Quiet Riot, the politics podcast with more passion, less shouting and lots of laughter
Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith, Kenny Campbell
Political geeks rejoice – it's a by-election week AND we've got polling god Peter Kellner in da house to talk predictions and implications. Join Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell as they dig through the last-minute 'what ifs' of Gorton & Denton. And they look ahead to the May elections too, ask whether Reform has peaked too soon and try to make sense of a fabulously chaotic political landscape in all corners of the country. What's not to like! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** SHOW NOTES • That YouGov Scottish polling AND the headlines from the More In Common polling too • This week's runners and riders in Gorton & Denton • Grin And Share It – restorative justice works • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there (hint: you very much would). Come on in, the water's lovely and blue. • Word up! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com • Cover image based on an original photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash • Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A royal scandal for the ages ... but how much worse could the Mountbatten-Windsor meltdown get for the Royal Family? Spoiler: very. Join Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell for a particularly heavyweight Sunday School, featuring not just constitutional bedlam but potential chaos in the looming Gorton and Denton by-election. And there's the small matter of Trump, Iran and those pesky US airbases on British territory... ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** SHOW NOTES • That YouGov by-election poll in full • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there (hint: you very much would). Come on in, the water's lovely and blue. • Word up! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As the real world is sweating over unemployment figures, especially among younger people, Farage unveils a 'shadow cabinet' that is nothing of the sort, and appears to have no solutions. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell dive into the figures, and look at the broader economic outlook too – will lower inflation come to the rescue? ALSO, looking at the government's High Court defeat in the Palestine Action Group case, is it ime to reevaluate the balance between free speech and terrorist legislation? All that plus some Wokey Dokey action and a bleeding good Grin And Share It. You're welcome. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** SHOW NOTES Support Rise Up and help disadvantaged young people on to the employment ladder That blood clotting breakthrough that could save thousands Wokery at Queens Uni Belfast • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there (hint: you very much would). Come on in, the water's lovely and blue. • Word up! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Britain is making its strongest pivot yet towards Europe, with a suggested Defence Union that seems to go well beyond defence. Sir Jim Ratcliffe soils himself in public and only sort of apologises to anyone whose nose is "too sensitive". And Nigel Farage, the most flexible worker of all, has a hissy fit about flexible working. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith discuss what needs discussing and ridicule what needs ridiculing. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. Come on in, the water's lovely and blue. • Word! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What was it really like in THAT meeting between Starmer and his MPs? And what next for the embattled PM? Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by Loughborough MP Jeevun Sandher to get an insider's view of a remarkable few days of politicking. Plus, what makes us British? Pubs? Shared wartime sacrifice? And what if you're a Celt? And there are llamas. Yes, you read that right. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • With an Elections Bill incoming, a reminder of how to contact your MP and make your views on our electoral system known • More on that llama drama • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. Come on in, the water's lovely and blue. • Word! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Roll up, roll up for MAGA money ... if you're a bit far right and based in Europe, at least. The US State Dept is planning to fund MAGA-aligned organisations throughout Europe in a ramping up of the culture wars, if new reports are accurate. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell consider what on earth could go wrong with Uncle Sam's deep pockets being emptied into the coffers of far righters in the EU and UK. And they ask what the Epstein scandal looks like from the victims' viewpoints, as Gordon Brown weighs in with calls for big changes to address some of the issues Epstein has surfaced. Plus, penis-based lols from the Olympics. Yeah, NOW you're interested. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. Come on in, the water's lovely and blue. • Word! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mandelson has provided a political scandal for the ages but, amid the salacious detail and schadenfreude, what are the implications for Starmer, Labour and Westminster? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell race to keep up with all the developments and also zoom out to look at the other power networks with tentacles spread throughout our political landscape. And they are joined by planet-brained author, Britain's most popular Substacker and senior fellow at the Institute for Government, Sam Freedman, to look at the gathering storm around Government plans for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities policy. All that plus your regular Wokeydokey and a historical Grin And Share It! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “I look at all the performative hand-wringing from all quarters and I think I'm in a parallel universe. Everyone saying ‘OMG, can't believe Starmer appointed him despite all this!' Starmer appointed because of all this - not despite it - to be our interface with a corrupt White House that operates in precisely the same way.” “It feels like this has sped up something that was happening anyway. The question is, does it happen very fast, are we talking about a delegation going to Starmer in the next week to say ‘time is up', or does it drag on for a few more moths?” “There's a large amount of trust that the govt's reforms to the provision of support for children with special educational needs require of parents - and that just isn't there at the moment, because they've had so many difficulties with the current system.” "You don't want to be trying to do this kind of deep, long term education reform, sitting on 16% popularity in the polls, and with a Prime Minister who might be about to resign. That is not ideal." CALLS TO ACTION Find out more about NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood Now Foster, the charity that reimagines fostering More on Provident Hospital, Chicago's history-making Black medical facility The IFS report on SEND • Check out our BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. We'd be chuffed if you did. • Read fabulous words! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kemi Badenoch has frozen out Conservatives to both her political right and left. Which doesn't leave her much to work with when it comes to building support. So, is she stuck in the middle or stuck in a muddle having mocked Tory hot-heads of the right and wise heads of the (relative) left? Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell ask whether the Tory former big guns of Prosper UK are on to something with their grown-up centre-right schtick, and whether they are too dull to get populist cut-through in the age of Farage and memes. Talking of meme-based populist cut-through, they also look to France, where the Foreign Ministry's @FrenchResponse social media team have been weaponising memes against MAGA, amongst others. French diplomatic hero/villain Talleyrand would have been impressed. And there's time for a fantasy King's Speech preview – not just what's coming up in a few weeks, but what Naomi and Kenny would really LOVE to come up. Brace yourselves. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** We have put together a cracking BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. We'd be chuffed if you did. • Read fabulous words! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's chaos out there, chaos!! Labour lick their Burnham wounds, Braverman defects from the Tories to the 'other' Tories, and a new centre-right movement packed with old-school Conservatives makes its debut. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell try to make sense of it all while staying chipper... no small feat. And they're joined by Arthur Snell – QR favourite and host of our sister podcast, Behind the Lines – to look at the latest global chaos. With Starmer in China, Iran in a spot of bother and America in a dystopian nightmare, there is a LOT to discuss on the global stage. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Please don't share this clip of Matt Goodwin's take on Manchester, he really wouldn't like it... Stand with Minnesota here More on those prehistoric lawnmowers here We have put together a brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the rumours swirling around Andy Burnham putting himself forward to contest a parliamentary seat, after eight years as Manchester mayor, and game the various outcomes. And they discuss the latest Trump insult to Europe, the new defence strategy - and the first USA/Ukraine/Russia trilateral negotiations that just concluded in Abu Dhabi. PLUS are the Beckhams the modern version of the Borgias? Or just a perfectly ordinary family, who occasionally fall out? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** We have put together a brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
He came, he saw, he conked out. Trump blew chaotically into Davos, demanded Greenland then carried out a spectacular U-turn. Well, for now at least. Whatever the outcome of this latest round of Trumpian Wheel of Fortune, one thing was very clear: Trump is a man struggling to make sense, even when he's been prepped for the biggest of stages. Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell talk Trump, Carney, Macron and Newsom. And there's even time to talk Starmer, Badenoch and the Chagos fallout too, because domestic politics doesn't stop for Trump, even if it does get blown off course by him rather a lot. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD – and get an invite to our next Editorial Meeting on February 17th*** • Grin And Share It: More on that Covid vaccination study • Check out Carole Cadwalladr's substack here. • Don't forget to check out our fabulous sister podcast, Arthur Snell's Behind the Lines • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Robert Jenrick fiasco capped what was a mad week in the crazy world of Westminster. Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell dive in to the cartoonish series of events that culminated in yet another Tory lashing their political career to the Farage mast. And, in a not-entirely-unrelated segment, they also ask whether politics is in fact run on the same principles as cartoon favourite Road Runner. Meep-meep! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Don't forget to check out our fabulous sister podcast, Arthur Snell's Behind the Lines • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nadhim Zahawi?? Is this the moment Reform jumped the shark? Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell ask whether Farage's little project has, in fact, been hopping over Jaws for a while now. And they are joined by Times columnist and former host of the influential Chinese Whispers podcast Cindy Yu to discuss all things Chinese, from trade figures and Taiwan to Trump and that little planning difficulty around a London embassy... Plus a surprise engagement and some James Herriot-esque ducks. What a show. SHOW NOTES Cindy's latest insights Sinocism – Bill Bishop's indispensable insights into China, as recommended by Cindy Also recommended by Cindy is Sixth Tone, a holistic take on all things Chinese Best for Britain's new Tory defector tracker Ducks; 'nuff said ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The journey from policy geek to politician is one that a higher-than-usual number of the new intake of Labour MPs have made. Throw in a Punjabi Sikh heritage, growing up in Luton, a doctorate in economics, and a spell in Somaliland, and the result is a picture of a particular kind of "Britishness" that is the kryptonite of right wing parties. Naomi gets to hang out with Jeevun and get his ideas on how to improve the economy, in practical terms - both with quick wins and longterm Jeevun is part of our brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, and I would encourage you to use it. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
To her friends and colleagues, she was Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, prize-winning poet and guitarist. To the Trump administration, she was a 'domestic terrorist'. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the aftermath of the killing and ask what we are to make of the age of ICE. There is a lot to digest. And they discuss the latest X outrage, with Grok creating abusive images of women and children and Musk reacting by making the feature a premium service. What will it take for gov't to get off the platform? To wit, we have put together a brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NOW what's he done, and why? Trump, the self-appointed King of Chaos, is ramping up that chaos, kidnapping foreign leaders, hijacking oil tankers, reiterating his threats to move in on Greenland and more besides. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by the redoubtable Arthur Snell – Quiet Riot regular, former diplomat, author and, of course, host of the excellent Behind The Lines podcast – to try to make some sense of what is unfolding on the world stage. You'll not be surprised to learn they have a LOT to discuss. Away from the Madness of King Donald, they also look at Keir Starmer's latest moves to bring the UK a tad closer to our European cousins. Should there be grounds for optimism? Listen in to find out. SHOW NOTES Visit the International Crisis Group Read more from Chatham House Back Best For Britain Find out more about UK In A Changing Europe Read Naomi's excellent Guardian opinion article More geopolitical podcast goodness from Arthur Snell's Behind The Lines ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Buckle up as we break out our crystal ball to make a few tentative predictions for the year ahead. Joining Naomi and Alex is Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation (also former boss of Oxfam GB, the youngest boss of the Royal Commonwealth Society and author of civic action bible Power to the People ... phew!). As it's Quiet Riot, expect a healthy dose of optimism amid the nervous twitches around what the next 12 months might hold... ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Buy Danny's book from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
HAPPY NEW YEAR! And we kick off 2026 with an uplifting 40minutes that is short on politics and big ... very big ... on Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It. These are the most popular features on Quiet Riot so we thought we'd pull together a bumper episode featuring only Wokeys and GASIs. Marvel at the very Welsh response to last year's flag-flying epidemic; cheer for the beavers that couldn't be released because they kept escaping; and cower in the corner as we regale you with some of the most unbelievable things to have been labelled WOKE!!! in the year just past. And, of course, however and wherever you spent Hogmanay, we wish you a happy, successful (and suitably woke) 2026. Naomi, Alex & Kenny xxx ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** More info on the Grin And Share Its... Mystery donor to Scotland rewilding Teaching boys Home Economics Gift made from sweet tubs he saved from landfill Beavers who kept escaping before being released Classic Welsh response to flags appears on bridge and people are loving it Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time • Buy fab reads from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What's this? More holiday helpings of our James O'Brien special? You'd better believe it. And, as well as looking over our shoulders as 2025 disappears beneath the horizon, we're also asking what one thing we'd each change that would have made the world a (hopefeully) better place. Plus the usual Quiet Riot mixture of chat and chortles to help you through the twilight of the holiday season. Also ... HAPPY NEW YEAR Quiet Rioters! We hope your wonderful company helps us through 2026, just as it helped us through 2025. And we also hope that we returned the favoour, in our small, rioty way. Love you all xxx ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Buy fab reads from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ding-dong! It's time for our festive specials and this year we've got broadcaster extraordinaire James O'Brien with us to help prod the soggy sprout that's been 2025 ... and to peek in the oven to see how 2026 is cooking up. Who's had a bad year, a mad year, a (dare we ask) fab year? Buckle up for bants, insight and the usual helping of Quiet Riot laughter. And this is only part 1 of the show! Listen out in the days ahead for part two of this special, plus some other holiday goodies too. Oh, one other small thing... thank you all for your support this year, you lovely lot, and a very, very HAPPY CHRISTMAS! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Buy fab reads from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Turns out Epstein was a keen black rectangle collector. Either than or the DoJ is trying to rewrite history. Or at least redact history. ALSO - The Westminster Lobby is in a tizzy over losing their special access to No.10, but is this about less transparency or more? PLUS - Some hilarious panto-related political polling from our friends at More in Common. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou pick over the latest developments in the last Sunday School of a pretty insane year. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • Buy fab festive gifts from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We need to talk about war. MI6 has warned that we are, in this country, now in the space between peace and war. The Government has announced an independent review into foreign interference with our domestic affairs. Europe is talking tougher and even Germany is now reframing its own dark past as a warning about what happens when dictators are appeased. Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell are joined by Quiet Riot favourite Annette Dittert to take a closer look at just how serious the threat of the Ukraine situation escalating is. And they talk spies too, because war comes in many guises. nb the show may also contain moments of levity and pantomime references, because we're not total curmudgeons. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • Sponsor a room for a homeless young person with Centrepoint. • Help out with Crisis dinner events over Christmas • Watch the Dimbleby documentary on the monarchy on the BBC iPlayer here. • Buy books, actual fabulous books, from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
So it turns out Belgium of all places has Russia by the financial short and curlies ... and that's awks for various reasons. The EU is immobilising indefinitely £185bn of Russian assets – held mostly by Belgian bank Euroclear – to help Ukraine and Russia is somewhat miffed. Belgium doesn't want to be saddled with a huge bill if this all goes pear-shaped. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell pick over the latest developments in the conflict and, closer to home, ask what exactly the 'super-flu' furore is all about (hint: it's not just flu). Plus ... ageism, misogyny and dumb-assery are an ever-present three-headed beast in our world, as Catherine Zeta-Jones found out this week. Alex and Kenny tread cautiously through this media minefield and ask what we as individuals can do to make things better. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. You can watch Pyotr Kurzin's report on Russia's waning influence in Africa here. • Buy fab festive gifts from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Lib Dems have elected a new president and his journey to that lofty position is pretty non-standard. Naomi Smith sits down with Josh Babarinde to find out how a beermat set him on his political journey, and what he learned through his work with young offenders and broken phones. There's politics too, of course – from the latest developments in the UK-EU debate, to the future of the Lib Dems. Sup up! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • Buy fab festive gifts from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It is time for Europe to get past squabbling and realise that the US is no longer even ambivalent, but an active hostile antagonist, intent on picking off liberal democracies one-by-one. Unless we can unite. PLUS: A very interesting experiment with social media is taking place in Australia. Can it work? Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by brilliant satirist and former "Secret Tory", Henry Morris. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. Buy a present for an underprivileged child at The East Manchester Academy here. Check out Henry's very funny substack here. Read all about the Popemobile turned Hopemobile. “If you've ever showed any interest in truth or accuracy, you can consider yourself banned from the USA. It is the upside-down world in which we're now living. The Gilead reality of Trump 2.0.” “What that National Security document, ridiculous as it is, reveals is that there's obviously a notional line in their heads, behind which brown people ought to stay and beyond which this country or that continent ought to be white.” “The history of humanity is about immigration. People moving around. The tapestry that mixing weaves has always changed and will keep changing. It's ultimately a fool's errand to think that you can try and stop that from happening.” “I don't want genderless biscuits invading my single-sex spaces. I don't want some gingerbread 'person' to be allowed to come and undress next to me at the gym.” “What we do know is that the algorithm makes assumptions based on somebody's location, age profile, and gender, then serves them very rapidly content it thinks will hook them and keep them engaging. You're 16 and a man living in a rural environment, you're probably an incel. Have this lovely Jordan Peterson video.” “I feel very lucky not to have grown up with this. I don't know anyone my age that would say: Gosh, I wish there was social media around when I was 13!” “The advantage of income tax is that it is progressive and you are pretty sure you will get money from it. Tinkering with many small measures can induce changes in behaviour that completely offset what you're trying to do, so then you have to tinker more.” “In Australia, the tech companies are the ones enforcing the ban, which seems to me problematic, to say the least. I used to work for a gambling company, that made all the right noises about self-regulation, but was also very keen to take as much money off people as possible. They're being pulled into very different directions at the same time.“ “It's quite a good deathbed thing to do and it got me thinking, what's going to be my last act? How can my Nissan be put to good use, once I'm not here?” • Buy Henry's books from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
You know the right-wing content that crops up relentlessly in your socials? Well, it's not your fault and you can't escape it, even if you start a new account. Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell look at new research showing that TikTok serves up right-wing propaganda even *before* you've had a chance to build your browsing history. And, in the week that both France and Germany revealed plans for national service, they ask whether Britain will also have to consider this controversial approach. Blame Putin... Plus some bonus good news about laundry. Actual laundry. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. Back the RNLI's Christmas campaign here Support Best for Britain here: bestforbritain.org/donate • Buy something old-school and papery from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Edited by Alex Rees. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
History defines our present, our present defines our future. And so this week we look at the lessons finally being accepted from Brexit, plus some lessons for Labour from the 2024 General Election. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by Sam Freedman – Substacker extraordinaire, political commentator, author and senior fellow at the Institute for Government. He knows his political onions! And there is a lot to discuss – tons happening on the European front, plus a new book highlighting some very important takeaways from the last General Election (Domino's really should sponsor this bit). ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. Support Best for Britain here Check out Sam's substack Comment Is Freed The woke hell that is Dungeons & Dragons Demand a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics and democracy More on the 2025 UK Social Enterprise Awards • Buy something – and pre-order The British General Election of 2024 – from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From Labour's Budget to Corbyn/Sultana's conference ending in acrimony, it's been a big week for the political left. You can buy Mismanaged Decline: What politicians won't tell you about the economy here and support both a local bookshop and Quiet Riot. But has it also been a good week for them? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell tread warily through the Budget fallout on their way to the Your Party (or whatever it's called now) jamboree in Liverpool. And, inevitably, amid those calls for unity, Zara Sultana boycotted day 1 of the event while Jeremy Corbyn refused to describe Sultana as a friend. En route to this political muddle, our heroes meet economic guru Vicky Pryce, gay sheep and the Antichrist. It's all in a day's work for the Quiet Riot team. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • Buy something – including Vicky Pryce's excellent work – from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Budget 2025: A world of taxes, benefits and leaks. Mostly leaks. Tune in to find out what Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith make of it all. And they are joined by economic heavyweight Vicky Pryce to ensure that the economics aren't overshadowed by the theatrics (of which there were many). ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. “Upgrading this year's growth and slightly downgrading the next four years, I'm not sure that's a big problem for Reeves. She would rather be in a position where she is beating the forecast than falling behind.” “The OBR went back and looked at the productivity figures. What all those things, including Brexit, brought was a lowering of the productivity curve. You can't get to the trajectory you were on before. You become stuck at the low growth phase.” “We had a woman Chancellor, a woman Deputy Speaker keeping people in check and a woman Leader of the Opposition and, much as none of us have any time for Badenoch, that was a remarkable moment.” “The last time income tax was raised was 1975 - that's 50 years ago. This has led to a ballooning of the number of measures in a budget from a few with a big impact to hundreds with small impacts. It is deliberate confusion.” “The advantage of income tax is that it is progressive and you are pretty sure you will get money from it. Tinkering with many small measures can induce changes in behaviour that completely offset what you're trying to do, so then you have to tinker more.” • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith, mull the week's news. The second part of the Covid Inquiry issues its report on decision making and is scathing about the toxicity, chaos, and sheer incompetence at the centre of the Johnson administration. Should there be consequences? Trump tries to impose a surrender on Ukraine, in order to distract from the MAGA meltdown at home. How should Europe respond? And more questions than answers for Reform UK, after their former leader in Wales is jailed and Farage's alleged youthfull nazi-philia resurfaces. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Head to nakedwines.co.uk/riot to get a £30 voucher and six top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. CALLS TO ACTION Listen to Arthur Snell's latest Behind The Lines and SUBSCRIBE! Find out all about Season 2 of Alex Andreou's Podyssey. • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this country, we can get through multiple Prime Ministers in the time it takes for a serious sexual assault allegation to make it to trial. As Keir Starmer battles leadership challenges (Real? Imagined?), Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell look at the threats from Streeting, Mahmood and Burnham; there's the scent of blood in the air at Westminster. And, in a week during which a judge expressed despair at having to set a chiild sexual assault trial date *three years* from now, they are joined by Evening Standard courts correspondent Tristan Kirk to look at just how broken Britain's legal systems are. Spolier: extremely broken. SHOW NOTES Help refugees AND solve Christmas conundrums with migrateful.org Groups fighting to reform our criminal justice system include: https://howardleague.org/ https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/ https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/ https://www.justice.org.uk/ Toyota's walking wheelchair Wokey Dokey: A lovely soc media thread on today's evergreen tree madness! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Edited by Alex Rees. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Not AGAIN, Labour comms team... After a week that started with a leadership kerfuffle and ended with an income tax volte-face (or was it..?), Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell try to work out how sticking to a manifesto pledge can transmogrify into a U-turn. And there's a look at the unbelievable 'canal' of fly-tipped waste that has appeared in Oxfordshire, as we ask why Brits put up with this behaviour. Plus a wee bit of trauma to round things off... ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Edited by Alex Rees. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It takes a very special team to accidentally advertise and fuel a leadership challenge that was not even real yet, but the current team in No.10 is nothing if not special. AND... Is the BBC just another legacy giant that has outlived its purpose? Or is it worth defending against Trump? (SPOILERS: Hell, yes, it's worth defending!) PLUS... an unexpected "Wokey Dokey" and a superbly inspirational "Grin And Share It". Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell discuss the latest drama. In as non-dramatic a way as possible, of course. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “To head off a coup, you display confidence and strength. This did the opposite - showed weakness and anxiety. It was just pretty weird. Like they accidentally fired the starter's pistol on the leadership challenge they were trying to quell.” “Starmer has just not been a good Prime Minister. He has shown poor judgment throughout his tenure. They have consistently boxed themselves in and made everything harder than they needed to.” “The political strategy, at its core - come to power and instead of looking after your base, devote the first year to p***ing off your base, in favour of voters who will probably never come to you - is so poor and so predictably disastrous, that I don't understand how McSweeney is still in Downing St.” “There are two separate issues here: Yes, the BBC needs to do better, but they are also the victim of Trump doing what Trump does. And this will be used by Trump's team to divert attention from other stuff.” “We also have to realise that the assault on the BBC is part of a larger battle being waged. A battle between sources of accurate information and political forces and people for whom accurate information is like kryptonite.” “The BBC is important and contributes globally. If it comes under pressure the scale, the reach, the nature of its output might shift and Britain's soft power global footprint takes a substantial hit.” CALLS TO ACTION Listen to Arthur Snell's latest Behind The Lines, and SUBSCRIBE! Find out more about the BBC Media Action charity here. GRIN AND SHARE IT All about Lego MRI Scanners! • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why is a moral panic gripping the country about a handful of mistaken prisoner releases? How do we lift our gaze to a better horizon? Musk's remuneration package is designed to shock. Why is the Tesla board so keen to reward failure? And - with Comcast eyeing up ITV and the BBC scoring a massive Traitors hit, were news of the death of legacy media premature? Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith, mull the week's news. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** CALLS TO ACTION Listen to Arthur Snell's latest Behind The Lines, with Emily Thornberry and SUBSCRIBE! Find out all about Season 2 of Alex Andreou's Podyssey. Harvard research on the influence of media in amplifying division. • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The future's bright, the future's not orange. Perhaps. Trump may think he's the ultimate New Yorker but the Big Apple turned rotten on him, as Zohran Mamdani became the first mayor to attract a million votes since the 1960s, on an uplifting night for Democrats across the US. We take a deep dive. And, talking of rotten, we look at Rachel Reeves' attempts to prepare us all for a bruising Budget. Uh-oh. Plus - what to do about the far right radicalising the country online. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by two top-tier guests: former special advisor Salma Shah; and geopolitical mega-brain and newest member of the Quiet Riot family, Arthur Snell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** CALLS TO ACTION Listen to Arthur Snell's latest Behind The Lines, with Emily Thornberry and SUBSCRIBE! Find out more about Relief International's work in Sudan. “Trump has made Democratic voters feel extremely threatened and disempowered, so I think the big takeaway is that, if you do that, the moment voters have the power to punish you, they will take the opportunity to do so and in large numbers.” “The number of votes Cuomo got, would have won any NYC mayoral election since the mid-90s. And yet, against Mamdani, he was nearly 10% short. Turnout was extraordinary.” “There is more space for radical policies now, than there has been for the last several decades - whether you believe in left or right radicalism.” “What Mamdani shares with people like Polanski, but also Trump or Farage, is that he acknowledges a decline and seeks to reverse it. Whatever one thinks of their proposed solutions, tonally, that is very different from centrist politicians who, on the whole, seek to manage and tweak.” “There is a tension inside the Trump regime between the desires of an aging billionaire with pretty toxic behavioural traits and no impulse control, and the calculated Stephen Miller approach of trying to turn America into a corporate oligarchy.” “In all administrations, you have big figures. In this one, you have only Trump. This creates practical questions of comms management and how to run a news grid. Because he cannot do it all, all the time.” “Trump has moved from outright hostility to Ukraine to a sort of grumpy neutrality, where, as long as someone else is paying, he is happy for weapons to keep flowing.” “The original sin of this Labour manifesto was how the gov't boxed itself in on taxes. But the time to rip the plaster off, rather than peel it off slowly, was when they took over.” “There are strategic missteps by the Tory leadership. Apparent weaknesses are being allowed to be exploited by people like Jenrick - or any backbencher looking for a bit of profile.” “We do have quite an inexperienced House of Commons, on all sides. And that is bad for scrutiny, it is bad for legislation, it is bad for debates.” “That gap, between an attack and proper information coming out, is their golden hour to sow discord. And it feels strategic and deliberate. Because after information is out, it might suit them or not. The confusion of the aftermath is all theirs.” “It's up to all of us to close the gap between the Prevent programme theory and its practical delivery and to be a lot more open in discussing the signs of someone about to fall into the radicalisation pit, so we can catch them before it's too late.” “We tend to obsess about the ideology of radicalisation, when more often the issue is the psychology of individuals feeling a profound lack of status.” • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week, a nod to Halloween, we have a real CREEPSHOW. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell look at how Buck House, the media and the Metropolitan Police have dealt – or failed to deal – with the fallout from Virginia Giuffre's long and ultimately tragic campaign for justice. Where does the PR end and the restructuring of the Royal Family begin? And, if the Met won't act on behalf of a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted multiple times by a now former prince, will it at least act to protect itself? While Buck House has wrestled with the Andrew scandal, it's also been a suitably frightful Halloween week for those connected with Rachel Reeves' Dulwich house. We try to disentangle the actual story from the ongoing hit jobs on Reeves and other senior Labour women. And for some good news, we turn to the Dutch election, where a double-digit lead for Gert Wilder's far right party, turned into a defeat in the last month of the campaign. And we look at some actual horror – classic and modern horror flicks that have, literally, kept us awake. Insert your own scream here. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “It's striking that we were discussing grooming gangs in midweek and Epstein's trafficking now. We are essentially talking about the same crime, but in very different surroundings.” “The Palace has been dealing with these allegations for the thicker part of a decade now. And the Met Police finds itself in the extraordinary position of lagging behind even Buckingham on taking action.” “There is a concerted effort to make this into a positive story about the monarchy ejecting this one bad apple. As a foreigner and a republican, I find it bizarre that there is no discussion on whether we should also look at how inherited privilege passes to undeserving people and is used by them. Not a peep.” “There is a higher level of scrutiny on women in politics than there is on men and a higher level of scrutiny on progressives than on conservatives. When those two streams meet, it's hard not to note the gusto with which Labour women ministers are pursued.” “There's a sense that Labour - and Labour women in particular - have got no right to be in government and the old boys' network has got to work in tandem with everybody else who wears the right tie to shorten the road.” “In the meantime, Dick Schoof remains Prime Minister [of the Netherlands]. He says Santa Claus is likely to arrive before the next coalition agreement. I think it's as likely that the Easter Bunny may arrive before it.” • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lies, lies and more lies. How many lies can our institutions survive? And why are we so bad at defending those institutions? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by a Quiet Riot favourite – Christina Pagel, a professor of operational research at UCL as well as the creator of the smash hit service to humanity that is the Trump Action Tracker. Is Britain vulnerable to the sort of institutional vandalism that Trump had visited on the US? Heck, is Britain even *more* vulnerable than the US? Talking of which, Alex and Kenny also look at the latest madness on Planet Trump and ask just how much crazier this could all get. Oh, they do mention Celebrity Traitors yet again ... but only because Prof Pagel is a fan. Honestly. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Justice is meant to involved a crime, finding out who did it, and prosecuting them. What Trump is doing is saying, openly: here are the people I want prosecuted, find me the crime. And the Republican politicians are cheering him on, which is really scary.” “I'm not sure whether [Proposition 50] is the right thing to do. I worry that it accelerates the degradation of norms. But given how flaccid the Democratic response has been to Trump in general, I'm just glad that someone is doing something.” “The vandalism that is occurring to the pillars on which democracy in the US stands will tie up the system for years and is so extensive that it is hard to fight on all the fronts that have been opened.” “Without a basis of evidence, there is no evidence-based policy. Without a common framework of accepted fact, there is no rational debate. The undermining of expertise and its institutions is one of the key preconditions of authoritarianism.” “Many functions of the state - from food safety to regulation of medicines to weather forecasting - require expertise and so are allocated to dedicated bodies. Those bodies should be allowed to operate only on the facts - not on politics. Their expertise protects our way of life.” CALLS TO ACTION • Check out the Center for Democracy and Technology in the US and Europe • Read Prof Pagel's report on our institutions and share it with MPs and other people in positions of influence GRIN AND SHARE IT • Find out more about how AI is actually helping the planet • Buy something from our bookshop here. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. • PHEW!!! With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When the trust vanishes, you're finished, whether you're Labour in Caerphilly or a celebrity in BBC's The Traitors. Alex and Kenny pore over three examples of democracy in action from a hectic week – Plaid Cymru's historic victory in Wales, a new Deputy Leader for Labour in Westminster and ... a bizarre litany of bad voting decisions in The Traitors. All three have involved some measure of chaos but only one of them had both Alex and Kenny fighting for the remote control. Guess which. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Caerphilly is where two trends met. The first is ‘I hate Labour' and the second is a trend for smart, strategic, tactical voting. So, the reason people were looking for a tactical option other than Labour to defeat Reform was unhappiness with the gov't, but the magnitude of the swing implies to me something tactical at work.” “There's a stickiness to politics and my question here would be, how many of the people who lent their vote to Plaid or decided to give another party a try, will stick with that next time - especially, given we are close enough to the Senedd election for it to make a difference.” “The media treat Reform as an entirely new party that had no presence in Wales. I would point to the last European election where the Brexit Party came top with 33% and suggest that Reform are merely the latest iteration of The Farage Party and very much had a presence in Wales.” “One thing we can say from the Caerphilly result is that the next Senedd election will be a realignment, rather than a usual hold-the-line election. Plaid is very well placed to become the largest party - or, if not, a key player.” “The message from Caerphilly is very clear to me: One-third of the vote is not enough to get Reform elected, if the other two-thirds get their act together.” “Intelligent people frequently act stupidly - and, in my experience, the more intelligent the people, the more stupidly they are capable of acting. Because intelligent people have confidence in their views. In a game like The Traitors, confidence can give you a really bum steer.” Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Special guest Zoe Williams (and young Ruby), discuss the week's big stories with Alex and Kenny. What is it about Zack Polanski that seems to be taking the British left by storm? Has Corbyn and Sultana's 'Your Party' missed the boat? Will the Caerphilly by-election become a test case? AND how is it possible for AI solutions to be both at the fingertips of every minister, to answer all the UK's problems and simultaneously incapable of being regulated? PLUS - regular feature 'Wokey Dokey'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “The fundamental problem is that progressives are drawn towards consensus and the far right is not - they like division. So any attempt to engage in discussion involves us moving further towards them, while they never move towards us. It's as much physics as it is ideology.” “The far right in the UK - and the US - are wishing civil war as a sort of cleansing act. I'm much more scared of that language of cleansing violence than I am of a few guys sticking fireworks up their butts on their way back from the football.” “The thing with Zack is that, even though I really notice his background as a storyteller, the result is more than storytelling. He can make you believe that things are possible. And in the current environment, that is massive.” “Hope is the last vestige of rascals in public life.” ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Should we be bending over backwards to welcome Israeli football supporters, while Israel rolls out the red carpet for English hooligans? ALSO - Is Rachel Reeves about to tell the country the truth about Brexit? Exclusive reasearch shows she would be wise to. PLUS - The nights are drawing in, so what are our favourite Autumn comfort foods? Alex and Naomi talk through the week's news. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “If police judge a match to be high risk, for whatever reason, there are often restrictions on away fans. It seems unfair to restrict just one group, but it happens all the time. In the case of Maccabi Tel Aviv, I think two things can be true: It is political AND has been politicised.” “I am a bit disappointed that we haven't seen more leadership from Lisa Nandy. If there is one role for the Secretary for Sport, it is to be the bridge between society and political leadership and to articulate why sport is important for community building, both across borders and within a country.” “Badenoch seems to have two volume settings: “ten” and “irrelevant”. She has found no way to be relevant via content, nuance, intelligence, creativity, policy, nous, wit - the only way in which she ever makes herself relevant is by cranking the volume up to ten.” “Reeves was one of the sceptics and has completely come round in her thinking. Finally we have a gov't who, instead of saying we will make a great success of Brexit, it is prepared to say: the economic effect has been terrible and we have to undo some of that.” “There is a lack of vision and leadership, for which politicians blame the electorate's attention span. But you can't run the country like a corner shop and then complain people only buy gum. That's all you're selling. Try to sell something bigger and more substantial and voters may surprise you.” “I love a mash-topped pie.” “Artichokes and peas are two vegetables that are better frozen.” CALL TO ACTION Best for Britain's Brexit Budget Report. Best for Britain's Substack - The Wire. COMFORT FOOD RECIPES! Recipe for Nigella's Chicken and Pea Traybake. Recipe for Vegan Chanterelle Risotto. Recipe for Fasolakia Yahni (Green Bean Stew). Recipe for Artichokes a la Polita. Recipe for Vegan Lentil Cottage Pie. Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads podcast. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Special guest Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville-Roberts, discusses the week's big stories with Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. Chinese Spy Trial: cock-up, cover up, or nothingburger? Nathan Gill bribe story: why is Farage not being asked difficult questions? Musk funding Yaxley-Lennon: wake up UK. Caerphilly By-Election: Plaid to the rescue? Labour vote collapse in Wales. Senedd elections in a few months. PLUS - regular features 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “The world's richest man funding the UK's most prominent far-right agitator isn't normal and should not be treated as such. This dangerous merging of wealth and power and extremist politics, is made worse when coupled with the media's indifference. If this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is.” “When it became apparent that the case against Nathan Gill was going to go to court, it was listed to be heard after the Senedd elections. That he has chosen to plead guilty now, in a way that comes before those elections is extremely interesting.” “Government ministers and departments not leaving X is the political equivalent of failing to evacuate a burning building because the wi-fi is still working.” “Starmer, as an experienced former DPP, will have considered those witness statements quite carefully, before rowing out to precisely a distance that means he gets to have a lovely day fishing, while anyone trying to swim after him risks drowning.” “Badenoch is trying to reestablish herself as leader of her own party. She seems to have pleased her own backbenchers simply by landing a punch.” “Having always had Labour in charge in Cardiff, we haven't really tested what we [Plaid] can do as an ‘awkward' party in relation to Westminster. The SNP, by being difficult, has always secured better concessions for Scotland than we have had in Wales.” “I've been campaigning in Caerphilly. It's neck-and-neck, a two-horse race between Plaid and Reform and I couldn't tell you what will happen. The one thing I am comfortable saying, empirically, is that the Labour vote has collapsed.” “This is part of Labour's problem: they are not prepared to meet parties elsewhere. Collaboration is not their way. And what is really interesting about the change of the electoral system in Wales is that Labour are going to have to learn to work with others.” “I'll speak candidly. I'm not keen on the ‘closed list' system of Proportional Representation. I don't like the idea that elected representatives have more of an eye on what the party thinks of them, as the people who select where they are on the list.” “The Senedd is unlikely to end up with a majority government. So, we are going to have to work together. I think this is a very good thing in politics. The winners, losers, yah-boo adversarial-ness of Westminster does not reflect how we are in real life. There's something immature about it.” CALLS TO ACTION: Find out more about Open Democracy here. Take a ride with the Heritage Railways Association. GRIN AND SHARE IT: Find out about Wicken Fen Nature Reserve. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We're off to Scotland for a keek at the SNP conference (and a couple of Aberdeen rowies – don't worry, we'll explain). Quiet Riot's occasionally tame Scot, Kenny Campbell, is joined by the Scotland-based reporter Jacob Freedland, for a look behind the scenes at what was a pretty chipper conference for the Nats. • Gasp as we reveal the truth about leader John Swinney's comedic talents • Weep as we find Nicola Sturgeon alone in a crowd • Howl as we look at why Farage presents a threat to the Union • Mumble diplomatically as we look at where independence sits on the Scottish political shopping list • And chomp furiously on those delicious rowies... ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Show links More In Common's research paper on the state of Scottish politics Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads podcast. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who is María Corina Machado - the woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize? Is the Gaza 20-point plan anything more than a ceasefire with a wishlist attached? And what is Trump up to inside the US? ALSO - Reform UK councils seem to be finding it more difficult than predicted to find any savings. Has swagger met reality? PLUS - Jilly Cooper, queen of the steamy beach read is gone, but what are our favourite guilty reads? Alex and Naomi talk through the week's news. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Is peace merely the absence of war? Or is it something else that involves wellbeing, prosperity, democracy, and the rule of law, so conflict can be resolved in a civilised way? That seems a more positive and more enduring vision than ‘we've stopped shooting each other for now'. On that basis, Trump is moving America in the opposite direction.” “The idea of Trump as a senile old kaker is optimistic. The darker interpretation is that all this - what happened in Los Angeles and Washington DC, and now in Chicago and Portland - is getting people used to army in their streets, that it is leading somewhere.” “This was very predictable. Quite a few people welcomed Reform taking control of a few councils, this far out from a general election, in the full knowledge that they could not find the savings they promised; that they would fail on their own terms.” “Reform seems to do very well at gaining elected officials, but not so well at keeping them. Since May, they have shed a remarkable 24 councillors for a variety of very embarrassing reasons, including losing eight, in September alone. They have also lost staff from HQ.” “Most journalists compliment policies as ‘eye-catching'. What does that even mean? Are they realistic? Practical? Ethical? ‘Eye-catching' brought us Brexit. ‘Eye-catching gave us Johnson. ‘Eye-catching' resulted in Trump. Maybe it's time to interrogate the concept.” GRIN AND SHARE IT Share the good news about Green Turtle Power here. Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads podcast. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Special guest Sam Freedman, discusses the week's big stories with Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. Is there a future for the Conservative Party? Is there a future IN the Conservative Party. Should they stick with Badenoch, or twist and risk the - incredibly - LESS likeable, Jenrick? AND - Is France basically ungovernable now? Our favourite Chevalier, Olivier Morel, talks us through the latest drama. PLUS - with a deal on Gaza close, the repercussions for Jews globally may take much longer to heal. INCLUDING - a very funny (and surprisingly angry) 'Wokey Dokey'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “For a long time the Tories have depended on ‘the party in the media', as it is often called, to maintain their relationship with their base - the Mail and Telegraph in particular, because organisations like the BBC often take their cue from them. Losing those papers to Reform is very dangerous.” “The party is already where [Jenrick] wants it, because basically he's been shadow-leading the Tories, and it hasn't helped their poll ratings. Also, he focus-groups really badly. Even voters who agree with him dislike him. So, I don't think he is the answer to the party's problems.” “We are roughly the same distance from Labour having to call a General Election, as we are from the last pandemic lockdown. Try to conceive of that amount of stuff still to happen. For me, it's far too soon to predict how the next election will shape up.” “When challenged about the consequences of leaving the ECHR for the wider EU trade agreement Badenoch said that she could give notice to leave it all behind. Best for Britain polling shows that this plays very badly with voters who have not abandoned the Tories for Reform - and who tend to be more moderate.” “All political parties in France are behaving as if they have a majority and deserve to implement their programme. I have heard several leaders adopting a very grave tone and saying now is the time to compromise, but they mean everyone else must compromise. This is making France ungovernable.” “Will Macron resign? I think it's not in his DNA to do that at all. And on the international stage, he still believes he has a big role to play. Against that, Macron is facing criticism and even calls to resign from loyalists within his own camp and this is new.” “Whether this plan succeeds depends directly on how much pressure Trump puts on Netanyahu. the Israelis will be at the negotiation with the objective of changing the terms in a way that forces Hamas to say ‘no'.” “I have never known the Jewish community to be so divided over Israel. The sheer violence of what's happened in Gaza has pushed a lot of people into a very uncomfortable position of believing in Israel as an idea but being horrified by what the current gov't is doing.” CALLS TO ACTION: Sam's substack can be found here. Find out more about the Community Security Trust charity here. Help us never forget with the Holocaust Educational Trust. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Strip away the schadenfreude around Michelle Mone's fall from grace, and what is the real story here? Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell look at a scandal that is far from over. Also, with the Conservatives and Greens in conference mode, we consider the contrasting fortunes of their respective leaders – and dive into some fascinating data around Tory voters. Plus, in tribute to the late, great Patricia Routledge, we ask the BIG question of the week: how would Hyacinth Bucket vote? And what about other TV greats, such as Rab C. Nesbitt and Del Boy? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Do fightbacks always begin at Liverpool? An unexpectedly feisty speech by Starmer leads to a lot of pearl-clutching by Reform. But will our media cover it? Also, the former Welsh leader of Reform admits to taking Russian bribes. But will our media cover it? And with the election in Moldova sends an unequivocal F-U to Moscow. But will our media cover it? Alex Andreou, Kenny Campbell and special guest, Annette Dittert, discuss. PLUS dispatches by Naomi Smith, from inside the Labour Conference. Including 'Grin And Share It' and the triumphant, if extremely confusing, return of 'Wokey Dokey'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “I have spent a lot of time in the Northeast recently and was shocked by the amount of anger from lifelong Labour voters who feel betrayed… The sentence I heard most often was: they take it out on us, they take it out on the poor, because it's easier.” “It was really important that Starmer called those policies out for what they are - they are racist. Farage stokes this up, cynically and cleverly. Labour have tried to tiptoe around it all summer and it hasn't worked.” “We saw it during Brexit and we see it with the AfD in Germany. Pandering to the far right never works. And yet conservative parties seem to have this - in German we call it ‘angstlust' - this desire to go somewhere dangerous.” “Racism is a little like political pornography. Its practitioners enjoy it privately or with groups of likeminded people. But if one were to start enjoying it in public, awkward questions will arise.” “From Russian bribes to Musk beaming onto big screens advocating violence, we can't go on pretending this isn't happening. That there are not powerful interests from both East and West pouring money into destabilising our democratic processes.” CALLS TO ACTION: Let us have your ideas on how to send the BBC a message. Help Smart Medical Aid for Ukraine. GRIN AND SHARE IT: Quietly Rioting is GOOD FOR YOU! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Starmer heads to Labour Conference fending off challenges from within and outwith, not boosted by an announcement on Digital ID cards that appears to have backfired. Meanwhile, the White House seems to be becoming more aligned with the European view on both Gaza and Ukraine. Is this another set of random words or a genuine shift in policy? Plus - with a Youth Mobility Scheme finally enjoying Treasury support, Alex and Kenny discuss their own early experiences of youth mobility. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Cheeky bonus: Elena's Bolero from Verdi's "I Vespri Siciliani" here. Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is Ed Davey the Anti-Trump? We digest the Lib Dem Conference. PLUS: A crazy 48 hours for Trump, even by Trump standards. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and special guest, Cambridge Law Professor, former Lib Dem MP and former Electoral Commissioner, David Howarth, discuss the rising threat of illiberalism, and the antidote. Including regular feature 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Of the top twenty least-deprived constituencies in the country more than half of them are held by the Lib Dems. So, when Ed Davey says ‘we are the party of Middle England' it sounds to many that he means ‘the middle class'. This is the party that allegedly chose its target seats on the basis of being outside London but with a Gail's.” “The problem is assuming politics is about buying people's vote. That's an invitation for instability because you end up always disappointing voters - who feel they didn't get enough or others got too much. A politics based on values that offers hope can appeal to lots of people in different circumstances, and is not all about giving you an extra fiver and taking a fiver off the other lot.” “One of the things about Ed Davey is that what he says drives Reform UK party people crazy. And that's good. Because one of the major rules of politics is to work out what your opponent least wants you to say and say it.” “We need to be inside the new EU pact on migration and asylum. It is a burden sharing pact, but most of the things that people complain about would be solved within it: more information about the people we take, much easier returns, and an obligation for asylum seekers to apply only once, in the first country they land.” “What we are seeing [from Farage] is sinister. Reform is adopting a policy of ‘national preference' - the fundamental policy of the far right in France. I starts with citizenship. Who counts as a citizen? Who should be a citizen? If you listen to Le Pen, it shifts to dual citizens. Suggests they have divided loyalties. It then goes to a very dark place all about having ‘the right' ancestry.” “The gov't has a moral responsibility to reform the electoral system. We are not in a situation where Labour's partisanship over first-past-the-post ends up delivering a vaguely incompetent centre-right gov't. It could deliver a far-right gov't on 30% of the vote. It is morally reprehensible and irresponsible not to change the system.” “I'm much more worried about the rise of fascism than the rise in autism. All this Tylenol stuff is part of a portrayal of Gilead, basically, where women should not work or participate in civic society, but be at home, pregnant, and enduring as much pain as possible, in order to support the white patriarchy.” “I worry that all this forms a pattern of attack against evidence, a concerted attack on science, a sort of Endarkenment, an attempt to return people to a state of not knowing what to trust, in which Leader's Word becomes the only source of truth.” “This idea of ‘behind the scenes' doesn't really work with Trump. There is no ‘behind'. All of it is played out on the stage. Trump has this idea that he has to win the day, of a reality show, where at the end of each episode, Trump must be the winner.” CALLS TO ACTION: Subscribe to David Howarth's substack here. Sign up for PBS America from the UK. GRIN AND SHARE IT: BONOBO BEBEH HERE!!!! :-) ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
"Your Party" seems to be falling apart. Can it be salvaged. And does it need to be, with Zack Polanski's Greens providing a challenger from a similar political space? Also - will US tech giants invest in the UK or exploit it? He mull the investment deal struck during the US President's state visit. Plus - has Trump discovered a business backdoor hack to the constitution? And might cancelling critics backfire? Alex and Naomi talk through the week's news. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “It's partly generational, but not just about their ages. Corbyn is a slow-horses sort of guy and Sultana is a come-on-guys person. And with Zack Polanski hitting the ground running, I think she has good reason to want to go faster.” “The King's Speech was superb: holding the line on disagreements without being argumentative, flattering without being unctuous. Then Trump gets up to respond and essentially reads out what I think might have been the Wikipedia page for the UK.” “Jimmy Kimmel could have the top podcast tomorrow. Maybe it is a huge strategic error to kick these big names out of legacy media and into spaces that the right wing has dominated and progressives have ignored, with 50 times the potential audience, AND armed with a legitimate grievance.” “We've just got to stop taking the right wing at its word on free speech. What they actually want is to be insulated from any criticism. This is a fundamentally political story that echoes what we've seen from Meta, from X, from Amazon, from Tesla, whose fortune is tied up in their relationship with Trump.” Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trump gets the full Windsor treatment and turns to Royal Jelly. PLUS: How to defeat the far right. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and special guest, boss of Hope Not Hate, Nick Lowles, discuss the Presidential visit and Nick's new book on lessons learned from decades fighting the fash. Including regualr features 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Ultimately we are not going to be able to address or reduce people's anger around immigration, without being able to address the economic pessimism that is driving it.” “There's very little common space - especially free common space. Much to do with political decisions, but also changing lifestyles. The large workplaces of the 70s are gone. 10,500 playing fields were sold off under austerity. There's far less interaction between people from different communities.” “We are looking for top-down solutions, but - particularly with current levels of lack of trust in authority - we need to do more peer-to-peer stuff. You can't legislate away youth radicalisation. You are just pushing more young people to rebel against the system.” “The Royals looked utterly miserable. They all looked completely bored. Melania looked bored. And all for what? To appease a man who has criticised our democracy, insulted our Prime Minister, tried to humiliate our capital's mayor. It is grotesque.” “We are trying to hang on, in the back seat of a car, being driven at speed by a maniac. Maybe jumping out or antagonising him is not the right choice. Maybe playing soothing music and engaging him in conversation, until we can get out alive is better. I don't envy the choice for any politician.” CALLS TO ACTION: Buy Nick's new book How to Defeat the Far Right here. Find out more about Hope Not Hate here. Read Alex's substack piece for free here. Naomi's hack for calculating crowd sizes. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Charlie Kirk, Peter Mandelson and two drunk raccoons feature as we try to balance the grim with some giggly for your listening pleasure. In the US, the Kirk story is moving to its next phase with the arrest of Tyler Robinson. But what is the truth about gun crime in the US, and what are we to make of the UK blanket coverage of Kirk's shocking death? Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell pick their way carefully through this political tinderbox. And, in the UK, Mandelson being sacked grabs the headlines but, behind the scenes, what on earth can Labour do to get on the front foot? Will a new Starmer deputy help, and what about master tactician Morgan McSweeney..? PLUS some bonus Wokeydokey action and multiple Grin And Share It happiness, because we like to find some smiles for you amid the bleak political headlines :-) ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** (And if you do, we'll invite you to our next online Editorial Meeting, at 6:30pm on Thurs 25th September... it's always worth it!) SHOW NOTES Woke beaches Bee-sting injections Bolsonaro Fux off to jail Nurse saves drunk raccoons ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Buy something from our bookshop here. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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