

Elis James and John Robins
BBC Radio 5 Live
Join the UK's youngest and most relevant broadcasters Elis James and John Robins for your twice-weekly dose of big laughs and top quality #content.Hilarious, welcoming and unashamedly ashamed, let these two best friends keep you company every Tuesday and Friday.Listen to the Elis James and John Robins podcast every Tuesday and Friday on BBC Sounds.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 27, 2026 • 58min
#518 - An 18 Yard Sprint, Sovereignty Not Dominion and Big Diolch Energy
Elis is in the middle of a megaweek. He’s about to do a 100m race for charity that he wishes could be 18 yards, he’s been to 10 Downing Street because Sir Keir is in love with him, and he’s been accosted by a roomful of Welsh people wanting to connect with him.But amongst all this he has also been betrayed. For there was a Paul McCartney-based event that he wasn’t invited to, despite another member of the team making the guest list.But what about John? He’s been doing what he does everyday; checking the price of Bitcoin. This despite not ever having owned any.

Feb 24, 2026 • 1h 19min
#517 - A Peruvian Exit, A 14 Pocket Scenario and A Neyland in the Coffin
Elis has Barrel of Eggs’ed it. Or more accurately, Isy has. The new car has met its match in the form of inner-London car park tight corners. But for a show that holds content on the highest pedestal possible, this can only be seen as a good thing. Not only has Elis got a damaged car, but he also has a damaged connection rate in the Cymru Connection. Can youth-based listener Holly be the ticket Elis needs to do a three point turn and drive straight up Success Alley? Elsewhere there’s an abundance of fun as both Benjamin Partridge and Lou Sanders give their two cents on hot air balloons and the glowing-up of Elis James respectively, John does some winning and losing, and a trip to the sound proof booth causes Elis to do some very strange things…Keep watering the soil of content by sending in your fantastic correspondence to elisandjohn@bbc.co.uk.

Feb 20, 2026 • 60min
#516 - Master of The Memoir, French Flag Fancy and I Am Full of Eggs
It’s Melvin Brain in the chair today as we go all Radio 4. What is thought? What is the self? High. Brow. This is the Best Comedy show at the British Podcast Awards 2025. Parenting Hell simply isn't doing this. There’s even an academic called Dr Loevenbruck involved.It is a full spectrum of vibes today. From deep psychology to S’ing yourself twice in a heartbeat.Elsewhere, John has a hollow coldness in the bones. In other words, he’s hungry. Meanwhile, Elis has eggs on the brain.And it turns out there’s hope for John in meeting the love of his life taking life two steps at a time.P.S. Producer Michael has read an awful lot of emails about inner monologues this week. The sheer quality of correspondence this week has been top tier.

Feb 17, 2026 • 1h 3min
#515 - Lads FM, Acquire It and Do you Want Vibes with That?
It’s a shame this year’s Oscar nominations have been named because John’s new film idea could have swept the board. Watch out John Ford with your record 4 wins for Best Director, watch out James Cameron with your highest-grossing films, there’s a new auteur in town. However, it isn’t all positivity for our Robins. After the highs of creativity, the lows of having your heart broken by someone you thought was a good friend. Elis’s foul-mouthed review of one of Frank Zappa’s albums leaves a sour taste in the mouth, and ends up with Elis being put in the Dweeb Gang with fellow Zappa detractor Snoop Dogg. Elsewhere there’s a Winter Olympics-based Made Up Game where Elis just simply will not show his workings, Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken leave John a heartwarming message, and a harmless game of 20 questions goes down like a lead balloon. Keep sending in your top tier correspondence to elisandjohn@bb.co.uk, or WhatsApp 07974 293 022.

Feb 13, 2026 • 53min
#514 - Chinese Geese, Caribbean Soaks and Emre Can Headspace
It’s limbs in the studio as a box of brownies and a couple of books have lifted Elis out of a funk. What great news for bookworms with low blood sugar. But the internal glucose alarm isn’t the only one going off as a fire alert causes chaos. We also get psychological as the boys unpick the idea of the inner monologue, and with that the terrifying engine steering John under the bonnet. Would Freud enjoy this? Potentially. Would it frighten him? Almost certainly. And from brains to bodies, the show gets panned as the least erotic thing possible, whilst we have a couple of fantastically zoological Mad Dads.

Feb 10, 2026 • 1h 14min
#513 - John Laughter, Alan Giggles and Pierre Novellie
Due to factors it’s another ride on the remote record train as the Bucks-Hulme-Palace trifecta is enacted once again. But fear not, for geographical limitation does not lead to content limitation, and the show’s exemplary badinage level is kept high. The trifecta briefly becomes a quadfecta through the addition of comedian and protocol penner, Pierre Novellie. Yes, the man who made it his business to codify the essence of Cymru Connecting stops by to adjudicate a live connection attempt. But not before taking questions on the Boer War and explaining what the Dutch have to do with all of this. Then it’s onto an old classic Made Up Game that reveals slightly too much information about its players…Do you have contributions that will help us maintain industry leading levels of badinage? Send them into elisandjohn@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp them to 07974 293 022.

Feb 6, 2026 • 1h
#512 - Stasi Mealtime, Clown Stance and There’s A Lot Going On With You
Today we discover there’s a lot going on with John. “News to me” you might say with an eye roll planted at the front of your visage. However, we’re in the more physical realm for once, as his clown feet and crisps ankles hone into view.Elsewhere, Dave is having technical problems because of the need for interrogation-level lighting being installed. And Elis is broadly fine.In some excellent correspondence, there’s solutions to the below knee level fridge issue that’s been rocking rural Bucks, the boys are in Forbes. Larry Leasehead and Simon Secondhand also give their respective views in what is some of this show’s most practical advice in a generation.

Feb 3, 2026 • 1h 6min
#511 - Chorister Humour, The Veg Guesser and What a Husband!
How well do Elis and Producer Dave really know their wives? After being asked about Hannah’s hopes and dreams a few weeks ago, Dave finally returns with the answers, and Elis can’t resist trying his hand at nailing down Isy’s favourite things.Elsewhere, Elis finds himself in Cymru Connecting heaven and discovers a new brand of humour, while John unearths his latest non-monetisable talent in a game which he initially goes in two footed on.For the usual top-notch correspondence it’s elisandjohn@bbc.co.uk on email and 07974 293022 on WhatsApp.

5 snips
Jan 30, 2026 • 55min
#510 - It’s Not A Drawer, Creosote i Bumry and The Spirit of Shelford
Chelsea Dickinson, travel writer and co-host of Podcast Passports, shares practical holiday-booking tips. She breaks down timing tricks, airport and connection hacks, and using free cancellation and alerts to save money. There are lively chats about group planning, flexible searches across Europe, and whether business class is ever worth it.

Jan 27, 2026 • 59min
#509 - Cognitive Incline, Watching Swans In Watford and The World’s Rarest Goose
“Caernarfon Heritage Steam Train, why must you forsake me?” Now that’s a taste of what to expect on this episode. The next step in Elis’s English language stand up return has hit the buffers as he plays a room which isn’t Europe’s best gig. Just how can he produce laughs from wealth managers when Llanfairfechan Community Centre is some of the best stuff in his arsenal? Fear not however, because the bit about a big table in a miners’ institute is always ready to go in emergencies. But it’s not all anxiety dreams, as we take a journey into the forest mind via John’s new mantra for life. There’s also one of our greatest jingles ever and a game which Elis hates, thus meaning great aural enjoyment for yourselves.Want to get in touch? Your go-to’s are elisandjohn@bbc.co.uk on email and 07974 293022 on WhatsApp, which is like text messages but also works on internet only SIM packages.


