Sketchplanations The Podcast: Big Ideas explored through Little Pictures!

Sketchplanations The Podcast is a fortnightly show where hosts Rob Bell, Tom Pellereau, and Jono Hey delve into a wide range of topics, sparked by a hand-drawn sketch. We spoke to Rob Bell to find out more…

Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

My name is Rob Bell. I’m a TV Presenter and Engineer and more recently I have indulged my love of audio to host and produce Sketchplanations The Podcast, along with lifelong friends Jono Hey (designer, author, illustrator) and Tom Pellereau (The Apprentice winner from 2011 and business partner of Lord Alan Sugar).

It’s a podcast for the curious-minded who enjoy hearing about the more nuanced and hidden aspects of life in the modern world; be it science, behavioural economics, nature, psychology, business models, or even domestic life hacks. Each episode is based on a hand-drawn sketch by Jono that simplifies a phenomenon or observation. We discuss what it means for us in our own lives and how it might be of use to our listeners; to make life easier, more rewarding or just more fun.

Rob Bell

How did the idea for the podcast develop?

Sketchplanations started as a hobby for Jono about 10 years ago; producing a new sketch each week, explaining things he found interesting. He now has a collection of around 900 of them.

More recently, I was looking for a new creative project outside of TV that I could make my own and being able to share and enjoy it with close friends was really important to me. Tom and I had very casually attempted to start a podcast years before but without any real structure or anchor-point, we never got anywhere with it. This time, it was Tom who suggested we make a podcast to accompany Sketchplanations and we discussed in detail how we might pitch the idea to Jono – already very busy with work and family life, not to mention the added task of creating and publishing a thought-provoking sketch each week. Thankfully, Jono loved the idea as there was always so much more detail to the topics he covered in his sketches and through the podcast, we could explore that detail. We all got our hands on some microphones and away we went.

Additionally, we were all aware that the podcast would be a great way of having a regular date in the diary to get together, have an interesting chat, and a bit of a laugh doing it.

Sharpen the Saw sketch

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

I remember speaking with The Comedian’s Comedian podcast host Stuart Goldsmith at an event he was comparing in 2009. He put me on to The Adam & Joe Show podcast (which I think was from their BBC 6 Music days by that time) and I never really looked back. I felt like I was part of a family of listeners who all shared a love of serious silliness.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

I love talk radio. I always have done.

From the age of 8, I grew up on the outskirts of Paris and I would tune in to a very static-fuzzy, mediumwave BBC Radio 5 most evenings to listen to football commentary or the latest news analysis. At university I hosted a show on student radio and when I first moved to London I worked on various volunteer and hospital radio stations. And despite now working in TV I definitely consume more audio than visual content in my downtime.

In the last couple of years of making TV documentaries, I became increasingly frustrated that (rightly so) as the presenter, I have very little control over the final version of what actually gets broadcast.

But having my own podcast, the buck stops with me. I write my own scripts. I’ve devised a format and style. I keep in what I feel is good and edit out what’s not. Principally though, I get so much joy from sharing something I feel truly proud of.

Podcasting lets me broadcast what I want, and how I want, and putting the work in to produce each show feels just as comforting and familiar as switching on 5Live all those years ago.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

I know that my podcast is heavily influenced by The Elis and John Show (by comedians Elis James and John Robins). I’m a massive fan and have listened loyally for years. It’s a similar type of production to The Adam & Joe Show in that it’s a silly, buddy podcast. And whilst there’s ribbing and micky-taking, it’s all done lovingly and with that family of listeners again at the centre of it all.

I think the same can be said for the other 2 podcasts I love to listen to: Three Bean Salad and Tailenders. It’s the friendship and relationship between the hosts that I totally buy into and feel part of as a listener – and it’s that magic combination I try to create with Sketchplanations The Podcast.

Finishing Lines sketch

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

Because of the buddy-show style I’m trying to create, Sketchplanations The Podcast only has guests about 40% of the time. We try to let the sketches dictate the conversation but if there’s an expert or someone particularly well versed in the topic and sketch we choose for each show, we’ll try to get them on and have had some wonderfully fun and insightful episodes because of that (the 2-part episode we recorded with botanist James Wong is the perfect example of this).

That said, I’d happily have Adam Buxton or John Robbins come on the show and choose any sketch they liked. Having listened to them both for so long, I feel like I know them a little bit and I’d love for them to feel part of my listenership family as much as I feel part of theirs.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

I really enjoyed our episode on something called Crossmodal Perception – how our senses interact with each other to influence what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. For example, coffee tends to taste less sweet if drunk from a white mug and potato chips tend to taste stale if we can’t hear the crunch! It was really interesting to spend time talking about something we all experience every day without necessarily noticing and take a bit of a dive into the science behind these interactions.

It’s a great example of the podcast doing what I always wanted it to do: explaining something from the world around us that listeners will then hopefully notice a little more in their own lives, and perhaps enjoy telling others about too. We also love to hear our listeners’ stories and experiences of each topic we cover.

Do you have a favourite episode of the podcast/one you’re most proud of?

One of my favourite shows to record was the Bumper Pack Quickfire episode entitled Life on the Road – where we swiftly covered 12 different sketches that had something to do with cars, driving and roads. And to add a little theatre, we recorded it whilst actually driving up the M1 motorway on the way to a weekend away with friends. I hasten to add that one of those friends was our dedicated driver whose hands were firmly clasping the steering wheel rather than a microphone.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

You can find all our episodes, along with full transcripts, show notes and of course the wonderful sketches themselves at sketchplanations.com/podcast. Additionally we’re all relatively active on social media – Rob Bell: @rob.bell on Instagram, Jono Hey: @jonohey & @sketchplanations on Instagram, and Tom Pellereau: @inventor_tom on X.

Listen to Sketchplanations The Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast apps >>

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