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
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
169: Blue peacock
Jan 02, 2026Hannah Crosbie and Evan & Katelyn Heling face questions about jewellery japes, needle needs and treasured tags. 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 welcomes back wine writer Hannah Crosby and YouTubers Evan and Caitlin to solve a series of lateral thinking puzzles. The trio tackles questions ranging from peculiar newspaper headlines to Cold War-era nuclear weapons, using creative reasoning to uncover the surprising answers behind each mystery.
- The Banana Throws Orange Apple Mystery
- The Crochet and Knitting Yarn Twist
168: Removing the roof
Dec 26, 2025Michelle Wong and Dani Siller & Bill Sunderland from 'Escape this Podcast' face questions about Soviet spats, spot situations and spoiled science. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird q...
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In this episode of Lateral, Tom Scott hosts three Australian guests—Michelle Wong from Lab Muffin Beauty Science and Bill Sunderland and Dani Seller from Escape This Podcast—as they tackle lateral thinking puzzles involving Dutch cheese labels, knitted sushi patterns, papal conclaves, AI training failures, corporate terms and conditions, and Soviet diplomatic wit.
- Dutch Cheese Labeling System
- Sushi Roll Knitting Pattern
167: Animals carrying sausages [LIVE]
Dec 19, 2025[Audio only] Ria Lina, Alasdair Beckett-King and Iszi Lawrence face questions about selfless speeding, donated dots and Clapham curries. Recorded at the Clapham Grand, London, as part of the Cheerful ...
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In this live episode of Lateral recorded at the Clapham Grand during the Cheerful Earful podcast festival, host Tom Scott challenges three guests—virologist and comedian Rialina, comedian Alastair Beckett-King, and children's author Izzy Lawrence—to solve lateral thinking puzzles. The show features quirky questions ranging from promotional restaurant gimmicks to film censorship rules, with the panel demonstrating both impressive deductive reasoning and hilarious diversions.
- Katsu Curry Promotion Based on Names
- Australian Road Safety Campaign Using Body Shaming
166: A severed sleeve
Dec 12, 2025Caroline Roper, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum face questions about restaurant reportage, banned bulbs and opportunistic operations. 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 all three co-hosts from the Let's Learn Everything podcast—Tom Lum, Caroline Roper, and Ella Hubber—for a series of lateral thinking puzzles. The team tackles questions ranging from creative loopholes in EU energy efficiency laws to the surprising medical scheduling habits of American men, with their signature blend of humor, wild guesses, and eventual problem-solving breakthroughs.
- German Entrepreneurs and EU Light Bulb Regulations
- Silly String Saves Lives in Iraq
165: Donut security
Dec 05, 2025Jack Chambers, Manu Henriot and Alex Bell from QI's 'Lunchbox Envy' face questions about dietary dials, spun signage and Twitch take-outs. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions...
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Tom Scott hosts a lateral thinking puzzle show featuring three guests from the Lunchbox Envy podcast: Manu Onrio, Jack Chambers, and producer Alex Bell. They tackle food-related brain teasers ranging from tachographs and fruit bats to hockey jerseys and corporate security donuts, demonstrating creative problem-solving through wordplay, logic, and unexpected connections.
- Introduction and Tachograph Puzzle
- Lunchbox Envy Podcast Overview
164: The unplayable record
Nov 28, 2025'Map Men' Jay Foreman & Mark Cooper-Jones and Mithuna Yoganathan face questions about fort fights, cool cash and boda bodas. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderfu...
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This episode of Lateral features host Tom Scott with guests Jay Foreman, Mark Cooper-Jones (the Map Men duo), and Mithuna Yoganathan from Looking Glass Universe. The team tackles fascinating trivia questions about everything from the Brooklyn Bridge and P.T. Barnum's elephants to hot shot furnaces, retronyms, ska music technical issues, and temperature confusion on scratch cards. The conversational banter showcases both impressive knowledge and hilarious wrong turns as they work through each puzzle.
- Brooklyn Bridge Elephant Parade and P.T. Barnum
- Hot Shot Furnaces and Heated Cannonballs
163: Lightning in a bottle
Nov 21, 2025Evan & Katelyn Heling and Hannah Crosbie face questions about ceramic coins, cartoon cravats and commercial careers. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answer...
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This episode of Lateral features guests Hannah Crosby, Evan, and Caitlin tackling mind-bending trivia questions about everything from cartoon animation tricks to Antarctic sauna challenges. The contestants work through puzzles involving Hanna-Barbera character design, the invention of television, survey methodology, and various quirky real-world phenomena, demonstrating the creative lateral thinking the show is known for.
- Huckleberry Hound's Bow Tie and Animation Efficiency
- The Invention of Television From a Potato Field
162: Brown noise
Nov 14, 2025Melissa Fernandes, Taha Khan and Sabrina Cruz from 'Answer in Progress' face questions about secret squares, adapted accessories and celeb-spotting cetaceans. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast a...
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The Answer in Progress team (Taha Khan, Melissa Fernandez, and Sabrina Cruz) tackle an exceptionally challenging episode of Lateral, working through clever wordplay and obscure connections involving brown noise, bird restraint techniques, thermal cameras, and celebrity wax figures entertaining a lonely dugong during COVID lockdown.
- Brown Noise, Taco Bell, and Naming Origins
- Broccoli as Olympic Medal Stand-Ins