Yesterday the US president Donald Trump unveiled his plans for his long trailed tariff liberation day. After a lengthy ‘speech’ about the cost of eggs and why the rest of the world wont buy American chicken and beef, Trump unveiled the quote unquote reciprocal tariffs the US will impose in the coming week. So do the figures add up? And what will these tariffs mean for the UK and for the global economy? Andrew Marr is joined by economist and journalist Duncan Weldon. Read more from Duncan Weldon ...
Apr 03, 2025•22 min
US President Donald Trump has his sights set on making Greenland part of the US, claiming the autonomous, self-governing territory of Denmark is essential "for national security and international security." However, the vast majority of Greenlanders have said they do not want to become part of the US. Denmark has also strongly opposed the suggestion. Despite this, the US President has continued to pursue the issue - his vice president JD Vance recently visited Greenland to make the case for the ...
Apr 02, 2025•36 min
"Meet your heroes - it'll help you get over them" Kate Mossman is known for her singular, surprising and ultra-perceptive interviews - in which she often reveals more about her subjects than sometimes they appear to know themselves. And there is one breed of interview subject Kate has written about more than any other: the ageing male rock star. If anyone knows about meeting their heroes, it’s her. In her debut book, Men of a Certain Age , Kate Mossman collects and revisits the interviews she’s ...
Mar 31, 2025•28 min
How would it work? Can a state really find out how rich someone is? If Britain were to introduce serious wealth taxes, would the super rich simply leave? Rachel Cunliffe is joined by the political editor Andrew Marr and business editor Will Dunn to discuss the prospect of a wealth text, and the implications of the Houthi PC small group on Westminster's Whatsapp addiction. Read: Would a wealth tax work? , Westminster’s WhatsApp addiction must end Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics news...
Mar 28, 2025•22 min
Growth has halved, welfare has been cut, and defence is hoovering up more and more. Things are looking, and sounding, pretty grim for the Chancellor - and in yesterday's Spring Statement we learned what the fallout from this harsh economic reality will be. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by the New Statesman's political editor Andrew Marr and economist Ben Zaranko from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a questio...
Mar 27, 2025•30 min
In today's Spring Statement Labour are having to make cuts - and welfare has been hit hard. Last week the health secretary Wes Streeting said that too many people were being written off work due to overdiagnosis. A statement which received considerable backlash. But what do we really mean by overdiagnosis? And how is it affecting public health? Hannah Barnes is joined by neurologist and author Suzanne O’Sullivan about her increasing fears of overdiagnosis and the impact it can have on both physi...
Mar 26, 2025•44 min
Kazuo Ishiguro's most popular novel is as relevant today as when it was published 20 years ago. -- When it was published in 2005, Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go was acclaimed by critics and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Twenty years on – having been adapted for stage and screen and adopted as a set text for schools – it is Ishiguro’s most read work, and is considered a modern classic. Why does this profoundly settling book continue to absorb us? And what does it tell ...
Mar 24, 2025•29 min
Are Labour on track for their target of 1.5million homes? What is NHS England? Why can't the Green's electrify the left in the same way that Reform has done for the right? What will the consequences be of cutting international aid? Hannah Barnes answers listener questions with the New Statesman's political editor, Andrew Marr, and associate political editor, Rachel Cunliffe. Read: Labour’s housing slump Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a ...
Mar 21, 2025•16 min
The prospect of peace in Ukraine, Liz Kendall's welfare cut announcements, and while Kemi Badenoch flails as Conservative leader ... who's waiting around the corner for her job? Hannah Barnes is joined by Andrew Marr and Rachel Cunliffe to discuss this week in Westminster and beyond. Read: A Labour welfare revolt is still brewing , Diane Abbott rails against Keir Starmer , What went wrong for Kemi Badenoch? , Who could succeed Kemi Badenoch? Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newslett...
Mar 20, 2025•28 min
Since Nato’s inception in 1949, the US has always formed a central part of the alliance and been the biggest contributor to its defensive strength. However, since his second term began, President Donald Trump has shifted the US’s allegiances towards Vladimir Putin’s Russia and away from Nato. Simultaneously, the US President has repeatedly criticised Europe’s defence spending and the continent’s reliance on the US. This radical shift from the Nato status quo has brought the alliance’s future int...
Mar 19, 2025•32 min
A fateful meeting at a village fête "tilted" the 20th Century "on its axis" So argues Ian Leslie in his new book, John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs. In the book, Leslie argues that The Beatles didn't just dominate pop culture - they redefined how we see ourselves. He reframes the relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney as a kind of love story, which shaped the second half of the 20th Century and continues to influence us today. Leslie joins Kate Mossman on Culture from the New Sta...
Mar 17, 2025•43 min
Given the Rupert Lowe drama, what does the future looks like for Reform and Farage? Hannah Barnes is joined by Andrew Marr and George Eaton to answer listener questions about trouble in Reform land and where to watch in the upcoming local elections. Read: Inside the Reform civil war , Will the Farage-Lowe saga hurt Reform at the polls? , A Reform Labour showdown looms in the Runcorn by-election Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a question ...
Mar 14, 2025•17 min
This morning the PM announced that the state is overstretched and unfocused. The solution? NHS England has been scrapped, quangos are to be slashed, and the civil service shrunk. Do we finally have a vision of Starmerism? Hannah Barnes is joined by the New Statesman's political editor Andrew Marr, and later in the episode by business editor Will Dunn to discuss Britain's work and benefits problem. Read: Why Britain isn’t working Listen: Why Britain isn't working - with Alison McGovern, Minister ...
Mar 13, 2025•29 min
In recent weeks President Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements have been loud and abrasive. American allies watched in barely concealed dismay as the US president shouted at Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval office. Since then Trump has halted military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine and embarked on trade wars with Canada, Mexico, China - and perhaps next, the EU. In this episode Katie Stallard reports on America First - the Trumpian turn in US foreign policy and the ...
Mar 12, 2025•28 min
Lady Gaga rewrote the rules of female pop stardom. Now she's back with a new album. Can she do it again? Kate Mossman reviewed Lady Gaga's latest album, Mayhem, for the New Statesman and joins Tom Gatti on the Culture podcast to discuss the changing face - and powerful influence - of pop music. Read Kate's review here: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music/2025/03/on-mayhem-lady-gaga-makes-a-chaotic-return-to-form Mayhem by Lady Gaga is published by Insterscope Records. Excerpts used in thi...
Mar 10, 2025•31 min
Could Farage’s lack of criticism of Trump damage Reform’s prospects in future UK elections? The team answer listener questions on Trump and Reform, the prospects of the Tories in the local elections, and the point of state visits. Read: The The strange rise of the pro-Russia right , Tories’ anti-Farage opportunity Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...
Mar 07, 2025•24 min
The politics team discuss Starmer's week on the world stage and whether he can be the pivotal bridge between Ukraine and the US, as well as the prospective welfare cuts which have been announced ahead of Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement. Hannah Barnes is joined by the New Statesman's political editor Andrew Marr, and senior editor George Eaton. Listen: Europe’s battleground: war or peace? Read: Can Starmer make Labour the security party? Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter:&n...
Mar 06, 2025•21 min
Not even a week ago European countries were hailing the prospects of peace in Ukraine, but after a disastrous visit to the White House for President Zelensky, and the pause of aid from the US government - things have soured. In this episode we’re asking what role Europe can play in the future of Ukraine. Kate Lamble is joined by Sam Greene and Hans Kundnani. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 05, 2025•31 min
The rapid rise of generative AI has revolutionised creativity while also raising significant challenges. The rapid rise of generative AI has revolutionised creativity while also raising significant challenges. In this episode, we explore how responsible innovation can reduce misinformation's impact and protect creators. Host Jon Bernstein is joined by Adobe’s Head of Policy and Government Relations EMEA Stefanie Valdés-Scott, Vale of Glamorgan MP Kanishka Narayan and AI and deepfake exper...
Mar 04, 2025•20 min
Reflecting on the passing of the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, award-winning author Andrey Kurkov has written the diary for this week’s New Statesman magazine. In this conversation, with Tom Gatti, Kurkov contemplates daily life in his hometown, Kyiv, and how the war has changed him as a writer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 03, 2025•27 min
Keir Starmer returns victorious from his meeting with Donald Trump. But was it the success it seems? Andrew Marr, Hannah Barnes and Rachel Cunliffe answer listener questions on the New Statesman podcast. Also in this episode: Has Zelensky "put one over" on Trump with the rare earth minerals deal? Trump's "mob boss" geopolitics How the UK could make a radical pivot towards Europe - and have Putin to thank. Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit ...
Feb 28, 2025•21 min
Keir Starmer has promised defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% in the next Parliament. There’s been some sparring over exactly how much money this equates to, has a maths crime been committed? And how far can this money go? Hannah Barnes is joined by political editor Andrew Marr and business editor Will Dunn, and later in the programme byt Phil Whitaker, GP and the New Statesman's health writer, to speak about the shake up at the top of NHS England. Sign up to the New Stat...
Feb 27, 2025•27 min
Last week Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist for the first seven months of his first term in office, graced the stage at CPAC (the annual Conservative Political Action Conference) to rapturous applause. "We're not going to retreat. We're not going to surrender. We're not going to quit. Fight! Fight! Fight!" Although Bannon fell out of favour with the president back in 2017, he's managed to maintain great influence over the Maga movement, a movement he helped create. His speech created h...
Feb 26, 2025•26 min
The number of working age people out of work in Britain 2010 was around 9 million. In 2025? Around 9 million. But why is worklessness in Britain now deemed a crisis, and what can the government do to fix this? Will Dunn, the New Statesman's business editor, is joined by Alison McGovern, Minister of State for Employment. Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...
Feb 21, 2025•30 min
Donald Trump has reached out to Vladimir Putin, over the heads of Ukraine and Europe. The Western alliance is fracturing, so what comes next? Can European nations find the defence budget? And whose terms will this war end on? Hannah Barnes is joined by Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of War Studies at Kings College London, and later in the programme by the New Statesman's associate political editor Rachel Cunliffe, and the former justice secretary David Gauke to discuss the future of our p...
Feb 20, 2025•37 min
Last Friday the US Vice President - JD Vance, took to the stage and railed against his country’s European allies, accusing them of not listening to voters on issues of migration and free speech. That speech raised serious questions about how the transatlantic alliance will be transformed. But Vance also called into question the "democracy" of the firewall. In Germany, there has long been an agreed firewall against the far right. That centrist parties will not collaborate with them, to...
Feb 19, 2025•26 min
The novel is a living thing, argues author Deborah Levy in the New Statesman Goldsmith's Prize lecture. Tom Gatti hosts Deborah Levy, author of Swimming Home and The Man Who Saw Everything, to deliver a special lecture live from the Southbank Centre in London. Presented in partnership with the Goldsmiths Prize and the Southbank Centre, and recorded at the Southbank Centre. Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHFN7ZY9lzM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Feb 17, 2025•46 min
Are local council changes "an attack on democracy"? Rachel Cunliffe and Megan Kenyon join Hannah Barnes to discuss changes to the rules governing local elections, which Ed Davey and Nigel Farage have attacked as anti-democratic. They answer a listener question about why their local council can "delay my right to vote". Also in this episode, Megan Kenyon meets Kim Leadbeater for an update on the assisted dying bill, and we answer your questions about the checks and balances that would apply if th...
Feb 14, 2025•28 min
Keir Starmer is making a radical shift to appease Reform and "blue labour". "There has been a conservative revolution going on around the world," says Andrew Marr - and it leaves Keir Starmer with some hard choices. Andrew joins Hannah Barnes to explain why the prime minister is making a "handbrake turn", and how a new group of MPs known as Blue Labour are having an outsized impact on Labour policy. Hannah also speaks to Blue Labour member David Smith MP, who claims that the group has more membe...
Feb 13, 2025•30 min
The freedoms that the UK's academy schools have been granted could be curtailed. Labour's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill proposes centralising and standardising decision making across state schools in the UK. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, claims this will improve conditions for every student across the country. Katharine Birbalsingh, who has been called "Britain's strictest headteacher", is highly critical of these developments, calling them cultural Marxism. ...
Feb 12, 2025•22 min
