Taking over after Robin Ince was forced to resign

Jessica Fostekew will be taking over from Robin Ince as co-host of Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage – at least for some episodes.

The comedian has been unveiled as one of the guest hosts of the new series, after Ince was forced to chose between the show and expressing his opinions online, and chose the latter.

Fostekew will be joined by science journalist Adam Rutherford on the first episode, as regular host Professor Brian Cox will be away on tour. Cox joked: ‘I’m sure that Monkey Cage is in safe hands with Jessica Fostekew and Ernest Rutherford.’

Meanwhile, Fostekew said: ‘What an honour to be joining the hosting team of The Infinite Monkey Cage. I’m a huge nerd so being at the helm of a show as brainy and prestigious as this a dream come true to be honest. What a privilege to get to be the curious clown and chaos bringer in the company of such extremely clever people. Let’s go!’

In December, Chortle was the first to report how the BBC forced Ince, below, to step down from the show after 16 years and 207 episodes because of his social media posts backing pro-trans and other progressive causes.

At a recording of the show, he  told the stunned audience the news that bosses at BBC Studios – the commercial programme-making arm of the Corporation – that he was forced to choose his conscience over his job.

Speaking at the Niamos Theatre in Manchester, he said: ‘Unfortunately, it’s been deemed that my off-air opinions in terms of being supportive towards the trans community and BBC science presenter.

‘It's broken my heart to do this, and I'm sorry to put you in that awkward position, but I wanted to say, I wanted to tell the last audience I've ever seen about this, because I know it's the end of my radio career. 

‘I just wanted to say that I was inspired by my dad. My dad always believed in justice, and he believed in faith, and I believe that the world at the moment is going towards a very parlous state in terms of extremists and bigots, and fewer and fewer people seem to be able to stand up and say anything without losing their job or being pushed into silence.

‘I'm very lucky because I have a level of privilege, which means I am able to resign  from this job, and I am able now to, I hope, stand up and represent – whether it's people in the LGBTQ+ community, whether it's people on hunger strike in prisons, whether it is so many of the other groups that are maligned…’

Here is that speech:

In response, the BBC said at the time: ‘We have very clear expectations in relation to the use of social media for everyone working for the BBC, including freelancers. Robin is not subject to the same requirements for impartiality as BBC staff presenting flagship programmes, but all BBC staff and freelancers are required to respect civility in public discourse and not to bring the BBC into disrepute.’

The Infinite Monkey Cage returns in the autumn. 

Published: 6 Aug 2026