For over 30 years, John Gray has written for the New Statesman on everything from Artificial Intelligence to Friedrich Nietzsche. He joins deputy editor Will Lloyd to discuss the state of the nation. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 17, 2025•1 hr 21 min
Andrew Marr joins Rachel Cunliffe to discuss his column in this week's magazine, Tax the old . They also discuss the latest developments in the China spy case. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 16, 2025•27 min
"All I've done all my life is deals. The greatest deals just sort of happen…” President Trump announced at a celebratory peace-deal signing attended by dozens of nations in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week. But who were the powers behind Trump? Behind this deal? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward who has written this week’s cover story The Emperor: How Trump and his British Courtiers secured the Gaza deal LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ...
Oct 15, 2025•21 min
Did Keir Starmer's government quash an espionage case to curry favour with China? -- There's fury in Westminster over the case of two alleged China spies which collapsed last month. Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of deliberately quashing the prosecution to appease China, blaming National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell. The government denies this, and Keir Starmer has said Powell has his "full support". So what really happened? And why does China matter so much to the UK govern...
Oct 14, 2025•32 min
All 20 remaining, living hostages have returned to Israel after 2 years in captivity, following the October the 7th Hamas attacks. The remains of the 28 deceased hostages are yet to be returned. Meanwhile, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza today. To discuss this historic day in the Middle East and how it came to be, Oli Dugmore is joined by Katie Stallard and Freddie Hayward. Later in the episode Ethan Croft and Rachel Cunliffe look at the ques...
Oct 13, 2025•34 min
Is Labour reading from the Reform handbook? And what is the government doing to address rising child poverty? Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. Got a question? Ask us here! LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...
Oct 11, 2025•26 min
Almost 10 years ago the Calais 'Jungle' was demolished by the French authorities, structures were burned to the ground and the migrants were forced to flee, once again. Small-boats crossings are on the rise, and for those waiting for their chance, a new 'Jungle' has become home. Oli Dugmore is joined by Miles Ellingham and Jack Jeffrey who reported this week's cover story The truth about the small-boats crisis from northern France. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE ...
Oct 10, 2025•33 min
Andrew Marr joins Tom McTague to discuss the ascension of Shabana Mahmood, and the Blairites haunting Keir Starmer's government. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 09, 2025•30 min
You might have missed it, many people did, but this week the Conservatives met for their annual party conference in Manchester. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Ethan Croft, who's just stepped out of the conference hall listening to Badenoch's speech, and later in the episode by Will Dunn - who's been watching the whole affair on GB News. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter e...
Oct 08, 2025•27 min
Is the Green Party Britain’s only viable left wing party? Amid other proposals, their conference voted to abolish landlords at the weekend. Meanwhile Labour is tweaking the surveying process for house buying, and the Tories say they’ll cut benefits to subsidise first time buyers. Oli Dugmore is joined by Luke O'Reilly and Megan Kenyon. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter ...
Oct 07, 2025•41 min
Two years ago, on October the 7th, 2023, Hamas militants committed a series of atrocities in southern Israel. 1,195 people were killed in the attacks. 251 people were taken hostage by Hamas, 47 remain in captivity. Some alive, some dead. Since then, war has ravaged the Gaza Strip and, in the form of escalating settler violence, spread to the West Bank. Israel has inflicted famine on Gazans. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in the conflict, a third of them children. And this w...
Oct 06, 2025•58 min
And what do Labour really want from digital ID cards? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 04, 2025•22 min
Yesterday morning, on Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - worshippers were attacked outside a synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Two Jewish men were killed, three remain in hospital and the attacker, now known as Jihad Al-Shamie - a British citizen of Syrian descent - was shot dead at the scene by police. It was soon declared a terrorist incident. In close proximity to the October 7th anniversary, Jewish communities across the country have been shaken. Oli Dugmore is joined do...
Oct 03, 2025•27 min
Keir Starmer is polling as the UK’s most unpopular Prime Minister in history. But days after his conference speech, some are asking whether a Starmer comeback is on the cards. What would that look like? Are they delusional? Tom McTague is joined by Andrew Marr. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Host...
Oct 02, 2025•32 min
Donald Trump says he has a plan to end the war in Gaza and bring eternal peace to the Middle East. Will Lloyd is joined by Katie Stallard to discuss how Trump is pursuing diplomacy in his second term. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 01, 2025•29 min
Keir Starmer is on a mission to reclaim British patriotism. The prime minister has just finished his conference speech in Liverpool, addressing a hall full of delegates waving flags from England, Scotland and Wales. In some ways this was an attempt to celebrate Britain, its values, and its triumphs. In other very clear ways it was an attempted attack on Nigel Farage. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe, Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MOR...
Sep 30, 2025•22 min
The chancellor used her speech to define the Labour party in opposition to Reform and the Conservatives, and Shabana Mahmood the home secretary aimed to redefine patriotism in her speech, in hopes of clawing back voters lost to Farage's party. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has been making headlines on the fringes. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the b...
Sep 29, 2025•24 min
The prime minister has described the opposition to Reform UK as “the fight of our times”, but a new poll has also found that Starmer has become the most unpopular PM on record. Meanwhile the spectre of Andy Burnham's leadership bid will not rest. There's a lot for Starmer to prove over the next few days in Liverpool at the Labour Party conference. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by George Eaton and Ethan Croft. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a que...
Sep 28, 2025•25 min
Since 2021, billionaire Larry Ellison’s personal foundation has donated or pledged at least £257m to the Tony Blair Institute. This took the former PM’s think tank to a whole new level: it now has over 900 staff and is working across at least 45 countries. But who, exactly, does it work for? Will Lloyd is joined by Peter Geoghegan and May Bulman whose investigation into the TBI was published in The New Statesman this week LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATES...
Sep 27, 2025•43 min
Three years ago, Liz Truss announced her “mini”-Budget. Since then, the phrase “crashed the economy” has been used 238 times in the Commons. It can be found just three times in the records before then. Will Dunn sat down with the former PM for an exclusive interview . He joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss Truss's lasting impact on the economy. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics news...
Sep 26, 2025•27 min
Inside his Manchester kingdom, Labour’s prince across the water outlined his radical blueprint to the New Statesman's editor, Tom McTague. Tom McTague joins Will Lloyd to discuss the mayor's vision. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 25, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Ed Davey came out swinging at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth this week, saying "Reform wants Britain to be like Trump’s America." He said it was the Lib Dem’s moral duty to defeat Nigel Farage, and warned that over in the US, people are "really fearful for democracy." Meanwhile, at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump was firing on all cylinders: describing climate change as the "greatest con job ever", claiming that Europe is in “serious trouble over migration” and saying that Lond...
Sep 24, 2025•31 min
This weekend Keir Starmer announced that the UK has formally recognised Palestine as an independent state. The Prime Minister said, "In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution." Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision “absurd” and “a reward for terrorism”. This week at the UN France, Canada, Australia and others have also officially recognised the state. So - what impact will it actually have? Hannah Barnes is...
Sep 23, 2025•21 min
Nigel Farage has escalated Reform’s approach to the deportation of migrants, announcing that his party would abolish indefinite leave to remain should they take power … and Zarah Sultana drops her legal threats against fellow Your Party founder, Jeremy Corbyn. Hannah Barnes is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enj...
Sep 22, 2025•18 min
The abolition of the slave trade and of slavery itself in the 19th Century is generally understood to have been instigated by European and American abolitionists. However, has history overlooked how the enslaved themselves resisted their oppressors? Author and politics tutor at Oxford University, Sudhir Hazareesingh, has explored these stories of resistance in his new book Daring to be Free . Sudhir Hazareesingh discusses his findings with Tanjil Rashid. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New State...
Sep 20, 2025•33 min
The US dollar is about to flood Britain. American firms have pledged £150bn worth of investment in the UK, the government celebrates this as part of a wider plan to deepen economic ties with the US. But is there a bigger cost? As the pound flows back across the Atlantic, are we slowly but surely becoming American? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Andrew Marr and Will Dunn. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰...
Sep 19, 2025•32 min
Donald Trump and Keir Starmer have just finished their joint press conference from Chequers, drawing a close to the US president’s state visit. Andrew Marr and Will Dunn will be joining Anoosh tomorrow on the podcast to discuss what these deals mean for Britain as dollars and pounds wash across the Atlantic Ocean - but today we’re looking at something else frothy, the meltdown of Your Party. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman ...
Sep 18, 2025•27 min
Zohran Mamdani has upended New York City politics – and potentially revitalised the American left. Born in Uganda, raised in Manhattan - the socialist mayoral candidate has captivated voters with his viral social media videos and progressive policies. He became the democratic nominee this June, beating political veteran and former governor of New York - Andrew Cuomo - in a tightly fought primary. If he wins in November this would be the highest office an avowed socialist has ever held in US poli...
Sep 17, 2025•46 min
Trump is arriving in the UK today for his much anticipated state visit. Rachel Cunliffe and Will Lloyd look at how it might play out in the aftermath of the emergency debate which took place in parliament this afternoon concerning the appointment of Peter Mandelson. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday...
Sep 16, 2025•38 min
This weekend more than 110,000 people from across the country took part in a far-right protest in central London organised by the activist Tommy Robinson - in his words, to “Unite the Kingdom”. This is thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades. St George’s flags flooded the streets, speakers including Katie Hopkins and Elon Musk were projected to the crowds, and an overwhelming anti-muslim narrative shrouded the event. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Will Lloyd and George Monaghan. Lis...
Sep 15, 2025•32 min
