Pod Save the UK

Nish and Coco are reunited in the studio following a tumultuous week in politics that saw Boris Johnson resign and Nicola Sturgeon arrested. Sky News’ Liz Bates tells us why Johnson’s demise could be good news for the strength of UK democracy, and explains why the independence movement is holding firm despite the SNP’s woes. Given it was Johnson’s party-ing during Covid that brought him down, it’s timely that the public hearings in the Covid Inquiry got underway this week...

Can the Labour Party save the UK? Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry is challenged by Nish and Coco over her party’s attack ads, and on the Labour manifesto - which she promises will help young people, and be bullshit free. Find out why she thinks being Labour leader is the hardest job in the world, and what she got up to behind the bike sheds with David Cameron.

Nish and Coco ask how we can save the UK from knife crime. It turns out we have evidence of what works - so why aren’t we doing it? We meet Jon Yates, who leads a charity that has been given £200 million by the Home Office to research what works and then put it into practice. He’s trialling a targeted, interventionist approach, called ‘focused deterrence’ which helped Glasgow dramatically reduce violent crime. Those lessons are now going to be applied in 5 cities in the UK...

Why did Suella Braverman’s speeding ticket take up so much oxygen, and who did it serve? Nish and Coco discuss whether the leaks against the Home Secretary are symptomatic of a party that’s heading into yet another bout of self-destructive psychodrama. As if that’s not enough, Boris Johnson is back in trouble too! As another set of record migration figures are published, Nish and Coco reflect on the immigrant experience and how it forged their own friendship...

Never ones to shirk a challenge, Nish and Coco launch ‘Chat Shit Get Banged’, their campaign to stop politicians from lying. They get some expert help from Will Moy, from fact checkers Full Fact - he’s dedicated his life to correcting the mistakes and mistruths of the people elected to lead us…not mislead us. With a general election on the horizon next year, he tells them he’s done with “bullshit manifestos”, and reveals how AI could help root out the liars...

While we were busy being dazzled by glittery crowns and golden coaches…did the authorities sneak in and steal away our rights? New laws have given the police wide ranging powers to arrest protestors - scuppering the plans of anti-monarchy protestors to demonstrate against the Coronation. Instead they were arrested, detained and then released without charge - after the event was safely over...

Pod Save the UK is on a mission: to free the royals, and the country, from the madness of monarchy. Has King Charles’s coronation sent the UK into a frenzy of royal fervour, a bored stupor or a republican rage? Nish Kumar and Coco Khan work out how to ditch the Windsors and replace them with something better. Professor Amelia Hadfield, head of politics at Surrey University, has spotted some pitfalls for Pod Save the UK’s revolutionaries. Labour MP, Clive Lewis, joins the pod...

The United States and Britain – two nations divided by a common language, until now. Nish Kumar and Coco Khan connect with Pod Save America’s Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor to untangle what “chat shit, get banged” means, dive into what we can borrow from each other's systems and how to turn political outrage into action, and discuss what really happened to the Queen’s corgis. Pod Save the UK launches on the 4th of May, subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts

Pod Save the UK is your fresh weekly fix of UK political news, big ideas and a shot of inspiration. Comedian Nish Kumar and journalist Coco Khan find out what's going on, what's going wrong and how we can fix it. Produced in partnership between Reduced Listening and Crooked Media, the company behind Pod Save America. New episodes out Thursdays starting the 4th of May.