Classic: EP 118 with Robin Ince

We'll be back in just a couple of weeks with some brand new episodes,  But for now, here's another classic from the archives, in which Mark was joined by comedian Scott Bennett for a special extended interview, as he tried to make sense of his ongoing cancer treatment.   Mark somehow manages to see the funny side of coughing fits, industrial scale mucus production – and an assortment of drugs and paraphernalia that would put Walter White to shame!    Get ad-free extended episodes, early access and exclusive content on Patreon:   https://www.patreon.com/wtfisgoingonpod   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel on Twitter @wtfisgoingonpod   Follow Scott Bennett @scottbcomedyuk  and the 'Brew With The Bennetts' podcast @BWTBpod   https://scottbennettcomedy.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good news! We'll be back with some brand new episodes starting next month. But in the meantime, here's another classic episode from the archives.   Mark is joined by award-winning journalist Ramita Navai for a special extended interview about the Middle East. From Israel's war crimes in Gaza, to life under the Taliban, and the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement in Iran. Informed, entertaining and shocking, subjects range from the Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, whose death sentence was thankfully overturned by the regime after worldwide condemnation – to the hackers who filmed a pro-Iranian regime journalist masturbating to porn in his office. As a British-Iranian journalist, Ramita has won an Emmy and other awards for documentaries such as Afghanistan Undercover, ISIS and the Battle for Iraq, Undercover Syria, and Breaking Into Israel. If you want to understand What The F*** Is Going On in the Middle East, this is the episode for you.   Follow Ramita Navai @ramitanavai   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on a break from the podcast while Mark starts his new tour 'The Leopard In My House' (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/) But in the meantime, here's another classic episode from the archives.   Mark is joined by Robin Ince - comedian, writer and broadcaster - for a special extended interview, as he tries to make sense of the rise of conspiracy theories and the challenges faced by rational thought. It's a hilarious and wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from Naomi Klein and Donald Trump to Robin Askwith, star of Confessions of a Window Cleaner! Mark and Robin discuss whether it's worth arguing with anti-vaxxers and flat-Earthers, and reveal some of the tricks that psychics use to con their audiences. But the most heated argument of all revolves around a Trotskyist interpretation of the 70s American detective series Columbo!    Follow Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on a break from the podcast while Mark starts his new tour 'The Leopard In My House' (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/) But in the meantime, here's another classic episode from the archives.   Mark is joined by the comedian and actor Miles Jupp for a special Coronation edition of the podcast. In an extended interview, Mark and Miles discuss the big ideas of monarchy, religion – and whether David Attenborough secretly likes to go fly-tipping. Plus, there's Mark's take on what the Coronation ceremony itself will involve, including the Wolverhampton Dragoon Guards of the Prussian battalions of the Noble Emissaries of Mansfield. Oh – and masturbating hedgehogs.   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on a break from the podcast while Mark starts his new tour 'The Leopard In My House' (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/) But in the meantime, here's another classic episode from the archives.   In this extended interview, Mark talks about his 'cancer journey' – as they would no doubt call it on Britain's Got Talent - to Dr Phil Hammond. As a comedian, author and retired doctor, no one is better placed than Phil to give some informed and highly entertaining expert opinion on Mark's experiences, advances in medical science, and the state of the NHS. The conversation covers everything from King Charles to East Grinstead – and whether arsenic is really used as a cancer treatment. It's a frank, no-holds barred discussion that contains graphic sexual references and other grown up stuff that needs to be talked about more!    Follow @drphilhammond   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on a break from the podcast while Mark starts his new tour 'The Leopard In My House' (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/) But in the meantime, here's another classic episode from the archives.   In this special extended interview, Mark talks to Dr Phil Hammond about the state of the NHS. As a comedian, journalist, whistle-blower and newly retired NHS doctor, no one is better equipped to try to answer the questions that people are asking about healthcare today. The conversation is fascinating, informed – and darkly funny!    Follow @drphilhammond   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod Go to proton.me/wtfisgoingon to receive a 38% discount on Proton Mail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on a break from the podcast while Mark starts his new tour 'The Leopard In My House' (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/) But in the meantime, here's another classic episode from the archives. Mark is joined by former Green Party MP Caroline Lucas for a special extended interview, covering everything from climate change to Jeremy Corbyn; from Progressive Alliances and PR to Labour Party tribalism – and how the f*** she managed to keep her temper when Boris Johnson was lying his head off in Parliament!   Follow Caroline Lucas @CarolineLucas   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're taking a break from the podcast while Mark starts his new tour 'The Leopard In My House' (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/)   We'll keep you posted, but in the meantime, here's another classic episode. Mark is joined by Tom Walker (aka Jonathan Pie) for a special extended interview, covering everything from 'cancel culture' and causing offence, to the attitudes of the left (and the right) to humour and 'free speech'.   Follow Jonathan Pie @JonathanPieNews   Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel @wtfisgoingonpod   Go to proton.me/wtfisgoingon to receive a 38% discount on Proton Mail   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark has been extremely busy preparing for his tour, which starts next week (details here: https://marksteelinfo.com/) so unfortunately he wasn't able to record a new episode.   In the meantime, here's a classic episode in which Mark is joined by Dr Benji Waterhouse – NHS psychiatrist, comedian and best-selling author – for a special extended interview about mental health.    Benji's book 'You Don't Have To Be Mad To Work Here' is a darkly funny account of life as a front-line NHS doctor specialising in psychiatry. In it, he talks about the patients he has encountered, from the 45 year-old man with psychosis who believed he was a werewolf, to the woman who arrived at his hospital in a wedding dress insisting she was getting married to Harry Styles.    His conversation with Mark covers our changing attitudes to mental health – and asks how patients can get the care they need when psychiatry is so desperately lacking in staff and hospital beds. It's a must-hear interview! Go to proton.me/wtfisgoingon to receive a 38% discount on Proton Mail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Mark is busy doing some very important business in France but we have a very special classic episode from the early days of the podcast in which Mark is joined by Louis Theroux and Elliot Steel as he tries er…forgive me… forgive me… forgive me… tries to make sense of Boris Johnson incompetence, Black Friday and the link between Dr Who and youth crime. Follow Louis Theroux on Twitter @louistheroux Follow What The F*** Is Going On? With Mark Steel on Twitter @wtfisgoingonpod Get bonus content on Patreon Go to proton.me/wtfisgoingon to receive a 38% discount on Proton Mail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices