The Romesh Ranganathan Show

What do toxic masculinity, a lasagne obsession, and a Seat Alhambra have in common? Louis Theroux joins Romesh to draw the line between his on-camera persona and life at home. They revisit some of Louis’ most infamous documentary moments, the craft behind them, and the interview regrets he has looking back.

Louis also explains why he’s drawn to spending time with people who hold extreme views, including in his latest film Inside the Manosphere, exploring misogyny and the lure of wealth in the post-Andrew Tate world with figures like HSTikkyTokky.

Along the way he reflects on memorable encounters with Armie Hammer and Boris Becker – plus an uncanny King Charles impression, being “cooked” by the internet, and why he “deserved” his gold record after his viral music hit Jiggle Jiggle.

A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Listen.

00:00 Intro
02:15 Gift giving
03:21 Lasagna tips
06:04 Fragility in the industry
07:52 On making documentaries
22:15 On Andrew Tate
23:29 The Manosphere
29:37 Raising boys today
35:25 HStikkytokky & Jestermaxxing
41:04 Is Louis worried?
43:12 Shanthi’s question
46:21 Getting cooked & Jiggle Jiggle
51:17 On Podcasting
55:47 On Adam Buxton
59:41 On Boris Becker
01:01:03 Measuring success
01:02:09 Comedians vs non-comedians
01:04:52 Early career beginnings
01:09:22 On reviews
01:10:32 Misquoted
01:33:50 Outro
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How many times can you trick your mum into saying the F-word? Romesh annoys Shanthi with terrible impressions of kids' film characters and makes his case for why the Toy Story trilogy is one of the greatest in cinematic history. They role-play a listener’s plea about how to kindly deal with smelly colleagues — and how to cope with a spoilt hen-do surprise (do you fake it?). Plus, an uncomfortably long conversation about the specifics of going to the toilet.

A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Listen.

00:00 Intro

01:27 Shanthi loves Tom Davis

03:22 Paddington

04:37 Kids films impressions

12:15 Advice from Shanthi & Romesh

13:40 Role playing the problem

18:51 Advice continued

23:24 Toilet talk

33:15 Outro
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Comedian and actor Tom Davis joins Romesh for a proper deep dive into comedy, his working-class roots to his success and building his career long term.

They talk about Tom’s route into stand-up, creating and starring in Murder in Successville and King Gary, and what it takes to survive rejection, hyper-criticism and projects going wrong. There’s rare praise from Romesh, chaos behind the production cenes, doing his own stunts, pranks, and a BIG announcement. Plus an ever important question from Shanthi.

They also get into luck in the industry, being a dad, and how success changes your perspective over time.

A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Listen.

00:00 Intro
2:00 A present for Tom
4:00 The Big Five
5:32 Working with Romesh
8:00 Tom’s route to comedy
11:25 Hyper criticism
12:46 Tom's background
14:23 Murder In Successville
21:00 Luck in the industry
23:07 An annoyed Romesh
23:39 Tom's favourite guest
24:49 On success
26:30 Tom's encounter with Rio Ferdinand
27:58 King Gary
30:13 Chaos behind the scenes
34:20 Working Together
36:00 House Of Fools
42:24 Wold & Owl
43:20 Pranks
44:47 A big announcement
46:46 A question from Shanthi
50:00 On being a dad
52:55 Career perspective
56:47 Tom opening for Romesh
01:01:23 Misquoted
01:08:38 An exclusive
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Cooking advice, dieting disasters and impressions that probably shouldn’t happen... Romesh is joined once again by mum Shanthi Ranganathan for another episode of unfiltered family chat.

They cover Shanthi’s go-to recipes, strong opinions on chicken, and what it’s actually like trying to diet with a Sri Lankan mum in the house. There’s listener questions, unexpected tangents (including one about poop), impressions of Josh Widdicombe, and Romesh attempting a Tamil impression that may or may not get him in trouble.

As always: advice is given confidently. Whether you should follow it is another matter.

A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Listen.

00:00 Intro
03:03 Josh Widdicombe Impressions
04:34 On poop
05:13 A question from you
06:10 Shanthi’s recipe
11:43 A question on chicken
14:36 Shanthi’s cooking advice
18:30 How to diet with a Sri Lankan Mum
20:24 Romesh’s Tamil Impression
23:59 Outro
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Comedian Josh Widdicombe joins Romesh to explain why he might actually prefer podcasts to television.

They chat about his stand-up tour Not My Cup of Tea, appearing in more than 30 series of The Last Leg, and co-hosting the hugely successful Parenting Hell. Josh also talks about his move to Devon after being pushed out of London, rediscovering photography as a hobby, and launching his new series, Josh Widdicombe’s Museum of Pop Culture – covering everything from Mr Blobby to David Hasselhoff and the Berlin Wall.

A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Listen.

00:00 Intro
02:20 Podcasting vs TV
04:10 On Touring
07:45 Gift giving
14:54 Stand up
17:45 Moving
21:50 Noel Edmunds’ House
24:01 Getting business offers
27:11 A question from Shanthi
29:00 Photography and hobbies
33:30 Romesh on his Marathon
36:16 Drinking habits and ChatGPT
44:41 Josh on podcasting
50:06 Obsessions and interests
55:53 Parenting Hell
58:38 Rob Beckett
01:02:40 Agents and insecurities
01:06:42 Being mimicable
01:11:50 Misquoted
01:30:20 An Exclusive
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