Most programs are divided into three segments, each segment delineated by a
sting, a short piece of instrumental music lasting about 30 seconds, though occasional one-hour conversations involving one or more guests became more frequent. For many years he referred to his audience as though only one person, named Gladys, was listening. With the advent of
podcasting and
web streaming, he began referring to his listeners as "Gladdies" and "Poddies", later "Tweethearts" to include those who followed him on
Twitter. Adams' style was conversational and casual, not adversarial: when interviewing political figures he might refer to himself jocularly as "an old leftie" then maintain a neutral viewpoint. He typically introduced his guests using their first and last names, followed by their qualifications and notable positions and achievements, and subsequently addressed them by their first name. When the guest was a university professor occupying a named chair, Adams would first ask them to briefly explain who or what the chair was named after. The pace was relaxed, Adams generally exerting subtle but firm control over the conversation's direction. For most of the Adams era, the show's opening theme was a baroque instrumental, and for several years
Elena Kats-Chernin's "Russian Rag", humorously dubbed by Adams "Waltz of the Wombat", though it was neither a waltz nor a tribute to the genus
Vombatidae.
From 2024 After taking over, David Marr mostly maintained Adams' style of presenting the program. ==Production==