of juvenile satire on display at the Foundling Museum. Along the way Jo and Adam also think about “cancel culture”, whether it exists and what its relationship might be to comedy and satire.
Read the full show-notes here.
Do you ever wonder... what's the point? Liars and cheats prosper and gain power, the hypocritical, the criminal, the venal, the self-interested, the arrogant and the cruel seem to get away with whatever they want. Statistics and figures are cynically manipulated for cynical ends. The average person has no voice and no power, no real chance to change anything or be heard. Everything gets worse and worse, we’re all afraid, nothing really seems stable, and nobody with power can be trusted. Well, satire can help! Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Dieter Declercq, author of Satire, Comedy and Mental Health: Coping with the Limits of Critique, to talk about the extent to which satire can help sustain good mental health in a trouble socio-political world. We mention:
1984
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
A Modest Proposal
Alexander Pope
Animal Farm
Balms
Bernard Williams
Bon Jovi
Boris Johnson
Brass Eye
Brexit anxiety
Catharsis
Climate change and climate grief
Covid
Depression
Dominic Cummings
Dustin Griffin
Hello Tushie Bidets
Horace
John Dryden
John Wright
Jonathan Swift
Juvenal
Medical models of satire
Michael Gove
Mock the Week
Nietzsche
Political burnout
Rain
Rishi Sunak
Satire and magic
Satirical poetry
The Handmaid’s Tale
Theme tunes (US sitcoms)
Trump blimp
Read the full show-notes.
Is satire fundamentally left wing or right wing? Does the BBC now have a right wing agenda? Can right wing comedy actually be funny? And was all this really the reason The Mash Report got cancelled? Jo and Adam talk about all of this and more (including their own shocking Political Compass Results!!!) in this all new episode, also featuring a chat with recovering stand-up comic and scholar of comedy, Seb Bloomfield.
Read the full show-notes.
Jo and Adam #ChooseToChallenge this International Women’s Day by seeking out and celebrating some of their favourite female satirists from literary history: Mary Leopor and Stella Gibbons. Especially devoted listeners may also choose to stick around after the closing music for an extra treat. Read the full show-notes.
Stop talking about Valentine’s Day and start talking about Smith & Waugh Talk About Satire Day! That’s right, this episode marks exactly two years since the first episode dropped on 14 February 2019. For this very special anniversary episode Jo and Adam are joined by author Oli Grant to discuss his book How To Live Well The North Korean Way, a satire on the nature of self-help books and their efforts to selectively appropriate, repackage and commodify aspects of other cultures. They also ask whether or not Jo has any authority here or if Adam has read the script and understood it.
Read the full show-notes.
In the second part of this wide-ranging interview with satirist, comedian and cultural commentator Andrew Doyle , conversation turns to touch on cancel culture and the culture wars as Andrew explains what is at stake in his satirical project. Jo and Adam also take time to reflect on Charlie Brooker’s latest production, the Netflix mocumentary Death to 2020, and Jo reveals her clever idea for a new kind of national service.
18 months after he first appeared on the podcast (Episode 8. Satire: Woke Politics and Political Tribalism), Jo and Adam welcome satirist, comedian, writer and cultural commentator Andrew Doyle to discuss life as the man behind Titania McGrath during 2020, and to discuss Titania’s latest book: My First Little Book Of Intersectional Activism. Access the full show-notes here.
Sometimes, a phrase pops into your head that seems too good not to use, even though sometimes it was plenty weak enough to leave alone. So it is in this episode of the 9th best satire podcast with ‘Karen and Gammon Talk About Salmon’, Adam and Jo find out as they labour the joke to be sure it won’t work. They then talk about satirical books at Christmas time, Christmas itself, and some of the adverts that have happened this year. Read the full show-notes.
Poor Unfortunate Adam is trapped in his flat with only his memories for company, having been outed as the Saboteur in CBBC’s Trapped – or possibly just been near too many phones. Jo has decorated her study with subversive prints and a Jane Area, but has now run out of things to do as lockdown looms: what to do? The only way out of their own Infernos is to chat about some recent satire, including Spitting Image and some good stuff as well. There’s been plenty emerging recently, so it’s time for Adam and Jo to take centre stage as the main event, and talk about it. They also muse on the inconsistencies of Serco’s Track and Trace app, their respective failures to impress Cambridge Admissions Tutors, and the impossibility of telling whether someone is a ghost or not when you can’t touch people any more. Join us in our personal Bly Manors. It’s our podcast! Read the full shownotes here.
Jo and Adam are joined once again by novelist Leigh Stein for the second half of an interview about Self-Care, Leigh’s new satire on the wellness industry. This time, they talk about offence, cancel culture, privilege, the presentation of victimhood on social media, and Leigh’s approach to navigating (and skewering) all of these factors and more. Adam and Jo also talk about ‘Lockdown Sceptics’ and the bizarre dating site: Love in a Covid Climate.
Read the full show-notes here.
Jo and Adam are joined by Leigh Stein, author of the new satirical novel Self Care, to talk about the wellness industry, women, forms of feminism (or things that look like feminism), social media, soundbites, and the relationships between wellness, wokeness, and capitalism. So, give yourself permission to listen to our intuition. Read the full shownotes here.
In this long awaited and highly anticipated episode, Adam and Jo discuss comedy, humour, offence, a fence, and much more, with very special guest Dr Sharon Lockyer. Is social justice a legitimate target for satire, or can comedy promote its causes? When it comes to crossing the line, how far is too far? Should Fawlty Towers be cancelled? Was Little Britain ever funny? Is it satire to imply Sir Keir Starmer has a lot of underpants? View the full show-notes here.
After pestering listeners to give them a yell for the past 18 months, Jo and Adam finally take a minute (or rather 63) to respond to all of the comments, questions and queries that have either landed in their satirical inbox (satirenomore@gmail.com) or hit them up in socials. Some are real, some are fictional, but each inspires a compelling, controversial or comedic discussion of the form, function, history and future of satire. And, since this is a bonus episode, Adam and Jo also take this opportunity to homage two of their own favourite podcasts. Check out the show-notes here.
As unprecedented times become the new normal, Jo and Adam return for another unprecedented episode which follows the precedent set by the last unprecedented episode they released in May. That's right, it's time for another Satire in Lockdown Round-Up! With the government's new and confusing message proving almost as viral as the virus, the PM's chief advisor flagrantly breaking the rules he helped to write and everyone else communicating almost exclusively through Zoom, there's been plenty of fodder for the satirists. Check out the show-notes to see a full list of everything talked about in this episode.
In an unprecedented episode for unprecedented times, Jo & Adam "meet" in Zoom to reflect on the role of satire in the Age of Covid-19. From Animal Crossing to 'gramming endless loaves of sourdough, from PE with Joe Wicks to Yoga with Adrienne, the world has changed an awful lot since episode 2.6 was released just 6 weeks ago. One thing that hasn't changed, though, is satire, and the way it placates the people in times of tremendous distress. Join us for a run down of the refuge and assistance satire and comedy have provided the people in recent weeks. Stay safe, remain indoors.
Visit our website for shownotes. Find us on Twitter @SatireNoMore
In episode 6 of season 2, Jo and Adam talk to Dr Sarah Burnage, curator of Fairfax House, about the peculiar challenge of presenting historical satire to contemporary audiences. Is satire more dependant on context than other literary forms, comedic or otherwise? What happens when satire is severed from its moment of production? When does satire becomes propaganda or misinformation? Sarah talks about her longstanding interest in eighteenth-century art history, and how she came to forge a career in the heritage industry. She also shares her experience curating an exhibition all about the savage satire of James Gillray in the summer of 2019. Full a full list of everything Adam, Jo and Sarah talk about, check out our show-notes.
In episode 6 of season 2, Jo and Adam talk to Dr Sarah Burnage, curator of Fairfax House, about the peculiar challenge of presenting historical satire to contemporary audiences. Is satire more dependant on context than other literary forms, comedic or otherwise? What happens when satire is severed from its moment of production? When does satire becomes propaganda or misinformation? Sarah talks about her longstanding interest in eighteenth-century art history, and how she came to forge a career in the heritage industry. She also shares her experience curating an exhibition all about the savage satire of James Gillray in the summer of 2019.
Visit our website to view the full show-notes.
In episode 5 of season 2, Adam and Jo talk to comedian Janey Godley, about satire, swearing, and elitism. Janey hit the headlines in 2016 when she held a sign stating that “Trump is a Cnt” during Donald Trump’s visit to the Turnberry Golf Resort, but she’s also been a successful stand-up comedian for over 20 years, as well as a regular on** Have I Got News for You *and Radio 4’s Just A Minute and the maker of comedy voice-over clips which she posts on Twitter. So – can anyone do satire? Well, one of the three of us in this episode definitely can: the other two try their best.
Visit our blog for the full show-notes.
Many of our guests have talked about the need for satire to 'punch up', but do you already need to be quite far up to punch with satire? Why are so many figures associated with satire and its illustrious history not only men, but privately educated ones? Jo and Adam speak to comedian Janey Godley about her booming career as a female comedian from Glasgow and the role social media has played in her success.
In the first episode of 2020, Jo and Adam pick out the biggest moments of satire from the past 12 months. This was the year that saw Alan Partridge return to the small screen, Chris Morris return to the big screen and Stewart Lee return to the stage. In the news, it also gave us #Hairgate, Fact Check UK and a Brexit that was always just around the corner.
For full episode details, visit our blog.
In their very first Christmas episode, Jo and Adam take a break from asking whether satire is dead, and imagine what it might have been like if it had never been born at all. No expense has been spared on members of the cast, as they take a rollercoaster ride through a very partial history of satire. They then discuss the satirical possibilities of Christmas itself, and are joined by Dr Matt Colbeck of the virtuoso Math Rock band, Creepjoint to ponder this.
View the full show-notes here.
In their very first Christmas episode, Jo and Adam take a break from asking whether satire is dead, and imagine what it might have been like if it had never been born at all. No expense has been spared on members of the cast, as they take a rollercoaster ride through a very partial history of satire. They then discuss the satirical possibilities of Christmas itself, and are joined by Matt Colbeck of the Stoke-based Math Rock Virtuoso Guiar trio Creepjoint to ponder this.
Listen to the full episode on Thursday 19 December 2020.
In episode 1 of season 2, anonymous Twitter account DM Reporter commented that you can't be a satirist if you write for the Daily Mail. In this episode Adam and Jo talk to Andrew Doyle about that argument, and about Andrew's own satirical Twitter account, "Titania McGrath." Who are his targets, and how does he hope to change their minds? Is there any hope for the future? And exactly what was wrong with Frankie Boyle's "joke" about Katie Price and her son?
Listen to the trailer! Listen to the episode! In this episode Adam, Jo, and Andrew talk about:
- Aaron Banks
- Alexander Pope
- Boris Johnson
- Codes of Conduct
- Countryfile
- Cultural Appropriation
- Daily Express
- Daily Mail/ Scottish Daily Mail
- DM Reporter
- Dear Joan and Jericha
- The Eighteenth Century
- Feminism
- Frank Skinner
- Frankie Boyle
- Georges I, II, III, and IV
- Gender Pay Gap
- Grammarly
- Greta Thunberg
- The Hanoverian Period
- Horrible Histories
- Identity Politics
- Impact Agenda
- It's A Wonderful Life
- Jonathan Pie
- Jordan (Katie Price)
- Joseph Addison
- Just Eat
- Laurie Penny
- Mail on Sunday
- Mail Online
- Martin Luther King
- My Dad Wrote A Porno
- No-Platforming
- The One Show
- Owen Jones
- Pepsi
- Podcast Sponsorship
- Political Tribalism
- Richard Steele
- Rosamund Irwin
- Safe Spaces
- The Scourge
- Shropshire Farm Foods
- Snowflakes
- Sodexxo
- Square Space
- Titania McGrath
- Tories
- Virginia Blackburn
- W.H. Auden
- Whigs and Whig Ministries
- Woke (Andrew Doyle writing as Titania McGrath)
- Wokeness and Woke People
- World War II (bomb shelters and dogfights)
- Zip Recruiter
When people are deciding who is or isn't a satirist, how much of that decision do they base on the actual content being produced and how much on perceived political or intellectual bias? How do you satirise a target who believes themselves to be virtuous? And does Adam Smith really think everyone is a massive snowflake?
Find out on the 14 November, when Adam and Jo will be joined by comedian and satirist, Andrew Doyle (close friend of Titania McGrath).
In the first episode of their second season, Smith and Waugh talk to the anonymous author of long-running Twitter parody @DMReporter.
In this episode Adam and Jo (and @DMReporter) talk about:
- Alan Partridge
- Andrew Doyle
- Boris Johnson
- Brexit
- Carrier bags
- The Daily Mail
- Deliveroo
- Emma Thompson
- Extinction Rebellion
- Fox News
- George Orwell
- Guido Fawkes
- Have I Got News For You
- James Bond
- John O'Farrell, Things Can Only Get Worse?
- Jonathan Swift
- Krishnan Guru-Murthy
- Liz Jones
- Mail on Sunday
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
- Nazism
- Paul Dacre
- Piers Morgan
- Robert Webb
- Ron Perlman
- Sadiq Khan
- Spitting Image
- Titania McGrath
- Weekending
- York Research Unit for the Study of Satire
Adam and Jo talk about their plans for season 2, who their guests will be and why it will be slightly different talking to practitioners than to scholars.
This episode may or may not have been sponsored by Shropshire Farm Foods.*
*It wasn't.
The new season drops on 24th October, featuring interviews with Andrew Doyle (Spiked journalist, comedian and creator of Titania McGrath), Janey Godley (comedian and person who approached Donald Trump with a sign saying "Trump is a C**t"), the anonymous host of popular satirical Twitter account @DMReporter and many more...
With Season 1 wrapped, Jo wants to ask a question: Was this secretly a podcast about the eighteenth century all along? And if not, why are so many of our guests all of to the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies International Congress on the Enlightenment...?
Has satire ever really been a “man’s game”? Does satire work differently when written by women? Or when women are the targets? How is sexuality treated by satire? Adam and Jo are joined by Professor Karen Harvey (University of Birmingham) to talk about satire, sex and gender.
In this episode Jo & Adam & Karen talk about:
- Alexander Pope (The Dunciad, “Essay on Man,” “The Discovery”)
- Anne Radcliffe
- Aphra Behn
- “Eminent Ladies”
- Esther Lewis (“A Mirror to Detractors”)
- Frankie Boyle
- George I
- George III (and pooing in field)
- Jonathan Swift (“The Lady’s Dressing Room,” “A Beautiful Young Nymph Goes To Bed”)
- John Dryden
- Joseph Banks
- Mary Astell
- Mary Collier (“The Woman’s Labour”)
- Mary Leapor (“Essay on Woman”)
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (“The Reasons that Induced Dr. S. to Write a Poem Call’d the Lady’s Dressing Room”)
- Mary Toft
- Michelle Wolf
- The Norton Anthology of English Literature
- Stephen Duck (“The Thresher’s Labour”)
- Stewart Lee
- Student Evaluations
- Viv Groskop
SMITH & WAUGH WILL RETURN...
Has satire ever really been a “man’s game”? Does satire work differently when written by women? Or when women are the targets? How is sexuality treated by satire? Adam and Jo are joined byProfessor Karen Harvey(University of Birmingham) to talk about satire, sex and gender.
Episode available: Monday 2 September
Should satire make us laugh? Is satire always funny? Why do we laugh at things anyway? Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Kate Davison (University of Sheffield) to talk about the social history of laughter, and the various satires of the eighteenth-century tavern keeper Ned Ward.
In this episode Jo and Adam and Kate talk about:
- Adam’s Funny Game
- Adam Smith (from the eighteenth century)
- Appropriate/Inappropriate laughter
- Brexit
- Charles Dickens
- Disapprobation
- Disease
- Doctor, Doctor Jokes
- Edward (Ned) Ward
- Francisco Garcia
- Francis Hutchinson
- Friday Night Dinner
- Graphic satire from the eighteenth century
- Grub street
- John Dryden
- Incongruity (theory of laughter)
- Laughter
- Laughter as entertainment
- Laughing with/Laughing at
- Long eighteenth century
- Memes
- Print culture
- Puns
- Nish Kumar
- Social communication
- Stewart Lee
- Superiority (theory of laughter)
- Thomas Hobbes
- Vice (dir. by Adam McKay)
- 2EN606: Sick Novels (York St John University, Literature module)
The Index of Laughter used in ‘Adam’s Funny Game’:
- No reaction
- Sympathetic smile
- Polite titter
- Genuine titter
- Gaffuw
- Sustained laughing out loud
- Roll on the floor laughing
- Laughing in your mind but no physical laughter
- Your smiling for no reason because you’re working hard to suppress a laugh
- Uncontrollable and inappropriate laughter you are unable to sustain
Join Adam and Jo again for their big finale:
Has satire ever really been a “man’s game”? Does satire work differently when written by women? Or when women are the targets? How is sexuality treated by satire? Adam and Jo are joined by Professor Karen Harvey (University of Birmingham) to talk about satire, sex and gender.
Should satire make us laugh? Is satire always funny? Why do we laugh at things anyway? Adam and Jo are joined byDr Kate Davison(University of Sheffield) to talk about the social history of laughter, and the various satires of the eighteenth-century tavern keeper Ned Ward.
Episode Available Monday 26 August!
Do you need words to do satire? If a picture can say a thousand words, how much satire can it do? Adam and Jo are joined by Wendy McGlashan (University of Aberdeen) to talk about eighteenth-century print-maker, miniaturist and satire merchant, John Kay.
In this episode Adam and Jo and Wendy talk about:
- Adam McKay
- Beavis and Butthead
- Boris Johnson
- Charlie Hebdo
- David Cameron
- Donald Trump
- George Osborne
- Henry Fielding
- Idiocracy
- Jacob Rees Mogg
- James Beattie (poet)
- James Gilray
- Jeremy Corbyn
- John Kay
- King of the Hill
- Mike Judge
- Private Eye
- Richard Herring
- Stewart Lee
- Steve Bell
- Theresa May
- The Day Today
- Vice
During ‘Adam’s Little Game’, Adam and Jo discuss the following images:
- A Victory for the Common Man (Bob Moran)
- L’Amour Plus Fort Que La Haine (Charlie Hebdo)
- The Pen is Mightier that the Sword (Macleod)
- David Cameron Having a Good Old Fashioned Strangle Wank to Celebrate his Election Victory (Jim’ll Paint It)
Adam and Jo and Wendy also discuss the work of John Kay.
- Explore the work of John Kay at the National Galleries
Join Jo and Adam again at the same time next week for:
1.5. Satire and Laughter
Should satire make us laugh? Is satire always funny? Why do we laugh at things anyway? Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Kate Davison (University of Sheffield) to talk about the social history of laughter, and the various satires of the eighteenth-century tavern keeper Ned Ward.
Do you need words to do satire? If a picture can say a thousand words, how much satire can it do? Adam and Jo are joined byWendy McGlashan(University of Aberdeen) to talk about eighteenth-century print-maker, miniaturist and satire merchant, John Kay.
Episode Available Monday 19 August.
What is the difference between a satirical novel and a novel with satire in it? Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Helen Williams (Northumbria University) to talk about one of the best known satirical novels of all time: Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent.
In this episode Adam and Jo and Helen talk about:
- A Cock and Bull Story
- Alan Partridge
- Alexander Pope
- Austen, Northanger Abbey
- Charles Dickens
- Charlotte Brontë
- Comedy
- Form
- François Rabelais
- George and Weedon Grossmith, The Diary of a Nobody
- Henry Fielding, Shamela
- Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews
- Henry Fielding, Tom Jones
- Henry Mckenzie, Man of Feeling
- Jane Austen
- Jonathan Swift
- Jerome k. Jerome, The Men In a Boat
- Lady Mary Montagu
- Laetitia Pilkington
- Laurence Sterne
- Narrative
- Novels
- Political satire
- Reading and reading practices
- Reform
- Richardson, Pamela
- Robert Dodsley
- Samuel Richardson
- Sensibility
- Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
- Sterne, A Political Romance
- Sterne, A sentimental Journey
- Sterniana
- Steve Coogan
- Stewart Lee
- Tobias Smollett, The Diary of Humphrey Clinker
- The Trip
- William Thackeray
- York in the Eighteenth Century
Join Jo and Adam again at the same time next week for: Satire and the ImageDo you need words to do satire? If a picture can say a thousand words, how much satire can it do? Adam and Jo are joined by Wendy McGlashan (University of Aberdeen) to talk about eighteenth-century print-maker, miniaturist and satire merchant, John Kay.
What is the difference between a satirical novel and a novel with satire in it? Adam and Jo are joined byDr Helen Williams(Northumbria University) to talk about one of the best known satirical novels of all time: Laurence Sterne’sThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent.
Episode available: Monday 12 August
Jo and Adam are joined by Gráinne O’Hare (Newcastle University) and Katie Snow (University of Exeter) to talk about the relationship between satire and celebrity and consider the position of the woman as satirist and the subject of satire.
In this episode Adam and Jo Talk to Gráinne O’Hare and Katie Snow About:
- Alexander Pope
- Bluestockings
- Breastfeeding
- Celebrity
- The Dunciad
- Eighteenth-Century Popular Culture
- Frankie Boyle
- Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire
- Jonathan Swift
- Lady Mary Montagu
- Mock the Week
- Motherhood
- Prostitute Memoirs
- Stewart Lee
- Taylor Swift
Join Adam and Jo again next week for:
Satire & the Novel
What is the difference between a satirical novel and a novel with satire in it? Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Helen Williams (Northumbria University) to talk about one of the best known satirical novels of all time: Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent.
Release date: 11/4/2019
Available Monday 5 August 2019!
Jo and Adam are joined by Gráinne O’Hare (Newcastle University) and Katie Snow (University of Exeter) to talk about the relationship between satire and celebrity and consider the position of the woman as satirist and the subject of satire.
Adam and Jo start at the very beginning with the biggest question of all: what even is satire? What did it used to be in the olden days and what is it now, in the age of Twitter, Trump and Brexit?
In this episode Adam and Jo talk about:
- Alexander Pope
- Ali G
- Armando Iannucci
- A Modest Proposal
- Brass Eye
- Brexit
- Brexit 50p
- Chris Morris
- David Schneider
- Definitions of satire
- The Death of Stalin
- Donald Trump
- The Dunciad
- Fake News and spin
- Festival of Brexit
- George III doing a poo in a field
- John Dryden
- Jonathan Pie
- Jonathan Swift
- Ian Hislop
- ‘I Object’ Exhibition at the British Museum
- Lee Mack
- Michael McIntyre
- Penguins in the White House
- Piers Morgan
- Political correctness (mad?)
- Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who is America?
- Scriblerius Club
- South Park
- Stewart Lee
- Theresa May
Next Week:
Satire and Celebrity
Jo and Adam are joined by Gráinne O’Hare (Newcastle University) and Katie Snow (University of Exeter) to talk about the relationship between satire and celebrity and consider the position of the woman as satirist and the subject of satire.
Visit Jo and Adam's website for even more satire!
Smith & Waugh Talk About Satire
A six-part 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 will be joined by a series of special guests who will also talk about satire.
After a successful first run on Soundcloud which attracted literally dozens of listeners, Adam & Jo will be re-releasing the first series as a weekly podcast over the summer - this time on platforms that people actually use to listen to podcasts!
Episode 1. What Even Is Satire? (Monday 29 July)
Adam and Jo start at the very beginning with the biggest question of all: what even is satire? What did it used to be in the olden days and what is it now, in the age of Twitter, Trump and Brexit?
Episode 2. Satire & Celebrity (Monday 5 August)
Jo and Adam are joined by Gráinne O’Hare (Newcastle University) and Katie Snow (University of Exeter) to talk about the relationship between satire and celebrity and consider the position of the woman as satirist and the subject of satire.
Episode 3. Satire & the Novel (Monday 12 August)
What is the difference between a satirical novel and a novel with satire in it? Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Helen Williams (Northumbria University) to talk about one of the best known satirical novels of all time: Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent.
Episode 4. Satire & the Image (Monday 19 August)
Do you need words to do satire? If a picture can say a thousand words, how much satire can it do? Adam and Jo are joined by Wendy McGlashan (University of Aberdeen) to talk about eighteenth-century print-maker, miniaturist and satire merchant, John Kay.
Episode 5. Satire & Laughter (Monday 26 August)
Should satire make us laugh? Is satire always funny? Why do we laugh at things anyway? Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Kate Davison (University of Sheffield) to talk about the social history of laughter, and the various satires of the eighteenth-century tavern keeper Ned Ward.
Episode 6. Satire & Women (Monday 2 September)
Has satire ever really been a “man’s game”? Does satire work differently when written by women? Or when women are the targets? How is sexuality treated by satire? Adam and Jo are joined by Professor Karen Harvey (University of Birmingham) to talk about satire, sex and gender.
Music: 'Clowns' by Dee Yan-Jay, featured on the album 'Years and Years Ago.'