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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.

Pod Save the UK

Warning: this episode contains a use of a racial slur.

From the rollback of human rights and Trump’s BBC lawsuit to governance by AI - Nish and Coco are joined by comedian Shappi Khorsandi and political commentator Jovan Owusu-Nepaul to make sense of the wild and rocky 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?

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

AURA FRAMES

https://www.auraframes.com Code: PSUK

CALM

calm.com/PTSUK

SHOPIFY

Shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk

GUESTS 

Shappi Khorsandi, Comedian

Jovan Uwusu-Nepaul, Co-Host of What’s Left? 

USEFUL LINKS

https://togetherforpalestine.bandcamp.com/album/lullaby

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: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

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2025 in British politics: from Starmer’s flop-flops to AI slop

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.

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

BABBEL

https://www.babbel.com/PSUK 

AURA FRAMES

https://www.auraframes.com Code: PSUK

SHOPIFY

Shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk

GUESTS 

Sam Coates, Deputy Political Editor at Sky News

Alison McGovern MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness

USEFUL LINKS: 

Nish’s Carol Performance 

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.

Contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

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Trump blasts Europe and Sadiq Khan - but will his strong man act backfire?

“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 psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

AURA FRAMES

https://www.auraframes.com Code: PSUK

BABBEL

https://www.babbel.com/PSUK 

WISE

https://www.wise.com

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: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
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Will cutting juries fix our maggot-ridden courts?

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 psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

SHOPIFY

 https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

CALM

 https://www.calm.com/PSTUK 

AURA FRAMES

 https://www.auraframes.com Code: PSUK

GUESTS 

Zoë Grünewald, Journalist 

Faiza Shaheen, Director of Tax Justice UK

USEFUL LINKS 

https://www.yourparty.uk/founding-documents/ 

Aditya Chakrabortty Guardian article

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/20/wealth-tax-left-super-rich-britain-budget-2025

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: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reeves’s make-or-break budget: should the rich have paid more?

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. 

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

AURA FRAMES

https://www.auraframes.com Code: PSUK

CALM

https://www.calm.com/PSTUK 

GUESTS 

Robert Palmer, Deputy Director of Uplift

USEFUL LINKS 

Claims of racism and antisemitism in Nigel Farage’s adolescence 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2025/nov/18/deeply-shocking-nigel-farage-faces-fresh-claims-of-racism-and-antisemitism-at-school

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: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

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Mahmood’s Moral Mission: Copy Reform’s homework

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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SHOPIFY

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BABBEL

https://www.babbel.com/PSUK 

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: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much a-coup about nothing? Labour take all the wrong notes from the Tories

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. 

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS

Babbel 

https://www.babbel.com/PSUK 

Calm 

https://www.calm.com/PSTUK 

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https://www.wise.com

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 

http://crooked.com/store

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: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
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What can the left learn from Zohran Mamdani’s win?

It’s been a painful week for the government, with a migrant sex offender accidentally released from prison and a damning report on the spiralling costs of the asylum system. But is a plan to house asylum seekers on military sites really the answer? 

Political journalist Zoë Grünewald - standing in for Coco as Nish’s co-host this week - dives into how this re-hashed Conservative plan has managed to piss off, well, just about everyone. 

In better news - it’s curtains for the hated section 21 ‘no-fault evictions’ notices. The long-awaited Renters’ Rights Act has become law! Nish and Zoe talk to housing journalist Vicky Spratt about how big a deal this is for renters across England. 

Plus - why Housing Secretary Steve Reed's Maga-style 'build, baby, build' crusade looks likely to end in affordable housing targets more pathetic than they are now.

 

Then later – from spending £75,000 on flags to their only black party chair quitting - is Reform out-reforming Reform? And why is Jeremy Corbyn swapping parliament for panto this Christmas.

GUESTS

Vicky Spratt

USEFUL LINKS

Peckham Not For Sale

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/acapeckham/

CREDITS

Sky News

X / Steve Reed 

Talk TV

LBC

Reform UK

ITV News

IG / Pleasance Theatre 

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

Contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Britain’s prison and asylum meltdown. Plus - the Renters’ Rights Act w/ Vicky Spratt

Enough is enough! Nish stages an intervention with Coco about her troubling relationship with Chat GPT. Or as Coco puts it: her mate “Chatty G”. 

But Coco’s not the only one embracing generative AI - it’s creeping into politics. From MPs using it in their daily work to the Swedish prime minister turning to it for a second opinion on running the country. Is AI a useful and harmless political tool or will it erode trust even further?

Despairing, Nish catches up with internet pioneer and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. What can our increasingly polarised and trust-depleted world learn from the man who turned a crazy idea into one of the most popular websites in the world? Nish and Jimmy cover Musk’s “Wokepedia” attacks, the rise of AI and the Online Safety Act. 

And Nish and Coco check in on some other questionable distortions of reality - featuring everyone’s favourite charlatan Nigel Farage and Prince Andrew’s infamous inability to sweat.

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CALM

https://www.calm.com/PSTUK 

SPOTIFY

https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

GUESTS

Jimmy Wales

CREDITS

Al Arabia

BBC

The Sun 

Reform UK

Donald Trump

Bloomberg

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

Contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pod Save the Truth w/ Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

It’s been an emotional week after the arrival of a Hamas-Israel ceasefire. This is good news - but issues of humanitarian aid, human rights, and accountability are all still up in the air. The struggle for a lasting peace continues... 

Closer to home - Nish and Coco check in with Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, to talk about seeing off Reform, what a new co-operative era in Welsh politics might look like and why voters may find themselves a little "indie-curious".

If Oasis can bury the hatchet, so can we! That's Your Party's message, but Nish and Coco aren’t totally sold on the Corbyn-Sultana reunion. In the wake of a Green membership surge, the party without a name is drawing dividing lines… But are they picking the right battles? 

And - the Iron Lady turns 100 - as lavish celebrations begin Nish and Coco ask why the UK is soooooooooo obsessed with Mags. From Right to Buy to Section 28 - her legacy isn't looking so great in 2025. And a scary revelation that Coco is spookily good at imitating her.

NB. A previous version of this episode contained an incorrect fact about Katy Perry. We regret the error. 

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GUESTS

Rhun ap Iorwerth 

CREDITS

The World Transformed

Turn Left Media

CNBC

USEFUL LINKS 

Medical Aid for Palestinians

https://www.map.org.uk

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

Contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will cutting juries fix our maggot-ridden courts?

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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