Pod Save the UK
Crooked Media
Pod Save the UK is your weekly fix of political news, big ideas and a shot of inspiration. Each week hosts, comedian Nish Kumar and journalist Coco Khan are joined by politicians, experts, and famous friends to unpick the latest news, look for solutions, and inspire action. From Crooked Media – the creators of Pod Save America – in partnership with Reduced Listening, tune in to new episodes of Pod Save the UK every Thursday wherever you pod.
- 55 minutes 45 secondsStarmer’s new Trump headache and making comedy under occupation
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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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.
Get in touch - contact us via email: [email protected]
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22 January 2026, 4:00 am - 54 minutes 32 secondsGrok AI Scandal: should we treat Big Tech like Big Tobacco? w/ Rutger Bregman
X has been firmly in the firing line after its Grok AI tool was used to create sexualised images of women and children. Elon Musk’s company could face a fine of up to 10% of its global earnings by internet regulator Ofcom, or a ban in the UK. He denies that the AI has done anything illegal and says users are responsible for the images they create.
How can we regulate AI? Nish and Coco speak to Rutger Bregman, historian and author who called out billionaires at Davos. He argues Big Tech should be treated like Big Tobacco, and gives his take on Iran, as thousands of protestors take to the streets, and what a radical policy platform looks like for the UK Left today.
Plus - what on earth is UKIP proposing as a terrifying rebrand?
*Update on Palestinian Hunger Strikers*: On 14th Jan Heba, Kamran, and Lewie collectively paused their hunger strike. They made British history, lasting 73 days.
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GUESTS
Rutger Bregman - Historian and Author of Moral Ambition, out in paper back on 15th Jan
USEFUL LINKS
Let us know your experiences of SEND support in schools - or any other stories.
CREDITS
Liz Kendall MP, Technology Secretary - Parliament TV
Rutger Bregman - Publicae
Rutger Bregman and Tucker Carlson - Now This
Tehran protests - Shaparak Khorsandi/Instagram
Donald Trump - New York Times
Laila Cunningham - Daily Express/YouTube
Nadim Zahawi - Sky News
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk
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15 January 2026, 4:00 am - 55 minutes 55 secondsTrump’s explosive start to 2026 - will Starmer find a backbone?
The US President put the season of goodwill behind him with a New Year Venezuelan coup and the threat of further action across Central America and the Caribbean. Then there’s the little matter of his promise to seize control of Greenland.
Nish and Coco try to make sense of the senseless - and to assess the possibility that Donald Trump could end up destroying NATO - with Tommy Vietor from our sister podcasts Pod Save America and Pod Save the World.
Plus, comedian Cody Dahler gives us his take on how 2026 will shape up for politicians and satirists. How easy is it to make jokes while the world - literally and metaphorically - is on fire?
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GUESTS
Cody Dahler, Comedian and Presenter of The Truth (In My Opinion)
Tommy Vietor, Co-Host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World
Nida Jafri
USEFUL LINKS
Palestine Action Hunger Strikers:
https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/
Petition calling for action from the Justice Secretary
CREDITS
Parliament TV
Cody Dahler/TikTok
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg/BBC One
Tonight with Andrew Marr/LBC
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
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8 January 2026, 4:00 am - 50 minutes 19 secondsWhy does the Left make it so f***** hard? Question Time - PSUK-style
You asked, Nish and Coco answered!
What are their most conservative opinions? Why do both the left and right hate NATO so much? Should we ditch GDP? Why doesn’t the UK have compulsory voting and why do some many progressives stay true to Labour when the party is failing to measure up?
All that plus the latest on Coco’s love-hate relationship with AI and a quickfire round to make sure no question is left unanswered.
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Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
Support PSUK! Don’t forget to like and subscribe.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
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1 January 2026, 4:00 am - 55 minutes 13 seconds2025 in British politics: from Starmer’s flop-flops to AI slop
Warning: this episode contains a use of a racial slur.
From the rollback of human rights and Trump’s BBC lawsuit to AI slop in politics - what the %@£! was that? Nish and Coco are joined by comedian Shappi Khorsandi and political commentator Jovan Owusu-Nepaul to make sense of the wild year that was.
Labour’s first full year in office was marked by u-turns and an inability to use the word ‘genocide’ but there were some significant new bills that boosted the rights of renters and employees.
Reform’s polling and local election success had mainstream parties running scared - but the reality of actually running stuff may have revealed the party’s limits. While Starmer focused on the threat from the right, the left was revitalised by the resurgence of the Greens and the (albeit chaotic) energy of Your Party - can they shift the political dial?
As 2025 draws to a close - Nish and Coco hand out some very special awards and can we get a Palestinian lullaby to Christmas No.1?
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GUESTS
Shappi Khorsandi, Comedian
Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Co-Host of What’s Left?
USEFUL LINKS
CREDITS
Labour Party/TikTok
Parliament TV
Sky News/YouTube
Channel 4 News/YouTube
Channel 4 News/YouTube
BladeoftheSun/X
Shaparak Khorsandi/TikTok
The Last Leg/Channel 4
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg/BBC
Basil the Great/X
Sky News/YouTube
5 Live/BBC
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
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18 December 2025, 4:00 am - 53 minutes 50 secondsTrump blasts Europe and Sadiq Khan - but will his strong man act backfire?
Donald Trump has taken another swipe at Europe’s “weak” leaders over Ukraine and immigration including a special mention for - surprise surprise - Sadiq Khan, who got a shout out for being a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”. Honestly, why is he SO obsessed?!
But a Labour government trying to convince European allies to water down human rights law to deport people faster seems perfectly in line with Trump's vision. Nish and Coco are joined by Sky’s Deputy Political Editor Sam Coates.
They also take a dive into the latest allegation swirling around Reform UK - this time the party’s election spending in Nigel Farage’s Clacton constituency is under the spotlight.
And the scale of the homelessness crisis always seems more acute at this time of year - so the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison McGovern, joins PSUK to explain how their new plan will be the one to finally make a difference.
Finally - PSUK has watched the first episode of the Liz Truss Show, so you don’t have to. Nish and Coco give it a rating out of one to limp lettuce.
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GUESTS
Sam Coates, Deputy Political Editor at Sky News
Alison McGovern MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness
USEFUL LINKS:
CREDITS
Politico
The Liz Truss Show / YouTube
Keir Starmer MP / TikTok
Rishi Sunak MP / TikTok
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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11 December 2025, 4:00 am - 45 minutes 7 secondsWill cutting juries fix our maggot-ridden courts?
“Dead and rotting seagulls within the roof insulation” and “maggots literally raining down on to the lobby” - this quote from a court in South Tyneside sums up the state of our creaking judicial system. So what are we going to do about it? Cut jury trials.
Deputy PM and Justice Secretary David Lammy is hoping to clear the court backlog by scrapping jury trials for crimes with sentences of less than three years - but stories like these make Nish and Coco doubtful it will be the silver bullet Lammy hopes. Is removing one of the fundamental building blocks of our justice system worth some sweet sweet efficiency gains?
Then - is this the next post office scandal? Nish and Coco are joined by Liz Sayce OBE to discuss her damning report into how the Department of Work and Pensions failed to notify unpaid carers that they were accruing enormous debt for years.
And Your Party had its founding conference this weekend… and surprise surprise… it was a spicy one. In the end, Team Zarah’s collective vision for the party defeated Team Jeremy. Will this be a new chapter or - for a party prone to in-fighting - will this leadership model trip them up from the get go?
Reminder to send in your questions for our mailbag special to [email protected]
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AURA FRAMES
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BABBEL
WISE
GUESTS
Liz Sayce, OBE
CREDITS
BBC News
Turn Left Media
The Mirror
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
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4 December 2025, 4:00 am - 53 minutes 13 secondsReeves’s make-or-break budget: should the rich have paid more?
Coco and Nish listened to Rachel Reeves' budget so you don't have to. But hang on, we could all have skipped the speech and read it online. Someone screwed up big time, pressing a button and releasing the budget before Reeves even stood up. That cock up was possibly the most exciting thing about Labour's second budget.
A bit vanilla for you? Too much tax for ordinary workers? Too little for the wealthy?
Journalist Zoë Grünewald tells Pod Save The UK why this budget might have done enough to pacify the Labour backbenches by lifting the two child benefit cap while soothing the markets with tax and spend plans...
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Director of Tax Justice UK, was hoping for bolder action on wealth taxes, but she spots some reasons to be cheerful in the mix.
In other news, Nigel Farage gets rattled by questions about his past. Nish and Coco enjoy the novelty of seeing him squirm but wonder if it will harm his electoral chances. And bring a bottle and bury the hatchets, can 'Your Party' make this weekend their kiss and make up moment?
Send in your questions for Nish and Coco and they’ll answer them in our mailbag special. Email us at [email protected]
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GUESTS
Zoë Grünewald, Journalist
Faiza Shaheen, Director of Tax Justice UK
USEFUL LINKS
Aditya Chakrabortty Guardian article
CREDITS
House of Commons Live
Sky News
The New Statesman
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
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27 November 2025, 4:00 am - 48 minutes 12 secondsMahmood’s Moral Mission: Copy Reform’s homework
Warning: this episode contains strong language and a term of racist abuse.
Just when we thought the disasters of the government couldn’t get any worse… New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has made it her “moral mission” to raise Nish and Coco’s blood pressure. Cruel new plans to end the permanent status of refugees and curb housing and support for asylum seekers do perhaps justify the government’s slogan of the biggest overhaul of the system “in modern history” - but at what cost?
But - not to be outdone in terms of parties completely out of touch with reality - Your Party’s latest act of in-fighting leaves Nish and Coco with palms glued to their faces. Let’s face it - things have never been anything but fractious within the upstart political movement, but as their conference approaches the wind has never seemed further from their sails.
And ahead of the budget next week Chancellor Rachel Reeves is entertaining big cuts to the Warm Homes Plan in efforts to bring down energy bills. Nish and Coco chat to Robert Palmer, Deputy Director of environmental organisation Uplift, about why this quick fix is wrong-headed and short sighted.
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AURA FRAMES
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CALM
GUESTS
Robert Palmer, Deputy Director of Uplift
USEFUL LINKS
Claims of racism and antisemitism in Nigel Farage’s adolescence
CREDITS
Shabana Mahmood / X
Reform UK
Parliament TV
Ed Miliband / IG
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
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20 November 2025, 4:00 am - 54 minutes 53 secondsMuch a-coup about nothing? Labour take all the wrong notes from the Tories
Are knives being sharpened by disgruntled MPs planning a coup against the PM? As Keir Starmer’s team dig in against a supposed threat to the Prime Minister from Health Secretary Wes Streeting - has the Tory-brand of Westminster psychodrama come back for a new series?
Meanwhile the BBC is under fire from the left, the right, the centre and the US president. Nish and Coco dig into an existential crisis for the public broadcaster.
And as COP30 kicks off in Brazil - can we rescue the 1.5C climate target? Alex Reid from Global Witness drops in to give us a reality check.
Later - as Robert Jenrick begins posting AI generated slop to attack his political rivals - Coco speaks to the AI and Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan.
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AUDIO CREDITS
BBC Radio 4
GUESTS
Alex Reid, Head of Forests team at Global Witness
Kanishka Narayan MP, AI and Online Safety Minister
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com
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Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
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13 November 2025, 4:00 am - 53 minutes 38 secondsWhat can the left learn from Zohran Mamdani’s win?
Nish and Coco celebrate the win of Progressive New York Democratic Mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani - and ponder what British lefties can learn from his social-media friendly campaign.
And is Chancellor Rachel Reeves about to rip up Labour’s manifesto promise not to introduce any new taxes on “working people”? She certainly seems to be laying the groundwork for it, after an unusual pre-budget speech on Tuesday. Nothing was announced - but it’s what wasn’t denied that tells a story…
Later - Nish and Coco discuss the disturbing influence of American anti-abortionist lobbies on the UK’s political system and what we can do about it with New York Times investigative reporter Jane Bradley and campaigner for sexual and reproductive health and rights Lisa Hallgarten. To nobody’s surprise, Nigel Farage is involved.
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Babbel
Calm
Wise
GUESTS
Lisa Hallgarten - advocate, educator and campaigner for sexual and reproductive health and rights with a recent focus on young people’s right to better sex education. You can follow her on Instagram and Bluesky @FundamentalWrites
Jane Bradley - UK investigative reporter at the New York Times
USEFUL LINKS
Crooked Christmas Gear
Jane Bradley's NYT article
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/world/europe/uk-abortion-farage.html
AUDIO CREDITS
CNN
Sky News
Reform UK
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
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Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
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6 November 2025, 4:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App