201 | Party like it's 1974

November 21, 2019 by Catherine Carr in politics

We talk about the current election by talking about two previous ones: the February and October general elections of 1974. A lot of 2019 politics started back then, from the rise of the SNP to Liberals getting squeezed by the electoral system. But it was different too and we have stories of campaigning by landline and hovercraft, MPs on acid, naked civil servants and experts being taken seriously. Plus we discuss how
the 1974 elections led to the rise of Thatcherism and changed British politics forever. With Helen Thompson, Chris Brooke and Peter Sloman.

165 | Split Down the Middle

May 28, 2019 by Catherine Carr in politics

David and Helen catch up with the European election results and the Tory leadership race - there's lots to talk about. How can the Tories compete with the Brexit Party? Are the Liberal Democrats a real threat to Labour? What does it all mean for Ireland? And for Scotland? Plus, is the surge in support for Greens across Europe a signal that it's time to take environmental politics seriously?

149 | Impasse

March 13, 2019 by Catherine Carr in politics

We try to cut through the Brexit fog and see what's really out there, from new deals to no deal. Plus we ask some bigger questions: What is the true role of lawyers in politics? Does the EU want regime change? And how will future historians explain this extraordinary period? With Helen Thompson, Chris Bickerton and Kenneth Armstrong.

141 | The Problem with Political Leaders

January 30, 2019 by Catherine Carr in politics

This week marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most influential lectures ever given on politics: Max Weber's 'Politics as a Vocation', first delivered in Munich on 28 January 1919. David and Helen talk with Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff, about some of its lessons for the age of Brexit. Where have all the good leaders gone? Is the party system to blame? Are we suffering from an excess of conviction or a lack of conviction? And who will be responsible if we see a return to violence? Recorded before a live audience at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

26 | Election Season

March 08, 2017 by Catherine Carr

We catch up with elections taking place here, there and everywhere: last week's vote for the Northern Ireland assembly, next week's general election in the Netherlands, the continuing drama of the French presidential race. Do these votes have anything in common and what might it be? Are we seeing the inexorable rise of populism or is the tide starting to turn? And how did a thrown shoe change the course of recent political history? Plus we ask what, if anything, the Trump presidency is doing for European harmony. With Barry Colfer, Chris Bickerton, Maha Rafi Atal and Aaron Rapport.

20 | Jill Lepore

January 26, 2017 by Catherine Carr

We speak with New Yorker writer and historian Jill Lepore about Trump, the Tea Party and the Constitution. She tells us how they go together, and how they don't. This conversation was recorded on the day of Trump's inauguration and we also have some voices and sounds from the event in Washington. Plus we try to make sense of what the Supreme Court verdict about Article 50 means for the sovereignty of the UK parliament, and what it means for Ireland and Scotland.