RHLSTP Book Club 44 - Melt It! - Rich meets the legendary performance artist and comedian - the IceMan- to talk about the book “Melt It” which documents his career and the blocks oficehe melted in the name of art and comedy. Is the task pointless or has it something deeper to say about the human condition and metamorphosis and the various states of water? How does it compare to moving stones off a field? What did Chris Tarrant make of it all? Are theicepuns he included necessary or desirable? An...
Feb 24, 2023•35 min•Ep. 44
#429 Chlorine Allergy - Rich has some cold hard truths for any murderers out there and is also glad to see that his eventless zombie story idea has been so quickly embraced, with a twist. Today is a momentous meeting of Champions of Champions because his guest is Josh Widdicombe. They talk about the worst thing you can take to the hospital when your wife is giving birth, being related to Henry VIII and a man who wiped a king’s bum, what Josh’s disability is, the true motivations of role players,...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 26Ep. 3
RHLSTP Book Club 43 - You Are Not Alone - Richard talks to improviser, actor and host of Griefcast Cariad Lloyd about her fantastic new book You Are Not Alone. They chat about why people are reluctant to talk about death, how it’s not possible to “get over” a death and why we shouldn’t be afraid to talk to people who’ve lost someone or to think about your own death and passing on instructions about how to load the dishwasher. Get the book here https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/you-are-not-alone-fr...
Feb 16, 2023•50 min•Ep. 43
#428 Half a Melted KitKat - Richard reveals that he is (according to the press) boycotting the Edinburgh Fringe, but that doesn’t mean the end of podcasts from the Festival necessarily. His guest is Taskmaster songstress and sausage painter, Fern Brady. They mainly talk about her remarkable new book Strong Female Character, detailing her life, career and discovery that she is autistic, how the media is weighted against the working class, how TV fails to depict the truth about strip clubs, how co...
Feb 14, 2023•58 min•Season 26Ep. 2
RHLSTP Book Club 42 - The New Life - Rich meets hot new author (and his brother-in-law’s partner, so he’s met him before) Tom Crewe to talk about the New Life, an amazing debut novel about homosexuality and homophobia (but also feminism and class) in the late 19th Century. They talk about semen, the responsibility of basing a novel on real people, the tragedy of people not being allowed to love the people they love, writing about thrilling and disappointing sex, why it’s better to be an invert r...
Feb 10, 2023•54 min•Ep. 42
#427 Retribution - Richard is hoping to get a bridge named after him in Great Yarmouth and hopefully his fans will do better than they did in getting him nominated for a British Comedy Award. It’s an incredible guest to start the new series, making his first appearance in almost 10 years, Stephen Merchant. Stephen has some questions for Richard about his first stint on the podcast and Richard doesn’t really have any answers. But after a bit of squirming the pair get talking about meeting your he...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 26Ep. 1
RHLSTP Book Club 41 - Love and Let Die - Richard talks to author John Higgs about his fascinating book linking the stories of the Beatles and James Bond, who coincidentally appears in the world on the same day in October 1962. There are a lot of talking points including the way the 60s began to define class and masculinity, how the Beatles symbolise love and Bond symbolises death, the sadness/trauma in the childhoods of most of the people involved, the bizarre way George Lazenby was tested to se...
Feb 03, 2023•51 min•Ep. 41
#426 Sarah Alabaster - It’s the last show of the series, but never fear, the RHLSTP juggernaut will continue until you have to wrestle the microphone from Herring’s cold, dead hands. His guest is singer, podcaster, 24 hour dancer and lock down internet sensation Sophie Ellis-Bextor. They discuss Richard’s feelings for Sophie's mum, being carried to bed by Joey from Bread, why Sophie was embarrassed when Jarvis Cocker used her toilet, the weird and sometimes horrifying culture of the 1990s, how S...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr•Season 25Ep. 21
RHLSTP Book Club 40 - The Theory of Everything Else - Richard chats with Dan Schreiber about this fascinating book about batshit theories held often by the cleverest of people. They discuss how ghosts aren’t anchored to the place that they died, the freaky message at the end of the Beatles’ Free as a Bird, whether ideas are projected into our brains from the future, why Richard went to Fiji in July 1999 and his disappointing super power, Boris Becker’s giveaway tongue and the freaky incidents th...
Jan 27, 2023•54 min•Ep. 40
#425 Bearded Lady - Rich’s very slow take-over of TV continues and he has found a cheap and effective new drug, his guest is the man who stood in for Al Murray and who is now standing in for Nick Mohammed, (but he’s not taking it personally) Paul Chowdhry. They discuss facial hair, what constitutes a family friendly TV comic and whether edgy comedians are actually less controversial than the people on air, whether it’s possible to cancel someone who is not on TV, the problems facing comics if Ma...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 25Ep. 20
RETRO RHLSTP #54 Pennsylvania Polka - It’s episode 200 of the podcast and the end of series 14, two insane milestones for this ramshackle lump of podcast. And to celebrate this occasion there’s a record breaking fourth appearance from the grandson of a Batman, Adam Buxton. Adam sets the agenda from the start, bearing gifts, mocking stone-clearing like a philistine, revealing what 1995 Richard Herring had somehow discovered annoyed Stewart Lee and attempting a slightly underwhelming tribute to Gr...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 54
RHLSTP Book Club 39 - Kindred . Richard talks to archaeologist and writer Rebecca Wragg Sykes about her all encompassing, lyrical and fascinating book, Kindred. They chat about how and when Neanderthal were discovered, the triumph of archaeology that allows us to know about their life, loves and deaths, whether a line was crossed when Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had sex, why Neanderthals died out and what Rebecca would ask if one of them showed up today. Buy this brilliant book here https://ww...
Jan 20, 2023•56 min•Ep. 39
#424 Dick Pikachus - Richard attempts a poor stand up routine about fruit, but then comes up with a joke that will make you laugh,. One out of two isn’t bad. His guest is immigration lawyer and fantastic comedian Sikisa. They chat about dubious chocolate based nick-names, how the UK public might not fully understand lawyers or immigration, why recent Tory Home Secretaries have been so anti-immigration despite their own heritage, meeting your heroes and having a sexy dad. Plus why do ghosts love ...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 19
RHLSTP Book Club 38 - You Are History - Historian Greg Jenner returns to tell us about his latest book for kids, the colourful and beautifully produced You Are History. He discusses how telling the story of mankind through 50 everyday items is surprisingly efficient, why comedy is a good way to teach kids about history and why it was important that the book also included darker subjects. Plus the comedy death of a medieval toilet cleaner, the almost deadly antics of John Joseph Merlin, how we ne...
Jan 12, 2023•44 min•Ep. 38
#423 Do Sniglets! - Rich is delighted about the new comedic discovery that his daughter has discovered and her enthusiasm for expressing it. His guest is comedy legend and unique brained Rich Hall. They talk about why Rich’s appearance (or non-appearance) in a movie is an indicator of its failure, how he started his comedy career on the streets baptising dogs, trying to take that level of performance into clubs, working alongside Seinfeld and Larry David and making up 90 minutes of comedy every ...
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 18
RETRO RHLSTP #53 Bowl of Cheese - It’s a showdown battle of who is best, Richard or Hugh Jassburn - in book form at least, but Richard is keen to bring back one of his all time favourite guests: the magnificent beast and Master of Tasks that is Greg Davies. They discuss schoolday soilings, dick-lifters, being related to a ghost, little Alex Horne, the exquisite pain of laughing when you’re not meant to, sex with teddies, the saddest of bachelor meals, the death of two fathers, the devastating su...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 53
RHLSTP Book Club 37 - The Very Best of Fesshole - Richard chats with internerd Rob Manuel about the Twitter feed that became an hilarious book, Fesshole. They chat about the liberating effects anonymity, how confessions aren’t always dirty or embarrassing, whether anyone has confessed to murder, which confessions don’t make it to the internet and why stuff like Fesshole and Roger’s Profanisaurus show the creativity of the populace and something significant about the human condition. SUPPORT THE ...
Jan 06, 2023•43 min•Ep. 37
#422 P*ssing On Richard - Richard has had his annual cancer check up and it’s mainly good news, but something weird is going on in his scrotum (though he hates to talk about it). His guest is comedian Sarah Keyworth. They talk about the terrible behaviour of the Sheriff of Nottingham, how to explain modern day notions of gender to the old and confused, the previously unexplored positive sides of being in a human centipede, how comedy can help us cope with tragedy and our darkest thoughts, how ma...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 25Ep. 17
RHLSTP Book Club Xmas Bonus Richard Herring interviewed by Natalie Haynes - Can I Have My Ball Back? A fabulous bonus chat about Richard’s books, male fragility, international men’s day and how amazing Richard SUPPORT THE SHOW! Watch our TWITCH CHANNEL See extra content at our WEBSITE ’s wife is, recorded at the Hay Winter Festival. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 28, 2022•57 min
#421 Gascoigne V Herring - Richard’s daughter has firm evidence for the existence of ghosts, which is apt because Richard’s guests are ghosts too!!! It’s Mat and Jim from off of Ghosts and much more. There are some harsh words about the reboot of Bob the Builder and a story of actorly distress from the set of Hellboy, but then we’re into a nice long chat about the genesis of Horrible Histories and Ghosts and what the team at the core of these projects saw in each other. Rich is prepared to go to...
Dec 25, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 25Ep. 16
#420 Watch Out! Watch Out! - Richard has come up with a way to save the UK hundreds of millions of pounds - is it his turn to be Chancellor of the Exchequer? His guest is actor and football executive Humphrey Ker. They discuss his part in the fantastic TV show and community project “Welcome to Wrexham”, what it’s like to have an entire football team laugh at you, being observed when doing a self-tape for a huge TV project, why being a giant isn’t great for getting roles in the UK, what prompted ...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 25Ep. 15
RETRO RHLSTP #52 Terry Hall Hall - Richard has finally won a TV quiz show and I am afraid he will never stop talking about it again, but he’s nervous as Hell because one of his heroes is on the podcast and he’s sure he’ll screw it up, it’s ex-Fun Boy Three-er Terry Hall. They discuss the dynamics and disagreements that come with collaboration, the nostalgic sexual time waves of early 1980s fashion, the one occasion when Terry laughed, being mistaken for a ventriloquist by the taxman, why the gre...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 52
RHLSTP Book Club 36 - Birdgirl Buy it here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birdgirl-Environmentalist-Search-Better-Future/dp/1787333205/ SUPPORT THE SHOW! Watch our TWITCH CHANNEL See extra content at our WEBSITE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 15, 2022•46 min•Ep. 36
#419 Eights as Infinities - Rich has an apology to make to the prescient geniuses who voted for Brexit. His guest is therapist and advice columnist Philippa Perry. They talk about the jobs she drifted in an out of in her 20s, how she got to be a mature student thanks to having Mill Aunties, whether therapy makes or breaks a comedian, how to stay sane and how the Perry family have become a 21st Century Vision On. Richard attempts to get some free therapy and desperately looks for reasons to blame...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 25Ep. 14
RHLSTP Book Club 35 - Growing Up Human - Richard talks to archaeologist and tooth specialist about her fascinating and funny book about the evolution of childhood and why the human one goes on so very long. Plus penis spikes, testicles as peacock tails, pizza rats, how the trauma of birth can be seen in our teeth, sexism in academia (and elsewhere) how forceps were kept secret, how the placenta isn’t human and did the people in the past love their kids? The book is terrific. Buy it here https://...
Dec 08, 2022•48 min•Ep. 35
#418 Starfish Perineum - Rich is back to his usual chair this week and tries to influence an impossible to win bet before being joined by Victoria Coren Mitchell. They chat about the disconnect between Victoria’s teenage angst and then partying with Frankie Howerd, the worst celebrity poker players, why the coughing Major should have gone for anal beads, how Victoria charmingly manages to lose money doing her Radio 4 show, how it’s possible that she didn’t learn to ride a bike as a child, the po...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 25Ep. 13
RHLSTP Book Club 34 - The Bullet That Missed - Richard is at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and has the honour of interviewing modern day Agatha Christie, best-selling author, Richard Osman. Find out who came up with the brilliant title for this third instalment of The Thursday Murder Club, which character Osman is most like, whether the game show in the book would work, why people shout “Helen Mirren” at the Pointless funny man, what his writing process is and why there’s a mention of Waitros...
Dec 01, 2022•58 min•Ep. 34
#417 Captain Dick - Rich and some other Londoners are only alive today thanks to his skilful driving which means he is here to interview the absolutely remarkable Anneka Rice. They discuss her new stand up career and the way she tackles serious subjects like death and Alzheimers in her radio show Anneka Has Issues, why she was recently arrested at an airport, the return of Challenge Anneka and whether there’s the same community spirit that there was 30 years ago, the physical imperfection that n...
Nov 30, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 25Ep. 12
RHLSTP Book Club 33 - The Good Drinker - Richard talks to TV and radio presenter Adrian Chiles about his book about moderating alcohol intake The Good Drinker. They compare their similarly boozy backgrounds, whether everyone really drinks more than the recommended units, if it’s possible to socialise without alcohol and how we can examine the motivations for caning it. Plus Sex Pistol Paul Cook’s plans for his old age and why a pint and a half of Guinness might be the perfect amount to drink. Bu...
Nov 25, 2022•46 min•Ep. 33
#416 John the Mouse - Rich has some helpful suggestions to help the footballers support LGBTQ+ rights and is amazed by the press reaction to last week’s podcast. His guest is superlative stand up comedian and podcaster James Acaster. They discuss Nasty Nick’s funeral, the Richard E Grant mystery, why James never retired from stand up and why he’s now inviting hecklers, the weird experience of being a last minute replacement mouse in Cinderella, confusing and angering people with his fantasticall...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 25Ep. 11
