The Dollop

From Podpedia
The Dollop
Presentation
Hosted byDave Anthony
Gareth Reynolds
GenreComedy, history
LanguageEnglish
UpdatesBi-weekly
Length30–90 minutes
Production
No. of episodes300+
Publication
Original releaseApril 25, 2014 (April 25, 2014) – present
ProviderAll Things Comedy
Websitethedolloppodcast.com

The Dollop is a podcast hosted since April 2014 by American comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds. Each episode centers around an event or person from history selected for its humorousness or peculiarity. Typical episodes feature subjects from American history described by Anthony and commented on by Anthony and Reynolds.[1][2]

In 2016 The Dollop has been listed as one of the 50 podcasts you need to hear by the Guardian.[3]

Background[edit | edit source]

The podcast began as a way of preparing for Anthony's one-man show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It was a solo project where Anthony would talk out loud about various subjects. Unsatisfied with the initial results, Anthony decided to change to a history focus, and invite other comedians to listen to the stories. Gareth Reynolds was the first guest; after his performance, Anthony decided to keep him as the only permanent guest.[4] Anthony was inspired by the book A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn because it taught him that the history he was taught as a child was full of lies.[5]

Reynolds and Anthony have recorded a number of live episodes in various U.S. cities,[6] as well as Canada[7] and three tours of Australia.[8] Live episodes performed outside of the U.S. have featured stories from those respective countries; for example, topics covered in Australia included the Emu War and Arthur Phillip.[9] Live shows both inside and outside the U.S. often include additional guests, including Patton Oswalt[4] Wil Anderson,[8] and Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff of the podcast My Favorite Murder.[10] Occasional episodes reverse the format, and consist of stories selected and read by Reynolds to Anthony (for example the episode on Nim Chimpsky).[11]

As October 2017, the podcast has produced over 295 episodes.[12]

Reception[edit | edit source]

Since shortly after its debut, The Dollop has consistently ranked in the iTunes top 100.[13] In 2016, The Guardian rated the podcast as one of the 50 best podcasts of 2016.[14]

Controversy[edit | edit source]

On July 9, 2015, Alan Bellows of the history website and podcast Damn Interesting posted an open letter, accusing The Dollop of plagiarism.[15] The Dollop subsequently deleted the offending episodes from their website and established a separate website to cite their sources in the future.[16] After this incident Anthony has ensured that all episodes are appropriately referenced, and all the research and writing for new episodes is done by himself and others specifically for The Dollop.[5]

Book[edit | edit source]

In 2016, Anthony announced the upcoming release of a book featuring stories like those discussed on the podcast.[17] It was revealed that this book would be titled United States of Absurdity: Untold Stories from American History, and would be released in May 2017.[18] The book featured twenty-nine stories that had previously been featured on the podcast.[19] As of June 2017, United States of Absurdity ranked #15 on the LA Times bestseller list.[20]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "The Dollop". allthingscomedy.com. 
  2. ↑ "Seven Podcasts to Try Out Over the Holidays | Nerdist". Nerdist. 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-07. 
  3. ↑ "The 50 podcasts you need to hear". The Guardian. 2016-05-14. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-12-22. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jones, Kevin (4 November 2015). "EARFUL: Dave Anthony Makes History Hilarious with 'The Dollop'". KQED. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Episode 151 - Dave Anthony". Humans of Twitter. decidertv.com. Retrieved 7 August 2017. 
  6. ↑ Burbank, Megan (23 November 2016). "Dollops of Wisdom". The Portland Mercury. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  7. ↑ "Dollop Live Podcast". Highline Ballroom. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 James, Dylan (11 September 2016). "The Dollop - Down Under 3". Australian Stage. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  9. ↑ O'Brien, Bronte (23 September 2015). "The Dollop: The crazy podcast that's become a cult hit". The Big Smoke. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  10. ↑ McQuilkin, Matthew. "Los Angeles / Podcast Festival". The Literary Exhibitionist. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  11. ↑ Eakin, Marah (18 April 2016). "The hosts of The Dollop on gator-wrestling rubes and history's greatest lessons". The AV Club. Retrieved 8 February 2017. 
  12. ↑ "Milwaukee native Gareth Reynolds makes history (funny) on The Dollop". 5 April 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017. 
  13. ↑ "iTunesCharts.net: 'The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds' by Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds (American Podcasts iTunes Chart)". www.itunescharts.net. Retrieved 2017-06-24. 
  14. ↑ Heritage, Stuart; Verdier, Hannah; Dean, Will; Harper, Leah; Phipps, Jason; McConnell, Fred; Slaney, Rowan; Mumford, Gwilym; Locker, Melissa (21 December 2016). "The 50 best podcasts of 2016". Retrieved 15 September 2017 – via www.theguardian.com. 
  15. ↑ "Updated: A Special Note to the Writers at The Dollop". www.damninteresting.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02. 
  16. ↑ "Popular podcast accused of plagiarism". The Daily Dot. 2015-07-11. Retrieved 2017-02-02. 
  17. ↑ "The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds by All Things Comedy on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. 
  18. ↑ Anthony, Dave; Reynolds, Gareth; Oswalt, Patton (9 May 2017). "The United States of Absurdity: Untold Stories from American History". Ten Speed Press – via Amazon. 
  19. ↑ "'The United States Of Absurdity' Looks At Our Dark (And Hilarious) History". Retrieved 15 September 2017. 
  20. ↑ "Bestsellers". latimes.com. Retrieved 2017-06-24. 

Further reading[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

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