77 | Peter Carey

David talks to two-time Booker-prize winning novelist Peter Carey (Oscar and Lucinda, True History of the Kelly Gang) about his latest book A Long Way From Home, which tells a story of race and dispossession in Australia's recent past.  Plus we cover a lot else besides: Trump, conspiracy theories, the CIA, Tocqueville and what's it's like to be an Australian in America today.  A wide-ranging chat with one of the greatest novelists of our time.

73 | That was 2017

With Christmas round the corner, we pick some personal highlights and lowlights from another rollercoaster year of politics.  What are our most memorable Trump moments?  What stays with us from the UK general election six months on?  And, with all the usual caveats, what do we think is coming down the pipe in 2018?  With Helen, Aaron, Chris, Chris and David

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72 | Deal or No deal

This week we try to work out who's up and who's down in the great game of European politics.  Has May won anything significant in the Brexit deal?  Is Merkel any nearer to forming a government?  Is Macron the big winner from recent events?  Plus we ask what prospect of Martin Schulz getting his United States of Europe, and what chance now of Jeremy Corbyn making it to No 10.  With Helen Thompson, Chris Brooke and Chris Bickerton.

 

70 | Jess Phillips

This week we talk to Labour MP Jess Phillips about sexism, Twitter and the future of democracy.  Has anything changed in Westminster post-Weinstein?  What would it take to make parliament more representative?  And how can politicians be more relatable?  Plus we discuss what Brexit tell us about the biggest social divides in our politics.  Jess is the author of Everywoman: One Woman's Truth About Speaking the Truth http://amzn.to/2Ajlqjk

69 | David Miliband

This week we talk to former Foreign Secretary David Miliband about his new book Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of our Time.  He explains what the refugee crisis tells us about the state of world politics and why it is both so essential and so hard to tackle it.  We also talk about climate change, Brexit, the failures of the Blair government and the fate of social democracy in the new 'age of extremes'.  David Miliband is currently Chair and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

68 | Jan-Werner Müller on Populism

This week, as one of our LRB author specials, we talk to regular LRB contributor Jan-Werner Müller about populism, Trump and the state of democracy.  Jan has long argued that populism is not just an election winning strategy, it's also a governing philosophy.  We ask whether Trump's first year in office bears that out.  Does he have a governing philosophy?  How does it compare with other populists, from Berlusconi to Modi?  And what difference does it make that he has a nuclear arsenal at his disposal?  With Helen Thompson and Chris Bickerton.