In The News This Week (the Have I Got News For You podcast)

In Round One, the team discuss Donald Trump’s plea for military help from Europe with Iran, his deteriorating relationship with Keir Starmer and his secretary of war’s wife’s new nickname. In Round 2, we hear what recent event Morrissey will take a “year to recover” from, why Winston Churchill might be replaced by a beaver and how modern-day treasure hunters still exist. In Round 3, the Missing Wo...

In Round One, the team discuss the UK government’s response to the escalating conflict between the US and Iran, Tony Blair’s latest intervention in Middle Eastern politics and whether Keir Starmer’s stance could really be his “Love Actually moment”. In Round Two, we hear about the spectacular downfall of former US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, from luxury deportation jets to a $50k Role...

In Round One, the team discuss the latest escalation in the Middle East, America’s questionable branding strategy (“lethalitymaxxing”) and the political fallout at home as Reform UK’s supposedly unstoppable rise proves… very stoppable in the Gorton and Denton by-election. In Round Two, we celebrate 30 years of Pokémon (and discover there are now 1,025 of them, including one that is literally a bag...

In Round One, the team discuss the arrests of Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson, the viral “sweating” photo, calls to remove Andrew from the line of succession and Donald Trump’s tariff plans being struck down by the US Supreme Court. In Round Two, we hear about the Sheffield Co-op going viral for the symphonic hum of its freezer aisle and the Catford residents who installed (and then mourned) the...

In Round One, the team discuss Barack Obama ‘breaking the internet’ by suggesting aliens are real, Liz Truss finally managing to snag a photo with Donald Trump, and Keir Starmer being accused of running a “zombie government” after yet more U-turns — from delaying local elections to the Palestine Action proscription row, plus some properly murky Westminster briefing wars. In Round 2, we dive into t...

In Round One, the team unpack the latest in Keir Starmer’s leadership wobbles, how Morgan McSweeney’s taken the fall and who could be the next knife-wielder? Angela Rayner? Wes Streeting? Or the UK’s answer to Zohran Mamdani, Ed Miliband…  In Round Two, we hear about Australia’s commemorative coin that somehow makes the late Queen look like Wayne Rooney in fancy dress, and the Armenian party propo...

In Round One, the team discuss the fallout from 3 million more Epstein Files being released and the potential implications for Peter Mandelson, Prince Andrew and Bill Gates. In Round 2, we learn about the exorcist who makes his job sound mundane and the museum that revels in personal failure.  In Round 3, the Missing Words Round, we hear about how a ‘big baby’ boxer was recently embarrassed in the...

The team discuss Keir Starmer’s controversial decision to block Andy Burnham from running as an MP, reportedly over fears it could threaten his leadership, before playing the ‘King of the North’ game. They then cover Kemi Badenoch’s appearance on Desert Island Discs, Suella Braverman’s defection to Reform and Labour’s plans to create a UK police body similar to the FBI. In Round 2, we learn more a...

With Donald Trump continuing to campaign for total control of Greenland and now threatening tariffs on the UK, the team ask the question: Is Starmer tough enus? Meanwhile, they also discuss Kemi Badenoch’s biggest moment yet to sack Robert Jenrick before his defection to Reform and Nigel Farage’s likeness to a duck.  In round 2, Jack reveals how one renaissance artist’s paintings had to be censore...

The team kicks off the new year and new series by taking a look at Donald Trump’s attempts to establish his new world order, prompting an ambitious plan to thwart him involving Jupiter, King Charles and a fake spaceship. They also talk about Grok, the AI companion on Elon Musk’s social media site ‘X’, before the team assess Labour’s latest U-turn triggered by furious pub landlords, Jeremy Clarkson...

In this festive series finale, the team unpick the limited learnings from the heavily redacted Epstein files and Vanity Fair’s exposé of Trump’s inner circle, before turning to rumours of an ultimatum involving Angela Rayner, Louise Haigh and Morgan McSweeney – as Labour MPs brace for what could be disastrous May elections under Keir Starmer. Next, Emerald reveals that all three of the UK’s Norths...

Producer Diggory steps in to reveal the heartwarming details of Buckinghamshire’s newest school – built in a millionaire’s garden before Queenie reports on the sausagey mystery gripping Bristol’s local Facebook scene. Next, Emerald offers her 2025 Transport Tidings complete with a train miracle fit for Christmas and the news that the UK’s biggest pothole has finally been filled. To finish, we play...

Mike reveals why Zack Polanski didn’t appear as scheduled on the TV show this week before delivering the sad news that the Kidderminster Carpet Museum will be closing its doors. Next, Queenie reports on MPs demanding an upgrade to the parliamentary gym and Jack takes us through Japan’s catchphrase of the year, featuring Rihanna-levels of work, a terrifying mascot and some very old rice. In the Mis...

Producer Diggory returns to the podcast to sift through listener comments on Spotify before Emerald leads one of her famed Odd One Out rounds, this time featuring Batman, a footballing nun and robots with “ominous” Northern Irish accents who may all have links to Fathers for Justice…Next, Jack whisks us back to the so-called “golden age of air travel” as he unpicks Sean Duffy and the US Department...

After receiving messages from several Scottish football fans, Mike apologises for his comments about their World Cup qualification prospects from last week, before taking us through the story of Mark Bryan from Redbridge, who was interviewed by the UK press after eye surgery left him hallucinating “Baywatch-style” women at all hours of the day. Queenie then reports on an Australian inmate pleading...

The team chat about where the TV show was last Friday before Jack takes us through Tesco Mobiles poll of 1400 people with ‘quirky side hustles’ – some are legit, others less legit and the rest are total bullsh*t. Queenie then investigates a National Folklore survey that claims you’re more likely to be visited by a ghost if you’re under 35 and Mike reveals all about the university testing for geniu...

The team briefly touch on Kim Kardashian’s new, critically panned TV show All’s Fair and The Traitors finale, before Jack (eventually) explains what 'Peppa Pig Syndrome' is whilst unpacking a Times survey of 10,000 teachers that concludes Americanisms are sweeping across UK classrooms. Later, Mike introduces us to the newest and greatest movie star on the planet (and no, it is not Jackie Potatoes)...

Mike sends in a voice note with some juicy behind-the-scenes insight from the TV show, after the recording was interrupted by the breaking Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor news. The team then discuss the strange, snail-related tax-avoidance scheme spreading across London (slowly) and play Emerald’s latest game, ‘Tax Avoidance or a Load of Pants?’Later, Queenie takes the team through the story of a teach...

Mike gives the team an exclusive preview of what to expect from Friday’s Halloween episode of Have I Got News for You, before they wrestle with another tricky Odd One Out from Emerald - featuring a UK crocodile sighting, a toilet bat and creepy crawlies scuttling amok in Google HQ.Later, Mike takes us through the unbelievable British laws you didn’t know you could be unwittingly breaking, before Q...

Mike returns to the pod to reveal some top behind the scenes treats from working on the TV show before the team discuss the papers’ obsession with anti-aging studies, the UK’s newest pothole filling vigilante and the latest theory as to why humans haven’t be contacted by intelligent, extraterrestrial life. Later, they fill in some missing words from headlines about the French post office, Swansea...

The team discuss how one in five Brits see their AI companions as ‘friends’, the takeaways from the world porridge making championships and Emerald’s Trump-themed ‘Metal Matrix’ game… Later, they chat about why Stephen King’s marriage was on the rocks, top tips from the World Wine-Tasting Championship and a tarot card reading cat going viral online…If you enjoy the podcast, please give us a 5-star...

The team return for another series of the podcast – this time alongside the TV show! They tackle a tricky odd one out involving Austrian nuns, Russian bears and a confused Canadian in the UK before learning about dossing detectives and the UK’s hottest new pet trend: exotic woodlice…Later, they chat about the real root of a suspected gas leak in Lancashire, the name of the new train destined to de...

The team discusses the major party’s reactions to the anti-immigration protests taking place outside hotels, Angela Rayner’s new home and holiday photos and Trump’s ramping up of the use of the National Guard. Later, they chat about Gen Z’s work-based plan to combat loneliness, the boy addicted to jacket potatoes, and how – despite all the odds – Pearl the chicken has lived long enough to be crown...

The team discusses Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, the ‘crack team’ of European leaders who came to back him up and which country’s diplomat has the best joke. Later, they chat about backpack-wearing cyborg cockroaches, Nigel Farage’s new football shirt for sale and explain how to correctly use the newest word in the Cambridge Dictionary: ‘Skibidi’.Your hosts are...

The team discuss Kemi Badenoch's school snitching admission, unpick the mass pensioner imprisonments from the Palestine Action protest and compare the two greatest bromances on the international stage: Trump & Putin and JD Vance & David Lammy. Later they explain how Fantasy football works, why an Argentinian man received $12,500 in compensation from Google and provide an update from Aalborg Zoo......