Coronavirus! Climate! Brexit! Trump! Politics has never been more unpredictable, more alarming or more interesting: Talking Politics is the podcast that tries to make sense of it all. Every week David Runciman and Helen Thompson talk to the most interesting people around about the ideas and events that shape our world: from history to economics, from philosophy to fiction. What does the future hold?
Can democracy survive? How crazy will it get? This is the political conversation that matters.
Talking Politics is brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books, Europe's leading magazine of books and ideas.
Coronavirus! Climate! Brexit! Trump! Politics has never been more unpredictable, more alarming or more interesting: Talking Politics is the podcast that tries to make sense of it all. Every week David Runciman and Helen Thompson talk to the most interesting people around about the ideas and events that shape our world: from history to economics, from philosophy to fiction. What does the future hold?
Can democracy survive? How crazy will it get? This is the political conversation that matters.
Talking Politics is brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books, Europe's leading magazine of books and ideas.
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 please 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
Talking Politics producer Catherine Carr returns to her role as mic-wielder in 'Where Are You Going?' a unique storytelling podcast, delivered in bite-size episodes.
Called 'utterly compelling and unique' by the Financial Times, 'engrossing' by The Times and 'riveting' by The Spectator.
In each episode, Catherine interrupts people as they go about their everyday lives and asks simply; "Where are you going?"
The conversations that follow are always unpredictable: sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking, silly, romantic or downright 'stop-you-in-your-tracks' surprising.
Be transported to places around the world and into the lives of others. What story is coming next? You just never know....
'Where Are You Going?' is produced by the team at Loftus Media. New episodes are published twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday.
Past Present Future is a new weekly podcast with David Runciman, host of Talking Politics, exploring the history of ideas from politics to philosophy, culture to technology. David talks to historians, novelists, scientists and many others about where the most interesting ideas come from, what they mean, and why they matter.
Ideas from the past, questions about the present, shaping the future.
Brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books.
New episodes every Thursday. Just subscribe to Past Present Future wherever you get your podcasts.
David, Helen and Catherine get together for our final episode, to reflect on podcasting through six extraordinary years of politics, and what it means to be ending at the beginning of a war. We talk about the current crisis, how it connects to the crises of the past, and where it might fit in to the crises of the future. This episode is dedicated to Finbarr Livesey and Aaron Rapport.
So you don’t miss us too much…
In grateful memory of our colleagues Aaron Rapport and Finbarr Livesey
For our penultimate episode, David talks to Helen about her new book Disorder: Hard Times in the Twenty-First Century. It’s a conversation about many of the themes Helen has explored on Talking Politics over the years, from the energy transition to the perils of QE, from the travails of the Eurozone to the crisis of democracy, from China to America, from the past to the present to the future. In this book, she brings all these themes together to help make sense of the world we’re in.
Talking Points:
Suez is often seen as a crisis of British imperial hubris. But it’s also about energy.
The aftermath was hugely consequential.
The shale boom was a double-edged sword: it also destabilized the alliance with Saudi Arabia and increased competition between the US and Russia.
QE created a wholly new situation in the Eurozone.
One of the risks of democracy is democratic excess. But democracies can also experience aristocratic excess.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
David, Helen and Chris Brooke have one more go at making sense of the tangled web that is British politics. Can Johnson really survive, and even if he does, can his brand ever recover? Is this a scandal, is it a crisis, or is it something else entirely? Does history offer any guide to what comes next? Plus we explore what might be the really big lessons from the last two years of Covid-dominated politics.
Talking Points:
It’s obvious why Boris is a problem, but it’s not clear who would replace him.
Boris won’t go voluntarily. But can he survive?
In 2015, Ed Miliband was leading in the headline polls. But there were signs of weakness.
The politics of scandal are different from the politics of crisis.
This particular scandal is bound up in Johnson’s appeal.
Were the pandemic years a dress rehearsal for the politics of climate change?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
David and Helen talk to Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor of the Economist, about what Vladimir Putin hopes to get out of the Ukraine crisis and what anyone can do to stop him. Is some sort of invasion inevitable? Is Russia’s goal to sow dissent or to achieve regime change? What leverage does the rest of world have over Putin and his allies? Plus we explore where the roots of the crisis lie: in 2014, in the end of the Cold War, or even earlier still?
Talking Points:
What does Putin want from Ukraine?
What would Putin count as a success in the current crisis?
Kiev seems less convinced about the imminence of an invasion.
What is different today from 2014?
NATO allies should still feel reasonably secure.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
David talks to John Naughton about what’s coming next in the tech revolution and where it’s taking us. From quantum computing to cryptocurrency, from AI to the Internet of Things: what’s hype, what’s for real and how will it shape our politics. Plus we discuss what China understands about technology that the rest of the world might have missed.
Talking Points:
The metaverse is the next big thing in Silicon Valley. It feels like the logical conclusion of prevailing trends.
What will be the next big technological shift? Are we in a kind of lull?
Does the Chinese system show us that there is another choice on technology?
Technology has undeniably changed our lives, but the liberatory promise does not seem to have been realized.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
One year on from Joe Biden’s inauguration David and Helen talk with Gary Gerstle about what’s gone wrong. What is the strategy behind this presidency? Has it tried to do too much or too little? And are the dark warnings of another American civil war really plausible? Plus we discuss whether the original American Civil War should really be used as the template for political breakdown.
Talking Points:
It’s hard to be a transformational president when your congressional margin is as slim as Biden’s is.
What would Biden’s presidency look like if Democrats did not have a majority in the Senate?
Are fears about a looming American civil war overblown?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
To kick off the new year David and Helen are joined by historian Robert Saunders to talk about two possible trends for the next twelve months. Could Labour and the Lib Dem’s really find electoral common ground to defeat the Tories? And is Netzero scepticism about to become a serious force on the British right? A conversation about history, coalitions, energy prices, populism and the return of Nigel Farage. Coming up on Talking Politics: Biden one year on.
Talking Points:
By-elections and opinion polls suggest that the Conservative Party might be in trouble.
What complicates things now is the Scottish question.
Is there potential for serious opposition to climate-centric politics in the coming years?
Is there an unoccupied political space between techno-utopianism and net zero skepticism?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
David and Helen talk through what’s going on with the prime minister, the pandemic and the state of British politics. Is Johnson still in touch with public opinion on Covid? Why is hypocrisy more toxic than lying? What are the historical parallels - if any - for the Tories recent by-election disasters? Plus we try to decide what 2021 will be remembered for politically in the years to come.
David and Helen talk to historian Chris Clark about the 1848 revolutions and what they teach us about political change. What explains the contagiousness of the revolutionary moment? Is it possible to combine parliamentary reform with street politics? Where does counter-revolution get its power?
The revolutions of 1848 started with a small civil war in Switzerland in 1847.
These were revolutions about political and social order, but also about national order.
What accounts for the simultaneity of these revolutions?
Why wasn’t there a revolution in Britain?
The forces of counterrevolution were primarily those of monarchism and money.
The revolutions of 1848 combined radical street politics with legislative politics. The institutional side of the revolution seemed to win.
Helen and David talk to Cindy Yu, host of the Chinese Whispers podcast, about the trajectory of Chinese politics. What is Beijing’s political strategy for Hong Kong and Taiwan? Is Xi Jinping really a socialist? Can the CCP escape its history? Plus, what’s the real reason Xi didn’t show up in Glasgow?
Talking Points:
Before the pandemic, the central questions about China in the West revolved around Hong Kong. Now we don’t talk about it so much.
China is trying to repair its territorial claims.
This is a precarious situation: the risks of miscalculation are enormous.
The CCP apparatus is incredibly opaque.
How ideological is Xi’s project?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
David and Helen talk to Jason Bordoff, Dean of the Columbia Climate School and former Special Assistant to Barack Obama, about climate, COP26 and the enormous challenges of the energy transition. How can we balance the need for energy security with the need to wean the world off its dependency on fossil fuels? Why is China still so reliant on coal? Who will pay for the energy needs of the developing world? Plus, just how scared are the oil companies of public opinion? You can read more of Jason’s work here.
Talking Points:
Energy transition will require a lot of capital investment.
There is a clash between climate ambition and energy reality.
During a lockdown that shut down half of the global economy, carbon emissions only fell 6%.
In many parts of the world, energy use will actually need to increase in the coming decades.
Some people, like John Kerry, hoped that the U.S. and China might find a point of consensus on climate.
If we always see high oil prices as a political problem that we can’t afford, then how will we get to the point at which we allow high prices to reduce demand?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
In a special episode recorded in front of a live audience, Helen and David talk to Hilary Mantel about power, monarchy and political intrigue. From the Tudors to the present, from Henry VIII to Boris Johnson, from Thomas Cromwell to Dominic Cummings. A fascinating insight into politics and the writer’s imagination, from one of the greatest modern novelists.
Mentioned in this Episode:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
David talks with Lea Ypi about her astonishing new memoir Free: Coming of Age at the End of History, which tells the story of her childhood in Stalinist Albania and what came after. It’s a tale of family secrets, political oppression and the promise of liberation - and a profound meditation on what it really means to be free. From Marxism to liberalism and back again, this is a conversation that brings political ideas to life. Lea Ypi is Professor of Political Theory at the LSE and Free has been shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize
Talking Points:
Albania was a socialist country that went through various alliances.
For Albania, the key year was not 1989 but 1990.
How do we conceptualize freedom?
For Lea, freedom is about being the author of your own fate, even when it seems overdetermined.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
David and Helen are joined by Politico’s chief Europe correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig to explore the consequences of the German elections. Who were the real winners and losers? Are there lessons for centre-left parties in other countries, including the Labour Party in Britain? And what are the choices facing Germany as it decides on its place in an increasingly unstable world? Plus we ask whether this was a Covid election. If not, why not?
Talking Points:
What was surprising about the German elections?
Do campaigns make a difference to election outcomes?
Scholz prevailed because of his experience—he isn’t perceived as a change candidate.
Most German voters wanted change, and yet it is the continuity Merkel candidate who is most likely to become the next chancellor.
The parties seem to believe that their differences are bridgeable.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
Hear more of Matthew on Politico's podcast on European politics, EU Confidential, which he hosts.
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
We’re back from our summer break with David, Helen and Adam Tooze exploring what the pandemic has revealed about politics, economics and the new world order. From Covid crisis to China crisis to climate crisis: how does it all fit together? And what comes next? Adam’s new book is Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Economy. Plus David talks about his new book based on series one of History of Ideas: Confronting Leviathan.
Talking Points:
The term ‘lockdown’ can be misleading. Many aspects of the response were not top-down.
The term ‘shutdown’ better captures the pandemic’s impact on the economy.
Is there such thing as democratic money?
The entire monetary order in China is political, but there was a debate within the regime over stimulus.
The Republican party is becoming increasingly incoherent.
The U.S.-China competition has changed.
Mentioned in this Episode:
