267 | Twilight of Democracy

David talks to the writer Anne Applebaum about her highly personal new book, which charts the last twenty years of broken friendships and democratic failure.  We start in Poland with the story of what happened to the high hopes for Polish democracy, including what we've learned from this week's presidential election.  But we also take in Trump and Brexit, Hungary and Spain. What explains the prevalence of conspiracy theories in contemporary politics? Why are so many conservatives drawn to the politics of despair?  Is history really circular?  And is democracy doomed?

255 | Brexit in the Age of Covid

We have passed the deadline for any extension to the Brexit trade negotiations - now it's 31 December or bust.  We catch up with three of our resident experts to explore what this means, what the chances are of getting a deal and where the sticking points might be.  Plus we asses the impact of the Covid crisis on the fate of Brexit and its implications for what might happen later this year.  With Anand Menon, Catherine Barnard and Helen Thompson.

253 | Britain Wrestles with its Past

We talk with the writer and political commentator Fintan O'Toole about how British politics can and should deal with its imperial past in the age of Brexit.  From battles over statues to fights over nationalism we explore whether history has become the new democratic divide.  Why does Churchill loom so large over our politics?  Can Labour reclaim the mantle of patriotism?  Will the Union survive the history wars?  Plus we ask whether there has been a generational shift in attitudes to race and identity.  With Helen Thompson.

248 | Facts vs Opinions

David and Helen talk with Jonathan Shainin, Head of Opinion at the Guardian newspaper, about the challenges of political journalism in a deeply polarised age.  Is it possible to hold the line between news and comment?  Are the arguments about Covid a rerun of Brexit?  What can scientists and historians add to political analysis?  Plus we discuss how American journalism has changed the way it talks about race and
violence and what that means for the current moment.

244 | Labour and Brexit: Beyond the Crisis

David is joined by Helen Thompson and Chris Brooke to try to get beyond the current crisis and work out here British politics is heading.  How different is Starmer's political programme likely to be from Corbyn's?  Can the Labour party become the party of the workers again?  And is Brexit really going to happen without an extension and without a deal?  Plus we explore the renewed influence of the trade unions and ask what it means for the political choices ahead.

223 | Blair's Labour and Johnson's Brexit

David and Helen catch up on the state of British politics, from Blair's advice to the Labour party on its 120th birthday to growing divisions in Johnson's Tory party.  Is there really a liberal progressive coalition in Britain?  Can Brexit deliver both free trade and levelling up?  And what does Cummings really want?  Plus we talk
about Helen's lecture on Britain, the EU and geopolitics: (listen here).