The comedy writer tells us about his favourite podcasts
In cahoots with co-writer Jason Hazeley, Joel Morris has been making readers and viewers laugh for too many years to mention with their work for Charlie Brooker, Viz and Mitchell & Webb. The pair’s rebooted versions of the Ladybird Books earned much acclaim (check out the ones on The Hipster and The Husband for actual pain-inducing hilarity) and now they’re on the fifth series of their Rule of Three podcast (produced by Great Big Owl) in which funny people talk about the funny things that make them laugh. Among their guests have been Eddie Izzard, Sarah Kendall, Sanjeev Kohli, Sue Perkins, Beardyman, and their former boss Mr Brooker. Here, Morris tells us about the podcasts which make him cry and the ones that really annoy him.
Which podcast is your guilty pleasure?
It’s not guilty – nothing should be – but I love the way Slate’s Decoder Ring podcast takes junk culture so seriously. Like their deep-dive analysis of supermarket trash magazines’ obsession with the episode ‘Sad Jennifer Aniston’. And their serious exploration of nutso interdimensional conspiracy theory Ong’s Hat might be the best podcast episode I’ve ever heard. America has this wonderful tradition of investigative podcasts and doing one about mad rubbish is such a joy.