Lateral with Tom Scott
Award-winning comedy panel game about weird questions with wonderful answers. Each week, Tom Scott is joined by three guests to ask each other questions with a sideways twist. There's no points or prizes - just reputation and bragging rights on the line. Enquiries and question submissions: https://www.lateralcast.com. Ad-free shows and bonus content: https://www.lateralcast.com/club.
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Recent Episodes
189: Sleep-inducing hangers
May 22, 2026Davina Bentley, Ed Patrick and Stuart Laws face questions about feline fatalities, Portland park picnics and devious deliveries. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wond...
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In this episode of Lateral, host Tom Scott is joined by comedians Stuart Laws, Davina Bentley, and Dr. Ed Patrick as they tackle quirky lateral thinking puzzles. The panelists navigate through questions about weight loss milestones, pizzeria arbitrage schemes, the psychology of pricing and placebos, hotel room hacks, the world's smallest park, preschool behavior management techniques, and cross-cultural cat mythology—all while promoting their upcoming Edinburgh Fringe shows.
- Weight Loss Celebration with Airline Baggage
- The Placebo Effect and Pricing Psychology
188: 76 degrees
May 15, 2026Sage the Bad Naturalist, Evan Heling and Katelyn Heling face questions about disruptive droughts, moved moments and sneaky snaps. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with won...
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In this episode of Lateral, host Tom Scott challenges three guests—Evan, Caitlin, and first-time guest Sage the Bad Naturalist—to solve lateral thinking puzzles. The questions range from why Power Rangers was banned in Malaysia to how scientists used pig bristles on stilts to prove desert ants count steps. The team works through riddles involving Ethiopian calendars, Apple Store psychological tricks, circus-inspired ant experiments, and creative film production workarounds, showcasing both brilliant deductions and hilariously wrong guesses along the way.
- Power Rangers Ban in Malaysia
- Ethiopian Calendar and Alexander Graham Bell's Patent
187: The lion and the poet
May 08, 2026Matt Gray, Rowan Ellis and Verity Babbs face questions about pervasive players, biscuit barrels and foreign flags. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers,...
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In this episode of Lateral, host Tom Scott welcomes three guests to solve lateral thinking puzzles: first-time player and art historian Verity Babs (author of 'The History of Art in One Sentence'), returning video essayist Rowan Ellis, and returning guest Matt Gray. The team tackles questions about derisive nicknames, New Zealand's marriage lottery system, sign language contrast, the French flag's presidential proportions, a Chinese tongue-twister poem, and a court case paint-off that proved artistic authorship.
- Derisive Nicknames Across History
- New Zealand's Marriage Lottery and the Biscuit Tin
186: Flaming buttocks
May 01, 2026Sam Denby, Adam Chase and Ben Doyle from 'Jet Lag: The Game' face questions about culinary caution, ballgame bests and necessary nosegays. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions...
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In this episode of Lateral, Tom Scott hosts the team from Jetlag: The Game—Ben Doyle, Adam Chase, and Sam Denby—for a series of lateral thinking puzzles. The trio tackles questions ranging from Polish video game translations and coral fossils revealing Earth's rotation speed, to submarine baseball across the international date line and secretive 17th-century medical innovations. The episode showcases their problem-solving skills in a stationary setting, a stark contrast to their usual high-speed travel competition show.
- Polish Video Game Translation Mystery
- Coral Fossils and Earth's Ancient Rotation
185: Mackerel comfort
Apr 24, 2026VT Physics, VeeVee and Geoff Marshall face questions about various vowels, jostling jumps and medical minerals. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers, ho...
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In this episode of Lateral, host Tom Scott is joined by YouTubers VT Physics, Vivi TV, and Geoff Marshall for a game of lateral thinking puzzles. The guests tackle questions ranging from video game notation and airline noise-canceling technology to ceramic tortoises and medical handbook pranks, showcasing creative problem-solving and surprising connections between seemingly unrelated topics.
- Introductions and YouTube Short-Form Content
- Video Game Notation Puzzle
184: Popcorn in the sea
Apr 17, 2026Dani Siller, Bill Sunderland and Sarah Renae Clark face questions about funny flops, curious cubes and rolling races. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answe...
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A delightful episode of Lateral featuring Bill Sunderland, Danny Siller, and Sarah Renee Clark solving quirky lateral thinking puzzles. The guests tackle questions about movie injuries, historic music halls, military rocket testing, and innovative calendars, with particularly memorable moments including a live popcorn-in-water experiment and discussions about toe-related wordplay. The episode showcases creative problem-solving, obscure trivia, and plenty of humor.
- Natalie Portman's Portmanteau Injury
- The Pee-Preserved Music Hall
183: Dog watches
Apr 10, 2026Lizzy Skrzypiec, Sophie Ward and Katie Steckles face questions about work watches, record-breaking runs and alarming altitudes. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonde...
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Tom Scott hosts a lateral thinking puzzle show featuring mathematicians Katie Steckles and Sophie Ward, along with improviser Lizzie Skipiek. The trio tackles quirky questions ranging from Lithuanian supermarket naming conventions to why firefighters wiggle, demonstrating creative problem-solving and collaborative reasoning. The episode showcases the panelists' diverse thinking styles as they work through unusual puzzles about aviation, naval traditions, pharmaceutical sales tactics, and cricket superstitions.
- Lithuanian Supermarket Size Classification System
- Australian Mailboxes as Repurposed Objects
182: The calendar goal scorer
Apr 03, 2026James Smales, Jonny Robins and John Cantrell from 'Here's What You Do' face questions about forgotten figures, speedy systems and peculiar parliaments. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about we...
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Tom Scott hosts a puzzle show where contestants from the podcast 'Here's What You Do' tackle bizarre trivia questions requiring lateral thinking. The three contestants—James Smiles, Johnny Robbins, and John Cantrell—work through questions about Colombian footballers, Norwegian skateboarding bans, pneumatic tube systems, Chinese engineering marvels, coalition governments, and creative album production.
- Colombian Calendar Footballer
- Norway's Skateboarding Ban
181: Road of Lions
Mar 27, 2026Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper and Tom Lum from 'Let's Learn Everything!' face questions about French phrases, rugged roads and profitable practices. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird q...
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Tom Scott hosts the podcast Lateral with special guests Caroline Roper, Ella Hubber, and Tom Lum from the Let's Learn Everything podcast. The episode features lateral thinking puzzles where guests must solve quirky mysteries using logic and creativity, covering topics from museum displays to Hollywood history to French water terminology.
- Introduction and Podcast Rating Banter
- The Beetle Car Museum Display
180: A curved bridge
Mar 20, 2026Rowan Ellis, Jarvis Johnson and Jordan Adika face questions about Disney decorations, cartoon casts and birthday backs. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful ans...
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A comedy quiz show where host Tom Scott challenges three guests—Jarvis Johnson, Jordan Adika, and Rowan Ellis—to solve lateral thinking puzzles. The episode features questions about viral business cards, sports jerseys, ancient alphabets, aviation mishaps, African bridges, and Disney theme park design tricks. The format encourages creative, non-linear thinking as players work through clues to arrive at surprising answers.
- The Samsung Apple Store Employee
- Carlos May's Birthday Jersey
179: The 3-in-1 adaptor
Mar 13, 2026Iszi Lawrence, Abby Cox and Matt Gray face questions about eliminated equines, dangerous doors and porridge pools. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers,...
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Tom Scott hosts a lateral thinking quiz with guests Abby Cox (fashion historian), Matt Gray (YouTuber), and Izzy Lawrence (paleontologist/podcaster). They tackle five cleverly crafted questions involving everything from USB cables and the Rosetta Stone to Victorian-era mine testing with porridge and aniseed balls, culminating in a question about Olympic events that no longer use horses. The show blends history, science, and wordplay with playful banter.
- USB Charging Cable and the Rosetta Stone
- Concert Pianists and Safety Netting Technique
178: The woodland mirror
Mar 06, 2026Charlotte Yeung, Annie Rauwerda and Alexis Dahl face questions about serial sequences, picture purchases and washed-out words. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonder...
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Tom Scott hosts a lateral thinking puzzle show with three returning guests: Charlotte Young (Miss London and PhD student), Alexis Dahl (Michigan history YouTuber), and Annie Rauwerda (Wikipedia expert). They tackle quirky riddles involving everything from Australian racehorses to blank book chapters, parking garage mnemonics, and Roman numeral alphabetization. The episode showcases clever wordplay, collaborative problem-solving, and surprising connections between seemingly unrelated facts.
- The Australian Derby Horse Puzzle
- The Pig at the Steakhouse
177: Bride then groom
Feb 27, 2026Helena Kirk, Dan Faulkner and Michael Dearsley from 'Hey, I Loved that Movie!' face questions about movie materials, bumper balloons and lacklustre locations. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast a...
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Tom Scott hosts a lateral thinking puzzle show with guests from the 'Hey I Love That Movie' podcast: Dan Faulkner, Helena Kirk, and Michael Dearsley. The team tackles creative puzzles involving music equipment, educational balloons, climate change art, casino security, geography trivia, and classic films, combining humor with clever problem-solving.
- Introduction and Podcast Overview
- The Trent Reznor DX7 Mystery
176: Journaling paradise
Feb 20, 2026Dani Siller, Bill Sunderland and Sarah Renae Clark face questions about remote rails, dual disagreements and conked out cars. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderf...
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In this episode of Lateral, host Tom Scott is joined by Sarah Renee Clark, Danny Siller, and Bill Sunderland for a session of lateral thinking puzzles. The group tackles questions about truck driver communication codes, historical sieges, automotive durability, viral comedy credits, temperature scales, and AI search errors. The guests demonstrate creative problem-solving while navigating through deliberately misleading clues and wordplay.
- Truck Driver Communication and Text Speak
- The Bullwashers of Salzburg
175: Food tattoos
Feb 13, 2026Lizzy Skrzypiec, Sophie Ward and Katie Steckles face questions about meal mix-ups, private performances and familiar faces. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful...
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Episode 180 of Lateral features Lizzie Skipiek, Katie Steckles, and Sophie Ward tackling quirky lateral thinking puzzles. The team solves questions about Dutch New Year's traditions involving fireworks and Bohemian Rhapsody, a 19th-century woman who installed Wales' first telephone line to listen to opera, creative tattoo designs, text message mishaps, aerobatic pilot preparation routines, and embarrassing reusable shopping bags designed to shame people into environmental responsibility.
- Dutch New Year's Fireworks and Bohemian Rhapsody
- Wales' First Telephone Line for Opera Listening
174: The metal bar
Feb 06, 2026James Smales, Jonny Robins and John Cantrell from 'Here's What You Do' face questions about partial puzzles, soccer secrets and faraway flights. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird que...
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Tom Scott hosts three professional quiz show consultants and question setters from the podcast 'Here's What You Do' in what he calls a bold decision to bring 'ringers' onto a lateral thinking game. James Smiles, Johnny Robbins, and John Cantrell each wrote their own questions for this episode, which covers topics ranging from Pokemon cards blessed by the Pope to radioactive cobalt warnings, featuring clever wordplay and unexpected cultural insights throughout.
- Pokemon Cards and Pope Leo XIV
- Batman Returns and the Celebrity Penguin
173: Hairdryer on a pole
Jan 30, 2026Rowan Ellis, Jarvis Johnson and Jordan Adika face questions about missing money, medical manoeuvres and mangled magazines. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful ...
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In this true crime-themed episode of Lateral, host Tom Scott challenges video essayist Rowan Ellis and podcasters Jordan Adika and Jarvis Johnson with lateral thinking puzzles. The trio tackles questions about magicians using magazine cutouts for eye contact practice, Twin Peaks' theme song accidentally forming visual peaks in MIDI format, Marines using hairdryers to trigger roadside bombs, Chilean strawberry plants that wouldn't produce fruit due to gender confusion, Croatian millionaire game show currency woes, and creative thermostat hacking in an Airbnb.
- Magician's Eye Contact Training Technique
- Twin Peaks Theme Song Creates Accidental Visual Peaks
172: A full glass of milk
Jan 23, 2026Iszi Lawrence, Abby Cox and Matt Gray face questions about rhythmic rumbles, solo Soviets and nonsense navigation. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers,...
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A game show where three guests tackle lateral thinking puzzles covering topics from papal history and cross-country skiing to fabric production and space travel. Izzy Lawrence, Matt Gray, and Abby Cox work together to solve riddles about historical quirks, musical bans, and unusual professions, with each bringing their unique expertise to the table.
- The First Pope Named First
- Sugar in Milk: A Refugee's Promise
171: Duck on expenses
Jan 16, 2026Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper and Tom Lum from 'Let's Learn Everything!' face questions about problematic pictures, identical items and whale wax. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird que...
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Tom Scott hosts Let's Learn Everything podcast team (Tom Lum, Ella Hubber, and Caroline Roper) for another episode of Lateral, featuring lateral thinking puzzles about disc golf terminology, dishwasher magnets, rubber duck debugging, aging whales, Icelandic translation mishaps, Nintendo Wii police work, hardware store organization, and Danish hiking safety. The LLE crew demonstrates their quick thinking and collaborative problem-solving while bringing their signature humor and fun facts.
- Disc Golf Brown Ace Mystery
- Dishwasher Magnets with Comedians
170: Please don't!
Jan 09, 2026Charlotte Yeung, Annie Rauwerda and Alexis Dahl face questions about medieval mercenaries, alarm apps and backpacking bandages. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonde...
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Tom Scott hosts Lateral, a puzzle show where three guests work through lateral thinking questions. This episode features Annie Roeder (Wikipedia researcher), Charlotte Young (Miss London finalist and PhD student), and first-time player Alexis Dahl (Michigan science communicator). The team tackles questions ranging from music industry quirks to WWII espionage, Australian first aid, and unexpected crime prevention.
- System of a Down's 'Steal This Album' and Piracy Culture
- The Cigar-Smoking Gorilla Test Pilot