RHLSTP Book Club 54 - Colditz. Richard talks to acclaimed historian Ben Macintyre about his fabulous book about the true story of Colditz - beyond the Boy’s Own stuff we grew up and incorporating boredom, propaganda spreading wasps and homosexuality. It’s Richard’s favourite book of 2022 (now out in paperback) telling the story of some of the more famous inhabitants of the castle like Pat Reid and Douglas Bader (who was both a hero and a monster), as well as some of the lesser known and unknown ...
May 26, 2023•42 min•Ep. 54
#442 Hungover Mastermind - Richard is basking in the possibly short-lived approval of one of his kids and is trying to make money off the ideas of the other one. His guest is Mock the Week favourite, Rhys James. They discuss the tallest building in Swindon, the worst place in Hertfordshire, writing right wing and left wing material on the same subject, what Richard said about Rhys when he saw him in a new act competition, the enduring problem of the last packet of crisps falling into a volcano, ...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 26Ep. 16
RHLSTP Book Club 53 - The Debutante. It’s a transatlantic podcast this week as Richard chats to fantastic author and journalist Jon Ronson, in a typically unlikely location in New York. They are chatting about his new Audible audiobook/podcast Debutante, a deep dive into the extraordinary life of Carol Howe, the former debutante who became a Neo-Nazi and then an informant and then… well who can be sure? It’s a fascinating and often harrowing investigation into whether the Oklahoma bombing might ...
May 19, 2023•49 min•Ep. 53
#441 Back of the Head With a Plastic Cup - Richard has been having weird dreams, but don’t try and interpret anything from them. His guest is singer, actor, presenter and legend Graham “Suggs” McPherson. They chat about how Madness might just be the defining band of the 80s, how their songs can make you travel in time, the brilliant social document of their book/documentary “Before We Was We”, the first appearance on Top of the Pops, pranking the clash, the Two Tone tour, plus the Madness sitcom...
May 17, 2023•51 min•Season 26Ep. 15
Have You Ever Seen A Ghost? - It’s another compilation of some of our favourite answers to emergency questions and this time it’s possibly the most enduring and definitely spookiest question of all. Including genuine and pretend horrors from the League of Gentlemen, Richard’s theory on which guests will have seen ghosts and loads of ghosts that he, the supposed sceptic claims to have encountered. A cavalcade of stars answer the question and hilarity and chills and thrills transpire. SUPPORT THE ...
May 15, 2023•40 min•Ep. 3
RHLSTP Book Club 52 - The God Desire. Richard talks to David Baddiel about his thought-provoking and shamefully sometimes funny book, The God Desire and why the author believes that the fact he so much wants there to be a god means that there can’t be one. Also why he moved away from writing novels, an illuminating car ride with Frank Skinner, why David has chosen the medium of the essay book, if Jesus knew he was the son of God, what prompted Richard to lose his religion and whether death is go...
May 12, 2023•50 min•Ep. 52
#440 Embracing Your Delicious Fate - Richard comes bearing great news for those who seek seduction via pizza. His guest is the hottest new act in comedy right now, the incredible Jordan Gray. They talk about the smell of elephant dung, why she wasn’t allowed to set herself on fire on TV, a visit from Magneto, a double-teaming Bros, the erudition of Paloma Faith, Twitter storms, political footballs and why she is first and foremost a comedian and the lengths that people will go to to get into a t...
May 10, 2023•59 min•Season 26Ep. 14
RHLSTP Book Club 51 - Ricky’s Hand. Richard talks to music critic, sitcom and movie writer and novelist David Quantick about his fun sci-fi novel about a man who wakes up with someone else’s hand, Ricky’s Hand. They chat about David’s career and his tentative steps towards becoming a novelist and how people expect you to stay in your lane. Plus the inspiration for this extraordinary story and whether you need to worry too much about logistics when writing about a high concept. Also having an unl...
May 05, 2023•40 min•Ep. 51
#439 Cucumber Coward - Richard is hoping to replace himself with an AI host and has left the emergency questions and some of the stand up to the robots. His guest, returning after a hiatus of just 400 episodes is the wonderful Mark Gatiss. They discuss the unfair tale of Jacob Marley, the influence of Robin Askwith, playing to camera 3 as Larry Grayson, Mark’s many theatre projects, working with Anthony Hopkins after portraying him in TMWRNJ and directing Reece Shearsmith. But will we find out h...
May 03, 2023•56 min•Season 26Ep. 13
#3 Dancing Megasperm - This huge investigation into a load of bollocks - incorporating Richard Herring’s journey to streamline his own - continues. This time. Richard pretends he’s in Total Recall as he gets a full body scan and visits the garden of national hero and jockey, Bob Champion, who gives a hair-raising account of what testicular cancer treatment was like in the 20th Century. Plus we hear from some of our listeners who share their own stories of cancer, both serious and amusing. If you...
Apr 28, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3
#438 Naked Beach - Richard reveals whether Great Yarmouth has given him a multi-million pound honour or not. His guest was having a bad time last time they were on, let’s see if they’re doing any better now, it’s the brilliant Catherine Bohart. The pair talk about their respective visits to Iceland and whether Rich’s depleted genitals might end up in a museum, appearing at the ghost Edinburgh Fringe of 2021, whether OCD had any influence over he choice of college, whether the point of life is to...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 26Ep. 12
RETRO RHLSTP #55 Sir William Strawberry - Richard reveals the terrible secret that he was harbouring throughout the David Morrissey podcast before introducing the man who arrogantly claims to have invented the hypothetical question, James Acaster. They discuss teenage bands, how you find out if you are on Taskmaster, favourite meals, the hidden darkness at the heart of Lembit Opik, the missed opportunities in the film Passengers, skiving off to eat custard creams, the unnecessary cruelty of teac...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 55
#2 The Bagging Area with Dr Sara Kayat - Richard continues the story of his testicular cancer diagnosis and this week reveals how you maintain your dignity whilst having your balls scanned. He also talks to Dr Sara Kayat about why men are so reluctant to talk to their GP and the myriad of things that go wrong in a scrotum. If you have a ball story you’d like to share then email producer Ben at cihmbb@gmail.com - no pictures please. Find out how to examine the testicles of yourself or a consentin...
Apr 21, 2023•32 min•Ep. 2
#437 Adelaide Clowns - Richard has had a wonderful Saturday night without his wife doing what most men can only dream of. His guest is ubiquitous comedy actor and extremely good guy, Kiell Smith-Bynoe. They talk about the best acting job in the world, appearing on Death in Paradise, with some insights into what goes on off camera, getting intimate with an ex-Doctor Who assistant on the ace new series Dreamland, searching for real ghosts on the set of Ghosts, rating the catering on different TV s...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 26Ep. 11
#1 Shelling Peas with Charley Boorman - A brand new podcast series that’s happy to admit that it’s a load of bollocks. Uniballer Richard Herring tells the story of how he came to lose one of his Chuckle Brothers, talks to other monoballs and teste experts (testperts) about these remarkable and vulnerable organs. In episode one Richard recounts what happened when he first became concerned about his weird big bollock and talks to Richard Herring lookalike and fellow motorcycle enthusiast and wombl...
Apr 14, 2023•39 min•Ep. 1
#436 Too Much Farage Piss - Rich is mourning the Veneziana pizzas that he bought and the terrible effects they have wrought and the loss of a man whose friend assumed he was joking. His guest is historian, comedian and puppeteer, Al Murray. They talk about the evolution of the new Spitting Image live show and, hosting a chat show with proper famous guests, the toll of touring in your 50s and Al’s first proper serious history book Command, including the impact that VD had on the British fighting ...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 26Ep. 10
EQ2 The Human Centipede - here’s a selection of the best answers to one of the most horrible emergency questions. If you were in the middle who would you choose to have in front and behind. Answers from some of our best loved comedians. Can’t believe I asked it to Dawn French. Shame on me. Come and see us live SUPPORT THE SHOW! Come and see us live TOUR Watch our TWITCH CHANNEL See extra content at our WEBSITE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 09, 2023•45 min•Ep. 2
RHLSTP Book Club 50 - Your Show. Richard chats to academic and expert on sex robots, Kate Devlin about her thoughtful and fascinating book on the subject, Turned On. Can Richard finally prove to his wife that having sex with a robot does not count as cheating? How far away are we from creating something that looks like Gemma Chan in Humans? Are robots more likely to be companions than full-time lovers? Will they rise up and kill us or fuck us to death? Should we be thinking of more interesting p...
Apr 07, 2023•39 min•Ep. 50
#435 Glisten With Mother - Richard has had to deal with a persistent heckler (aka his son) and surprised himself with the cliche that he responded with. His guest is banker turned comedian Eshaan Akbar. They discuss not knowing how to wear trousers or shake hands, his inappropriately named dance group, challenging your childhood religion through comedy and why that was potentially more perilous for Eshaan, than Richard, whether it was right that Eshaan ended up doing the brown voices on Spitting...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 26Ep. 9
RHLSTP Book Club 49 - Your Show. Rich talks to exciting young novelist Ashley Hickson-Lovence about his extraordinary book Your Show, a novelised biography of the UK’s first and only black Premiership referee Uriah Rennie. They discuss writing a novel on an iPhone, what inspired this book and the joy of researching the subject, as well as meeting and corresponding with him, the representation of black people in football and publishing and the big stylistic choice that Ashley made, even though he...
Mar 31, 2023•43 min•Ep. 49
#434 Big Nick - Richard is back at the Leicester Comedy Festival for the second week in a row, concerned about the historical figures that they venerate here. His guest is Michael Sheen stand-in, Nish Kumar. They discuss the physical and mental health scares they’ve had since last they met and the secret that Richard was harbouring back then, plus whether therapy helps of hinders comedy, cowardly potholers, horny followers of the alien Jesus, getting to sit in Richard Osman’s chair, how little c...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 26Ep. 8
RHLSTP Book Club 48 - I'll Die After Bingo. Rich talks to comedian, ex-drug addict and quaker Pope Lonergan about his brilliant book about working in the care system. They discuss the place of humour in terrible circumstances, how TV portrayals of care homes do not match up to reality, the grim privatised system that isn’t good for any of us and why we should care more about the people who care. Buy the book here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Die-After-Bingo-Assistant/dp/B09V35NNZP/ SUPPORT THE S...
Mar 23, 2023•51 min•Ep. 48
#433 Piggy in the Middle - Richard is at the Leicester Comedy Festival and has still not forgiven the city for the king theft or the cheese rivalry, but he gives out his phone number for anyone who wants to call him in 1973. His guest is making his fourth appearance on the podcast, though still not had a whiff of the Leicester Square Theatre, it’s the multi award winning John Kearns. There’s a Top Coppers update and some amazing new news of how he got the part, plus they discuss the changes wrou...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 26Ep. 7
RHLSTP Book Club 47 - Mother's Day . A slightly poorly Rich talks to actor/script-writer turned novelist Abigail Burdess. They discuss how a Facebook post inspired the story, how the novel originated as a movie pitch, the freedom involved in moving from pitching for TV to working on a book, why this book is not a good mother’s day present, the liberation of writing a story full of twisted darkness and using real life experience in your stories. SUPPORT THE SHOW! Watch our TWITCH CHANNEL See extr...
Mar 17, 2023•45 min•Ep. 47
#432 Womblin’ Free - Richard has had a crisp and a field disappointment, but it won’t stop him interviewing the heck out of director, writer and omelette chef, Joe Cornish. They talk about offending Claudia Winkleman’s listeners, how Channel 4 messed up a sketch show with an incredible cast, (briefly) having the number one Netflix show (check out Lockwood and Co), whether being a director is all it’s cracked up to be, how losing a Fiat Punto led to Attack The Block, working with a Young One and ...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 26Ep. 6
RHLSTP Book Club 46 - Garth Marenghi’s Terrortome . Richard talks to legendary comedian and film maker Matthew Holness about resurrecting his award winning creation, Garth Marenghi, the challenges of writing a deliberately bad book and the importance of making it good, the similarity between horror writers and serial killers, Garth Marenghi’s surprisingly good acting and how teenagers are the best comedy audience Buy the brilliant book/audio book here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audible-Garth-Maren...
Mar 09, 2023•40 min•Ep. 46
#431 Sleeping Bag Vulva - Richard’s Valentine’s promises have turned to chocolatey crumbs, but never mind, his guest is a woman who built a bathroom from the laughter generated by animals- it’s Zoe Lyons. Zoe takes us through the downs and ups of her last few years including a full on midlife crisis, the loss of her hair, how lockdown led her to delivering vegetables when she was meant to be on TV, writing material to impress her therapist and how badly she coped when she split from her wife and...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr•Season 26Ep. 5
EQ1 Talcum Powder Tit v Time Travelling Finger - In an attempt to get a TV show on Channel 5, welcome to the new RHLSTP compilation spin off, where we gather together the funniest answers to RHLSTP Emergency Questions in one easy to digest podcast. What will this week’s question be? There’s no way to find out, apart from listening to the episode (apart from looking at the title of this blurb). Guests include Adam Buxton, Miranda Hart, Greg Davies, Rebecca Front, Simon Pegg and Harry Shearer! But...
Mar 05, 2023•41 min•Ep. 1
RHLSTP Book Club 45 - Ashes to Admin . Richard talks to Evie King (if that is her real name) about her new book about her council job of organising funerals for people who don’t have the means to pay for them. It’s a surprisingly affecting story about a woman doing a job you’ve never thought about, much more fastidiously and empathetically than is required and a celebration of life and a treatise on death, as well as being full of intrigue, mystery and humour. They discuss why murderers haven’t ...
Mar 03, 2023•43 min•Ep. 45
#430 The Imp from Impington - Rich has a problem with his daughter’s favourite song, and shows that he is up to date with all the music playing at the discos nowadays. His guest is the irrepressible timkey, back for a third time in 18 months!. They talk about Tim’s time as a white van man, a woman who survived eight days in a snow drift (for a bit), the places that Tim is and isn’t going for his (basically sold out) tour https://www.plosive.co.uk/events/tim-key-mulberry-tour-2023 , where he gets...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 26Ep. 4
