Answer Me This!

Answer Me This! is a comedy podcast hosted by Helen Zaltzman and Olly Man, with technical support from Martin the Soundman. As can be guessed from the title, the format of the show is user-submitted questions that are then answered, accurately or not, from the hosts.

This podcast has been going for a few years, since January 2007, and has even been featured in a couple of English newspapers. The format may not be imaginative, but it's well presented and consistently excellent. Helen and Olly are natural hosts and the banter between the two, occasionally interrupted by Martin, is always witty and off the cuff.

Since the content is predominantly user-submitted, there's huge variation on what is answered. It ranges from the best cakes to bake and current affairs, ranging through Olly's favourite films to the slightly more obscure ideal ways to avoid "going soft" after drinking and how to get your partner more sexually adventurous. In short, maybe not the best thing to play when your gran's round for tea. It's a great mix bag, allowing for a range of responses from factual (Helen's normal area of expertise) to pure hearsay and personal experience (Olly's undisputed domain). 

No answers are to be taken seriously - all of those questions probably have serious podcasts dedicated to their study. Ones probably a little less light hearted. If you're expecting practical information and useful advice for day to day life - I'd probably go for a KipKay's podcast.

The podcast normally weighs in at a decent 30 mins, making it handy for commuting or walks to lectures. It's released every Thursday (GMT) with short breaks every few months. At time of writing, there are 203 episodes, making for a substantial back catalogue. 

On the flip side, some of the jingles may outstay their welcome a tad, but otherwise I cannot find fault with the podcast. They never answered my questions, so I suppose that's reason enough to condemn them.

I've been listening since the Spring of 2009, when I was actually on the way to the open day of my current university. I suppose it therefore brings back great memories of wandering around confused whilst being laughed at by graduates and stressed officials. Answer Me This! has been a great source of entertainment since, keeping me amused whilst on train journeys, walks through the countryside, planes, boring parties, jet lag in Thailand and whenever I find myself with half an hour to spare.

Certainly one of the best podcasts out there. Entertaining hosts, ever changing content mixed with great banter and endearing anecdotes. Certainly worth a download, if not a subscription.

Answer Me This! is available on iTunes. Their site can be found here. Their book is also available on Amazon.

1. Introduction

So, Podcasts are a new and pretty cool thing. Or so I like to believe. There are a quite literal metric fuckton of the little bastards on the internet, and so I started this blog. I’d like to pick out some of the gems from my library, and condemn some of the worse wastes of time and hard drive space to the deepest corner of internet hell. Which I’m pretty sure is 4Chan. I’ll review them in my own style, advising and simply bringing to attention talent that may otherwise scoot past unnoticed.

So, what is a Podcast? Think of them as free internet radio shows, broadcast and recorded and put up later for download. Many of them are talk shows, but there are a great many audiobook podcasts, or Podiobooks. These are my particular favourites. As a fairly broke student, a free world to delve into is perfect. Most authors release a complete book bit by bit, hour by hour over several weeks or months. There are some well known authors on the circuit. Some like Scott Sigler, Phil Rossi or the wonderfully named Christof Laputka have something of a fanatical fan base. I’m not saying they’re cult leaders, but they’re a chicken sacrifice and a secret handshake away if you get my meaning.

There are two main camps in the Podiobook horde, authors who go to great lengths to produce audio dramas, or those who are simply reading aloud. Audio dramas can be as little as a sound effect here and there or a couple of voice actors, or the aforementioned Christof Laputka method of spectacular audio, drama and effects. On the other hand, Scott Sigler determinedly uses his own voice, and affects an accent to distinguish characters. Both have their methods, and I enjoy both.

For those who have never heard of a podcast, the main methods of downloading them can be from a couple of different websites, for example podcast.com or podiobooks.com. However, I use iTunes, mostly as I can subscribe easily, and have them automatically downloaded, sorted and uploaded to my iPod with minimum effort. The general code of conduct is to rate or add a comment to the Podcast as a polite gesture, as it helps others find them. It takes all of two minutes, and is the least you can do for free content.

This concludes the introductory post, I hope to have some actual reviews up soon. Until then, thanks for reading.