Pod Save the UK

Keir Starmer jets off to Beijing, leaving Westminster - once again - bubbling with rumours about his future. The King of the North might be off the cards, but Angela Rayner and even Ed Miliband are eyeing up the top spot. 
Reform thinks GB News Presenter and right-wing activist Matt Goodwin is the right man to be their MP candidate in Gorton and Denton - if only he can shelve his disdain for Manchester… Nish and Coco chew it all over with political journalist Zoë Grünewald.
Away from the psychodrama, controversial plans to overhaul special educational needs education in England risk children’s legal rights to cut costs. Campaigners Rachel Filmer and Carrie Grant share their concerns with Coco.
And surveillance firm Palantir is using medical records to target people for ICE in the US - could the UK be next?
This podcast has been edited to remove a story about Matt Goodwin after he clarified the context of his comments about Manchester. We regret the error.
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GUESTS 
Zoë Grünewald, journalist, broadcaster and political commentator
Dr Carrie Grant MBE, TV presenter and voice coach
Rachel Filmer, SEND campaigner
USEFUL LINKS
Save Our Children’s Rights Campaign
https://www.saveourchildrensrights.org.uk/
Stop Palantir in the NHS
https://goodlawproject.org/campaign/stop-palantir-in-the-nhs
CREDITS
Keir Starmer / TikTok
Pod Save America / X
Good Law Project / Instagram
Sky News / YouTube
UKLabour / X
Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Get in touch - contact us via email: [email protected]
Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk
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Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk
X: https://x.com/podsavetheuk

Donald Trump brings his particular brand of terrible speeches to the billionaires and bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Nish and Coco try to work out how Keir Starmer can keep on track when facing the threat of US tariffs over Greenland as well as criticism of a lease deal with the Chagos Islands - which the US had previously praised.

Liam Thorp, the Liverpool Echo’s Political Editor, is on hand to break down Labour’s big plan to make homes warmer, the fortunes of Reform and the latest delay to the Hillsborough Law

Plus comedian Alaa Shehada, fresh from his show ‘The Horse of Jenin’, talks to Nish and Coco about the ‘Palestine Comedy Club’, a documentary which follows a group of Palestinians as they take their comedy show on tour in an occupied state.

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WISE
Wise.com

GUESTS 
Liam Thorp - Political Editor, Liverpool Echo
Tess Ingram, UNICEF
Alaa Shehada - Comedian

USEFUL LINKS
Palestine Comedy Club collective
https://www.palestinecomedyclub.com/
Palestine Comedy Club documentary
https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/palestine-comedy-club
Starting Feb 27th:
London - Rich Mix and Bertha Doc House 
Tywyn - Magic Lantern Cinema 
Birmingham - Mockingbird Cinema 
Brighton - Komedia 
Gloucester - Guildhall 
Belfast - Queen’s Film Theatre

CREDITS
Donald Trump - BBC Online
‘Palestine Comedy Club’ - Tough Crowd

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Get in touch - contact us via email: [email protected]
Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukX: https://x.com/podsavetheuk


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X has been firmly in the firing line after its Grok AI tool was used to create sexualised images of women and children. Elon Musk’s company could face a fine of up to 10% of its global earnings by internet regulator Ofcom, or a ban in the UK. He denies that the AI has done anything illegal and says users are responsible for the images they create.

How can we regulate AI? Nish and Coco speak to Rutger Bregman, historian and author who called out billionaires at Davos. He argues Big Tech should be treated like Big Tobacco, and gives his take on Iran, as thousands of protestors take to the streets, and what a radical policy platform looks like for the UK Left today.

Plus - what on earth is UKIP proposing as a terrifying rebrand? 

*Update on Palestinian Hunger Strikers*: On 14th Jan Heba, Kamran, and Lewie collectively paused their hunger strike. They made British history, lasting 73 days.

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GUESTS 
Rutger Bregman - Historian and Author of Moral Ambition, out in paper back on 15th Jan

USEFUL LINKS
https://www.moralambition.org/book

Let us know your experiences of SEND support in schools - or any other stories.

CREDITS
Liz Kendall MP, Technology Secretary - Parliament TV
Rutger Bregman - Publicae   
Rutger Bregman and Tucker Carlson - Now This
Tehran protests - Shaparak Khorsandi/Instagram
Donald Trump - New York Times
Laila Cunningham - Daily Express/YouTube
Nadim Zahawi - Sky News

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukX: https://x.com/podsavetheuk


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The US President put the season of goodwill behind him with a New Year Venezuelan coup and the threat of further action across Central America and the Caribbean. Then there’s the little matter of his promise to seize control of Greenland.

Nish and Coco try to make sense of the senseless - and to assess the possibility that Donald Trump could end up destroying NATO - with Tommy Vietor from our sister podcasts Pod Save America and Pod Save the World. 

Plus, comedian Cody Dahler gives us his take on how 2026 will shape up for politicians and satirists. How easy is it to make jokes while the world - literally and metaphorically - is on fire? 

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GUESTS 
Cody Dahler, Comedian and Presenter of The Truth (In My Opinion)
Tommy Vietor, Co-Host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World
Nida Jafri

USEFUL LINKS
Palestine Action Hunger Strikers:
How to write to your MP 
https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/
Petition calling for action from the Justice Secretary
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/call-on-mp-and-secretary-of-justice-david-lammy-to-intervene-and-protect-the-hunger-strikers/

CREDITS
Parliament TV
Cody Dahler/TikTok
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg/BBC One
Tonight with Andrew Marr/LBC

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
Like and follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukTwitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk


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You asked, Nish and Coco answered!

What are their most conservative opinions? Why do both the left and right hate NATO so much? Should we ditch GDP? Why doesn’t the UK have compulsory voting and why do some many progressives stay true to Labour when the party is failing to measure up?

All that plus the latest on Coco’s love-hate relationship with AI and a quickfire round to make sure no question is left unanswered.

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Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
Contact us via email: [email protected]
Support PSUK! Don’t forget to like and subscribe.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk
Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk
Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

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