Comedian Robin Ince quits as host of BBC’s Infinite Monkey Cage | Radio 4
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/13/comedian-robin-ince-quits-as-host-of-bbcs-infinite-monkey-cage?CMP=bsky_gu
Posted by Happytallperson
Comedian Robin Ince quits as host of BBC’s Infinite Monkey Cage | Radio 4
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/13/comedian-robin-ince-quits-as-host-of-bbcs-infinite-monkey-cage?CMP=bsky_gu
Posted by Happytallperson
24 Comments
So, years of people screaming about ‘cancel culture’ cumilnates in the BBC forcing someone to resign because they said you shouldn’t be a dick to trans people.
Btw, the Equality Act public sector equality duty requires the BBC to promote equality. No space for Robin Ince saying ‘trans people are human’ off air, but space for Justin Webb to be openly transphobic on air.
Can’t wait for the Free Speech Union to weigh in on this….any second now….surely….
“… numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry”
That would be what did it.
One day we will look back on this time, like we look back on the Section 28 days
It’s no real surprise that one of the few vocal trans supporters at the BBC feels the need to leave,[ this has been going on for years.](https://www.vice.com/en/article/lgbtq-employees-are-quitting-the-bbc-because-they-say-its-transphobic/)
And yet people like Sharron Davies still have positions at the BBC. And people will continue to claim that the BBC has a pro-trans bias.
Probably doesn’t help that Brian Cox wife is on the Sex Matters advisory board.
Deep respect for him. Met him at a signing for his recent book about neurodiversity at my local library and he was a really lovely man.
What a shame. The Infinite Monkey Cage is a niche show with an enthusiastic listener base, including me. For people who enjoy intelligent conversation while having a laugh, there are few shows like it. The BBC’s impartiality rules are so inconsistently applied.
It’s hard to know the future of the show now. Will they replace Ince? If they do, you can practically guarantee it’ll be someone like Dara Ó Briain, whom I have nothing against, but he’s the sort of guy you get if you want someone who can do comedy, but is also well-versed enough in science to anchor a show about it. It just gets boring having the same handful of people on all the shows, which is what has been happening for years.
I’m not familiar with what was said or the politics around this but it’s just a podcast, would they not just relaunch the show under a different name away from the Beeb? Or is Cox just not willing to support him?
Good on him, shame on the BBC. How have they got to the point that they won’t let their presenters show empathy for trans people, yet let Farage et al spout their lies and propaganda unchallenged.
the BBC is toxic, speaking up for a minority is punished, whilst right wing views are promoted for the sake of “balance”
Over the last 10 years, my respect for the BBC and the monarchy has diminished solely due to their own decisions and actions.
It’s so sad that once world leading institutions that defined the UK on the world stage have come to this.
Good on you, Robin, for standing up for your own convictions.
Wow…accept all cookies or reject all and subscribe. Nice, Guardian, nice.
“I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division.
“They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness [and] empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn’t pamper myself with the luxury of silence.”
Robin Ince is an incredibly good egg. Shame he had to step down.
hates Ricky Gervais, so I automatically trust his opinion
Hang on a minute. Isn’t that the bloke that sat on some spam to lure the worms out?
Funny coincidence. I started listening from episode 1 on BBC Sounds and just caught up this week.
It’s funny that the science podcast man has been kicked out for spouting science.
And by funny, I mean terrifying.
I’m non-binary so maybe I have a right to comment. Can I say something controversial… the BBC is publicly funded, most households are made to pay for it, and there are people with criminal records and in prison right now just for not paying their TV license. The *only* thing that justifies this is the BBC’s neutrality. It’s completely reasonable to expect presenters who represent the BBC to behave impartially, in fact that’s kind of the deal. You can make a podcast with literally anyone else and be outspoken on any issue, but not the BBC. That doesn’t mean you can’t put your point across on the BBC: there’s a difference between being a contributor and being a presenter. A contributor is brought on to vocalise one POV and the programme can then either have another contributor to give the opposing view OR a neutral presenter can put the other side to them. The problem is when presenters are sharing their POVs as truths and not giving other perspectives, because they’re using the authority of the BBC to say This Is The Truth, and it damages credibility in the eyes of the other side, and this puts the BBC at existential risk. I would love the BBC to air people who share my perspective but I understand the deal is they air the other side too: I mean, being trans is now becoming controversial, so what if the other side becomes as heavy handed and we don’t hear anything from trans people? Just my view, but we are a lot less fragile than some people think!
EDIT: you’re welcome to dispute anything I’ve said, I’m a reasonable person and willing to talk to people on both sides, but posting transphobic abuse and blocking me isn’t it… I’ve outlined my position and rationale there’s no need to make it personal or downplay my lived experience. I will talk to anybody but about points of view, not attacking people.
I fondly recall the right saying that cancel culture would be a slippery slope and that it would come for the left eventually.
Has Brian Cox responded yet? Honestly, if he continues the show at all, or without serious protest if he’s under contract, I won’t be watching, reading, or listening to anything he does going forward. Not taking a stand is the same as condoning what management is doing.
EDIT: I just learned that Cox’s wife was on the board of an anti-trans hate group. Brian Cox may as well be a literal Nazi as far as I’m concerned. He’ll never get any of my money again.
What an awful loss. Love Robert, huge respect to him and shame on the transphoboc fuckwits that dwell in the bbc.
Resigned on a matter of principle / purity. You choose.
Robin Ince has gone from being a religious-belief-excluding-evangelical atheist to a namby-pampy secular religion inclusive sap. It’s like people who grow up in a religion who turn against religion only to find themselves a new one.
He once sucked milk from a cow’s udder, so it’s no wonder he had to resign