It’s a Merry Christmas from the Rocket of right thinking at Planet Normal to everyone stuck on Planet Earth

Your intrepid co-pilots reflect on a year of political thrills and economic spills, honouring the "citizens of Planet Normal" while handing out awards to the figures in public life who impressed - and those who most certainly did not. 

Amidst the Christmas cheer, your hosts offer a heartfelt thank you to their "intelligent and inspired" listeners for their tireless contributions throughout a tough year, before signing off with a promise of more wit, reason, and levity when the podcast returns in mid-January.

The festive spirit is bolstered by a special interview with British tennis star and Wimbledon doubles champion Henry Patten who straps in to tell us what a Wimbledon champion has for Christmas Dinner and shares his journey from the grass courts to the top of the sporting world. 

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor |

Read Allison 'Non-crime hate incidents may be gone, but don’t expect the police to stop censoring you': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/23/good-riddance-to-non-crime-hate-incidents/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Why I’m not cheering the pre-Christmas rate cut’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/21/why-im-not-cheering-the-pre-christmas-rate-cut/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |           

Read Tim Sigsworth ‘Father Christmas is ‘too white’’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/21/santas-naughty-list-too-colonial-museum/ | 

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: [email protected] |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.