Pod Save the UK

Farage’s Wild Week: energy bill stunts and questionable cameo videos

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 psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS  BABBEL: https://www.babbel.com/PSUK [https://www.babbel.com/PSUK] WISE: https://www.wise.com [https://www.wise.com] SHOPIFY: https://shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk [https://shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk] 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 - https://www.thepodcastshowlondon.com/explore-passes [https://www.thepodcastshowlondon.com/explore-passes] [https://www.thepodcastshowlondon.com/explore-passes] Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/477340/muskism-by-tarnoff-quinn-slobodian-and-ben/9780241805114 [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. Get in touch - contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk [PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk] Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK [https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK] Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk [https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk [https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk] BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com [https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com] Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk [https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk]X: https://x.com/podsavetheuk [https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk]

The Mandelson Files Are Out

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 psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk [psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk] and they’ll spill the tea!  CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS  AURA FRAMES: https://www.auraframes.com [https://www.auraframes.com] Code: PSTUK BABBEL: https://www.babbel.com/PSUK [https://www.babbel.com/PSUK] 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 https://picturehouses.com/movie-details/000/HO00017471/nish-kumar-nish-don-t-kill-my-vibe-q-a?filter= [https://picturehouses.com/movie-details/000/HO00017471/nish-kumar-nish-don-t-kill-my-vibe-q-a?filter=] [https://picturehouses.com/movie-details/000/HO00017471/nish-kumar-nish-don-t-kill-my-vibe-q-a?filter=] Open letter opposing planned changes to the immigration settlement routes: https://act.praxis.org.uk/open-letter-earned-settlement [https://act.praxis.org.uk/open-letter-earned-settlement?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=podcast] 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. Get in touch - contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk [PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk] Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK [https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK] Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk [https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk [https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk] BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com [https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com] Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk [https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk]X: https://x.com/podsavetheuk [https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk]

“No Winston Churchill”: is the special relationship over?

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: psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk [psuk@reducedlistening.co.uk]  CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS  WISE https://www.wise.com [https://www.wise.com] [https://www.wise.com] SHOPIFY  https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk [https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk] [https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk]  SURFSHARK https://www.surfshark.com/podsave [https://www.surfshark.com/podsave] [https://www.surfshark.com/podsave] Code: PODSAVE GUEST Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE, founder and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) USEFUL LINKS Sophie Duker https://thesophieduker.com/ [https://thesophieduker.com/] [https://thesophieduker.com/] 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 [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. Get in touch - contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk [PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk] Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK [https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK] Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk [https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk [https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk] BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com [https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com] Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk [https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk]X: https://x.com/podsavetheuk [https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk]

Are we stuck in never-ending political scandal? w/Ash Sarkar

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. CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS  BABBEL: https://www.babbel.com/PSUK [https://www.babbel.com/PSUK] WISE: https://www.wise.com [https://www.wise.com/] SURFSHARK: https://www.surfshark.com/podsave [https://www.surfshark.com/podsave]  CODE: PODSAVE    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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgaqKIxS4Hs&t=1s] CREDITS Daily Express - YouTube Nigel Farage - YouTube @sendra.uk [http://sendra.uk] [http://sendra.uk] - Instagram Nida Jafri Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media. Get in touch - contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk [PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk] Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK [https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK] Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk [https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk [https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk] BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com [https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com] Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk [https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk]X: https://x.com/podsavetheuk [https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk]

Can she fix it? Hannah the plumber and politician on tackling Reform

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. CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS  BABBEL: https://www.babbel.com/PSUK [https://www.babbel.com/PSUK] SHOPIFY: https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk [https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk] 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/ [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 Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media. Get in touch - contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk [PSUK@reducedlistening.co.uk] Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK [https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK] Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk [https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk [https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk] BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com [https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com] Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk [https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk]X: https://x.com/podsavetheuk [https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk]