RHLSTP with Richard Herring

#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...

RHLSTP Book Club #163 - Lost On Infinity - Richard talks to Steve Punt about the book and incredible multi-media experience that he has created (along with Elaine and Matthew Sweetapple), Lost On Infinity. They have a long chat about Steve’s Benjamin Button career from starting on BBC1 on the Jasper Carrott show to 26 years on the Now Show, the lessons that the rollercoaster of Weekending taught t...

RHLSTP #591 - Grolsch - Richard is back at the Leicester Sq Theatre and has a new moral dilemma to rival the Trolley Problem. How guest is actor, presenter, film director, author and philosopher Richard Ayoade. They discuss Ayoade’s impressively varied career, why he wrongly doesn’t see himself as an actor, the sleeper cult show Garth Merenghi Darkplace, being the only one of the British/Irish cast who went to America to ...

#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 ...

RHLSTP Book Club #162 - The Traitors Circle - Richard talks to journalist and author Jonathan Freedland about his non-fiction thriller, The Traitors Circle, which isn’t about the TV series, but the horrific consequences of failing to discover a traitor in your midst in real life. They chat about the parallels between Nazi Germany and other more recent political developments, the surprising group of people who resisted Hitler in var...

RHLSTP #590 - Richard Osman Urinal Conundrum - Richard is at the Podcast Room in Central London, with a spare hour of studio time and Rhys James already in the hot seat, so let’s do a good old-fashioned rude RHLSTP with little to no research. The pair end up discussing how poker can buy you a sofa (or just buy one), haggling too hard for picture frames with clocks in them, Rolex spoons, selling only one DVD of your comedy special (...

#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 mo...

RHLSTP Book Club #161 - Seriously Silly - The Life of Terry Jones - Richard chats to renowned comedy historian Robert Ross about his fabulous new biography of actor, writer, director and Python, Terry Jones. The topics includes what it’s like to befriend a Python and how that friendship affects the writing of a biography, how comedy history can be a map for future comedians, how Jones’ influence in the sketch group is perhaps under...

RHLSTP #589 - Dopplegängr - It’s Richard’s last show of the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe, but what is the Edinburgh Fringe? Luckily Liam Gallagher knows. Richard’s guest is not in Oasis and is unlikely to support them after this, it’s the loquacious (thank goodness for Rich) Nish Kumar. They chat about at what point you have to stop claiming to be working class, how Nish survived his tour of America unscathed and the positives he took fro...

#415 Mosquito in the Kitchen - Richard recalls a couple of childhood memories that can’t possibly hare happened. His guest is the king of mischief and righteous anger (who is also very funny) Joe Lycett. They talk about how Joe brought down a Prime Minister, how he was almost arrested for a joke, how his spoof Sue Gray report fooled some members of parliament, how people decided what snacks Santa would be getting, the personal hear...

RHLSTP Book Club #160 - Love Triangle - It’s another face to face Book Club at the Podcast Room with mathematician and gigantic nerd Matt Parker talking about his exciting book about triangles. Find out how a triangle solved a pig murder, what it’s like to very briefly be the most recently published maths author and to see the work of the earliest known maths author first hand, how triangles can tell us the size of the planet or ho...

RHLSTP #588 - Edmund Hilary's Yeti Rucksack - Rich is upset about the things his wife is saying about him in her show, but never mind, he's being visited by the crew from the Cryptid Factor, Rhys Darby, Dan Schreiber and the mysterious Buttons. They chat about ghosts (a lot, given they've said they don't really talk about that), Rich trying to kill the Loch Ness Monster and what the Loch Ness Monster might actually be, whether an a...

#413 Brian Conley’s C*ck - Richard is discombobulated after returning (briefly) to Shepherd’s Bush after five years away. His guest is the fantastic stand up Chris McCausland. They talk about what pushed him towards stand up and why he was reluctant initially to do too much about his blindness, nearly becoming a spy, that amazing BAFTA bit with Lee Mack, performing for Prince William, being on the Jubilee bus and and why Chris...

RHLSTP Book Club #159 - A Particularly Nasty Case - Richard talks to ex-doctor and best-selling author Adam Kay about his first novel, a brilliant comedy thriller, A Particularly Nasty Case. They chat about getting the fabulous Andy Serkis to do the audiobook (and why Adam was reluctant to do it himself), how Adam has lots of fans in the 8-12 year age group (including Rich’s daughter) but how...

RHLSTP #587 - That’s F***ing Bonkers - Richard is considering changing political allegiance if it can rescue his fading career, but he doesn’t have to worry today - it’s a sell-out crowd to see tiny keyboard wunderkind David O’Doherty. They discuss getting drunk on live TV with Dua Lipa, whether David needs therapy to unpack the different in sizes between his and his dad’s instruments, how David&n...

#412 Lemony Anus - Richard knows a little bit about what Prince George is going through at school and is very excited that his new book is out! His guest is stand up, writer, presenter and actor Sara Pascoe. They talk about the ups and downs of doing improvised sitcoms and films, how long lockdown toilet rolls kept people going, balancing work with parenting, how it’s more important that something gets made than it b...

RHLSTP Book Club #158 - Saltwash - Richard talks to award-winning author Andrew Michael Hurley about his latest book, Saltwash. Is it horror or literary fiction? is it important for people writing about dark subjects to have three names? What attracted Andrew to writing about dilapidated seaside resorts - and has he ever been to Weston-super-Mare? How does he make his novels so atmospheric? W...

RHLSTP #586 - The Importance of Being Ernest - Rich likes to give young comedians a start in their career and so today he has an exciting new talent opening the show. His guest who has a tough act to follow is comedian and former flatmate Andy Parsons. They chat about the early years of their career where they worked on Weekending and briefly shared a house with some other Andrews, how Parsons and Naylor and Lee and ...

#411 Diplodocus - Rich is itching for a change in Prime Minister, but will he get his wish by the time of broadcast? His guests are Elis, Mike and Steff from the dizzyingly successful new podcast that the cool kids are calling TSDSB. They talk about how their podcast is about more than just sport, how sports fans have changed in the last four decades, the new series of Fantasy Football and the new sitcom Mammoth, why Elis’ mus...