'A Thicky Thicky Dumb Dumb's Guide'

Comedian and podcaster Cody Dahler is to publish a book about British politics aimed at readers who feel baffled by the state of the country and want to do something about it.

The State of This!:A Thicky Thicky Dumb Dumb's Guide to British Politics has been acquired by publisher Blink, and is due out in hardback, ebook and audiobook on November 5.

Dahler, who has more than two million followers across social media, built his following by posting satirical takes on current affairs online. He has also written for a string of BBC comedy programmes including Dead Ringers, Have I Got News for You, The News Quiz and Newsjack, and is the creator and host of The Truth (In My Opinion) podcast. He has also performed at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe as part of a sketch group called Bears.

The book sets out to tackle what Dahler describes as the political questions that genuinely puzzle his followers – among them, why people are voting for Reform UK, why Britain left the European Union, why prime ministers seem to come and go so rapidly, and why a lettuce became an unlikely measure of political survival.  

Dahler said the book grew directly out of the volume of questions sent in by his audience. 'The State of This! was born from the literally thousands of questions that come in from my followers,' he said, 'people seemingly genuinely perplexed about the state of British politics and what the actual F is going on.’

‘I hope this book goes some way to shedding more light on how this mess was created and inspires us to find a way out of it.' 

The deal was struck by Blink's editorial director Veronique Norton, who acquired world rights in all languages from Heather Winstanley at the talent agency Insanity.

Norton said: ‘Cody’s comedy is a breath of fresh air amid the quagmire of political posturing. His to-the-point, no-nonsense, fact-filled summations of political and global happenings help us make sense of the mess we’re in. 

‘The State of This! is just the book we all need – funny, informative and extremely entertaining, Cody’s words galvanise us all to be more politically engaged and empowered and promises to stop us from feeling like a bunch of thicky thicky dumb dumbs.’

The State of This!   is available to order from Amazon priced £16.99 in hardback, £12.99 on Kindle or £34.99 as an audiobook – or as an ebook from uk.bookshop.org, below, which supports independent bookstores.  

Published: 23 Mar 2026