RHLSTP with Richard Herring

Bonus Pod - Christmas Ask Me Anything - It’s Christmas so as a special treat for you all, Santa has arranged that this month’s pay-walled Ask Me Anything is free to all, even the poorest of children (as long as they have a device to listen to podcasts on) because it is the season. Richard answers every question he has been set, no matter how inappropriate and unChristmassy! Find out his favourite terrorist atrocity, whether he was born out of wedlock, if he would ever vote Tory, if he would eat a dinosaur egg and what gift he w...

#11 If You Could Go Into A Chrysalis And Emerge As Anything You Wanted, What Would It Be And Why And Also Do You Think That Says Anything About You? - Oh yes! It's another one of these Emergency Questions compilations. Can you guess which question has been selected this time? Here's a hint - the question has been asked of celebrity stars including James Acaster, Reece Shearsmith and Fern Brady... Merry Chrysalis everyone :)SUPPORT THE SHOW!See details of the RHLSTP LIVE DATES Watch our TWITCH CHANNELBecome a badger...

#477 Magic Bullet - Here’s a bonus remote podcast (because we’re not doing enough at the moment) with superstar actor and director and now podcast documentary (if you will pocumentary) maker, Rob Reiner. With limited time, they discuss which of his films is the greatest of all time, what you need to make a perfect improvised movie, the first toilet flush on US Prime Time TV and appearing in the Batman TV series. But mostly they talk about Rob’s fascinating new podcast series “Who Killed JFK?” and the flimsiness of the official account of the assassination, why it means so m...

Bonus Pod - Christmas EQ special - It’s Christmas so in the first in a series of special treat, please welcome Rich's puppet pal Ali asking Rich a series of his own Christmas Emergency Questions. Usually this sort of thing is not for public consumption - we keep it for the most generous of Rich's supporters, but as it is the season of goodwill, everyone may listen.You can buy your own copy of the Christmas EQ book here - https://www.gofasterstripe.com/cgi-bin/w.cgi?page=search&searchterms=emergency+questionsRe...

RHLSTP Book Club #164 - Dianarama - Richard chats to journalist and documentary maker Andy Webb about his exhaustively researched (and lived) book Dianarama which is about the Martin Bashir interview with Princess Diana and the lies and subterfuge that were required to get it and the alleged cover up at the BBC that followed. How much did the BBC bosses know and how soon? Why hasn’t it been properly investigated at the Beeb? Was Bashir’s exploitation of Diana’s understandable fears at least partly responsible for her death? Why did the BBC give Bashir a cushy job as lat...

RHLSTP #592 - Smell My Suit - It’s another Leicester Square Theatre podcast and Rich is wondering if he’s already got to the point where his kids are funnier than him (low bar). His guest is the multi-talented and almost ubiquitous Paul F Tompkins. They chat about the practical drawbacks of acting with a claw, why Mr Peanut Butter in Bojack Horseman has the same voice as Paul, the unique confidence of starting stand-up at 17 and assuming you’re the best, why Paul wears a suit on stage and whether Rich should check it for freshness, the amazing Beatles...

#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 possible that she didn’t learn to ride a bike as a child, the possible arrogance of the producers of Mary Poppins, the statue that made Victor...

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 them both and whether Eric Idle might be Steve’s dad. Then they discuss the long gestation period of the book and the rock opera and why it was important that for all the mag...

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 do the IT Crowd pilot, trying not to laugh at Bob Mortimer, why there should be more 40 minute films, his fabulous book of comedy wisdom “Afterthoughts” and whethe...

#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 there’s the same community spirit that there was 30 years ago, the physical imperfection that nearly derailed her entire on screen career (despite it not existing), CB TV Channel 14 (that maybe on...

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 varying degrees and the complicity of the vast majority. How one of the characters in the story was at the heart of development of mass extermination and how others were wi...

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 (deliberately), how Rhys intends to prank the lactose intolerant, what it’s like to be tall but identify as s...

#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 mouse in Cinderella, confusing and angering people with his fantastically funny new book “James Acaster’s Guide to Quitting Social Media”, his new audio sitcom and how his brilli...

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 underestimated, how the Python members could never have imagined that the sketch show they were embarking on would bind them for the rest of their live...

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 from the experience, why both sides-ism is an unhelpful concept, how even Nish’s grandma thinks he might be Jason Mantzoukas, why Taskmas...

#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 heartbreak behind Joe’s anger about the government’s reaction to Covid, why he literally talked sh*t and the extreme steps Joe is taking...

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 how far away a space probe is, whether bees know they are making hexagons, how Rich’s dad used one of...

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 alien spacecraft is on the way to conquer Earth (you'll probably know one way or the other by the time this goes...

#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 hates the name of his own tour. Plus how working hard on a panel show appearance can help your career. Who knew?See...

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 this is definitely not a book for them, the delicate balance of writing a whodunnit where it’s possible, but not easy, to guess the who whodunnit, how Adam weaves in some seriou...