The Louis Theroux Podcast

Louis is joined by writer, podcaster and subject of not one, not two, but three Louis Theroux documentaries, Megan Phelps-Roper. 25 years on from them meeting, the pair swap notes on Megan’s departure from the church, crossing paths with J.K. Rowling and how social media amplifies our worst impulses.



Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.



If you've been affected by the topics discussed in this episode, visit spotify.com/resources.



Links/Attachments:



The three video/audio extracts are from ‘The Most Hated Family in America’ (BBC)



TV Show: Deadwood (2004-2006)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348914/



Podcast: The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling (2023)

https://open.spotify.com/show/0pOqilA3erTXXQ3cf422Ct



Podcast: The Daily Podcast (2017-present)

https://open.spotify.com/show/6wVeXmXdT9nh5QKiZxPSmy



Book Series: Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling (1997-2007)

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/harry-potter/resources/series-overview/?srsltid=AYCX9vLX_rGZirNt8zcub_I762yQTqKsHXrX6pejimhQdlgtQZgLXYR4



Book: Kill All Normies, Angela Nagle (2017)

https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/our-books/kill-all-normies



Podcast: Joe Rogan Experience #974 - Megan Phelps-Roper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOnefFVBEb0



Credits:

Producer: Tom Fuller

Senior Assistant Producer: Maisie Ellen Williams

Junior Production Manager: Rosie Pender

Production Executive: Francesca Bassett

Original Music: Miguel D’Oliveira

Video Editor: Scott Edwards

Audio Editor: Tom Guest

Series Producer: Millie Chu

Executive Producer: Arron Fellows



A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Louis speaks with the Poet Laureate of Punk, the Bard of Salford, the Doctor: performance poet John Cooper Clarke. The pair discuss John’s time touring with the Buzzcocks, meeting Chuck Berry backstage, and how his poetry inspired Alex Turner to form Arctic Monkeys.



Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.



Links/Attachments:



Book: Have It, John Cooper Clarke (2026)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/john-cooper-clarke/have-it/9781037404191



Book: I Wanna Be Yours, John Cooper Clarke (2020)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/john-cooper-clarke/i-wanna-be-yours/9781509896127



Advert: Honey Monster & John Cooper Clarke (1988)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ced-0BwY9E



Poem: A Subaltern’s Love Song, John Betjeman (1940)

https://allpoetry.com/A-Subaltern's-Love-Song



Poem: Slough, John Betjeman (1937)

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8493391-Slough-by-Sir-John-Betjeman



Song: That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, The Smiths (1985)

https://open.spotify.com/track/48veRDsAEBOJJnVnnabV99



Poem: Evidently Chickentown, John Cooper Clarke (1980)

https://open.spotify.com/track/3bJxvUhRN4nJgab71HkIjc



TV Show: The Sopranos (1999-2007)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141842/



Poem: TWAT, John Cooper Clarke (1979)

https://open.spotify.com/track/0yEZiblovbuepAogvzSe2w



Poem: I Wanna Be Yours, John Cooper Clarke (1982)

https://open.spotify.com/album/2etRijq79Wz2U9TIy9ZpdM



Song: I Wanna Be Yours, Arctic Monkeys (2013)

https://open.spotify.com/track/5XeFesFbtLpXzIVDNQP22n



Film: House of Usher (1960)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053925/



Book: Tales of Mystery & Imagination, Edgar Allen Poe (1839)

https://wordsworth-editions.com/product/tales-of-mystery-and-imagination/



Book: Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire (1857)

https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/the-flowers-of-evil-les-fleurs-du-mal/



Poem: The Man Who Didn’t Love Elvis, John Cooper Clarke (2018)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/john-cooper-clarke/the-luckiest-guy-alive/9781509896066



Poem: Salome Malone, John Cooper Clarke (1978)

https://open.spotify.com/track/597ALlSF9Zz08DmYaTrKAr



Song: I’m A Lazy Sod, Sex Pistols (1977)

https://open.spotify.com/track/760CNZQRrfO7Dse1mkYVn6



Poem: A Cheap Agnostic Funeral, John Cooper Clarke (2026)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/john-cooper-clarke/have-it/9781037404191



Producer: Millie Chu

Senior Assistant Producer: Maisie Ellen Williams

Junior Production Manager: Rosie Pender

Production Executive: Francesca Bassett

Original Music: Miguel D’Oliveira

Video Editor: Scott Edwards

Audio Editor: Tom Guest

Executive Producer: Arron Fellows



A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Louis sits down with writer, activist and filmmaker Naomi Klein. They discuss Steve Bannon’s hip hop musical, why data centres are so dangerous, and the tech overlords/edgelords that inspired her latest book, End Times Fascism.



Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.



Links/Attachments:



Book: End Times Fascism, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor (2026)

https://naomiklein.org/end-times-fascism/



Book: Doppelganger, Naomi Klein (2023)

https://naomiklein.org/doppelganger/



Interview: The full-length interview with Elon Musk, The Economist (2026)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuoqKYxDHVc



Play: The Thing I Am, Steve Bannon (1996-1997)

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/opinion/sunday/steve-bannon-hip-hop-shakespeare-rewrite-coriolanus.html



Podcast: Bannon’s WarRoom (2019-present)

https://open.spotify.com/show/0WyF2LaTcrpWfrTIeKjs1L



Book: No Logo, Naomi Klein (1999)

https://naomiklein.org/no-logo/

Song: Heart of Glass, Blondie (1979)

https://open.spotify.com/track/4v2rkl1mC3zVAz0nXMx9r4



Documentary: Bowling for Columbine (2002)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310793/



Credits:

Producer: Tom Fuller

Senior Assistant Producer: Maisie Ellen Williams

Junior Production Manager: Rosie Pender

Production Executive: Francesca Bassett

Original Music: Miguel D’Oliveira

Video Editor: Scott Edwards

Audio Editor: Tom Guest

Series Producer: Millie Chu

Executive Producer: Arron Fellows



A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Louis is back on the road, this time to visit actor, footballer and professional hard man Vinnie Jones at his Sussex farm. The pair discuss Vinnie’s journey to sobriety, a bizarre standoff with Steven Seagal, and the real story behind those photos with Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne.



Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.



Links/Attachments:



TV Show: The Gentlemen, (2024-present)

https://www.netflix.com/title/81437051



Book: A Kestrel for a Knave, Barry Hines (1968)

https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-kestrel-for-a-knave/barry-hines/9780141184982



Film: Kes, (1969)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064541/



Film: My Cousin Vinny, (1992)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104952/



Film: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, (1998)

https://www.netflix.com/title/16944044



Film: Snatch, (2000)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208092/



Film: Year One, (2009)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045778/



Film: Swordfish, (2001)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244244/





Producer: Millie Chu

Senior Assistant Producer: Maisie Ellen Williams

Assistant Producer: Andy Cook

Junior Production Manager: Rosie Pender

Production Executive: Francesca Bassett

Original Music: Miguel D’Oliveira

Video Editor: Scott Edwards

Audio Editor: Tom Guest

Executive Producer: Arron Fellows



A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Louis is joined in our brand-new studio by writer, documentarian and creative doppelganger Jon Ronson. Jon tells Louis all about delving into culture wars, how public shaming has created a ‘superbug’ of shamelessness, and the cast of ‘unravelling men’ in his new book, The Castle.



Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.



Links/Attachments:



Book: The Castle, Jon Ronson (2026)

https://jonronson.com/book/the-castle/



Book: Them, Jon Ronson (2001)

https://jonronson.com/book/them/



TV Episode: Finding Frances, Nathan For You, Comedy Central (2017)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7277634/



TV Show: The Ronson Mission, Channel 4 (1993)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235493/



Book: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson (2015)

https://jonronson.com/book/so-youve-been-publicly-shamed/



Podcast: Things Fell Apart (2021-2026)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m002j8rl



Book: The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart (1971)

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-dice-man/luke-rhinehart/9780006513902



Article: Something is Wrong on the Internet, James Bridle, Medium (2017)

https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2



Documentary: Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (2006)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1263704/



Documentary: Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere (2026)

https://www.netflix.com/title/81920687





Credits:

Producer: Millie Chu

Senior Assistant Producer: Maisie Ellen Williams

Junior Production Manager: Rosie Pender

Production Executive: Francesca Bassett

Original Music: Miguel D’Oliveira

Video Editor: Scott Edwards

Audio Editor: Tom Guest

Executive Producer: Arron Fellows



A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices