In partnership with the LRB
As the summer winds down, David and Helen talk about what the coming political year might have in store. Is talk of a new UK political party just hot air? What does Angela Merkel’s likely success in the German elections mean for European politics? Will Trump’s presidency ever lose its power to shock? Plus, we discuss who else might be on our political radars in twelve months time.
Thanks! D
We reconvene in the dog days of summer to talk about what's been on our minds. Helen wants to know how the US Congress managed to agree a tough sanctions regime against Russia when it can't agree on anything else. What does this mean for Trump and for Europe? David wants to know why Jeremy Corbyn is so little damaged by his past support for the current Venezuelan regime. When does ideology catch up with domestic politics? Chris Bickerton wants to know whether Macron is coming down to earth with a bump. How is he doing a hundred days in?
Regular panellists John Naughton and Aaron Rapport share their summer reading recommendations this week, joined by the podcast's intern Colby Smith. The list includes blogs and baseball. Listen out for an appearance from Maha Rafi Atal at the end, who helps Aaron brush up on his English history.
With arguments about austerity and public spending back at the heart of British politics, we ask economist Ha-Joon Chang to help us make sense of it all. Why is tax always described as a 'burden'? Are the Tories trapped in their austerity narrative? Where should the government invest for the best return? Plus we discuss why it's so hard to solve Britain's productivity problem: it goes back a hundred years. Ha-Joon Chang is the author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (2010) and Economics: A User's Guide (2014).
We gear up for summer with a conversation about cricket, politics and life. Zafar Ansari studied at Cambridge, played cricket for England and now, at the age of 25, has retired from professional sport to take up other challenges. We talk to Zafar about what prompted his decision and what his cricket career taught him about things other than cricket. He tells us about the politics of the dressing room and the role of race and class in sport. He also tells us what it was like to discover Trump had won the presidency while he was playing a test match for England in India.
While we've been obsessing about the UK election, the world has been turning - this week we broaden our horizons to discuss the latest developments in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran and Syria. What do recent changes in Saudi politics mean for the stability of the region? Is the Trump administration making a bad situation worse? Plus we ask the WWI question: are there fault-lines here that remind us of 1914 and a world on the brink of war? We also talk to Helen about her new book: Oil and the Western Economic Crisis. It all comes back to oil. With Helen Thompson, Glen Rangwala and Aaron Rapport.