UnHerd political editor Tom McTague and Cambridge professor Helen Thompson team up to investigate the history of today’s politics — and what it means for our future. Each week they will explore the great forces, ideas and events that led us to where we are, whether in Britain, the United States, Europe or beyond. It’s a politics podcast for those who want a deeper, historical understanding of the news, to understand what has really shaped our world and why. We hope you enjoy! Don’t forget to rate, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts — and, of course, to get in touch with all your questions and comments so we can respond in future episodes.
Email us at thesetimes@unherd.com or tweet us at @thesetimespod
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In this week's episode, Tom and Helen chat to demographer Paul Morland about the geopolitics and economics of demography, and why population matters... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, Tom and Helen turn to Turkey, the country at the crossroads of global geopolitics, and ask why it is so important to the future of the 21st Century... Please join us at the UnHerd Club on 8th April for our first live event "War and Peace in the Middle East", where Tom and Helen are diving deeper into the geopolitics of the Middle-East... Don't miss it! Tickets below https://club.unherd.com/event/these-times-live/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...
After their extensive analysis into the economic binds of France and Germany, Tom and Helen explore why the geopolitical world has become so much harder for Western Europe to navigate over the last decade... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, Tom and Helen turn to France's divisive leader, Emmanuel Macron, and explore whether there is any strategic substance behind the grand speeches, declarations and interventions.... Elsewhere at UnHerd, we have launched our new Spring Sale which gives subscribers unlimited access to our articles, subscriber-only app, and ability to join the conversation in the comment section, and that’s all for just £4.99 per year, and for all our UK listeners you can get your first month free. Just vi...
In this week's episode Tom and Helen explore what has happened to the British economy over the past 20 years, and why is it becoming increasingly difficult for it to adjust to the new economic and geopolitical world.... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Tom and Helen turn to Germany, and ask why it was last year's worst performing major economy, and what those difficulties reveal about the present economic and geopolitical world... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, Tom Mctague and Helen Thompson look back at Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and explore why it has been so difficult for the United States and the European Union to protect Ukraine's independence... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the wake of Putin's fast and loose interview with Tucker Carlson, Tom and Helen turn to the history of Ukrainian independence, and ask what it means for the future of Ukraine, Europe and NATO... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the wake of recent US/UK led bombings of Iraq and Syria, Tom McTague and Helen Thompson ask why America continues to embroil itself in the Iraq quagmire, and whether further escalation lies on the horizon... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, Tom and Helen turn to the current border crisis unfolding in Texas, and explore how a set of global and domestic crises, from the drug cartels in Mexico, to the situation in Ukraine, might play into Trump's hands come the end of the year... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, Tom and Helen talk to Ali Ansari, director of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University, about the history of Iranian power - from the 1979 Islamic revolution, to the most recent exchange of airstrikes with Pakistan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
With the new anti-Chinese President elected in Taiwan, Tom and Helen turn to the most important body of water in the world: the Western Pacific, and explore what's at stake there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, Helen and Tom explore the geopolitical history of the Red Sea, from the erection of the Suez Canal, to the waring Houthi Rebels patrolling the waters, and what it all tells us about where power lies in the world today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tom McTague and HelenH Helen Thompson look back at the major events that took place in 2023, from Ukraine's stalled counter-offensive and the Israel Hamas War, and ask what they mean for the year ahead... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For this Christmas Special, Tom and Helen discuss two of their all time favourite novels that share the same themes of empire, nationalism and loss - Joseph Roth's The Radetzky March (1932) and Giuseppe Tommasi, The Lampedusa's The Leopard (1958). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, Tom and Helen sit down with Hans Kundnani to discuss the domestic politics of European countries and the reshaping of Europe's collective future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tom and Helen sit down with Shashank Joshi to ask why supporting Ukraine has been so politically difficult in many Western countries, and what are the consequences for Ukraine, the EU, NATO, and the geopolitical conflicts around the Middle East? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As world leaders meet in Dubai for COP 28, Tom and Helen turn to one of the most important political issues of our age - Net Zero, and ask where Europe's ambition to be the first carbon dioxide free continent comes from, and whether it can succeed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, Tom McTague and Helen Thompson dissect the sorry state of Britain's economy with policy-expert Torsten Bell - and ask whether darker days do indeed lie ahead, or whether there's still cause for hope... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On the day that David Cameron is sworn into the House of Lords, Tom and Helen explore the history of his foreign policy, and look ahead at what kind of Foreign Secretary he might make... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode Tom and Helen sit down to discuss the next U.S election and what's at stake for Israel, Ukraine, and the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Tom and Helen discuss the history of Britain's relationship with the Israel-Palestine question; from Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, to Starmer's recent opposition to calls for ceasefire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Tom and Helen chat to the The Economist's defence editor, Shashank Joshi, about the logistical challenges of a ground-war, what Israel seek to gain by invading Gaza, and the dangers that lie ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, Tom and Helen explore the long and fraught history of Iranian-Israeli relations, and ask how Israel vs Iran became the most dangerous prospect in the Middle-East Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode Tom and Helen discuss the history of Israel and the geopolitical fault-lines running through the Middle East Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Tom travels to Liverpool to meet on of the city's favourite sons: Jamie Carragher. They talk about Liverpool's sectarian past, Brexit, Keir Starmer and the phenomenon of secret Tory footballers... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
During the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Tom and Helen explore Labour's uneasy relationship with the Europe question - and the potential challenges it poses for Keir Starmer going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
With the Conservative Conference currently taking place in Manchester, Tom and Helen discuss the upcoming challenges facing the Prime Minister. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In another Q&A episode, Tom and Helen turn to your questions on Brexit and Britain's relationship with the wider European Community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Helen and Tom chat to one of the world's great geopolitical thinkers, Pippa Malmgren, about how the big player's on the world stage are jostling for position in earth's northernmost point. Does the race for the Arctic represent a new cold war? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
