PAPER CUTS – We read the papers so you don’t have to
Have you SEEN the state of the papers today? PAPER CUTS has. In a brand-new thrice-weekly podcast, some of Britain’s sharpest commentators and funniest comedians come together to look at the madness, the strangeness, the obsessions, and – occasionally – the brilliance of our national press.
PAPER CUTS is the fast, funny, modern newspaper review. In each pacy twenty- minute edition, our panel picks out the most eye-popping headlines, the stories the matter and the most offbeat tales the press can offer, and offers them up for your incredulity and entertainment.
From the Mail’s obsession with Woke to the Daily Star’s war on pigeons (“FEATHERED PSYCHOS!”) to all the things the Guardian is telling you not to enjoy, PAPER CUTS digs into the newspapers’ own private manias – and what they tell us about Britain.
Informed, witty and sceptical but never cynical, PAPER CUTS reinvents the traditional newspaper review format with a mix of journalistic expertise and raw humour; PAPER CUTS is a moment of sanity and comedy in an overheated media world.
In each edition presenter Miranda Sawyer (Observer, Mirror) is joined by seasoned journalists including Marie le Conte (Independent), Rob Hutton (The Critic), Jonn Elledge (New Statesman) and Alex Von Tunzelmann plus exasperated comedians Fin Taylor, Athena Kugblenu, Ria Lina, Fergus Craig and Grainne Maguire to dissect the dailies, take apart the tabloids and break down the broadsheets.
“I can’t wait to get my teeth into the Great British press, along with the funniest people in journalism and the smartest comedians,” says anchor Miranda Sawyer. “For good or ill, digital or not, we’re a newspaper nation. Sometimes reading the papers feels like being trapped with a mad auntie – and sometimes it’s like talking to the cleverest person you know. We’re going to enjoy the weirdness, celebrate the good stuff and have fun with all of it on a podcast that will make your day.”
Why launch PAPER CUTS now? We might live in a digital world but the big news brands still move the nation. A blockbuster front page can still get the country talking. A hard news scoop will get politicians running for cover. A brilliantly funny headline or a bizarre story are social media’s fuel. Behind all the tweets and the TikToks we’re still a newspaper nation. And PAPER CUTS is here to nail the worst and celebrate the best of our national obsession.
Launching on 5 June on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, PAPER CUTS comes to you from Podmasters, the independent studio behind hit podcasts Oh God, What Now?, The Bunker, Doomsday Watch and Origin Story.
“We’re really excited for PAPER CUTS to be the latest from the Podmasters stable,” says Group Editor Andrew Harrison. “We’re all newspaper junkies here. We’re addicted to the excitement of tomorrow’s front pages and the joy of a laugh-out-loud headline.
“But people are a lot less trusting of the press today, and more knowing about the papers’ failings, their biases and their weird fixations. It’s the perfect time to put the boot in – in the kindest way possible, of course.”
PAPER CUTS. We read the papers so you don’t have to. Starts Monday 5 June on all podcast platforms.