{"podcast":{"title":"What The F Is Going On? with Mark Steel","slug":"what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel-4026372","podcast_index_feed_id":4026372,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel","website_url":"http://www.whatthefisgoingonpodcast.co.uk/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/2cd557ca-ee3f-11ed-ab5d-370bd57ccb60/image/80b8db6fea9750b38502f4520f7d536a.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Carousel Studios","episode_count":232,"summary":"The world’s a mess, politics is ridiculous, and nobody seems to know what’s going on. Join Mark Steel as he sets out to make sense of the chaos — and maybe even figure out how we can fix it. Each week, Mark sits down with brilliant guests from comedy, politics and culture for funny, honest and occasionally furious conversations about modern life. Featuring guests including Miles Jupp, Jeremy Corbyn, Caitlin Moran, Zack Polanski, Alan Davies, Matt Forde, Ash Sarkar and many more, all helping Mark answer one big question… WHAT THE F IS GOING ON?","last_synced_at":"2026-06-15T10:19:42.874126+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel-4026372"},"episode":{"title":"Ep 184 with Alan Davies Pt 1: Comedy Became My Family","slug":"ep-184-with-alan-davies-pt-1-comedy-became-my-family","published_at":"2026-05-25T04:38:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel-4026372/ep-184-with-alan-davies-pt-1-comedy-became-my-family","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel-4026372","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR2894594106.mp3","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR2894594106.mp3","summary":"This week Mark is joined by comedian, actor, cricket obsessive and national treasure Alan Davies for a conversation that covers childhood trauma, football VAR, council bureaucracy, working-class warehouses, stand-up comedy in the 80s, Peter Snow in a BBC toilet, and why comedians instinctively know when someone is “not really a comic”. Alan talks candidly about the deeply personal experiences behind his memoirs Just Ignore Him and White Male Stand-Up, including grief, abuse, anger and the strange way comedy became both an escape and a substitute family. Along the way there are stories about Barry Manilow on the motorway, being buried under coat hangers in a van, fights in comedy clubs, the glory days of the circuit, and why every workplace secretly survives because everyone is covering for each other. We're currently sponsored by BT - behind brilliant things! Search 'Why BT' to find out more or click on the following link: https://www.bt.com/broadband/why-bt You can hear the second part of the interview in next week's episode – but if you can't wait, why not join us on Patreon? For £4 a month you can listen or watch the whole interview straight away. www.patreon.com/wtfisgoingonpod For media, press & guest enquiries please email mikey@carouselstudios.co.uk Follow What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel on Instagram @wtfisgoingonpod Follow Mark Steel @mrmarksteel Follow Alan @alandaviescomic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"This week Mark is joined by comedian, actor, cricket obsessive and national treasure Alan Davies for a conversation that covers childhood trauma, football…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3032,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel-4026372/episodes/ep-184-with-alan-davies-pt-1-comedy-became-my-family/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-f-is-going-on-with-mark-steel-4026372/ep-184-with-alan-davies-pt-1-comedy-became-my-family.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}