International Waters was a comedy podcast hosted by Dave Holmes since renamed as Troubled Waters and distributed by the Maximum Fun network. The show pits teams of comedians from the United States and the United Kingdom against each other in a panel game format.
| International Waters | |
|---|---|
 International Waters logo | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Dave Holmes |
| Genre | Comedy, Panel game. |
| Written by | Sarah Morgan and Riley Silverman |
| Language | English |
| Updates | Bimonthly |
| Length | About an hour |
| Production | |
| Production | Jennifer Marmor, Laura Swisher, Christian Duenas |
| No. of episodes | 95 as of April 6, 2017 |
| Publication | |
| Original release | March 18, 2012 |
| Provider | Maximum Fun |
| Related | |
| Website | https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/troubled-waters/  |
History
editThe first episode of International Waters was released on March 18, 2012.[1] The show was hosted by public radio producer and Maximum Fun founder Jesse Thorn until September 2013, with guest hosts Jordan Morris and Dave Holmes occasionally filling in. After a break in the show in late 2013, Holmes took over as full-time host on January 15, 2014, with episode 18.[2] In February 2019, the show underwent a format and title change, and became "Troubled Waters," in which two teams, each taking one side of a common disagreement, compete in a trivia contest over "the right to be right."
Format
editThe podcast features two competing teams of comedians who must answer questions about pop culture to earn points. One team consists of two comedians from the US, and the other team consists of two comedians from the UK (with Canada occasionally used as an alternative competing nation).[3] The opening round consists of questions based on current affairs, followed by a second round in which the American contestants answer questions about a topic from British pop-culture, and vice versa. The host awards points for correct answers and for answers that are "wrong, but funny."[4] The final round, usually worth a game-winning '1 million points',[4] typically asks contestants to construct an argument about or pitch an idea for a chosen topic, with Holmes adjudicating on the funniest or most creative answer.
The show is written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts and is produced by Jennifer Marmor, Laura Swisher and Christian Duenas.[5]
Guests
editInternational Waters has featured several notable guests, including Fergus Craig, Starlee Kine, Josie Long, Susan Orlean, Paul F. Tompkins, and Janet Varney[6]
Reception
editThe Daily Dot listed International Waters at #6 on its roundup of the ten best podcasts of 2012. It said of the show, "You may not learn much, but you’ll laugh... a lot."[3] Pete Naughton of The Daily Telegraph put the show on his list of best podcasts in October 2014, saying it "makes for some good (and often strongly worded) transatlantic banter."[7]
References
edit- ^ "Pilot". libsyn. March 18, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ "Ep 18: The Dave Holmes Era". libsyn. January 15, 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ a b "The 10 best new podcasts of 2012". The Daily Dot. December 31, 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Ep 36: MaxFunWeek Special". libsyn. October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ "International Waters Ep 95: Psychics and Brussels Sprouts". MaximumFun.org. April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ^ "International Waters". libsyn. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ "The best comedy podcasts". The Daily Telegraph. October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.