Stephen Fry's Podgrams
Encyclopedia
Stephen Fry's Podgrams is a series of podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

s performed and recorded by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

 and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

. First made downloadable on 20 February 2008, the series of podgrams is a collection of Fry's writings, speeches and collective thoughts. The podgrams vary in length and are not released at any set date.

The podgrams are one of the most downloaded podcast series on the internet, and have appeared in the top five most downloaded podcasts from iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

. Critical reception has been positive, as reviewers have found the podgrams interesting and engaging.

Content

The subject of Stephen Fry's Podgrams differs from episode to episode. Normally, each podgram begins with an update from Fry about what he has been doing recently, his activities since the last podgram, and any housekeeping
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...

 that he needs to do concerning his website, www.stephenfry.com. Fry then continues to discuss his recent activities; although in other editions the introduction leads in to the main subject. The text of the podgrams is sometimes published as part of Fry's web logs, or "Blessays".

Fry's podgrams consist of anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...

s, such as how he broke his arm while filming a documentary in Brazil. He has also presented lectures, discussed certain themes in detail, or argued against things he sees as being wrong in today's society. In discussing his hatred of dancing, he said of music, "I do not want to use it as an exercise track for a farcical, meaningless, disgusting, brainless physical public exhibition of windmilling, gyrating and thrashing in a hot, loud room or hall." The material is usually original for each podcast, but he may revisit topics that he has previously discussed. For example, one podgram consisted of a speech he had previously made concerning public service broadcasting. His apologetic explanation for the repeated subject matter described his busy life, and he stated that the podgram was "all I can offer you."

Reception

Stephen Fry's Podgrams have been well received by critics. The series has been in the list of the top five most downloaded podcasts on iTunes, even though only a few episodes have been made so far.

Chris Campling of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

said that Fry was smug, "but then he has a lot to be smug about, not least the ability to waffle for 30 to 45 minutes about not very much without being boring or condescending." The Good Web Guide also recommends the series, saying that "whether he is bringing you up to date with his recent adventures of just riffing on something that interests him, he is always compelling company." The guide also states, "Stephen Fry is one of those very rare people who are incapable of being boring."

Jacques René Zammit of The Malta Independent
The Malta Independent
-External links:*...

reviewed one episode in which Fry talked about the problems within journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

. Zammit wrote positively on Fry's comments saying, "I share Stephen's worries completely. Every time I sit down to type my excessively long column, I am burdened by the thought that after all this is just a collection of thoughts by someone who may very well be perceived as a pompous ass – and if Stephen Fry has these disquisitions, then I definitely should be doing some worrying myself."

Episodes

The podgrams are released sporadically, with gaps between different podgrams being from one month up to several months. The length of each podgram varies widely as well. The second series began after Fry's website was revamped.

Series 1

# Title Length Original airdate

Series 2

# Title Length Original airdate
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