Daniel Morgan’s murder in 1987 exposed a toxic nexus between the police, private investigators, and top politicians. And over thirty years later, Priti Patel is putting her foot down on the release of the public report. Friend of the podcast and Financial Times columnist David Allen Green joins Alex Andreou to join the dots between cabinet and cop corruption, and why the Home Office’s excuses nothing but “codswallop”… "The police, private investigators, and government have all worked together si...
May 31, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 320
It’s an increasingly cynical, unequal, unpredictable and worrying world. So what are we going to do about it? Turkish journalist and author Ece Temelkuran, talks to Dorian Lynskey about her new book Together: 10 Choices For a Better Now, how we can rebuild faith in humankind, the journalistic experiences which shaped her worldview, and why we should focus our anger on those in power rather than on social media. “Hopelessness is a timid code for the loss of people’s faith in their own kind.” “I t...
May 29, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 319
Trump’s Big Lie that Democrats stole the Presidential election is poisoning Republican minds against democracy itself. Could a future Republican Congress simply refuse to confirm an elected Democrat as President in 2024? Would Democrats willingly hand power to a victorious Republican – possibly Trump himself – who was openly committed to curtailing democracy? Georgetown public policy professor Donald Moynihan looks at these nightmare scenarios and explains why American democracy is in critical d...
May 27, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 318
While Labour agonises over whether it can reclaim working class votes, one question gets lost: what is work for? What do we get from it? If “good work” can give life meaning in an automated world, can Labour capture the post-working class world? Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, talks to Ian Dunt about his new book The Dignity of Labour , why the somewhere-anywhere mantra is “wretched”, what Starmer can take from FDR… and if the dream of “automated luxury communism” is just Get Ou...
May 26, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 317
As Conservative Britain batters the BBC with a Diana-shaped club, is this latest attack more serious than a customary Mail-on-Broadcasting-House punishment beating? Special guest Liz Saville Roberts MP , Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, explains the grim truth behind Britain’s trade future and tells us why English people should support Welsh independence. And why can’t Brexit Britain stop coming bottom in Eurovision? • “ We had a huge market on our doorstep, and now we ’ re trying to replace it...
May 25, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 316
What can European countries do about Belarusian tyrant Alexander Lukashenko’s bizarre “air piracy” move to divert a RyanAir flight and make a dissident disappear? What does Dominic Cummings have in store for his Westminster appearance on Wednesday? And the BBC haters scent blood. NAOMI SMITH sets up another glorious week in politics. • “Lots of popcorn shall be consumed this week.” • “Why on earth are we having to rely on Cummings for COVID scrutiny? Where are the opposition parties?” • “The BBC...
May 24, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 315
A surprise weekend extra edition, because there’s just too much news … Apparently we’re doing a “gradual” tariff-free deal with Australia. What exactly does that mean? Will it really wipe out the Welsh lamb industry and Scottish hill farmers? And have Johnson and Truss given away Britain’s negotiating advantage just for a headline? International trade expert and former negotiator Dmitry Grozoubinski explains how one deal could come back to bite Brexit Britain in painful places. • “When you look ...
May 23, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 314
With Labour still longing for victories past, where should the party go next? And why are the Tories so much better at dealing with defeat? Former Shadow Economic Advisor and Director of the Progressive Economy Forum James Meadway talks to Dorian Lynskey about prioritising concrete concerns over culture wars, whether Labour will ever win a majority again, and why working in the Shadow Cabinet was one of his worst jobs… • “The Tories are very good at dusting themselves down and working out what t...
May 22, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 313
Why do people who consider themselves anti-racist have a blind spot when it comes to antisemitism? Why don’t we automatically think of antisemitism as racism, or Jews as an ethnic minority? Writer and comedian David Baddiel talks to Nick Cohen about his new book ‘ Jews Don’t Count ’, how social media nourished a new antisemitism among some progressives… and why British Jews shouldn’t have to answer for Benjamin Netanyahu. • “Israel-Palestine is a situation that most Jews are not responsible for…...
May 20, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 312
Peace in Northern Ireland has not looked this fragile in decades. Violence erupted in Belfast and elsewhere with both Brexit and resurgent gangs to blame. The duped DUP have replaced their leader with a creationist evangelical. And it’s all happening against the backdrop of increasing support for a United Ireland. In a Two Naomis special, leader of the Alliance Party and MLA for East Belfast Naomi Long talks to Naomi Smith about Northern Ireland’s precarious peace – and how it might fall apart. ...
May 19, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 311
As the Indian coronavirus variant takes a foothold, is the UK’s grand unlocking on June 21st under threat? And as foreign holidays return, will Brits head for the airports or stay grounded? Plus, we speak to solicitor and human rights activist Tawseef Khan about his new book The Muslim Problem: Why We’re Wrong About Islam and Why It Matters. Plus: Could a one-off wealth tax pay the world’s hefty COVID bill? “I hope the red list delay was for a trade deal, because at least that makes Johnson cyni...
May 18, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 310
Britain greets the latest milestone of indoor pubs and restaurants with trepidation, not celebration. Is Boris Johnson preparing to shift the blame for another surge – possibly from the India Variant – onto the public? Plus, what’s driving the terrifying violence in Israel and Palestine, and how will that play out? ARTHUR SNELL is here to start your week. • “People who gave the Government a chance will be a LOT more critical now we’re near the end of this.” • “A lot of long-term trends in Israel...
May 17, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 309
Infamous anonymous blogger FLEET STREET FOX lifted the lid on the seedy world of tabloid journalism in the Leveson years – then in 2013 unmasked herself as Mirror columnist Susie Boniface. She tells Ian Dunt how being a total pain in the arse is the way to get into journalism, where the loathing of hacks really comes from… and why the credibility of print goes all the way back to Babylonian tax inspectors. Audio note: features guest appearance by a dog. • “I started in journalism because I could...
May 15, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 308
The vastly wealthy Sackler family are known as respectable patrons of the arts, but the story behind their philanthropy is a dark one. The Sacklers made their billions from OxyContin or “Hillbilly Heroin”, the $35m prescription drug that precipitated America’s opioid crisis – an epidemic that has killed half a million people. Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty , tells Ros Taylor about the corruption and influence that turned a deadly addicti...
May 13, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 307
As the dust settles, what are these bizarre elections really telling us about how British politics work? Electoral consultant Kenny Campbell , a former journalist and editor of the Metro newspaper, goes deep into the entrails of Elections ’21 with Alex Andreou. Does Labour have to wean itself off its attachment to the shattered Red Wall? Might levelling up the North provoke a backlash in vulnerable southern Conservative seats? And do we have to face up to the fact that England is becoming a one-...
May 12, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 306
As Labour find a way to make a bad week worse, we look at the long-term consequences of Starmer vs. Rayner . Plus, we might be on the eve of the biggest economic boom since 1948 but will the boom play in Hartlepool? The Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance in trouble. And would it be better for Britain if we stopped worrying and let London balloon until it becomes Mega-City N1 (and other postcodes)? “ Mark my words, the person who’ll undo Boris Johnson will be Boris Johnson.” – Alex Andreou “ Starmer...
May 11, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 305
How will Labour’s post-election Hell Weekend and the sacking-not-sacking of Angela Rayner play out this week? How badly is Starmer damaged? And what sort of a Queen’s Speech can we expect from a Government that has no reason to fear opposition? IAN DUNT ruins… sorry, starts your week. • “Starmer has come out of these elections absolutely savaged.” • “If you’re an urban voter, it looks like Labour is almost embarrassed of your support.” • “Voter ID is pure voter suppression. There are many proble...
May 10, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 304
Tax havens aren’t all desert islands with palm trees. One of the worst offenders is rainy Britain. So are we wrong focus on offshore tax chicanery? And what can we do about it at home as well as away? Chair of the Tax Justice Network Alex Cobham tells Arthur Snell about how tax injustice goes beyond beaches and palm trees – and the implications for businesses in post-Brexit Britain. www.taxjustice.uk www.taxwatchuk.org https://fairtaxmark.net/ • “When it comes to tax havenry, Britain is the bigg...
May 08, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 303
What if the Prime Minister was corrupt, and nobody cared? As Labour steels itself for a tough election day, we look at where sleaze is and isn’t cutting through. Plus, as the COVID horror in India worsens, Ahir Shah tells us what his friends and family in India are experiencing – and the extend of Modi’s culpability. And a Wild Idea for the future: Universal Basic Capital . Rather than tinkering with inequality through a complex benefits system, why don’t we just give everyone £10,000 on their 1...
May 05, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 302
Enforced isolation, powerlessness, boredom, even emasculation – lockdown was the perfect petri dish to create a pandemic of online gambling which affects young people worse than most. The Director of Clean Up Gambling Matt Zarb-Cousin was a problem gambler himself and betting almost destroyed his life. He talks to Andrew Harrison about how sponsorship and ads normalise dangerous betting behaviour, how the gambling industry capitalises on toxic masculinity, his personal experience with addiction,...
May 05, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 301
As votes loom in Hartlepool, Scotland, Wales and in local authorities and metro mayor regions across England, is Keir Starmer’s message on Government sleaze finally cutting through? And what will it all mean for independence in Scotland and Wales? Ros Taylor is here to start your week. “ When the media just hang on the Prime Minister ’ s every word the result is this decrepitude of politics.”. “ It ’ s a wonderful time for an incumbent government to have an election.” Presented and produced by A...
May 04, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 300
Can the classics tell us the truth about Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow and the Marvel pantheon? Robert Eaglestone , Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London, uses the Marvel Cinematic Universe to explain Aristotle’s Poetics to his students. He sits down with fellow Marvelite Andrew Harrison to discuss the mythic resonances of the MCU. Face front! Warning: many spoilers here. “ What Aristotle says about Greek tragedy and drama fits th...
May 01, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 299
Is Britain really the hopelessly split society that we fear? The good news is that as the Brexit rubble settles, our common ground is growing, and Britain is more up for serious political change than almost any other Western democracy. Tim Dixon , co-founder of pro-consensus pressure group More In Common and former advisor to Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in Australia, talks to Ros Taylor about the weird online and offline dynamics that over-represent vocal extremes, and why Brexity nationalists ...
Apr 29, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 298
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963 might be the closest the world has ever come to actual nuclear war – but do we really understand what went on between Kennedy, the USA and Kruschev’s USSR? Ukraine-born Harvard Professor of History Serhii Plokhy tells Jude Rogers about his new book Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis – and what this fatal moment in the confrontation between East and West can tell us about today’s unspoken second Cold War. “Diplomatic telegrams were so slow th...
Apr 28, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 297
Whoever wins, we lose… As Dominic Cummings takes a wrecking ball to the Prime Minister he made, writer Emma Kennedy joins us to ask who will win this particular Battle of the Bastards. Plus, if social media is so toxic that Premier League footballers are boycotting it, should we end anonymity online? And are quiz shows to blame for the state of politics? “ Let ’ s all grab a sun lounger and enjoy the weapons-grade spite from Dominic Cummings.” – Emma Kennedy “ My main emotional response to all o...
Apr 27, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 296
It’s a classic Alien vs Predator scenario as disgruntled supervillain Dominic Cummings resurfaces with the receipts on Johnson’s squalid behaviour over lockdown, leaks and the No.11 flat. What will go down worse for the embattled Prime Minister? The news that he’d rather see “bodies piled high in their thousands” than a third lockdown, or Carrie’s taste in gold wallpaper? Alex Andreou is here to start your week. “ Cummings won’t release snippets. He’ll want to make his committee appearance big b...
Apr 26, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 295
From Cameron to cabinet, the Greensill Capital scandal has spiralled into corruption chaos. But now numerous instances of shady practice are joining hands. Special guests Cynthia O’Murchú and Andy Bounds who cover Greensill and more for the Financial Times join us to connect the dots between Greensill, Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG/Liberty Steel empire and the surprise approval of a new deep coal mine in Cumbria. What’s really going on and how do we fix it? “ The transparency rules don ’ t work. Where are...
Apr 24, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 294
The Perseverance Rover is bringing us stunningly detailed images of Mars, but do we really need to go there? Are we anywhere nearer proof of life on other worlds? And is Elon Musk’s dream of a million-person Mars base by the end of the century feasible – or desirable? Alok Jha, The Economist ’s Science Correspondent and host of The Jab podcast talks space-sceptic Ros Taylor through the pros and cons of Martian exploration, and ponders whether interstellar objects are proof of extraterrestrial te...
Apr 22, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 293
THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED BEFORE CHELSEA AND MAN CITY LEFT THE COMPETITION : English football clubs triggered shockwaves of revulsion at the weekend when they announced their plans to join a €4bn breakaway ‘Super League’. Is the plan starting to crack, and can English football be saved? The man who broke the story, Chief Sports Reporter for The Times Martyn Ziegler , tells Andrew Harrison how a greed-fuelled vanity project came about, why the owners are unwise to discount “legacy fans”, and if t...
Apr 20, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 292
The Greensill scandal continues to leak dodginess like a busted fridge. Is lobbying really the issue, or is it really about the corrupt Old Boys’ Network ? Joe Biden withdraws US troops from Afghanistan after 20 years: what does it mean? And we look at the new Carey Mulligan movie Promising Young Woman , an intense and provocative rape revenge fantasy, and what it says about Hollywood after #MeToo. David Aaronovitch of The Times is this week’s special guest “People love a story of sex sleaze, bu...
Apr 20, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 291
