Comedian and columnist Stewart Lee joins Nish and Coco to discuss the week’s big stories.

They talk about Donald Trump’s deadly and yet utterly confusing war with Iran, as the US President continues to contradict his own statements about the Strait of Hormuz and peace talks, almost in the same breath. 

It certainly means a new, live, UK sketch show has plenty of material - but how should comedy respond to the challenging times we are all living through?

Plus - why having a weekly opinion column is good for your mental health and why news organisations need to do more to tackle the lies and extreme rhetoric coming from politicians.

Don’t forget to leave a review - it gives the show a boost and we love to see your comments.

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GUESTS 

Stewart Lee, Comedian and columnist for The Nerve

USEFUL LINKS

Guide to Senedd voting system: https://senedd.wales/senedd-now/senedd-blog/how-will-the-new-voting-system-work-at-the-next-senedd-election/

CREDITS

Saturday Night Live UK, Sky One

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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Last summer - fuelled by the far right - a rash of St George and Union Jack flags spread across the country. Flag-waving became a symbol of prejudice, not pride. In that context it's hard as progressives to feel particularly patriotic. So what is Britishness… and does it even matter?

Someone who is hopeful that our national identity is worth saving is writer, a DJ and broadcaster Zakia Sewell. In this bonus episode of PSUK, she tells Nish and Coco about her journey to uncover an alternative version of Britishness - one that unifies rather than divides.

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GUEST
Zakia Sewell, writer, DJ & broadcaster

USEFUL LINKS

“Finding Albion: Myth, Folklore and the Quest for Hidden Britain” - out now.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/finding-albion/zakia-sewell/9781399735902

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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Reform UK is getting into the lottery business - inviting people to sign up for a chance to have their energy bills paid for a year. But is the real prize a massive database of voters ahead of the next General Election? 

Plus - party leader Nigel Farage has been caught saying some pretty questionable stuff for money on Cameo. Is that really the kind of thing we should expect from someone who plans to be our next Prime Minister?

Nish and Coco are joined by authors Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff. Their new book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed looks at the billionaire manbaby in a whole new way. If you want to understand what’s driving Musk and what it could mean for all of us - this is the chat for you.

And POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy is on hand as the former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner pops up to point out all the ways Labour is getting it wrong at the moment - subtext: without her they’re lost.

Reminder to send in your burning questions for Nish and Coco to [email protected]

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GUESTS 

Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, Authors. Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
Out on March 24th

Anne McElvoy, Executive Editor, POLITICO and co-host Politics at Sam and Anne’s

USEFUL LINKS

The Podcast Show -

Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/477340/muskism-by-tarnoff-quinn-slobodian-and-ben/9780241805114

CREDITS

The Guardian - YouTube
The Independent - YouTube
Reform UK - YouTube
Today in Focus - The Guardian

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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The first wave of Mandelson files have been published. We all wanted to know what Keir Starmer knew, and when he knew it. Now we can see it in black and white. 

And as it turns out - Starmer was warned there was a “general reputational risk” over Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein ahead of his confirmation as US ambassador. Nish and Coco make sense of this perilous moment for the PM.

Then critical theorist and viral creator Louisa Munch helps us make sense of the government’s new social cohesion strategy. But is tackling extremism and yet more surveillance the answer to fraying social ties?

Plus - as Iran names its new supreme leader oil prices skyrocket - for a PM obsessed with the cost of living, this is shaping up to be a bit of a nightmare.

Remember to send your questions in for Nish and Coco to [email protected] and they’ll spill the tea! 

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GUESTS 

Louisa Munch, Critical Theorist
Minnie Rahman, CEO Praxis

USEFUL LINKS

“Nish, Don’t Kill My Vibe” + Q&A with James Acaster at The Ritzy, Brixton - 18th March

Open letter opposing planned changes to the immigration settlement routes: https://act.praxis.org.uk/open-letter-earned-settlement

CREDITS

Darren Jones MP, Cabinet Office minister - Parliament TV

Steve Reed MP, Communities Secretary - Parliament TV

Mike Tapp MP, Migration minister - Parliament TV

Minnie Rahman, Praxis CEO

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN International Senior Correspondent - CNN

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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A world leader has been assassinated, schools and hospitals have been hit, and Donald Trump thinks that Keir Starmer is no Winston Churchill. It’s all kicking off as the US and Israel’s illegal war escalates across the Middle East. All of this with the open admission of no real plan for what comes next. 

Struggling to absorb it all? Wondering if there’s another way? British-Iranian peace strategist Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE is here to fill us in. She joins Coco and comedian Sophie Duker, who is in the hotseat for Nish this week.

Soaring oil prices was not the backdrop Chancellor Rachel Reeves was hoping for ahead of her second Spring Statement. Finalised before the conflict broke out, her economic plan was “Trumped” before it was even delivered - so where does this leave the UK?

Plus - just as the UK gets dragged into this latest destabilising conflict, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rips up the rules on UK asylum. 

Got a burning question for Nish or Coco? Big or small - they will be answered in a special episode! Email: [email protected] 

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GUEST

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE, founder and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

USEFUL LINKS

Sophie Duker

If You Were In Charge with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and Kavita Nandini Ramdas.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/if-you-were-in-charge/id1770618616

CREDITS

Sophie Duker - Live at the Apollo / BBC One 
Keir Starmer / X
Parliament TV 
PBS News Hour / YouTube
BBC News 
Zoe Gardner / IG
Manchester Evening News 

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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This week Nish and Coco are joined by friend of the pod, Ash Sarkar from Novara Media to talk about political scandal, trust and compromise. Ash’s book, Minority Rule, has a new afterword which talks about two progressive movements which have tried to build different kinds of relationships with voters. Is that the way forward - or are we stuck in an endless cycle of broken promises from our leaders? 

One of those leaders - Keir Starmer - seems to be lurching from crisis to nightmare, so can he rise above the latest headlines about Peter Mandelson’s arrest and the Labour Together scandal?

Plus Reform’s new immigration policies, the new proposals to change the SEND system - and some good news about two protest groups.

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GUESTS 

Ash Sarkar, Contributing Editor at Novara Media and author of Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War - out now in paperback.

USEFUL LINKS

Jumaane Williams’ thoughtful response following the outcry about the handling of a racial slur at the Baftas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgaqKIxS4Hs&t=1s

CREDITS

Daily Express - YouTube
Nigel Farage - YouTube
@ - Instagram
Nida Jafri

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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This week Coco is joined by the comedian Cody Dahler while Nish takes a brief break and there’s so much to talk about!

The Greens' Hannah Spencer has become the unexpected bookies favourite to win the Gorton and Denton by-election but does she have what it takes to turn good odds into a win at the ballot box? We speak to her about the importance of fighting to improve lives, her favourite false rumour and why walking her dogs helped form her political outlook.

Plus Keir Starmer is back with another U-turn and another inquiry. We try to work out what he’s hoping to achieve this week. And Amnesty International’s UK Director of Law and Human Rights, Tom Southerden, updates us on their High Court victory as they challenge the proscription of Palestine Action.

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GUESTS 

Hannah Spencer, Green Party candidate, Gorton and Denton by-election

Tom Southerden, UK Law and Human Rights Director, Amnesty International

USEFUL LINKS

Gorton and Denton by-election candidate list https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/parl.gorton-and-denton.by.2026-02-26/gorton-and-denton/

CREDITS

TikTok / @mrcodydahler

Green Party of England and Wales / Facebook

Hannah Spencer / Instagram

Paul Holden, Investigative journalist and author of "The Fraud"

High Court protest reaction - Amnesty International footage

@mrcodydahler / Instagram

Otto, Budding Comedian

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet circles the wagons as he survives another hellish week in office. One that saw the loss of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and his director of communications, Tim Allan, as the scandal over Peter Mandelson's ties to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein rages on. 

Nish and Coco are joined by Paul Holden, the “unofficial biographer” of Morgan McSweeney, to discuss his key role in the rise of Keir Starmer to power and his close relationship with Mandelson. Plus - reports that Labour Together hired a PR firm to investigate Paul and others looking into its funding under McSweeney.

Also, comedian Stuart Goldsmith on the serious business of being funny about climate change and why it goes all the way to the top of British intelligence.

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GUESTS 

Paul Holden, Investigative Journalist and author of The Fraud
Stuart Goldsmith, Climate Comedian

USEFUL LINKS

The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy

Stuart Goldsmith

CREDITS

Sky News / YouTube
Sky News / YouTube
GOP Oversight / YouTube
Sky News Australia / YouTube

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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The release of the latest Epstein files triggered a deluge of revelations, spelling the end for one of UK’s biggest political characters. Nish and Coco chat about Lord Mandelson’s fall and the damage done to Keir Starmer and his government as well as the new police investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Economist Ann Pettifor, one of the few who predicted the 2008 financial crash, is the author of a new book “The Global Casino”. She has a lot to say about the Mandelson scandal, the financial systems that control our lives and what governments need to do to challenge the global billionaires who speculate with our money every day.

Plus - move over Barbenheimer, Nish and Coco give their take on two premieres: The Moment and Melania.

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GUEST 
Ann Pettifor, economist and author of ‘The Global Casino’

USEFUL LINKS

Nish Tour Tickets
https://www.nishkumar.co.uk/gigs/

The Global Casino: How Wall Street Gambles with People and the Planet
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3258-the-global-casino

CREDITS
Keir Starmer MP / Parliament TV
Lord Mandelson / ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ BBC One
Melania Trailer 

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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Keir Starmer jets off to Beijing, leaving Westminster - once again - bubbling with rumours about his future. The King of the North might be off the cards, but Angela Rayner and even Ed Miliband are eyeing up the top spot. 

Reform thinks GB News Presenter and right-wing activist Matt Goodwin is the right man to be their MP candidate in Gorton and Denton - if only he can shelve his disdain for Manchester… Nish and Coco chew it all over with political journalist Zoë Grünewald.

Away from the psychodrama, controversial plans to overhaul special educational needs education in England risk children’s legal rights to cut costs. Campaigners Rachel Filmer and Carrie Grant share their concerns with Coco.

And surveillance firm Palantir is using medical records to target people for ICE in the US - could the UK be next?

This podcast has been edited to remove a story about Matt Goodwin after he clarified the context of his comments about Manchester. We regret the error.

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GUESTS 
Zoë Grünewald, journalist, broadcaster and political commentator
Dr Carrie Grant MBE, TV presenter and voice coach
Rachel Filmer, SEND campaigner

USEFUL LINKS

Save Our Children’s Rights Campaign

Stop Palantir in the NHS

CREDITS

Keir Starmer / TikTok
Pod Save America / X
Good Law Project / Instagram
Sky News / YouTube
UKLabour / X

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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Donald Trump brings his particular brand of terrible speeches to the billionaires and bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Nish and Coco try to work out how Keir Starmer can keep on track when facing the threat of US tariffs over Greenland as well as criticism of a lease deal with the Chagos Islands - which the US had previously praised.

Liam Thorp, the Liverpool Echo’s Political Editor, is on hand to break down Labour’s big plan to make homes warmer, the fortunes of Reform and the latest delay to the Hillsborough Law

Plus comedian Alaa Shehada, fresh from his show ‘The Horse of Jenin’, talks to Nish and Coco about the ‘Palestine Comedy Club’, a documentary which follows a group of Palestinians as they take their comedy show on tour in an occupied state.

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SHOPIFY

Shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk

WISE

Wise.com

GUESTS 

Liam Thorp - Political Editor, Liverpool Echo

Tess Ingram, UNICEF

Alaa Shehada - Comedian

USEFUL LINKS

Palestine Comedy Club collective

https://www.palestinecomedyclub.com/

Palestine Comedy Club documentary

https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/palestine-comedy-club

Starting Feb 27th:

London - Rich Mix and Bertha Doc House 

Tywyn - Magic Lantern Cinema 

Birmingham - Mockingbird Cinema 

Brighton - Komedia 

Gloucester - Guildhall 

Belfast - Queen’s Film Theatre

CREDITS

Donald Trump - BBC Online

‘Palestine Comedy Club’ - Tough Crowd

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

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