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The Louis Theroux Podcast

The Louis Theroux Podcast

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 Join Louis Theroux as he embarks on a series of in-depth and freewheeling conversations with a curated collection of fascinating figures from across the globe. The Louis Theroux Podcast is a Spotify podcast from Mindhouse, now available everywhere. Art Social Sciences
Episodes
  • S6 EP8: Jimmy Carr discusses the secret to his comedy, being a late bloomer, and controversial stand-up gigs

    S6 EP8: Jimmy Carr discusses the secret to his comedy, being a late bloomer, and controversial stand-up gigs
    Dec 16 2025
    For this Christmas bonus episode, Louis sits down with writer, comedian, and panel-show super-host, Jimmy Carr. Jimmy discusses what lies behind his unique brand of ‘edgy' comedy, why he remained a virgin until the age of 26 and performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival despite public criticism. Jimmy’s film, ‘Fackham Hall’, is out in cinemas now. Warnings: Strong language and adult themes. Links/Attachments: Book: Before & Laughter, Jimmy Carr (2021) https://www.jimmycarr.com/product/book-laughter/ Fackham Hall (2025) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29008225/ Jimmy Carr Tour https://www.jimmycarr.com/tour/uk-ireland/ Alex Hormozi quote: https://www.instagram.com/p/DIzTPjPTZB0/ Book: Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/203913/homo-ludens-by-johan-huizinga/ Peter McGraw’s Benign Violations https://petermcgraw.org/a-brief-introduction-to-the-benign-violation-theory-of-humor/ Book: Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault (1975) https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/13651/discipline-and-punish-by-michel-foucault-trans-alan-sheridan/9780241386019 Bob Monkhouse joke about cancer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTUvRW7gtGU Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material (2021) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16259786/ Nadine Dorries’ comment about Jimmy Carr joke: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/nadine-dorries-jimmy-carr-netflix-jewish-roma-b2008317.html Jimmy Carr’s joke about injured soldiers: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6486964/Jimmy-Carr-feels-terrible-about-injured-soldiers-joke.html#:~:text=Jimmy%20Carr%20'feels%20terrible'%20about%20injured%20soldiers%20joke Saint Lawrence, the patron Saint of comedy: https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2015/08/10/st-lawrence-patron-saint-of-comedians TV Show: ‘Game of Thrones’ (2011-2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/ Dave Chappelle quote: https://btr.michaelkwan.com/2017/03/26/sunday-snippet-dave-chappelle/#:~:text=Posted%20by%20Michael%20Kwan%20%7C%20Mar,Maybe%20it%20was%20something%20else. TV Show: ‘The Black and White Minstrel Show’ (1958-1978) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198065/ TV Show: ‘The Young Ones’ (1982-1984) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/ Titania McGrath quote: https://x.com/TitaniaMcGrath/status/1453065592651517964 Musical: We Will Rock You, Ben Elton (2002) https://wewillrockyoulondon.co.uk/ John Betjeman’s Slough poem: https://allpoetry.com/poem/8493391-Slough-by-Sir-John-Betjeman TV Show: ‘The Office’ (2001-2003) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290978/ Naval Ravikant https://nav.al/rich TV Show: 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2012 – 2025) https://www.channel4.com/programmes/8-out-of-10-cats-does-countdown The Fog of War (2004) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-fog-of-war/umc.cmc.3j815y9s5id2nvfztrlfh75il?action=play Eric Weinstein’s Intellectual Dark Web https://www.whatisemerging.com/videos/inside-the-intellectual-dark-web-eric-weinstein Hillary Clinton’s ‘deplorable’ speech: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-37330420 Jordan Peterson on compelled speech https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37875695 Credits: Producer: Millie Chu  Assistant Producer: Emilia Gill Production Manager: Francesca Bassett  Music: Miguel D’Oliveira  Audio Mixer: Tom Guest Video Mixer: Scott Edwards Shownotes compiled by Elly Young Executive Producer: Arron Fellows     A Mindhouse Production for Spotify  www.mindhouse.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • S6 EP7: Marina Abramovic on the relationship between performance and pain, never feeling loved in her childhood, and harmful conspiracies

    S6 EP7: Marina Abramovic on the relationship between performance and pain, never feeling loved in her childhood, and harmful conspiracies
    Nov 18 2025
    For the final episode of this series, Louis travels to Manchester to sit down with Marina Abramovic, the self-proclaimed “grandmother of performance art”. Marina tells Louis the stories behind some of her most famous artworks, as well as the relationship between performance and pain, never feeling loved in her childhood, and being caught in the middle of an online conspiracy. Warnings: Strong language and adult themes. Links/Attachments: Balkan Erotic Epic, Marina Abramovic (2025) https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/22/manchester-to-host-world-premiere-of-marina-abramovics-balkan-erotic-epic The Artist is Present, Marina Abramovic (2010) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2073029/ Lips of Thomas, Marina Abramovic (1975) https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/5176 Rhythm 0, Marina Abramovic (1974) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBkbseXfOQ&list=PL0bCt-VbCH4N3823Lj7uNAFLiYDjSnbTp&index=1 Cut Piece, Yoko Ono (1964) https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/15/373 Cut Piece, Yoko Ono (2005): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/16/arts.france Bob Wilson’s Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, (2012) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177497/ Book: When Marina Abramovic Dies, James Westcott (2014) https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262526814/when-marina-abramovic-dies/ Light – Dark, Ulay & Marina Abramovic (1978) https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/collection/13991-ulay-light-dark Seedbed, Vito Acconci (1972) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/266876 Seven Easy Pieces, Marina Abramovic (2005) http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/abramovic/ The Great Wall Walk, Marina Abramovic (1988) https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/apr/25/marina-abramovic-ulay-walk-the-great-wall-of-china Book: Walk Through Walls: A Memoir, Marina Abramovic (2016) https://www.waterstones.com/book/walk-through-walls/marina-abramovic/9780241974520 Balkan Baroque, Marina Abramovic (1997) https://www.singulart.com/blog/en/2024/06/03/balkan-baroque-by-marina-abramovic/?srsltid=AfmBOopPyXzjOP800ERQMaHvbiNNps0oMBOCmOKjWOhdpNt6X6kEvu2k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQigTZuTmv0 BBC Maestro, Marina Abramovic: https://www.bbcmaestro.com/courses/marina-abramovic/the-art-of-being-present Article: ‘Marina Abramovic Just Wants Conspiracy Theorists to Let Her Be’, New York Times, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/arts/design/marina-abramovic-satanist-conspiracy-theory.html The Seven Deaths of Maria Callas (2022) https://www.harrisonparrott.com/news/2022-11-04/marina-abramovic-brings-the-seven-deaths-of-maria-callas-to-royal The Truth Vs Alex Jones (2024) https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/the-truth-vs-alex-jones/umc.cmc.1azsv881ew8mcjozutufy51vf Credits: Producer: Millie Chu  Assistant Producer: Maan al-Yasiri Production Manager: Francesca Bassett  Music: Miguel D’Oliveira  Audio Mixer: Tom Guest Video Mixer: Scott Edwards Shownotes compiled by Elly Young Executive Producer: Arron Fellows     A Mindhouse Production for Spotify  www.mindhouse.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • S6 EP6: Florence Pugh discusses intimacy coordinators, jumping off buildings and getting into character

    S6 EP6: Florence Pugh discusses intimacy coordinators, jumping off buildings and getting into character
    Nov 11 2025
    In this episode, Louis speaks to British actress Florence Pugh. Joining Louis at Spotify HQ, Florence talks about “abusing” herself to get into character, whether intimacy coordinators are necessary on film sets, and jumping off a building from nearly 3000 feet. Warnings: Strong language and adult themes. If you’ve been affected by the topics discussed in this episode, Spotify have a website for information and resources. Visit spotify.com/resources Links/Attachments: Midsommar (2019) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/midsommar/umc.cmc.3btmmnmdi8cci3gb2qupxli8o?action=play Hereditary (2018) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/hereditary/umc.cmc.1p8skf72cqba9t91v2rqjbeyv?action=play The Most Beautiful Boy in the World (2021) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-most-beautiful-boy-in-the-world/umc.cmc.6nsk7o2tf9grbf1cjmicejcrv Little Women (2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuVlgl16DP0 Malevolent (2018) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2386237/ King Lear (2018) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7473890/ Thunderbolts* (2025) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/thunderbolts/umc.cmc.67bgkyn0fzr8n7ngw0v4mi2df?action=play Anora (2024) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/anora/umc.cmc.ka0xf4gk3tckil4x7x14hpcy?action=play We Live In Time (2024) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/we-live-in-time/umc.cmc.3en3aplqsmjw1pbltmzo7p4mx?action=play Article: Florence Pugh shares her life lessons https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/a64501157/florence-pugh-life-lessons-video-interview/ The Wonder (2022) https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81426931?source=35&fromWatch=true Lady Macbeth (2016) https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/lady-macbeth/umc.cmc.1crmjkmj1nzsvuwurlmdgbiji?action=play Don’t Worry Darling (2022) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10731256/ Credits: Producer: Millie Chu  Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan Production Manager: Francesca Bassett  Music: Miguel D’Oliveira  Audio Mixer: Tom Guest Video Mixer: Scott Edwards Shownotes compiled by Elly Young Executive Producer: Arron Fellows     A Mindhouse Production for Spotify  www.mindhouse.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
All stars
Most relevant
Enjoyed everyone interesting despite not knowing half the people interviewed Louis always entertains and asks the best questions

Always on point

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Theroux is great at connecting with his interviewees which encourages them to open up. If you’re interested in exploring a person’s inner-world and motivation, then this is for you. I only vaguely knew of some of these people, others I was not aware of at all - but every episode I’ve heard so far has provided really interesting insights into life. Start at the beginning & work your way Theroux ;)

Theroux at his best

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he interrupts and asks another question before they have answered the previous one. it's unbearable.

Louis doesn't let his interviewee speak!

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Firstly, the audio volume levels are shocking. I was having to turn the volume up and down. Louis starts off by introducing the sponsors (second complaint) which have obviously been recorded separately but the volume goes quiet LOUD quiet. When listening to anything with earbuds you don't normally have to adjust the volume every 30 secs! Second complaint, the introduction is purely adverts. "This episode is sponsored by...this episode is sponsored by..." I got to my third sponsor and switched off.

I don't mind adverts. I understand how sponsors work. But for the love of all things audio, give us some content first? Space out the adverts?

And finally, Louis let's out a HUGE spoiler for a show that's currently out on TV. There was the usual "spoiler alert" then he blurted out "XXX dies" before you have chance to take heed of the spoiler alert.

Honestly, I cannot comprehend how poorly this was put together. Maybe I caught a bad episode? Dunno. Not gonna waste my time on it.

Louis needs to go back to his beginnings and interview non famous people in my opinion

Gave up after 10 mins

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