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IRAN WAR: Desperate Trump And Dangerous Quagmire w/ John Mearsheimer

Uma and Nick talk about your hot friend

It's the first every Live Comedy Day, and Live From the UK brings a special, extended episode to the Radio 4 listener.

Angela Barnes is back at the comedy club where she did her first ever gig, the Brighton Komedia. She did a comedy course with comedy guru Jill Edwards, so catches up with her to chat about starting out, and grassroots comedy.

We also tour to all 4 nations of the UK, bringing you insights on a night tour of Edinburgh Zoo, useless stuff you learn in school, nans playing rugby and the dystopian world of fast food restaurants.

Throughout the show, some of the UK's best loved comedians will also pop up to tell you about their first ever gig.

In this episode, you can hear;

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd at the Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh

Additional Material by Ruth Husko

Recorded by David Thomas, Sean Kerwin and Davy Neil

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.

Speaking from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent and columnist Ali Hashem explains how Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq are all part of a single, interconnected battlefield, a coordinated confrontation between the axis of resistance and the United States and Israel.

That means what happens in Lebanon is directly tied to what happens in Iran, and vice versa.

Despite months of attacks, Hezbollah remains operational and has restored its ability to strike deep into Israel, underscoring that this front is far from contained.

At the same time, the war is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

With no clear endgame and contradictory signals coming from Washington, both sides appear to be embracing escalation, what some describe as a “madman strategy”, signaling they are willing to go to the brink with no limits.

So what happens when multiple fronts become one war?

And what happens when no one is playing by predictable rules?

Support independent media, become a Breakthrough News member today:  Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews

The team tackle Trump's tirades, and very much give the BBC's incoming Director General a problematic in-tray.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by:

Additional Material:

Investigation team:

Guests: Cariad Lloyd, Simon Munday.

Production Team: Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, David Riffkin.

Production Coordinator: Molly Punshon

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

Lebanese-American journalist Rania Khalek, from BreakThrough News, reports from Beirut on Israel's territorial expansion into Lebanon, the mass displacement of 20% of the population, & how Israelis running the Gaza playbook yet again. Hot off her viral takedown of Piers Morgan, she breaks down the "will you condemn" double standard, unpacks the diverse opinions Lebanese have about Hezbollah & normalization with Israel, and debunks all the hasbara the Ellisons see fit to print. (Note that this was recorded before AOC statement re no longer supporting Iron Dome funding, and her subsequent reframing that Israel can fund it's own Iron Dome, which she described as "critical to keep innocent civilians safe.")

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

We like to think we vote with our heads. But what if we've always voted with our tribe? Top political comedian Matt Forde convenes his Focus Group in front of a live theatre audience with a razor-sharp panel — former Conservative adviser Salma Shah, ex-SNP MP and broadcaster John Nicolson, and stand-up comedian Pierre Novellie — to ask whether tribal loyalty is the secret engine of political life. From parties haemorrhaging members to rivals, to the flag-wrapped contradictions of nationalist politics, to the question of whether multicultural Britain is importing conflicts it never signed up for, this is an episode about belonging, identity - and the ridiculous places both can lead

This featured episode is The Politics of The Tribe from Series 2 of The Matt Forde Focus Group on BBC Radio 4.

Written and performed by Matt Forde