The Bugle

The Bugle is a satirical news podcast, created by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman in 2007. It was initially produced independently and distributed by TimesOnline before becoming independent of TimesOnline in 2011. Focusing on global news stories (but primarily on UK/US news items), the show was launched shortly after John Oliver's move to New York to work on "The Daily Show", allowing Oliver and Andy Zaltzman to continue a partnership that had previously enjoyed success with "Political Animal" and "The Department". Oliver and Zaltzman co-hosted the podcast from 2007 to 2015, and Zaltzman has hosted it with a rotating set of co-hosts since a relaunch in September 2016. The Bugle was part of Radiotopia from October 2016 until the show announced in mid-December 2018 that it would be leaving Radiotopia at the start of 2019 and switching to independent production funded by a voluntary subscription model.
As of April 2015, the podcast had received over 500,000 downloads a month.
Overview.
In 2007, comedians Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver were approached by "The Times" to do a satirical podcast, shortly after Oliver's move to New York. The first episode of "The Bugle" was released on 14 October 2007. New episodes of the podcast were generally recorded and published on Fridays with related material appearing on its official website.
At its launch, "The Bugle" was distributed by TimesOnline, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International. During the News International phone hacking scandal of 2011, "The Bugle" satirised its parent company in a manner which the "New York Times" characterised as "blistering" in an article published 15 August. Over the course of a few weekly episodes prior to the "New York Times"' article, Zaltzman and Oliver had gone "straight for the jugular" regarding News International, its newspapers, and Murdoch himself. Their barbs included a comment that "The News of the World" "would not be missed at all", as well as the assertion by Oliver—in response to the shaving cream pie attack on Murdoch—that despite the humour inherent in the attack, "[you] just don't want to find yourself with any misplaced sympathy for Rupert Murdoch." The comedians jokingly marvelled with one another that no one in News International had yet shut down their podcast, with Oliver tapping his microphone and asking, "Should this not have been stopped by now? It doesn’t make sense!" In response to the report from the "New York Times", in an episode of "The Bugle" released 19 August, Oliver gave this opening monologue:"Welcome to any first-time Buglers who are here because they might have read The New York Times' story on us earlier this week…but now that the story's in a newspaper that I'm guessing [Murdoch] reads cover to cover every day, I'm thinking there's an even smaller chance of us managing to not get fired now. So thanks very much, New York Times! Your trumpeting of this podcast may well turn into bugling the Last Post. I guess what I'm saying is—to our new listeners—'Hello and goodbye!'"
On 14 December 2011, it was announced on the podcast that Times Online would no longer be hosting and distributing "The Bugle". It was made clear by the hosts and TimeOnline that decision was not based on the show's repeated satirisation of News Corp and the Murdoch family, something that had been a feature as early as in the never-broadcast pilot approved by News Corp executives in 2007.
The first episode of the newly independent "Bugle" was published on 20 January 2012 and the podcast was funded by donations and merchandise purchases by listeners from October 2012 to mid-2016.
In the summer of 2014 "The Bugle" was put on hiatus so that Oliver could focus on his then-forthcoming television show "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" with weekly "Bugle" publication having resumed in October. From summer 2015 to June 2016 episodes were published intermittently when the hosts' work schedules permitted.
On June 3, 2016, it was announced that Oliver would be leaving "The Bugle" as a permanent co-host, no longer able to regularly host due to family and work commitments. The "fourth season" of "The Bugle" would continue to be hosted by Andy Zaltzman with various international guest hosts filling in for Oliver. The show was officially re-launched on 24 October 2016, supported by the Radiotopia podcast network. Producer Chris Skinner remained on the show along with Zaltzman, and the first set of new co-hosts were Wyatt Cenac (US), Hari Kondabolu (US), Nish Kumar (UK), Anuvab Pal (India) and Helen Zaltzman (UK). All except Cenac continued to appear on the show regularly through to 2020. Other co-hosts continue to be added to the roster, with some, including Tom Ballard (Australia) and Tiff Stevenson (UK) becoming long-term contributors. Alice Fraser (Australia), introduced in Bugle 4024, has become the most frequent presenter introduced since Oliver's departure, and was the creator and full time host of its first spin off "The Last Post", which ran for more than 300 episodes in 2020.
"The Bugle" left Radiotopia in 2019 and is now funded through voluntary subscription. As a reward for donations, Zaltzman runs a "Lies about Our Subscribers" service, where he puts each donor's name to an unlikely fact. These are read in a list at the close of episodes.
Live shows.
In 2017, the show began to add live shows, performed in front of an audience. Starting at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, followed by dates in London and Edinburgh, the live shows feature Zaltzman with regular co-hosts and Producer Chris. The show is similar in nature to the podcast, with added visuals, a listener Q&A and live audience-only content. These shows also are available in the podcasts feed for all listeners.
Producers.
During the first several episodes of the show various "producers" are mentioned by name on air though none of them featured in the show's content. The first to be featured on air is "Tom the Producer".
Tom Wright.
Tom Wright, known solely on "The Bugle" as "Tom the Producer", was the producer of the show from episodes 1 through to episode 107. He was first mentioned in episode 11 as Zaltzman announced his plans for the Hotties from History calendar. He is first heard in Episode 21a, providing continuity to various out-takes from the first twenty episodes. In later episodes he contributed more often, with listeners often addressing their e-mails to him directly. According to Wright's on-air answers he was married, has a daughter (as fetted in Episode 69), is Scottish, enjoys his job and does not ski.
In February 2010, Wright and his family emigrated to Australia. A week before his departure, he announced his intention to continue producing "The Bugle" remotely. However, in episode 106 (6 March 2010), it was announced that the next "Bugle" would be Wright's last as he had found another job. When asked by Oliver and Zaltzman 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. Oliver and Zaltzman agreed that this was an accurate characterisation of their audience and did not pursue the matter further on the air.
In episode 200, Wright's "character" was killed off in an apparent poisoning. The hosts remarked that this was the first person to be killed on "The Bugle" and would surely result in a ratings boost. In episode 247, Wright came back for a short segment, speaking from Australia. In that episode, he confirmed that he worked for ABC. Wright returned as a producer for the season 4 episodes recorded in Australia (4023, 4024, 4025).
Chris Skinner.
After Tom left, he was replaced by Chris Skinner. Skinner has previously worked with Zaltzman on the "Yes, It's the Ashes" radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2009 and also produces "The Game" podcast for Times Online along with other podcasts. When Skinner first began producing "The Bugle", 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. Skinner occasionally participated in banter with Oliver and Zaltzman with his guest spots increasing in length over time, an example being an extended conversation about the state of Australia in "Bugle" 140. Skinner has been the subject of semi-ironic hate mail (and fan mail) from listeners, apparently for no reason other than that he is not Tom, and this became a running joke of the show. Skinner was the focus of the website "fuckyouchris.com", a site which was devoted to chronicling fans' ironic hatred of him.
In 2019 Skinner launched his own podcast, titled 'Richie Firth: Travel Hacker, with Absolute Radio's Richie Firth, which featured a cameo from Bugle co-host Alice Fraser.
Skinner 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. Skinner has repeatedly stated that, during the weeks that the show was on hiatus before Oliver's departure, or otherwise off, that shows were nevertheless recorded, edited and made ready for release without actually posting them on the Internet. Skinner "does not ski", and ran in (and lost) the 2012 London Marathon (ep 192). In Episode 237, it was revealed that Skinner had purchased the domain name fuckdungeons.com, which redirects to the podcast's home page.
Skinner supports Tottenham Hotspur, however rumours that he was Chirpy the mascot from 2001 to 2005 remain unsubstantiated. After a fundraising campaign trailer for the Bugle made a jocular reference to the idea, Skinner recorded and produced a full episode of "The Producer Chris Podcast", much to the (genuine) appreciation of Zaltzman and Oliver.
Ped Hunter.
Hunter has subbed for Skinner when the latter is ill or on holiday. Only ever known as 'Ped', Buglers sent letters to the podcast asking if this was his first name, surname or nickname, with Ped preferring not to reveal his full identity to avoid the (mock) abuse Chris Skinner suffered online. When conversing with Skinner in the Special "Producer Chris Podcast" episode, Hunter was deliberately antagonistic to live up to fan expectations of rivalry between the producers, giving strong support for Buglers to bombard Skinner with their traditional (jestful) insult. In 2020, Ped was one of the producers of spin off series The Last Post, with Alice Fraser, where his full name was revealed on air.
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". 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". "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". BBC Comedy review show "What's So Funny" described "The Bugle" as the benchmark in satire, in an episode dated 27 May 2011.
The podcast has continued to gain positive press coverage in the "Season 4" era, a Financial Times review of its earliest episodes opining that "Anyone wondering if The Bugle would be a damp squib without Oliver needn’t have worried." More recently, there has been particular praise for the show's most frequent 'guest host' "Alice Fraser". "The Spectator" stated Fraser "vibes perfectly with Zaltzman’s hyper-articulate and anarchic style", whilst Narc Magazine reviewed her live performance as "captivating, landing her punch lines every time with surreptitious asides into the mic, while Zaltzman whips factual news into delightful, fantastical nonsense, leaving you questioning what was real and what was not."