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This week, Phil Wang steps in for Armando, and is joined by comedian Pierre Novellie to discuss 'doing politics differently'. Digging into the language of Burnham's speech, we examine what he means by 'place', and whether we will see an end to 'punch and judy politics'. Elsewhere, we look at Badenoch's attack mode, America's 250th celebrations and why politicians struggle to p-p-p-pick a favourite...

Armando is under the weather this week, so in true World Cup style, we have called up a super sub. Matt Forde steps in to host, and Ria Lina joins him to discuss the big news of the week. Is it a bit rich of the Labour Party to claim they don't want to 'exaggerate small differences'? How does Starmer sell his achievements, and is there anything we can learn about how Burnham uses language? In the...

Stewart Lee joins Armando to look at the detail, or lack thereof in the US and Iran deal. What is a memorandum of understanding? Does the language of UFC apply to this deal? And are Shoreditch hipsters running Iran's social media campaign? It's by-election day, and while broadcast rules prevent us from discussing the events in Makerfield, there's no rule to stop us discussing the broadcasting rule...

Hugo Rifkind joins Armando, fresh from interviewing a highland cow, to discuss the phrase 'fanning the flames'. Can a politician ever avoid politicising an issue? How is that different from weaponising? And does journalism have a role in fanning the flames, and prolonging political arguments? Elsewhere, Armando explains the power of the power nap, Pete Hegseth conflates D-Day with immigration, and...

Natalie Haynes joins Armando to look at the differing language used when discussing the benefits and risks of the AI revolution. Is it just 'a thing' which is beyond debate? What does non-zero actually mean? And we examine the language of Tony Blair's argument, by taking it to its logical conclusion. In the longer version, you will also hear the ramification of shouting at Harold Pinter, Peter Thi...

Fresh from a trip to America, Munya Chawawa joins Armando to discuss the political art of saying nothing. Munya recently looked at the parallels between Trump and Wrestling, and talks about how the language and theatre of WWE has inspired Trump's political style. They then turn to Andy Burnham's tightrope walk, and his desire to be clear and direct, whilst also avoiding the elephant in the room -...

How do you capture the atmosphere of the commons? Parliamentary sketch writer for The Times, Tom Peck, joins Armando to discuss his most detested political buzzwords. We look at why people get so bloodthirsty in politics when 'the herd moves', who 'an anonymous source' might be, and whether Keir Starmer can draw a pig. In other news, we look at the demise of PearTree Productions, Ed Davey's wetsui...

This week, we look at the language of embattled leaders, and some triumphant ones. Joined by Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ayesha Hazarika, we pore over the speech of Starmer's life - the third such event we have covered on this programme. Is rhetoric the right tool in his father's hand-me-down toolbelt for him to deploy in times of crisis? He says he gets it, but do we believe him? We look at the par...

What is the Technological Republic? Armando, Stewart and founder of The Nerve, Carole Cadwalladr, discuss the language and posture of the manifesto released by Palantir's Alex Karp last year. We look at how Tech bros frame those who block their progress, their effusive language about their products, why they might reflect on linguistic parallels with George Orwell's works. Armando also describes W...

Ready Player One? Natalie Haynes joins Armando once again to talk about the rise of prediction markets, and how they might affect political language. We also look at the respective war memes from the US and Iran, and how they are taking their cues from video games. Elsewhere, we discuss the Arc de Trump, Armando's bag of filth, and whether a Sphinx might look good on the White House lawn. Got a st...

Tim Shipman steps out of a busy week in Westminster to talk Armando through the language of political crises. Whether "time will tell", or "the matter has been dealt with", we decode what these phrases you will hear from politicians this week really mean. Looking at recent examples, from Brexit to Partygate and beyond, what causes these crises, and how does the communication - and indeed the messe...

Politicians have their own podcasts, the Government has launched a YouTube channel. It seems our political class want to bypass traditional media to get their message out. Why is that? How does it affect political language? As he prepares to take his own steps into a new media landscape, Amol Rajan joins Armando to discuss this and more. We also hear about misleading news headlines, Trump's 'docto...

Hugo Rifkind joins Armando for a chat about the religious language in politics. After a quick detour round the far side of the moon, we find out Trump's favourite bible passage (sort of), why the Pope has rebuked Pete Hegseth, and if invoking a higher power can be used to dodge accountability. In the extended version, we also look at how parties in the UK trade in religious language, why how AI is...

This week, Armando is joined again by Stewart Lee to look at how political actors use language. Wes Streeting says there is a 'deep disillusionment in this country', and says there is a “growing sense of despair about whether anyone is capable of turning this country round". Why is that? And does politicians speaking in that way confound our misery? We look at Sarah Pochin's comments about black a...

Stewart Lee joins Armando at the Millennium Hall in Laugharne. Is AI too sycophantic? Should we worry about how military-grade AI is being sold in start-up jargon? Let's ask the best AI there is, Armando Iannucci. In another episode in front of an audience, Armando and Stewart treat us to a dramatic reading of a Chat GPT interaction. We also hear whether the Metaverse is an unwelcome template for...

Armando is joined by Stewart Lee at the Millennium Hall in Laugharne. Taking the audience's most loathed political soundbites, we discuss 'existential threats', 'let me be clear', and 'we're working very hard'. We also hear about Armando's train driver getting caught in an infinity loop, treating Nicky Wire with the greatest of respect, and whether feeling in your bones or gut indicates your polit...

Marina Hyde returns to join Armando for a positive look at some positive language. Pete Hegseth tells us not to worry about the Strait of Hormuz, Trump tells us the 'war' is 'already won' - is this inspired by The Power of Positive Thinking? Or by Noel Edmonds? Elsewhere we discuss guessing shoe sizes, tie-dye thinking, and whether we have the stomach for a culture war about badgers on bank notes....

Armando is joined by Ria Lina and host of Pod Save the UK, Coco Khan, to look at the political language around anxiety. How do we engage with difficult headlines? Can we switch off an just read about the rugby? Is AI starting to feel as anxious as us? and are we more sympathetic because of the personal language it uses? We also discuss the origins of international women's day, the death of the pub...

Journalist and Times Radio presenter Hugo Rifkind joins Armando this week. In another breakneck week, we look at the language of reality in politics. Are plumbers more 'real' than economists? Can Trump really 'manipulate reality'? And has he been watching Shrek? We also look at the parallels between Marco Rubio and the general in Dr Strangelove, Tony Blair powering down when talking to Alan Partri...

Stewart Lee joins Armando again this week. With a by-election on, we look away from the present day and think about how history will judge politicians. Some of the language in the recent Tony Blair documentary piques Armando's interest, and we also look at how Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown use language (or lack thereof) to cement their own post-premiership legacies. We also look at the politic-sp...

Armando is joined by Natalie Haynes and Michael Gove to discuss the true meaning of transparency. With his experience as both a politician and a journalist, Michael Gove gives his insight into how transparency can often mean the opposite. He also explains the perverse incentive for ministers to go out and defend tricky positions, and what it feels like to have your private communications laid bare...

Stewart Lee joins Armando to examine the language around political pyschodramas. We've discussed political language becoming maximalist, but it also gone into warp speed? Looking at whether 'stumbling' is in fact a good thing, we also manage to find new names for Wes Streeting, Peter Mandelson and Andrew (you know which one). We also find time to discuss the fake news that has been stinking up the...

Has a man once described as 'teflon' finally run out of spin? Peter Mandelson suggests he needs to run an investigation into himself, but to do an investigation into his language, Armando is joined by host of the News Agents, Emily Maitlis. We discuss revelations in the Epstein files, and why it brings to mind Dickens. Are we wiser to the language of political scandal than we used to be? And is it...

Was Andy Burnham blocked from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election because Labour need to save resources for elections they ‘must have’? Was the Tory briefing that referenced the defecting Suella Braverman’s mental health really a ‘first draft?’ Armando and Natalie examine this and more, to find out if politicians in the UK are echoing Donald Trump’s words as they ask us to take these at f...

With the backdrop of tariffs and territorial land grabs, Stewart and Armando look at the political language of U-turns and turncoats. With politicians having to advocate for a position they used to be in direct opposition to, we ask if political language exists in a quantum state inside Robert Jenrick's head, or, failing that are we really expected to believe defectors like him have had a damascen...