Hello hello hello, and welcome back to c_u for your prescribed weekly dosage of waffle - this week, I'm talking about Lateral, the comedy panel show podcast hosted by Tom Scott.
Recently, I've found myself really getting back into watching Tom Scott's older videos, and halfway through lamenting that he no longer uploads weekly, I remembered that he does host this weekly podcast, so I decided to give it a go - and so far, in about a week, I've binge-watched around 16 episodes. It's really good!
Basically, in Lateral, a panel of four people will be asked a question by one of them and have to work together to try and answer it, with the twist being that the questions usually involve unconventional answers and lateral thinking - hence the name of the show. All of the episodes I've watched/listened to so far have been really enjoyable, and it's the perfect mix of comedy, education, and a show that you don't really have to give all your attention to 100% of the time - the perfect formula for a podcast. Another appeal of the show is being able to guess it yourself alongside the panel, and I've had lots of fun trying [and succeeding, in some cases!] to figure out what the inevitably absurd answer will be. Some of my favourite questions so far have been: ''In 1964, a British spy was dispatched to Poland for the first time. Even though they had no prior intelligence about the man, counterintelligence officers from Poland's Ministry of the Interior were on his case immediately, and he left less than a year later. Why?'', ''In 1996, Gail received an unusual birthday present from her husband. Since then, she has received hundreds of offers to buy it from her. Others say that she should do more to capitalise on its popularity. What was the gift?'' and ''In November 2024, a new line of ten LEGO sets was announced, each one having a very similar assembly scheme. Why do two of them have an 18+ age rating, while others are 10+?''.
That's pretty much all I've got to say about it, though - it's just a pretty simple but very fun podcast that I'm really enjoying binging. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you back here next week for another TOTW!
Extra Info:
Official Website l Spotify Page
