About this episode

In this episode, comedian Dom Joly discusses his travels and experiences shaped by his upbringing in Lebanon during the civil war.

Welcome to a brand new season of The Travel Diaries - I’m so excited to be back! My guest today is comedian, writer and broadcaster Dom Joly. You’ll of course know him from Trigger Happy TV - one of the most iconic comedy shows of the early 2000s - now celebrating its 25th anniversary, with Dom back on tour across the UK through to 2027. But beyond comedy, travel has been a defining thread throughout Dom’s life. He’s visited 108 countries, and his story begins in Lebanon, where he grew up during the civil war, with what he describes as a “front-row view” of the conflict. His early experiences shaped a lifelong curiosity about the world, particularly places often misunderstood. Dom is widely credited with bringing “dark tourism” into the mainstream, exploring destinations associated with history, conflict and tragedy, and we also talk about his concept of the “bad news gap”: the difference between how places are portrayed in the media and the reality on the ground. In this episode, his travel diaries take us from Lebanon and Syria to North Korea, Cambodia, Iran, Canada and beyond. I hope you love this one. Destination Recap: Palmyra, Syria Lebanon Rome, Italy Prague, Czech…

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