Taking their cue from the good old TED Talks (you know the ones… those big high profile lectures as delivered by Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and some people not called Bill, these days all streamed for free on the net), comedians Ben Target and Daniel Berg will this Thursday conduct the third in their own series of seminars aimed at discussing and dissecting the world at large.

Each PLEB Talk (as the duo have christened the project) thus far has proven to be a highly paletteable mixture of the academic, the ambitious and the absurd (that’s where the chucking Quorn comes in). And, with guest speakers including Mighty Boosh co-hort Rich Fulcher, Penny Dreadful Thom Tuck, and ‘Life’s Too Short’s Gareth Morninan taking to the makeshift lectern for this week’s PLEB happening, it seems comics are clamouring for a taste of sweet existential debate.

Below, you can view a cryptic trailer that reveals next to nothing about what goes on at the PLEB Talks. Meanwhile, this Spoonfed feature gives away slightly more. If all that has inspired you to buy tickets for the next event, which takes place on Thursday at a secret London location, those can be got here.

So, Ricky Gervais stepped in to discuss his new comedy series ‘Life’s Too Short’ with ‘Front Row’ presenter Mark Lawson last week.

I think it’d be fair to say that the show, a mockumentary-style sitcom centring on the not-so showbiz life of its 3 ft 6 protagonist, Warwick Davis, has taken a good deal of flack from critics, and some would say deservedly so. Audiences have also seemingly voted with their feet, with viewing figures falling steadily from 2.5 million for episode one, to less than half that tuning into last week’s installment.

Spirited in his defence of the programme, Gervais told Lawson that he has passed through various phases in his feelings towards critics; from craving their approval, to deliberately setting out to “annoy” them. Now, it seems, he’s indifferent. He says: “I haven’t got a problem with critics. But I think that many people mistake the subject of a joke with the target of a joke. And I’ve had that my whole career”.

You can hear the interview, which aired on last Tuesday’s ‘Front Row’, by downloading the podcast version of the programme, which – as we write – is still available here.

Never mind chocolate calendars, Advent this year comes courtesy of oft-masked London-based singer-songwriter Paul Dixon, who, as David’s Lyre, so ably demonstrated a deft touch for folkloric pop on his debut EP ‘In Arms’.

But how exactly is David’s Lyre doing the online countdown to Christmas this year? Well, this message from Camp Lyre should explain: “As we approach the Season Of Goodwill we are offering a gift every day from our very own advent calendar. From 1 Dec a succession of self-produced covers, original tracks, poetry and live acoustic performances, set to visual pieces created by students from the world famous St Martin’s College Of Art, will be unveiled”. I couldn’t have put it better myself. No, seriously.

You can enjoy all this via the David’s Lyre YouTube channel. Then, come Christmas Eve, all tracks and treats released throughout Advent will be available for free download via Facebook. Which just about brings us to yesterday’s offering, a cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ (the best I’ve heard yet, not that Kasabian’s attempt is any competition). It’s set brilliantly to student filmmaker Will Hazel’s short about Knight Warrior, the Salford superhero.

Radio 4′s ‘Today’ – far too serious a programme for gimmicks of course – has confirmed it will again place its editions between Christmas and New Year in the hands of bunch of celebrity editors. That’s a good idea right?

Actually, I quite like this now annual festive tradition, though never enough to actually get up in time to listen to a guest edited edition of the news show. But perhaps I’ll make an effort this year, given ThisWeek favourite Stewart Lee is set to edit ‘Today’ on 31 Dec.

Sebastian Coe, Tracy Emin and former House Of Commons speaker Betty Boothroyd are also amongst those slated to oversee their own versions of the current affairs programme this Christmas. Notable celebrity occupants of the editor’s seat in past years have included Blur’s Damon Albarn, Professor Stephen Hawking and Colin Firth.

Good times. Though the real reason for reporting on all this here is because it provides a great opportunity to remind ourselves of the last time Stewart Lee dedicated some brain time to the wonders of Radio 4. Let’s hope the R4 comedy office is shut when Lee is in the building working on his ‘Today’ show.