Helen is joined by Anoosh Chakelian to discuss the shaming of Donald Trump by Stormy Daniels, plus why Labour Party conference gives her serious deja vu. Then Jonn Elledge reports back from Lib Dem conference, and hands out some TV recommendations too. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis , @anoosh_c , @jonnelledge , or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 20, 2018•39 min
Helen and Stephen itemise the worst ministers and shadow ministers in politics at the moment and explain why these people are failing so badly at their briefs. Then, Helen talks to John Ridding, CEO of the Financial Times and chairman of the Room to Read charity, about literacy and activism. Finally, they answer a popular listener question: where are they going on holiday and why? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis or join us on Faceboo...
Sep 13, 2018•25 min
Helen and Stephen are joined by New Statesman editor Jason Cowley to discuss his recent interview with the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. Then, Helen talks to the feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez about the anti-Brexit Women For A People's Vote campaign. Finally, they tackle a listener question: what's going on with Labour's NEC elections? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Buy Jas...
Sep 06, 2018•37 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the coming autumn crunch over Brexit and how the parliamentary votes over the deal will go. Then, Helen talks to director Jude Christian about her upcoming production othellomacbeth and the ways in which we politicise Shakespeare. Finally, they tackle a listener question: should Vince Cable resign? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Further reading: — Helen's cover st...
Aug 30, 2018•45 min
Helen and Stephen discuss jerk rice and cultural appropriation, interview Emily Andrews from the Institute for Government about the state of Britain's public services, and look at the evidence for a possible Labour Party split. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Further reading: — Stephen's cover story on Labour Party splits . — Yo Zushi on cultural appropriation. — The cultural appropriation ...
Aug 23, 2018•47 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the row over Jeremy Corbyn's attendance at a 2014 wreath-laying event in Tunis and what it tells us about the current internal state of the Labour Party. Then, for this week's "anything but Brexit section", they are joined by schools expert Laura McInerney ( @miss_mcinerney ) to talk about the UK's teacher shortage and why excluded pupils tend to be overlooked by policymakers. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis...
Aug 16, 2018•33 min
Helen and Stephen discuss Boris Johnson's Telegraph column about the burqa, talk to Frances Crook of the Howard League about prisons and penal reform, and answer a listener question: how radical is Jeremy Corbyn's programme for government? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 09, 2018•49 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the ongoing row over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, as well as the internal politics of the party's NEC elections and the possible deselection ballots against pro-Brexit MPs Kate Hoey and Frank Field. They also answer a popular listener question: will and should there be a “people's vote” on the exit deal Theresa May eventually strikes with the EU? Further reading: — Jon Lansman's obituary for Vladimir Derer . — Stephen's blog on Pete Willsman . — Could a Labour spl...
Aug 01, 2018•30 min
Helen and Stephen look back at the parliamentary year – taking in discussions of new parties, luxury communism and climate change. Then Helen interviews the author Laurence Scott about his new book Picnic Comma Lightning . And you ask them: should parliament cancel recess to work on Brexit? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 26, 2018•59 min•Ep. 280
Helen and Stephen discuss the news that the Vote Leave campaign has been found to have broken electoral law and explore whether Theresa May can face a no confidence vote while Parliament is on summer recess. They they're joined by Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University and a regular on the Talking Politics podcast, to discuss how Brexit is affecting other leaders around Europe. Finally, they answer a listener question about the Labour party's adoption of the IHRA ...
Jul 18, 2018•45 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the ongoing resignations and battles in the Tory party over Brexit, and then Stephen is joined by NS political correspondent Patrick Maguire to test out some Labour Party counterfactuals (warning: includes Liz Kendall content). Subscribe to the New Statesman's World Cup podcast, Political Football , now — find it at newstatesman.com/podcast or in your podcast app of choice. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb , @helenlewis or...
Jul 12, 2018•35 min
Helen and Stephen react to the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson (and who knows who else by the time you listen to this), and analyse what the upheaval in the Cabinet means for Theresa May's tenure as prime minister and the chances of a Brexit deal with the EU27. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 09, 2018•24 min
Helen talks to former White House aide Ben Rhodes, who was an advisor to Barack Obama, about Trump, US foreign policy, and the collapse of the Iran deal. Then, she and Stephen answer a listener question: is there now a stronger chance of a no-deal Brexit? The World as It is: Inside the Obama White House by Ben Rhodes is out now from Bodley Head. Subscribe to the New Statesman's World Cup podcast, Political Football , now — find it at newstatesman.com/podcast or in your podcast app of choice. Sen...
Jul 05, 2018•42 min
Helen is joined by the New Statesman's US editor Nicky Woolf to discuss the child detention scandal on America's borders and the "blue wave" of left wing candidates winning primaries. Then, they answer a provocative listener question: what's annoying you most at the moment? (Spoiler, it's a lot, and some of it is Brexit-related.) Subscribe to the New Statesman's new World Cup podcast, Political Football , now — find it at newstatesman.com/podcast or in your podcast app of choice. Send us your qu...
Jun 28, 2018•32 min
Stephen is joined by LabourList editor Sienna Rodgers (as Helen is on holiday) to pick over Theresa May's mythical "Brexit dividend" for the NHS, and to discuss what's going on with Labour's NEC elections. Finally, they answer a pressing question: why is Jeremy Corbyn pushing for a free vote on Heathrow expansion? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...
Jun 21, 2018•37 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the Brexit votes in the Commons this week and how a Lords amendment on the EU Withdrawal Bill will work. Then, they analyse Paul Dacre's departure as editor of the Daily Mail and what it will mean for the paper. Finally, they answer a listener question: why hasn't the press picked up more on claims of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party? Subscribe to the New Statesman's new World Cup podcast, Political Football , now — find it at newstatesman.com/podcast or in your p...
Jun 14, 2018•32 min
Stephen and Anoosh discuss Labour's shift on Brexit, reflect on the year since the 2017 general election, and look at how austerity is affecting people around the country. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @anoosh_c or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Become a paying newstatesman.com subscriber and get the podcast in time for your Wednesday evening commute, plus lots of other benefits like Stephen's Sunday email at newstatesman.com/subscribe If you kee...
Jun 07, 2018•47 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the Yes vote in the Irish referendum on repealing the eighth amendment, and then go head to head on whether referendums are a good way of making political decisions. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 31, 2018•34 min
Helen and Stephen are joined by Tom Hamilton to discuss the prospect of an early election and the history of PMQs, and then they answer a listener question: is the media in trouble, or better than ever? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Get a copy of Punch and Judy Politics by Ayesha Hazarika and Tom Hamilton here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 24, 2018•44 min
Can you tell your customs partnership from your max-fac? Helen and Stephen untangle the latest Brexit wrangling, and then discuss Stephen's recent trip to Israel and the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem. Finally, they answer a listener question: what would the London mayoral race have looked like if Tessa Jowell had won the Labour nomination? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See aca...
May 17, 2018•34 min
Helen is joined by Sienna Rodgers, editor of LabourList, to discuss the local election results — was it a good night or a bad night for Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party? Then the American playwright Rajiv Joseph joins to tell us about his new play, Describe the Night , which covers almost a hundred years of Russian political history. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...
May 10, 2018•23 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the politics of the new home secretary Sajid Javid, yet more Brexiteer nonsense about the customs union, and whether it's possible for a Conservative to be progressive. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis , @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 03, 2018•29 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the Brexiteers' magical thinking on the customs union, Len McCluskey's forthright intervention on anti-Semitism in the Labour party in this week's New Statesman magazine, and the new statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis , @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Further reading: Len McCluskey: The Corbyn ulitmatum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more ...
Apr 26, 2018•31 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the immigration controversy now surrounding the handling of the Windrush generation and analyse what Theresa May's "hostile environment" policy could mean for her politically. Then contributing editor Mehdi Hasan joins from Washington DC to talk about Donald Trump's extraordinary run of outrageous scandals. Finally, they tackle a listener question: how did the Lib Dems vote on immigration during the coalition government? Send us your questions for future episodes via Tw...
Apr 19, 2018•40 min
Helen and Stephen discuss the conflict in Syria and the tests for any possible UK intervention. Then they take a close look at the return of crime as a political issue in Britain. Finally, they answer a listener question: are the conditions for a successful new centrist party unique to France? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis , @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 12, 2018•44 min
Helen is back! She and Stephen discuss anti-Semitism in the Labour party, and then answer a listener question: should there be a new centrist party and should David Miliband lead it? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @helenlewis , @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Further reading: Stephen's column about Labour and anti-Semitism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 05, 2018•34 min
Stephen and Anoosh discuss the ongoing story of Cambridge Analytica and the allegations of Vote Leave's overspending during the EU referendum. Then they answer a listener question about whether there is any truth in the accusation that Labour's anti-Semitism row is a smear. Finally, they look at an example of a dodgy election leaflet from Havering. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @anoosh_c or @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Hosted on A...
Mar 29, 2018•28 min
Stephen is away this week, so Anoosh is at the helm. First, she is joined by Citymetric editor and known Brexit loather Jonn Elledge to discuss the transition deal and why fish were thrown into the Thames at Westminster. Then, she interviews Francisco Cantú, a former border guard on the US-Mexico border and the author of The Line Becomes a River. Finally, George Eaton answers one of your questions: why is it the convention not to name politicians' spokespeople? Send us your questions for future ...
Mar 22, 2018•41 min
Stephen and Anoosh discuss the unfolding story of the Russian spy attack in Salisbury, and wonder whether Jeremy Corbyn's previous foreign policy statements will cut through to voters. Then they analyse Philip Hammond's Spring Statement and the Conservatives' contradictory position on the economy. Finally, they answer a listener question: is Vince Cable right to say that the Brexit vote was driven by racism? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @anoosh_c or @step...
Mar 15, 2018•37 min
Stephen and Anoosh discuss Theresa Mays housing speech and the politics of homeowning vs renting. Then, they talk about the polling around awareness of Momentum, and whether it's a good attack line for the Tories (spoiler: no). Finally, they answer a listener question: is there any possibility of a second referendum on EU membership? Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts , @anoosh_c or @stephenkb or join us on Facebook for a live Q&A . Further reading: Matt Sing...
Mar 08, 2018•34 min
