There is no reliable data on the number of people who regret their decision to undergo transgender surgery. James Caspian, a trained psychotherapist who worked for a decade with people who wanted to change their gender decided to find out more but was blocked by Bath Spa University for trying to research a non "politically correct" topic. He's now trying to take his university to court. Laura Dodsworth is a writer and photographer who documented detransitioners for the Sunday Times through photo...
Feb 16, 2021•54 min
In this Critic magazine podcast, Graham Stewart and David Scullion talk to Radomir Tylecote about his research into how academics at British universities are cooperating with organisations linked to the Chinese military on technological projects that may have useful defence applications for Beijing. __ Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ ...
Feb 11, 2021•19 min
The entrepreneur Jim Mellon has a track record in investing in some of the technologies and innovations that shape our future. The one that is preoccupying him at the moment is the cultured meat market, sometimes called "cell meat". He has also written an investor's guide to the new agrarian revolution entitled Moo's Law. In this podcast The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Jim about the development of cultured meat and when we can expect to see it on our supermarket shelves. ...
Jan 22, 2021•31 min
In this week's Critic Podcast, David Scullion speaks to the DUP leader in Westminster about an aspect of the Brexit deal under so much attention recently, the Northern Ireland Protocol. Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have said freight levels to Ulster are at usual levels for this time of year and that any issues with the Protocol, which came into force at the start of the year, are teething problems. But the DUP say the Protocol undermines the Good Friday Agreement and needs to be scrapped as so...
Jan 18, 2021•25 min
Only a year ago, Rishi Sunak was a name known only to close followers of Westminster politics. Now the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the most important figure in the government after the prime minister and the man talked about as the most likely future leader of the country, or at least the Conservative party. But who is he? Has he risen so quickly that his views are not fully formed and how broad are his interests and his appeal? In the podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, t...
Dec 10, 2020•26 min
After Michael Gove unexpectedly struck an agreement with EU Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on Northern Ireland, the the UK agreed to remove controversial clauses in its Brexit legislation. But does this mean we're about to strike a trade deal or the opposite? Graham Stewart speaks to David Scullion on a fast moving day in politics.
Dec 08, 2020•14 min
The River Thames has been the site of constant human activity for at least two millennia... is it any surprise that so much evidence of this history washes up on the foreshore every single day? Mudlarkers are those who search for such treasure, and they have a fascinating history of their own. In this podcast, Olivia Hartley speaks to Lara Maiklem, author of The Sunday Times bestseller Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames, about what how mudlarking on the Thames foreshore has changed h...
Dec 03, 2020•31 min
The Critic's political team discuss whether the parliamentary arithmetic means Boris Johnson should be worried about the next vote to impose restrictions.
Dec 01, 2020•12 min
In this week's podcast David Scullion talks to British businessman and longtime Brexit campaigner John Longworth about his role in achieving a vote to leave the EU and why he dramatically broke away from his longtime ally Nigel Farage. During the 2019 General Election campaign he publically called on the Brexit Party leader to stand down candidates in Conservative seats and asked people to vote Tory at the General Election instead of his own party, leading to a rift with the former UKIP leader t...
Nov 24, 2020•44 min
In the latest issue of The Critic Magazine, Julie Bindel reveals how abused women are being let down by domestic violence perpetrator programmes, while Louise Perry shows how the political labels of ‘left’ and ‘right’ are irrelevant for feminists. In this podcast, David Scullion talks to both Louise and Julie about their articles, and the future of feminism in the West. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’r...
Nov 17, 2020•41 min
America is still counting the votes, but as things stand, Joe Biden is on course to be the next president of the United States. Donald Trump's chances of victory are slim, and getting slimmer, while his legal team look set to lodge complaints and demand recounts in several crucial states. But 48 hours after election day, a couple of things are clear: the polls were a long way off and Democrats have badly underperformed expectations. It also seems likely that Republicans retain control of the Sen...
Nov 05, 2020•31 min
The Critic's political sketch-writer, Rob Hutton, previously spent 16 years reporting on Westminster's comings and goings from the very different vantages of The Mirror and Bloomberg. How have politicians as well as journalists adapted to the 24 hour news cycle and is the expectation of instant commentary debasing serious journalism? In this podcast, Rob Hutton talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how politics and the media have changed and reveals his journalistic inspi...
Nov 04, 2020•35 min
In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to the author of The Elephant in the Room, the entrepreneur John Mills, chairman of the consumer goods company JML and the Labour Party's largest individual donor, about how the UK's manufacturing base could be revived through policies designed to sustain a more competitive exchange rate. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 ...
Oct 27, 2020•21 min
The second–and final–US presidential debate of the 2020 election campaign ended as many viewers and commentators say they hoped it would begin: with something approaching an actual debate. But who won? With 47 million Americans already having voted, and the vast majority of those who haven't saying that they have already made their decision, will this last debate have changed anything? To discuss the outcome of the final presidential debate and what it means for the race, The Critic‘s political ...
Oct 23, 2020•25 min
Azerbaijan has attacked Armenian-backed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia has guaranteed Armenia's territory whilst Turkey, a NATO member, is backing Azerbaijan. How much worse can this conflict in the Caucasus get and will neighbouring countries, Europe and the United States be drawn in? In this podcast, Kapil Komireddi assesses the messages from his interview with Armenia's president, Armen Sarkissian, and explains to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, what is at stake. __ Don’t f...
Oct 20, 2020•21 min
With Azerbaijan attacking Armenian-backed positions in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh, the president of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, spoke to Kapil Komireddi for The Critic on the conflict in the Caucuses, the role of Turkey and what he expects from Russia and western countries. __ Photo: Armenia's president, Armen Sarkissian, 2018. (Photographer: Nazik Armenakyan/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4...
Oct 20, 2020•27 min
In this week's podcast, David Scullion speaks to Ben Woodfinden, a political theorist at McGill University, Montreal about whether conservatives are fighting a "war on woke", how they're responding to the charge that our statues need pulling down, and whether Donald Trump can truly be called a conservative. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions....
Oct 20, 2020•37 min
In the second of three podcasts to mark the coming presidential election, the first of which can be found here, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Fighting for America and Altered States, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the power of the US president was exercised during the Civil War and its aftermath. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go ...
Oct 16, 2020•42 min
With less than four weeks to go before American voters elect their next president, how has executive authority developed since George Washington was sworn in as the federal republic's first president in 1789? In this first of three podcasts to mark the coming presidential election, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Fighting for America and Altered States, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about where power lay in the period between the United States achieving independence a...
Oct 09, 2020•34 min
It has been an extraordinary few weeks in US presidential politics – not least with President Trump's illness. Meanwhile, it was the understudies who were in the hot seat for the vice presidential debate. To discuss the vice presidential debate and what it means for the presidential race, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, joins US editor Oliver Wiseman and editor of the journal American Greatness, Chris Buskirk. __ Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to en...
Oct 08, 2020•27 min
As conference season went online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the experience proved vastly different for those who usually attend the annual party conferences. In this week's podcast, The Critic's David Scullion, Politeia Director Jonathan Isaby and former Conservative Party councillor Caroline ffiske discuss whether it's still worth political parties meeting in person, and if for the Tories it's now more about attracting corporate sponsors than letting party members have their say...
Oct 08, 2020•29 min
In a week when backbench MPs and the government clashed over the right to debate Coronavirus regulations before they become law, how does the role of the modern MP compare with that of an eighteenth century honourable member? Were MPs a check upon - or a rubber-stamp for - successive Whig governments and how diligently did they perform their duties? In this week's Black's History Week podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Walpole in Power and Parliament and Foreign Policy in the Eighteenth ...
Oct 02, 2020•30 min
Last night, Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced off in the first of three presidential debates. It was a bad-tempered affair, with a lot of squabbling and not much substantive policy discussion. But who came out of the messy encounter on top? And are there any undecided voters who would have changed their minds by the end of the 90 minutes? In this podcast, The Critic's US editor, Oliver Wiseman, spoke to the publisher and editor of American Greatness, Chris Buskirk, about what we learned last nigh...
Sep 30, 2020•25 min
Tuesday night is debate night - the first of three US presidential debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, and US editor, Oliver Wiseman, talk about what to expect from the debates in a time of Covid-19. __ Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. __ Music: “Moder...
Sep 29, 2020•7 min
Has scientific development become so specialised and academic roles so minutely research-focused that there is no longer a role for the inter-disciplinary polymath who prioritises breadth of knowledge and making connections between different subjects? In this week's Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the idea of the Renaissance Man and how he personally developed such breadth in his own wide-ranging career as a historian. --...
Sep 25, 2020•35 min
With the opinion polls suggesting the SNP is heading for a clear majority in next May's Scottish parliamentary elections, fuelling their demands for a second referendum on independence - is it beyond the ability of Scotland's Conservative, LibDem and Labour parties to save the union? Former Labour and Respect MP, George Galloway, has founded the Alliance for Unity as a bipartisan party seeking to ensure that only one pro-union candidate stands in each region against the SNP in May. But will it w...
Sep 21, 2020•29 min
Welcome to the first episode of Black’s History Week: the latest podcast series from us here at The Critic. The former prime ministers, John Major, Tony Blair and Theresa May have all criticised Boris Johnson's handling of the Internal Market Bill and the Withdrawal Agreement. But how common is it for ex-prime ministers to continue to play a prominent part in British politics after they have left Downing Street? And do American presidents mostly find it easier to resist the urge to influence pol...
Sep 18, 2020•40 min
Why is the UK a world leader in tech sector R&D, yet has not a single high growth software business listed on the FTSE 100? Does leaving the EU threaten the UK’s tech sector or does Brexit provide Britain with opportunities? And if so, how and where? Dr Mike Lynch OBE has been variously described as: Britain’s answer to Bill Gates; Britain’s most successful technology entrepreneur; and, in the Financial Times, as “the doyen of European software.” He co-founded Autonomy Corporation (which was...
Sep 15, 2020•27 min
As Beijing has become more bellicose since the Coronavirus pandemic and British attitudes have hardened, how should Britain react? In a recent paper, Dr Radomir Tylecote the Director of the Good Governance Project and Research Director of the Free Speech Union, argues that Britain is still being naive in its dealings with China and suggests ways to be more resilient to China's "Long March through the (global) Institutions". The Critic's Deputy Political Editor David Scullion met Dr. Tylecote ear...
Sep 15, 2020•22 min
In this week's podcast, The Critic's Deputy Political Editor, David Scullion, spoke to Harry Miller, an ex-police officer who last year was visited at work by police officers who wanted to "check his thinking" on trans issues after they read some of his tweets. Last year the High Court found that the police probe was unlawful, but in a new report into the politicised nature of policing, Fair Cop, the organisation Miller founded, says the police are still routinely enforcing things that are not a...
Sep 11, 2020•31 min
