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11.09.2026
Issue No 30
By Gentleman's Journal

Five ideas for the podcast you’ll never start

  1. Desert Island Desert Islands
  2. English Comedians Being Friends
  3. James O’Brien Was Right!
  4. Isn’t it Difficult Being a Man?
  5. Gogglebox: The Bullingdon Edition
Joseph Bullmore
Words By Joseph Bullmore

They used to say everyone had a book inside them. Then they said that everyone had a restaurant inside them. But now it’s become clear, in fact, that everyone just had a podcast inside them all along (which is much easier than the other two, isn’t it — some of these microphones are remarkably streamlined nowadays). Only problem is, all the good ideas are already taken — and most of the bad ones, too. So, to help you out, we’ve ingested the zeitgeist, crunched the numbers, talked to a friend who works in male mental health — and come up with five compelling, scalable, off-the-shelf concepts that you can pitch around, write down in an otherwise empty Moleskine, or say ‘we should actually do that mate I’m buying a USB mic tomorrow’ about on a balcony this autumn at 3AM. Don’t forget to like and subscribe!

1. Desert Island Desert Islands

‘Desert Island Discs’ rip-off in which Zoe Ball asks billionaire plutocrats, AI founders, and those who definitely weren’t on the flight logs to talk us through the five private islands, off-shore tax havens, or post-apocalyptic bolt-holes that mean the most to them.

Desert Island Desert Islands

2. English Comedians Being Friends

English panel show comedians who you sort of recognise show that they’re really good friends with each other for 45 minutes each week, largely by reminiscing about the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014. Romesh Ranganathan somehow gets a large chunk of the back-end.

English Comedians Being Friends

3. James O’Brien Was Right!

Fun magazine-style show in which the LBC frontman recalls all the times he has been right on various issues over the years, and then just lists the most impressive adjectives he can think of while someone from Barnsley tries to get a word in.

James O’Brien Was Right!

4. Isn’t it Difficult Being a Man?

On a moodily monochrome set furnished with a couple of pot plants and some ‘books’, a man with possibly too many muscles asks astro-physicists, former SAS members and Jimmy Carr why it’s so tricky to be a man these days, before concluding it’s probably something to do with dopamine and OnlyFans.

Isn’t it Difficult Being a Man?

5. Gogglebox: The Bullingdon Edition

Audio special of the hit television show. Twelve current and former members of the Bullingdon Club get together in the private dining room to watch the Riot Club, all while giving each others’ nephews internships and saying how soft Eton’s got now that George is there.

Gogglebox: The Bullingdon Edition

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Five ideas for the podcast you’ll never start | Gentleman's Journal