One of the best-liked MPs in Westminster, Chris Bryant has led an incident-packed life as the title of his new autobiography A Life And A Half proves. In a frank, astonishing, sometimes dark but also very funny interview he explains how he went from a painful childhood to becoming an Anglican priest to winning a very traditional South Wales seat as an out gay man. From early encounters with Boris Johnson to bizarre stories in Brussels, it’s one of the most remarkable interviews we’ve done. “My m...
Aug 25, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 474
Robert Jenrick’s hanging out with the far-right at the migrant hotel protests, the Express claims “tens of millions” of Britons want a full-blown revolution, and Alison Pearson is hoping for a military coup. Why are the former law-and-order right so desperate for political violence to erupt? Plus, will Sally Rooney’s reign of terror ever end? As calls mount for her to be banned (somehow) or prosecuted (somehow) for backing Palestine Action, we ask if the proscription of the Gaza protest group co...
Aug 22, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 473
It seems like there’s no end to the horrors in Gaza, the torment of the Israeli hostages and Netanyahu’s expansionism. And the more events escalate, the less we understand this nightmare. Today we’re joined by UCL politics professor Julie Norman to take as sober a look as possible at how the Middle East has changed after the October 7 attacks and Israel’s devastating response. Is Netanyahu prolonging the war to say in power? Does it fit the description of a genocide? And what happens next? Plus ...
Aug 19, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 472
Ed Davey ’s reborn Lib Dems are on a 100-year high with 72 MPs and a shot at becoming the conscience of progressive Britain. So why do Reform get all the coverage? He joins our regulars to talk about fighting Farage, Labour’s travails, the war on cruelty in politics, why all those General Election surfing and bungee stunts worked, and what the Lib Dems can get done in Parliament. “We’ve been the best opposition,” he tells Alison Phillips , Matt Green and Hannah Fearn . Will they believe him…? • ...
Aug 15, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 471
The Constitution expressly forbids anyone from seeking a third term as US President. But since when did that ever stop Trump from doing anything? Ex-congressional staffer turned politics professor at George Washington University Casey Burgat joins Guardian leader writer Rafael Behr and Andrew Harrison to look at the many weird ways Trump could cling to the White House… the hidden rivalries within MAGA… and what happens to a personality cult when (if) the personality vacates the scene. • Don’t mi...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 470
Is the hysteria around digital I.D. cards justified? Or should we simply realise this is the future and get on with it? Plus, how deep is the UK university crisis? Professor Glen O’Hara is a voice at the forefront of this issue and joins us to shed some light on the dire situation. And in the Extra Bit for Subscribers, the Channel 4 documentary 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story has created a media storm about sex, morality and censorship. Why have one woman’s actions caused such angst? Esca...
Aug 08, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 469
In one of the most fascinating episodes we’ve ever done Alex Hern – A.I. writer at The Economist , who writes on A.I. but isn’t one himself – joins us for an ultra-deep dive into the truth about A.I. and what it means. How far off is “artificial general intelligence”? Which jobs would it wipe out? What happens if the promised turbo-growth of 30% a year arrives? And will A.I. turn our world into fully automated luxury capitalism or a sci-fi dystopia? Puny humans Andrew Harrison and Zoë Grünewald ...
Aug 05, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 468
Far-right agitators are amping up protests against a migrant hotel in Epping and Farage claims Britain is “close to civil disobedience on a vast scale”. We look at why populists are so desperate for chaos on the streets. Plus, as our brand new podcast Talk ’90s To Me launches, host Miranda Sawyer joins the panel to explain how the decade of Cool Britannia, Britpop and New Labour changed everything. And in the Extra Bit: The Internet is horrible but is it just a few people ruining it for everyone...
Jul 31, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 467
OK, the launch might have been a bit shambolic and the name isn’t settled – but will Corbyn and Sultana’s “Your Party”* have more impact than the average new party, yes we’re looking at you Change UK? Specifically, will it split the left of centre vote and put Farage in No.10? Plus – Vanity Fair is now running adverts featuring AI models . Is there any job the slop machine can’t destroy, even Kate Moss’s? And if women can’t live up to unrealistic human beauty standards, how about going up agains...
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 466
Has our perception of what it is to be patriotic been skewed by the likes of angry protesters parading outside a refugee hotel in Essex? And can the idea of patriotism ever be reclaimed from furious far-right groups like Britain First? Plus, what’s the latest on the Brexit reset with the EU? Director of UK in a Changing Europe Anand Menon joins the panel to discuss. And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, we’re wondering if we’ll EVER be able to retire. Escape Routes: • Ros recommends Inter Alia a...
Jul 25, 2025•54 min•Season 2Ep. 465
The government wants to lower the age of voting to 16. Does anyone really know why? Do most 16-year-olds even care about politics? And will it make even a shred of difference to election outcomes? Plus, Donald Trump’s Jeffrey Epstein meltdown continues. He’s now suing Rupert Murdoch over an article published by the Wall Street Journal last week linking him to the disgraced financier. How damaging is this for the US president? And finally, with more suspensions than the Humber Bridge, has the Lab...
Jul 22, 2025•57 min•Season 2Ep. 464
Keir Starmer suspended 4 ‘persistent rebels’ on Wednesday. Clive Lewis was not on that list, despite his many disagreements with his party, but he is on our podcast this week. We sat down with the MP for Norwich South to discuss those suspensions, why Labour's not delivering on its promise for ‘change’, and why the UK should move back closer to Europe. Plus, campaign group More in Common’s latest study categorises the electorate into seven groups. Is it useful? And who are these types of studies...
Jul 18, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 2Ep. 463
The Macron-Starmer love-in during the French President’s UK visit was guaranteed to enrage the Continuity Brexiters. But will their one-in-one-out migration plans actually deliver? Plus, is Britain ’ s justice system broken beyond repair? Jury-less trials are on the horizon but are they the fix that an impoverished, dysfunctional courts system needs? And Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham is back with a bold Ten Year Plan for the city. Ambitious or just aspirational? We explore what the res...
Jul 15, 2025•57 min•Season 2Ep. 462
Donald Trump’s bill, we won’t be calling it beautiful, which takes from the poor and gives to the rich has passed into law. What’s in it and how easily did it get through Congress? Dr Colin Provos t is an associate professor of public policy at University College London and joins the panel to get into it. Plus, Palestine Action has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government. Has this gone too far and what does this say about our right to protest in the UK, if anything? And ...
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 461
Fragmentation special! It’s all kicking off on the right and the left. Are our panic-stricken political classes talking Britain into a Farage premiership just by making it sound inevitable? And could Zarah Sultana’s (possibly premature) launch of a new party of the anti-war left turn into a genuine threat to Labour? We’re calling it CorbTana. It’s going to catch on. Really. ESCAPE ROUTES • Hannah recommends Couples Therapy on BBC iPlayer. • Jonn recommends the US version of Ghosts . • Raf saw Wa...
Jul 08, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 460
What better way for Labour to celebrate a year in power than with a humiliating climbdown on welfare? Political historian Steven Fielding joins the panel to discuss rebellions, “Austerity PSD”, and how Starmer and Reeves can make Year Two better than Year One. Plus, after the anti-IDF rants by punk band Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, has the festival really become the antisemitic “hatefest” its critics claim? Unlike most of them, our own Andrew Harrison was actually there… And in the Extra Bit for Pa...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 459
With Labour MPs rebelling over Keir Starmer’s planned cuts to welfare benefits – where does he stand now with his party and does even more trouble lie ahead? Plus, the UK’s new industrial strategy is hot off the press. What makes it so ambitious, and has it learned the lessons from Boris Johnson's failed levelling up plan? ESCAPE ROUTES • Seth recommends Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida • Hannah recommends Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth and the new Adam Curtis series, Shifty • Zoe recommends Oli...
Jul 01, 2025•58 min•Season 2Ep. 458
Dog whistle think pieces seem to be back in fashion and right wingers are more frequently using rhetoric that sounds a bit like Enoch Powell. Powell was condemned for Rivers of Blood, why isn’t sounding like him so damaging for the modern right? Plus – AI and copyright. It’s put Labour at odds with Elton John, never a good place to be. Politico’s Joseph Bambridge joins the panel to talk through the furore. Read Joseph’s piece in Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/ai-copyright-political-ni...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 457
Happy Dan Hannan Day! We “celebrate” nine years of Desperate Dan’s infamous Brexit prediction . Plus, War in and/or on Iran . Whatever happened to “America First”? Does Britain have any influence on Trump in this? And would Tony Blair have joined in America military action? And… this terrible, terrible heat . As the 1.5 degree limit looks increasingly fanciful, is living in a sweaty Britain the best we can hope for? Charlotte Nichols MP of Warrington North is our special guest. ESCAPE ROUTES • Z...
Jun 24, 2025•50 min•Season 2Ep. 456
Trump came down that golden escalator ten years ago this week, and thus began America’s descent to the depths of madness. The gang looks back on his political journey, from launching into the GOP race from Trump Tower to whatever you’d describe where we are now. Plus, Reform UK won loads of council seats – and now it actually has to take charge of things. So, how’s that going? (We promise we say more than just bad.) Then in the Extra Bit for supporters – can we ever be as happy as Finland? And w...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 455
Tanks for nothing… We look at the contrast between Trump’s pathetic North Korean-style self-celebration, the magnificent #NoKings protests, and the horror of the Minnesota assassinations. Plus, Starmer flips on a grooming gangs inquiry and the violence in Ballymena. And we grill special guest Chris Curtis MP on Labour’s housing plans and why Paul Weller was wrong about Milton Keynes . ESCAPE ROUTES • Hannah recommends Pulp live and their new album More . • Jonn recommends Our Friends In The Nort...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 454
Rachel Reeves’ spending review is out – what’s in it and what do the panel think should have got more attention? Plus, Reform UK wants to bring the DOGE mentality to Britain. We explain why that’s a terrible idea. Author of Failed State and the indispensable Comment is Freed substack Sam Freedman joins the panel. And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, as the Millennium Bridge turns 25, what has Britain built in the first quarter of the 21st century and what does it say about us? • Listen to the l...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 453
The world is watching in horror as Los Angeles turns into a real-life immersive Rage Against The Machine song. Is the President looking for a Reichstag to set on fire as he threatens to use US troops on US citizens? Plus, the Battle of the Bastards! First, what does Trump’s mega fallout with Musk tell us about the realities of far right politics… if anything? Then, what’s behind Zia Yusuf’s on-off resignation from Reform UK? Escape Routes • Raf recommends Maybe I’m Amazed by John Harris. • Aliso...
Jun 10, 2025•57 min•Season 2Ep. 452
Seems like King in the North Andy Burnham fancies his chances of taking over Labour and giving the troubled government new direction. Is talk of a leadership fight just pot-stirring – or is Starmer in real trouble? And who else is in the frame? Plus, that video where maverick crimefighter Robert Jenrick chases faredodgers was roundly mocked. But is it smart politics in the Tories’ battle with Reform over the soul of Pissed-Off Britain? And in the Extra Bit for Patreon people, we read Sarah Vine’...
Jun 06, 2025•56 min•Season 2Ep. 451
He’s old, he’s reactionary, he’s authoritarian-curious, he hates the EU… and he’s dead. Why are the main parties fixated on the demands of a zombie voter who has gone to join the Choir Eternal? And at the other end of the scale, what about “Henry” – high earner, not rich yet – the urban go-getter with an “email job” who earns six figures yet somehow finds himself strapped? Duncan Robinson who writes The Economist’s Bagehot column identified both these phenomena. He joins us to debate what we do ...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 450
Special crossover edition... Well, Elon Musk is putting Washington behind him – or so he says… Molly Jong-Fast joined American Friction to talk Chris and Jarv through what’s going on – and we thought you might want to listen too! Go get more American Friction and listen to the whole episode at: https://linktr.ee/americanfriction Molly also has a new book out called How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir, and there’s a link to buy it below.) Buy How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir ...
May 30, 2025•23 min•Season 2Ep. 449
Reform UK gets a lot of coverage but not enough scrutiny. Say Nigel Farage did become Prime Minister (God forbid) , what would a Reform UK-led UK look like? Is their manifesto (… sorry, ‘contract’) full to the brim of wishful thinking? Plus, with changes inbound on the two-child benefit cap and winter fuel payments is Labour sorting its act out? Or does this make Starmer look weak? Paul Nowak is the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress and joins the podcast to give his thoughts. And in...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 448
Rebellious MPs, a nightmare spending review, the endless Two Child Benefit Cap row, dire polling… is Labour in for a summer of discontent ? We ask whether the Government can bend with the wind to succeed, what policies will change, and whether Starmer/Reeves is a double act with two straight men? Plus: Have researchers found a new way to deal with digital disinformation ? And in a special bonus, Jonn and Andrew discuss why the best political drama of the decade so far is the Star Wars spin-off A...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 447
The Tory press and pundits reacted as rationally as you’d expect to the new UK-EU deal , accusing Starmer of sneaking back into the EU, betraying the British taxpayer, and all their favourite themes. But exactly what are they saying and how much of it is legit? Plus, with the potential abolition of the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, we ask why governments can’t see the positives of culture ? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, it’s 20 years since The Thick of It hit our screens. Pol...
May 23, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 446
The fish and the fury… As dead-end Brexiters rage against the “betrayal” of the Great British Haddock, we look at what REALLY matters in Starmer’s EU reset . Plus, polling giant YouGov’s Patrick English joins us to bust some opinion poll myths and explain the Reform Surge. And is Generation X really the most hard done-by of the postwar era? We don our Blur t-shirts and crack a Smirnoff Ice to discuss the 90s generation taking financial responsibility for their kids and their parents. • Join us f...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 445
