Nishant “Nish” Kumar, 37, was born in south London. He discovered comedy when he performed in revue shows while studying English literature and history at Durham University. He’s twice been nominated for best show at the Edinburgh comedy awards. Alongside his critically acclaimed standup career, he’s hosted satirical BBC Two series The Mash Report (which was cancelled after four series) and starred in Sky’s Hold the Front Page with fellow comic Josh Widdicombe. He now co-hosts weekly political podcast Pod Save the UK with journalist Coco Khan.
What’s the premise of your new podcast?
It’s a British political podcast but made by Americans. A bunch of former Barack Obama staffers started a podcast network called Crooked Media, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Trump’s nickname for the entire press. They’ve been doing Pod Save America, which is very successful. This is a British sister show, hosted by me and Coco Khan, two people trying hard to keep their faith in the political process. Against our better judgment and all available evidence, we still believe in the power of politics to improve people’s lives. The tone is hopefully going to be justified optimism.
