What has lockdown done to Britain’s £26bn fashion business? What will the post-pandemic High Street look like? Will we all wear posh pyjamas for the rest of our lives? And what on earth is “phygital” fashion – a mix of physical and digital shopping? Guardian fashion writer Lauren Cochrane , the author of The Ten: The Stories Behind The Fashion Classics , talks to Justin Quirk about how socio-political earthquakes shape what we wear – and why jeans, Breton shirts, stilettos and the colour black n...
Jul 11, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 350
In Operation Trojan Shield an FBI-led alliance of national security services used ANOM, a fake EncroChat-style communication network, to capture 800 criminals in possibly the biggest undercover cyber-sting ever. They netted over 32 tons of drugs and more than $148 million in cash. But why could this coup be a bit of an own goal for the authorities? International security expert Dr Binoy Kampmark of RMIT University in Melbourne tells Nina Schick what the sting means – and how US law enforcement t...
Jul 08, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 349
The row over trees cut down for HS2 is trivial next to a far bigger crisis of deforestation that’s damaging Britain’s agriculture, destabilising our environment and making us vulnerable to extreme weather, says Phil Sturgeon , trustee of climate charity Protect Earth. He tells Ros Taylor about why it’s in our urgent self-interest to plant more trees, why deforestation literally means colder cows and less efficient farming… and why our fears around HS2 are wildly misplaced. “We need to double our...
Jul 07, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 348
Did the Batley and Spen result rescue Labour from a death spiral? The Independent’s political commentator John Rentoul joins us to ask whether Starmer really has pulled off a great escape. Meanwhile, as Sajid Javid loudly announces the end of COVID restrictions, will masks become the latest marker of the culture war? And why was that Princess Diana statue so bad? “Dominic Cummings' blog reads like the diary of a teenage girl scorned.” – Ayesha Hazarika “Boris Johnson seems like a clown on the ou...
Jul 06, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 347
Sajid Javid wants to “trust common sense” and tear up COVID restrictions just as we’re reaching the highest infections since January. Are Jo and Josephine Public being lined up as Third Wave fall-guys? Plus the school isolations mess, and why parasitical politicians can’t hitch themselves to the England team’s success. Alex Andreou sets out the week ahead with Andrew Harrison. • “The England football team are very easy to love but difficult for politicians to claim.” • “The Government may try to...
Jul 05, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 346
As the heatwave in the Pacific North West puts climate change into even sharper focus, it’s easy to feel powerless before the enormity of global warming. But should we? Do ordinary people have the tools to fix this? Climate campaigner Dr Alice Bell is the author of Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis . She talks to Justin Quirk about the hidden story of climate science, how we’ve been ignoring climate warnings since the 1850s… and why you need to know about heat pumps, electr...
Jul 04, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 345
No one looks back and remembers the nights they got plenty of sleep. But beyond a mere boogie, nightclubs play a vital role in shaping our collective and individual identity. Alex Andreou assembles an all-star spinning a-roundtable to chew on how COVID closures have impacted nighttime industries, why the pandemic has deprived us from more than a good party, and how culture goes beyond theatres and museums… Mairi Mackenzie is a cultural historian and consultant curator for the V&A Dundee exhi...
Jul 01, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 344
Words shape the world – but typefaces shape the words. In a world where fonts subtly engineer how we think , should we be more conscious of the lore of the letter? Andrew Harrison talks to giant of typography Gail Anderson – graphic designer, former Rolling Stone art director and co-author of Type Speaks: A Lexicon Of Expressive, Emotional, And Symbolic Typefaces – about the politics and hidden powers of fonts, how digital media is making designers of us all, and her merciless war on widows, orp...
Jun 30, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 343
Pity about Matt Hancock. He was a real hands-on Minister. But the story isn’t the hapless ex-Health Secretary’s office affair, it’s the serious implications of leaked CCTV, off-books emails to “collaborators” and Boris Johnson’s self-serving role in this mess. Plus: How do we future-proof the economy? Lib Dem treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine is our special guest. • “You can't be a Health Secretary in a pandemic if everyone's making knob jokes about you.” – Marie le Conte • “ You cannot le...
Jun 29, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 342
As we clear away the bunting and empty bottles after Hancock Humiliation Weekend, how will the story — of leaked CCTV, secret email addresses and backhanders — develop? What sort of Health Sec will Sajid Javid be, and will he give Dido Harding the NHS job? And the small matter of England vs Germany. Ros Taylor joins Andrew Harrison to set out the week ahead. • “Boris Johnson doesn’t have to pretend to have moral standards. He doesn’t have them, and lots of voters like him for that.” • “Hancock s...
Jun 28, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 341
Your opponents are lower than vermin. Politics is a righteous battle of absolute good against absolute evil. A secret cabal controls everything. And only a return to a past Eden can solve our problems. Why do these simplistic myths grip the Left so strongly, and can Labour ever free itself from them? Nick Cohen talks to Chris Clarke , author of The Dark Knight And The Puppet Master , about these fantasies of hidden power and betrayal are not just a Corbynist trait, how they lead Labour zealots t...
Jun 27, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 340
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has reinvented himself since 2015 as a podcaster with his hit series Reasons To Be Cheerful, and re-entered frontbencher politics as Shadow Business Secretary. But he has big ideas. He talks to Dorian Lynskey about his new book Go Big: How To Fix Our World , why the real issues that shape the future are bigger than Westminster, plus the “Preston Revolution”, the future roads that Labour should take… and his encyclopaedic knowledge of (wait for it) Dallas . “COVID...
Jun 24, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 339
Press freedom is under attack from Priti Patel’s draconian plans to tighten the Official Secrets Act, which would criminalise the “onward disclosure” of leaked material, putting journalists at increased risk of imprisonment. Meanwhile the Government routinely stonewalls Freedom of Information requests – making it harder to hold them to account. How did our rights to freedom of information become so eroded, with government able to skirt the law by simply blacklisting journalists? Former BBC journ...
Jun 23, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 338
Joe Biden’s frosty first summit with Putin was designed to put the Russian leader on notice that the days of manipulating America are over. But are they? Special guest Luke Harding – former Guardian Moscow Correspondent and author of Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem and Russia’s Remaking of the West – tells us what Bad Vlad really wants and if Biden can stop him getting it. Plus as we get deeper into the Euros, how will the results shape politics in England, Scotland and Wales? And why we should ens...
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 337
As the fallout from the Lib Dems’ victory in Chesham and Amersham continues to descend, is Boris Johnson about to get mugged by the newly liberal shires – or old school nimby Toryism? Is the Sunak-Johnson confrontation over the PM’s free spending finally on? Plus more Classic Dom internet fan exclusives, the DUP in a mess, and how will England and Scotland’s final Euro group games shape politics? Naomi Smith joins Andrew Harrison to set out the week ahead. • “The test for Sunak will be when he h...
Jun 21, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 336
When people end up in a job or position they love, was it because they worked hard in school, or did they just get lucky? Why is the idea of progressing on merit under threat? Is there a way we can modernise it for the 21st century? Should we we even try? Adrian Wooldridge , Political Editor of the Economist and author of its Bagehot column, talks to Ros Taylor about his new book The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World , why Britain is becoming less meritocratic… and how...
Jun 20, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 335
As footballers take the knee and culture warriors try to whip up a minority to boo, and the Tokyo Olympics teeter on the edge of cancellation, should we just accept that sport has always been inherently political? Jules Boykoff , former footballer, politics lecturer at Pacific University in Oregon and author of four books on the history of the Olympics, talks to Alex Andreou about the politics of sport’s showpiece event, whether the Tokyo Games will happen… and if it’s right to contact out polit...
Jun 17, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 334
Repairing the damage of war and cementing peace is a huge challenge for countries and international organisations. So why are big players so bad at fixing the consequences of civil and national strife? Award-winning academic Séverine Autesserre has worked as a “peacebuilder” in Kosovo, Afghanistan and the DR Congo. She talks to Arthur Snell about her book The Frontlines of Peace , why the typical “trickle-down” approach to repairing war damage doesn’t work – and how lasting peace comes from thin...
Jun 16, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 333
A bonus Daily… The Met Police was “institutionally corrupt” and failed the family of Daniel Morgan, the private investigator killed with an axe outside a South London pub in 1987, an independent panel found today. In a follow-up to our podcast on the case from May, David Allen Green talks Alex Andreou through what the report means for the police force, Morgan’s family, and Priti Patel’s autocratic policies. • “The Met did everything it could to make this report as slow and as painful as possible...
Jun 15, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 332
Andrew Neil’s GB News launches in a blaze of technical problems. Is Britain really ready to watch Channel Brillo? Plus Northern Ireland and the Sausage Wars overshadow the G7, NHS Digital is about to sell your health data to private concerns… and how old does an offensive tweet have to be before we can write it off as “youthful indiscretion”? • “Johnson having a good old row with the EU over the Great British Banger won’t do him any harm with the public at all.” – Ayesha Hazarika • “Trolling jus...
Jun 15, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 331
Whatever the triumphalist G7 headlines, the “Sausage War” fiasco left Global Britain looking as shifty, isolated and untrustworthy as its Prime Minister. How will the intractable Northern Ireland Protocol issue shake out? Plus unlocking gets put back (to nobody’s surprise), birth pangs for new regimes in Israel and Northern Ireland, and what will Friday’s England-Scotland fixture in the Euros mean for both countries’ nationalist leaders? Alex Andreou lays it all out. • “The EU will create some s...
Jun 14, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 330
From public transport to plastic and even the vinyl in your record collection, petrochemicals don’t just pervade our daily life. They’ve shaped our national culture. James Marriott, co-author of Crude Britannia : How Oil Shaped a Nation , tells Alex Andreou about the pipelines, people, and pop culture behind Britain’s petro-obsession – and how it impacted politics from Benn to Blair to Brexit. • “The UK oil industry was a kind of offshore colony in the North Sea.” • “If we hadn't had the IMF cri...
Jun 12, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 329
The European Championships begin this week against a backdrop of more political turmoil than the game has seen in years, from taking the knee to fans booing England’s own black players to the reverberations of the Super League. Clive Tyldesley , ITV’s lead football commentator for over 20 years, talks to Andrew Harrison about football at the crossroads, and brushes with legends from Dalglish to Ferguson in his new book Not For Me, Clive: Stories From the Voice of Football . “Football is the grea...
Jun 10, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 328
Adult video site Pornhub is the tenth most popular website in the world, with seven million clips uploaded every year. It’s also been accused of actively profiting from the abuse of women and young girls via its shady “amateur” videos. How can anyone hold Pornhub to account when its owner is all but anonymous? Tortoise’s Alexi Mostrous and Patricia Clarke tell Ros Taylor how they exposed the identity of Bernd Bergmair – chasing him down from China to New York City to just around the corner from ...
Jun 09, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 327
As the Government rushes to sign trade deals with some countries (just not our nearest neighbours), special guest Bridget Phillipson , Labour MP and Shadow Treasury Secretary, joins us to work out exactly what Global Britain really means. Have we left the real EU just to join the EU of the 1970s? Plus the “Lab Leak” theory of COVID’s origins seems to be gaining credence. What does this bulletin from the conspiratorial fringe mean for those of us who believe in science and stuff? • “I don’t think...
Jun 08, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 326
What’s left of the Sensible Tory MPs finally, finally find something to rebel on: the Government’s decision to slash international aid and potentially leave thousands to die. Plus will Johnson get strong-armed at the G7 over Northern Ireland and the taxing of multinationals? And England go to a major football tournament for the first time since the Culture Wars were declared. What could possibly go wrong? Arthur Snell explains it all. • “If international development funds are cut, hundreds of th...
Jun 07, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 325
With the new populist Conservatives stoking culture wars, is identity politics becoming progressives’ self-inflicted weakness? Friend of the podcast and former editor of The Spectator, Tortoise’s Matthew d’Ancona joins Nick Cohen to discuss why populism is destined to fail, his new book, Identity, Ignorance, Innovation: Why The Old Politics Is Useless And What To Do About It , and leaving the cinema to find fifteen missed calls from Boris Johnson… “In every generation, there is a progressive mom...
Jun 05, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 324
Labour lost swathes of working class votes in 2019. Is “progressive patriotism” the answer to getting them back? And what does it even look like? Dan Jarvis , Labour MP for Barnsley Central, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region and author of the memoir Long Way Home Love, Life, Death and Everything in Between, talks to Alex Andreou about why love of country could be Labour’s route back to power, why the left are so reluctant to be patriotic… and how his extraordinary life has shaped his political ...
Jun 03, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 323
As the Delta Variant continues to spread, is it time for the Government to give up on a grand reopening on June 21 – and for the press to stop calling it “Freedom Day”? And if Dominic Cummings’ revelations are proving to be a bit of a damp squib in the polls, what will it take to move an electorate that’s not interested in the truth? Special guest MUSA OKWONGA – author of One Of Them: An Eton Memoir and host of the amazing Stadio football podcast – joins us to mull these matters and football’s w...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 322
As COVID cases rise again, do we need to brace for a full Third Wave? Has the Government learned anything from the disastrous consequences of their last two late lockdowns? And do we really need to rename the variants? Plus the Tories’ polling takes a post-Cummings hit, and the Pentagon prepares to reveal its UFO research. ROS TAYLOR sets up your week ahead. • “Don’t worry about mixing on beaches. Worry about mixing in homes.” • “We don't even know if the Kent variant started in Kent.” • “People...
Jun 01, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 321
