The Alex Lester Oddcast

The Alex Lester Oddcast (Radio 2) ­proclaims itself "the best bits from the best time of day". It's evidence of ­Lester's cheeriness, and that of his show (from which this podcast comes), that 2-5am is celebrated as such a ­glorious interlude. He even styles himself as the Dark Lord of Early Mornings, which is glass-half-full take on a slot which starts in what is, to most us, still late night rather than early morn. But to the truckers, shift-workers and insomniacs who listen, Lester offers a nocturnal show in which they can participate and ­occasionally star. Discussions included in this week's podcast tackled the ­potential and problems of having a third eye on the back of your head ("would it ­require the cutting out of viewing ­windows in hats?"), a 997-piece jigsaw of snow ("with three bits missing") and a thought or two about what fish would get up to if they could walk, talk and settle scores. "I can see tuna looking for the ­makers of mayonnaise," one listener chipped in. Another imagined sniggering lobsters filling Jacuzzis with boiling water. Haddock, we heard, would start "battering chip-shop owners" and salmon would go fishing "with sausages as bait for humans". Lester relishes all this oddity. "You're weird, and I like that," he tells his wide-awake audience in the dead of night.