This week, we cancel our early celebrations at the news of Nigel Farage’s resignation, given that he announced in the same breath he would be standing in the very by-election he triggered…Another one?! While Nish is off on a glamorous sidequest, Coco’s joined by guest host journalist Zoë Grünewald to make sense of this latest stunt from Nige. Is this a political gamble that will pay off, or a final act of desperation?

Also on the show, we look to Ankara, where world leaders have descended for the latest NATO summit amidst rising geopolitical tensions... Author and foreign correspondent Hannah Lucinda Smith breaks down how warfare has changed, why we should be investing more in defence and what the presumptive PM Andy Burnham could do to get Britain back on track on the world stage. 

USEFUL LINKS
Buy Hannah’s book! https://www.waterstones.com/book/hinterlands/hannah-lucinda-smith/9781805225416 

Sunday Times Investigation into ‘Daddy’ Farage and ‘Posh George’:  https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/revealed-nigel-farage-secretly-funded-by-convicted-criminal-j0brtrlnk 

GUESTS 
Hannah Lucinda Smith 

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Pod Save the UK is an Intelligence Squared production for Crooked Media.

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“Are you ready for this?” Following Andy Burnham’s first big policy speech since becoming an MP, and with his sights set firmly on the top job, Coco & Nish dig into his promises of regeneration, reindustrialisation, and…a new pair of running shorts. From No10 North to nationalisation and the biggest council house building programme since the postwar period, they discuss their unanswered questions and first impressions of the Manchester man offering “growth in every postcode, and hope in every heart.” 

Plus, they’re joined by journalist and campaigner Adele Zeynep Walton who shares her first-hand experience of the consequences of online harms. We ask whether the proposed social media ban for under-16s really gets to the heart of the problem (spoiler alert: no), and how we can truly hold the tech industry to account. Content note, this discussion includes references to suicide. 

USEFUL LINKS
Buy Adele’s book: “Logging Off: The Human Cost of our Digital World” https://www.waterstones.com/book/logging-off/adele-zeynep-walton/9781398722941 

Write to your MP and support the call for a public inquiry into the scale of harm facilitated by online suicide forums: https://mollyrosefoundation.beaconforms.com/form/90ddb8e4  
https://mollyrosefoundation.org/campaigns/campaign-against-pro-suicide-forums/  

GUESTS 
Adele Zeynep Walton 

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Pod Save the UK is an Intelligence Squared production for Crooked Media.

We’ll be doing another mailbag episode soon so get in touch! Contact us via email: [email protected] if you want to share questions, thoughts, or general musings! 

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As Ben Rhodes says on this week’s episode, “we’re in a revolutionary moment globally”. Joining Nish and Coco from sister show Pod Save the World, Ben shares (and despairs) about the state of UK and US politics, and tells us what we can take from the Democrats’ disaster of 2024. Isn’t it time that progressives got their own populist?

Plus, we hear about Ben’s new book, ‘All We Say’, tracing American history through some of its most famous–and infamous–speeches. We talk to him about the similarities between Britain and America both losing their way when it comes to national identity, and how our leaders need to tell it like it is. We can handle the truth! 

Also on the show, New Statesman Editor Tom McTague dissects Starmer’s swan song, his last minute decision not to challenge Burnham for leadership, and sets out why it all went wrong for a man who won a landslide victory less than two years ago. 

USEFUL LINKS
Grab a copy of Ben’s new book, All We Say: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/470622/all-we-say-by-rhodes-ben/9781847928887 

Ailbhe Rea’s recent piece in the New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/labour/2026/06/what-happens-now 

Tom McTague’s interview with Keir Starmer: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2025/06/what-keir-starmer-cant-say 

GUESTS 
Ben Rhodes 
Tom McTague 

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As Makerfield goes to the polls today, Nish and Coco take a look back at the campaign, interrogate Andy Burnham’s ‘King of the North’ brand, and dig into what ‘Manchesterism’ actually is–and how it could work on a national scale. 

They’re joined by Jack Dulhanty, journalist at Manchester Mill, to break down whether we can expect a people-pleaser for our next Prime Minister, how voting intentions have split households, and why a four-month old political party has given Reform a run for its money. 

Plus: following the Court of Appeal’s ruling upholding the ban on Palestine Action and the terror sentencing of the ‘Filton 4’ activists, we speak to Akiko Hart, director of Liberty, the UK’s oldest human rights organisation, to understand the consequences of applying such a broad definition of terrorism.  

And, as a social media ban looms for under-16s, what could this mean for the future of digital privacy in the UK? 

USEFUL LINKS
See Ben Rhodes and Coco Khan live! Tickets here.

Liberty breaks down the Palestine Action ruling: https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/breaking-down-the-court-of-appeal-judgment-on-palestine-actions-proscription/#:~:text=On%2015%20June%202026%2C%20the%20Court%20of%20Appeal%20ruled%20in,proscription%20was%20lawful%20and%20proportionate. 

GUESTS 
Akiko Hart 
Jack Dulhanty

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This week, as the far-right continues to fan the flames of violence and division, Coco and Nish are joined by Hasan Piker: Twitch streamer, influencer, and left-wing political commentator who was recently blocked from entering the UK. They dig into what makes him “not conducive to the public good”, and why it’s important to speak the truth–however that comes across. 

They also talk about political allegiances, the future of progressive politics, and the worrying rise of far-right MAGA movements across the world. Does a Labour government have the answer?

GUESTS 
Hasan Piker 

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This week, Nish and Coco dig into the latest release of files around Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US, and what the hundreds of emails and WhatsApps reveal about Labour’s internal panic, Keir Starmer’s leadership, and a government that seems increasingly unsure of itself.

They also unpack Alan Milburn’s major review into youth unemployment. Is Britain dealing with a generation that doesn’t want to work, or a broken system that has stripped away routes into jobs, training and support?

Plus: Nish and Coco are joined by Sabah Choudrey, speaker, consultant and founder of Trans Pride Brighton, to discuss the EHRC’s new guidance on single-sex spaces, the worsening climate for trans people in the UK, and how a small network of gender-critical organisations has helped push trans rights into the centre of the culture war.

GUESTS 
Zoë Crowther
Sabah Choudrey

USEFUL LINKS
Updated EHRC Code of Practice: GI’s response | Gendered Intelligence
Join the trans lobby on the 25th June: Mass Lobby for Trans Equality 

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This week, Nish and Coco head back to Makerfield, where the by-election campaign is already turning into a political demolition derby; Andy Burnham is just ahead of Reform, the far right is fighting itself, Elon Musk has wandered into the discourse, and Nigel Farage has reappeared after questions over his £5 million gift.

Plus: they’re joined by Hettie O’Brien, journalist and author of The Asset Class, to break down how private equity quietly bought up the services we rely on, from nurseries and care homes to vets and water companies, and why that matters for the broken economy we’re all living in.

GUESTS 
Hettie O'Brien, journalist and author of The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself

USEFUL LINKS
Amnesty Report | Like a snowball: the growth and impact of the gender critical movement in the UK
Tony Blair Article | The Labour Party Is Playing With Fire Over Its Future and the Future of the Country by 

CLIP CREDITS
Carol Vorderman via Instagram, (@carolvorders)

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This week, Nish and Coco make sense of another chaotic week in Westminster, as Keir Starmer clings on in Downing Street, Wes Streeting resigns, and Andy Burnham’s route back to Parliament suddenly becomes very real.

They’re joined by Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East and one of the earliest MPs to call for Starmer to go, to unpack the mood inside the Labour Party, whether Burnham is really the answer, and what Labour needs to do to win back progressive voters. 

Plus: after Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson’s latest rally in London, how should progressives respond to the far right without simply echoing its politics?

And: Nigel Farage faces questions over a £5m gift from a crypto billionaire. Does the man of the people have some very expensive explaining to do?

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GUESTS 
Nadia Whittome MP

USEFUL LINKS
@Femi_Sorry: Tommy Robinson supporters expose themselves so fast! - Unite The Kingdom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBdc_HsSA5Y 

CLIP CREDITS
Femi Oluwole
Nigel Farage Interview: The Sun

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This week, as Labour reels from a brutal set of election results, Nish and Coco try to make sense of Keir Starmer’s fight to stay in Downing Street, a story moving faster than political journalists can refresh their phones. 

They’re joined by Helena, aka NoJusticeMTG, Twitch streamer, YouTuber and Novara Media contributor, to break down Labour’s post-election meltdown, the rise of Reform, and whether the Greens’ surge points to a more hopeful progressive future. They also dig into who might replace Starmer, from Angela Rayner to Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting.

Plus, what should we take from Plaid Cymru’s win in Wales, Reform’s new foothold, and the Greens breaking through in places Labour once took for granted?

And former Google executive Mo Gawdat joins to discuss Chasing Utopia, the new documentary asking whether AI is about to transform our lives, our politics, and possibly the future of humanity itself.

Watch Mo Gawdat in Atlantic Studios new release Chasing Utopia from Friday 15th May 2026 at Everyman Cinemas. Book tickets at everymancinema.com.

GUESTS 
Mo Gawdat
NoJusticeMTG

USEFUL LINKS
Raphael Behr 
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/13/labour-battle-of-ideas-no-10-keir-starmer-leadership  

CREDITS 
BBC ONE: Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Youtube: Novara Media

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This week, Nish and Coco make sense of a bruising local election week, as Labour braces for heavy losses, Reform eyes major gains, and the Greens look to break through in London.

They’re joined by Will Hayward, award-winning investigative journalist and expert on Welsh politics, to break down what’s happening in Wales, where Labour’s century-long dominance could be coming to an end. He explains the new Senedd voting system, the rise of Plaid and Reform, and what this election could mean for the future of devolution.

Plus: Zoë Grünewald joins to unpack Reform’s latest migrant detention centre proposal, Green hopes in the capital, and what a bad night could mean for Keir Starmer.

And: should MPs be allowed to drink on the job, or is Parliament’s bar tab finally becoming a political problem?

GUESTS 
Zoë Grünewald, political journalist
Will Hayward, Cardiff-based investigative journalist 

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
Radio 4, Today Show 
Tiktok, Zia Yusef (@ziayusufuk) 
Instagram, Hannah Spencer (@hannahtheplumbermcr)

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British politics was shaken to its core this week when we all realised that, maybe, Keir Starmer isn’t as quite across the detail as he tries to make out. He had to explain exactly what he did and didn’t know about the developed vetting carried out for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s Ambassador to the US.

Right on the heels of that, came Olly Robbins, who was sacked last week from his role as the chief official at the Foreign Office. In a very civil servant way, he revealed the internal pressures and machinations that were happening during the appointment process.

Both men had serious questions to answer about what they did but Coco and Nish are joined by political journalist Zoë Grünewald to ask why everyone is obsessing over the process while almost totally ignoring the larger, moral decision to make the appointment in the first place.

Plus the comedian Rosie Jones arrives to totally derail the whole podcast with a mix of funny jabs at Nish while still telling us about the work of her brilliant foundation which is celebrating its first birthday! 

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

**Warning: use of a racial slur during the Labour May election segment**

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GUESTS 

Zoë Grünewald - Journalist, broadcaster and political commentator

Rosie Jones - Comedian

USEFUL LINKS

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CREDITS

Sir Keir Starmer MP - Parliament TV

Emily Thornberry MP - The Mirror, YouTube 

Sir Oliver Robbins - Parliament TV 

David Miliband MP - Mornings with Ridge and Frost, Sky News 

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