Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart joins the Prospect Interview to discuss writing his powerful novel, Shuggie Bain , which tells the story of a young boy growing up in working-class Glasgow during the 80s. Douglas talks to Arts and Books editor Sameer Rahim—who sat on this year’s Booker judging panel and was captivated by Shuggie Bain— about the importance of diversity in literature, his non-chronological way of writing, and what he made of the other shortlisted novels. Hosted on Acast....
Nov 24, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 156
What has the attention economy done to our attention spans—and our minds? Writer and academic Julia Bell joins the Prospect Interview to discuss her latest book, Radical Attention , an essay on the many hidden, and not-so-hidden, costs of today’s technological systems. In an age of infinite distraction, Julia makes a case for the importance of radical attention: a sharp, focused, and generous way of being in the world, which valorises nuanced, difficult thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...
Nov 17, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Are we seeing a return to normality? CNN journalist and political commentator Fareed Zakaria joins the Prospect Interview to talk about Joe Biden’s victory, what will happen to populism, and how Covid-19 has changed both America and the world. He walks us through what America feels like after the election, and also lessons from his new book, Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 10, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 154
Who will win? Author and commentator Diane Roberts joins the Prospect Interview and gives a quick summary of the race so far, including which states to look out for. Plus: what have four years of Trump done to public trust in institutions? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 04, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 154
How did America become the world’s predominant power? Historian Stephen Wertheim joins the Prospect podcast this week to discuss the short history of America as the world’s policeman, which he outlines in his new book, Tomorrow the World. He also talks about what might happen next—and what a foreign policy under Joe Biden might look like. Stephen is Deputy Director of Research and Policy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and is one of Prospect’s Top 50 Thinkers for 2020. Tomorr...
Nov 01, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 153
Think Jacques Derrida was an inscrutable fraud? Peter Salmon, biographer and recent author of An Event, Perhaps , implores you to think again. Peter joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the life and work of the controversial, and unavoidable, philosopher, and unpicks some of the myths surrounding his philosophy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 27, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 152
Journalist and author Owen Jones joins the Prospect Interview to talk about his new book, This Land . Editor Tom Clark talks to Owen about the highs and lows of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, what he really thinks of the line between campaigning and journalism, and whether it’s just doom and gloom for Britain’s left going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 20, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 151
The Times journalist Rachel Sylvester joins the Prospect Interview to get us up to date about the state of Brexit talks, and introduce the man behind Britain’s negotiating table, David Frost. Is a hard Brexit inevitable, and what can Frost’s little-known background reveal about where Britain stands with the EU? You can read Rachel’s profile of David Frost here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/profile-who-is-david-frost-brexit-negotiator-cliff-edge Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...
Oct 13, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Writer and broadcaster Eliane Glaser joins the Prospect Interview to make a defense of what she deems “progressive elitism.” In the era of populism, the trust in institutions and experts has plummeted within the left and right alike. Eliane makes the case for excellence in these divided times—and tells us why restoring standards may in fact restore popular democracy. Elitism: A Progressive Defense is published by Biteback Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 06, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 149
Writer Robert Macfarlane joins the Prospect Interview to discuss writing the Earth’s underworld in his new book, Underland: A Deep Time Journey . MacFarlane talks to our arts and books editor Sameer Rahim about exploring the deepest recesses of the world, the mysteries of the anthropocene, and why he’s rejecting the term “nature writer.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 29, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 148
Avni Doshi’s Booker Prize-shortlisted debut novel, Burnt Sugar , follows an artist in Pune, India, whose mother suddenly gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The revelation unravels difficult family histories, uncovering the secrets binding mother and daughter. Avni joins the Prospect Interview to discuss writing the novel—and why it took seven years—and what it’s been like living through the Booker Prize media blitz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 22, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 147
Film director Sarah Gavron and writer Theresa Ikoko join this week’s Prospect Interview to discuss their new film, Rocks , a celebratory ode to teenage life in today’s London. Rocks follows the story of a teenage girl—nicknamed Rocks—and the fast friendships she develops at her school. The film was made under quite unusual circumstances: casting was done across schools in London, involving nearly 1500 students, before finding the film’s first-time actors, who then workshopped with the creative t...
Sep 15, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 146
The pandemic has shattered economies all over the globe. What can be done about it? Historian Adam Tooze joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the Covid-19 economic crisis. He discusses how the impending recession compares to past crises, what policies ought to be taken, and whether we are really seeing the end of neoliberalism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 09, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 145
In 1990, when he was just nine years old, Prospect’s Sameer Rahim joined his parents and sister on a holiday to Iraq. What was first a family trip quickly turned into an international diplomatic fiasco. As Saddam Hussein was then facing international condemnation for the Kuwait War, Sameer and his family were taken as so-called “human-shield hostages”: Britons kept within Iraq as bargaining chips. In a personal essay for the current issue of Prospect , Sameer remembers his time cooped up in a Ba...
Aug 25, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 144
They’ve taken over our cinemas screens (when cinemas were still open)—but where did the superheroes who now dominate our screens come from? Writer and Spectator literary editor Sam Leith joins the Prospect Interview to discuss the history of Marvel Comics and its legendary creative leader, Stan Lee. Lee’s creations—which include Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Black Panther—aren’t just crime-fighting men in tights, Leith says. They also speak to the social concerns of Lee’s time, and ha...
Aug 18, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 143
Previously confined to the fringes, discussion of white identity has reached a fever pitch in the mainstream in the past few years. In the current issue of Prospect , out now on newsstands, Sarah Churchwell and Kenan Malik reflect on the history of white identity across both sides of the Atlantic. They join this week’s Prospect Interview to talk about Anglo-Saxonism, the rise of the “white working class,” and the presidency of Donald Trump. Sarah Churchwell’s “White Lies Matter”: https://www.pro...
Aug 11, 2020•34 min
Why do some countries succeed in confronting their pasts, and others fail? Authors Ivan Krastev and Leonard Bernardo join the Prospect Interview this week to discuss a question on many people’s minds this summer: how do nations come to terms with the historical crimes they’ve committed? Ivan and Leonard write an essay on the (unsuccessful) Russian case in this month’s issue of Prospect , in which they trace the curious recent rehabilitation of Joseph Stalin in recent years. What does it take for...
Aug 05, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 141
One of the most influential statesmen of the 20th century has since been forgotten by history. Why is that? Andrew Adonis joins the Prospect Interview to discuss the life and work of Ernest Bevin, 20th century trade union leader and former Minister of Labour and Foreign Secretary. Bevin, who Adonis calls “Labour’s Churchill” has much to teach the Labour Party about where it goes today. You can read Prospect’s review of Ernest Bevin: Labour’s Churchill here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/mag...
Jul 29, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 140
Frances Cha had been a journalist based in Seoul for several years, reporting on the culture and trends in South Korea’s megacity for CNN. Then, she decided to explore all she learned in fiction, writing her novel If I Had Your Face . Her debut explores the lives of four women living in Seoul, and takes a forensic look at the many challenges faced by millennials living in the ever-changing city today. She joins the Prospect Interview to talk about making the leap from reporting to fiction, uncov...
Jul 21, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 139
It’s that time of year again. Today, Prospect releases its annual list of top 50 thinkers for our times. The editorial team talks through what it was like making the list, and how they went about finding the intellectuals, artists, scientists and writers who have come to define our time. You can read the list of top 50 thinkers, and vote for your own favourite (plus tell us who we missed) here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/the-worlds-top-50-thinkers-2020 Hosted on Acast. See acast...
Jul 14, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 138
What’s behind the disproportionate number of Covid-19 ethnic minority deaths? Science writer Angela Saini—most recently author of Superior: The Return of Race Science —joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the intersection between medicine and race, and why she’s surprised that even the respectable scientific community has fallen so easily into pseudo-science. You can read Angela’s essay on the racial politics of Covid-19 here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/the-covid-race-ridd...
Jul 09, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 137
Feminism may be becoming increasingly mainstream, but it’s undeniable that women continue to do the lion’s share of housework and child-rearing at home. Historian Emma Lundin joins the Prospect Interview to talk about modern motherhood today, and reflects on the obstacles preventing gender equality, now enshrined in law in theory , from becoming the norm in reality . You can read Emma’s essay on working motherhood here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/mind-the-gender-gap-why-its-time...
Jun 30, 2020•31 min
American political commentator and Atlantic senior editor David Frum joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the presidency of Donald Trump, whose potential legacy he writes about in his new book, Trumpocalypse : Restoring American democracy . Frum talks to editor Tom Clark about his journey from George W. Bush speechwriter to one of the most high-profile conservative critics of the latest president, whether he thinks Joe Biden has a chance beating Trump this November, and how he would...
Jun 23, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 135
CBD oils, meditation apps, and memory foam mattresses—our obsession with getting the perfect night’s sleep is stronger than ever. But is the drive to get more shut-eye actually making us more exhausted? Journalist Barbara Speed wrote an essay for Prospect going behind the global sleep industry, and unpacks the false science and misguided assumptions that are stopping us from getting the proper rest we need. She joins outgoing deputy editor Steve Bloomfield to talk about why she was drawn to goin...
Jun 16, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 134
Biographer and academic Ray Monk joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the life and work of GE Moore, a once-great Cambridge philosopher who has since disappeared from history. Why was it that Moore was so revered at his time, drawing admiration from the likes of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell? And why is it that since then, he’s been largely forgotten? You can read Ray Monk’s essay on GE Moore here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/ge-moore-philosophy-books-anal...
Jun 09, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 133
Academic and author of This is Shakespeare Emma Smith joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the bard’s much gossiped about life under the plague. While many of us may have come across reminders that Shakespeare spun out King Lear while under lockdown centuries ago, Emma says that there’s another plague-era play of his that shows another side of historic London life—the comic, and unapologetically raunchy, Venus and Adonis. Emma’s article on Venus and Adonis is available here: https:/...
Jun 02, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 132
Dutch historian and commentator Rutger Bregman joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss his new book, Humankind: A Hopeful History . It’s a book with an optimistic thesis at its heart: that people are—despite all the doom-mongering, disasters, and political conflicts that rage on in our headlines—at their core, decent and well-intentioned. Arts and Books editor Sameer Rahim talks to Rutger about making a case for hope in the time of Covid, what makes people embrace hate, division and pr...
May 26, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Philosopher Clare Carlisle joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the 19th century novelist George Eliot. Celebrated as the author of Middlemarch and Silas Marner , Eliot was also an enthusiastic philosopher who notably translated the first English translation of Baruch Spinoza’s Ethics . Clare talks to arts and books editor Sameer Rahim about George Eliot’s philosophy, the novelist’s fondness for Spinoza, and the often fluid line between literature and philosophy. You can read Clare’s essay...
May 19, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 130
In this week’s special edition of the Prospect Interview, we share exclusive audio from our first ever webinar for subscribers, held last Friday. In it, our most recent contributors—Oxford historian Margaret MacMillan; professor of global economic governance Ngaire Woods, and Harvard economist Dani Rodrik share their thoughts on what a post-Covid world will look like. These distinguished academics wrote essays in the latest issue of Prospect , all addressing, from different angles, the big quest...
May 12, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 129
As the world slows down, many of us are thinking—what comes next? Oxford geographer Danny Dorling joins the Prospect Interview to discuss what a world after growth might look like. His latest book, Slowdown: The end of the great acceleration–and why it’s good for the planet, the economy, and our lives was written long before Covid-19 forced much of the world to stop, but many of his reflections on what a post-growth society might look like feel ever more relevant today. Hosted on Acast. See acas...
May 05, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 128
