The Bugle

The Bugle -- a great new (to me) podcast from John Oliver (lately of The Daily Show in the US, but formerly of many funny things in the UK, including a tiny part in the TV version of People Like Us) and his cohort Andy Zaltzman, who worked with Oliver in the hilarious "The Department" and miscellaneous other funny matter, as well as doing his own clever standup and writing. It's put out by The Times (of London) Online UK.

I've listened to the first few as well as the current one (about Rudy Giuliani, the Sultan of 9/11: "He was leading in virtually all the polls before the race properly began. But then he began opening his mouth and saying words, and that quickly became a problem."). They're uniformly funny and often hilarious.

John Oliver speaks from New York and Zaltsman from London, so Oliver gives the Times' listeners a skewed sort of Alistair Cooke-ish Brit Abroad interpretation of events. In most episodes "An American" (otherwise unidentified, but in truth Daily Show writer Rory Albanese) appears, a New Yorker who gives his own full-throated and low-browed Yankee perspective and answers questions from the public.

Sample a few of episodes of The Bugle. It's the funny stuff.