Quiet Riot, the politics podcast with more passion, less shouting and lots of laughter
Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith, Kenny Campbell
Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou discuss the UK's back to full EU membership, after a new Report by Best for Britain found it is the smart option for the government in every way - economic, security, or political. Also, why is the BBC channeling energy and resources to undercover investigation of the asylum system, when it is anything but under-covered? Finally, as sequels, prequels, franchises, remakes, and reboots dominate this year's CinemaCon, we ask: Have all the stories been told? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Alex's latest Podyssey ep, featuring flying penises! • The pre-show clip is from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Who's blockading the Strait of Hormuz today? Iran? Donny From The Block? The Fake News Media? Naomi, Alex and Kenny look at the winners (yes, there appear to be some) and losers (everybody else) from Trump's ongoing Middle-East distraction. And they are joined by Andrew Ryder – a British political scientist who has made Hungary his home and teaches politics at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest – to talk through that truly remarkable election result in Hungary. Plus a particularly fine Wokeydokey and some literal p*ss-taking as a Grin And Share It. This show definitely has the best wee treats. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Get Andrew Ryder's book Britain And Europe At A Crossroads in our bookshop • Watch The Librarians HERE and find out more HERE • Support the Hungary LGBT Alliance • Wees for trees • Join Best for Britain to get a heads-up on Naomi's big announcement • The opening clip is from The Late Show with Stephen Cobert • Alex's latest Podyssey ep, featuring a load of bullocks • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com • Just how thorough are our show notes, huh??? 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 May elections are now mere weeks away and, in Scotland, there's a fascinating battle developing for second place. Not that the SNP can take a majority for granted, but the real action is between Labour, Reform ... and possibly the Greens. Kenny Campbel is Joined by the Telegraph's man in Scotland, Jacob Freedland, to roor around behind the scenes of Scotland's politics. As well as at least one ghost, there's an agitated Reform supporter, a shocker of a revelation about Labour's social media spending... and some honey from the bees of Holyrood. They's almost as busy as us :-) ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • The latest Ipsos polling • ...and those YouGov figures too • Alex's latest Podyssey ep, featuring a load of bullocks • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Look, we're STILL trying to work out what Melania's plan was with that WTF speech this week. Plan, did we say? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell give miserable Mel's bizarre intervention their best shot and, for the adults in the audience, try to make sense of that other Trumpian mystery of the week, the cease fire that no one in the White House seems to have read before agreeing to it. Back in Blighty, it's less than a month to the May 7th electoral jamboree and a chance to talk about proper politics: pot holes, hospitals and the rise of nutcase right wing politics over here too. All that plus AI hallucinations, moths and actual congress with a bull. Don't say you weren't warned. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Alex's latest Podyssey ep, featuring a load of bullocks • The pre-show clip is from last night's SNL UK "cold open" • More on that mad Scandi AI experiment • ...and the Canadian chatbot weirdness • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com PS We only used the clip from 'Allo 'Allo because Kenny's accent is weirder than anything comedy could create... 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
One minute, it's Armageddon and profanity; the next, it's back to the clown show and Trump's biggest TACO yet. Naomi, Alex and Kenny are joined by QR favourite Arthur Snell to rake through the ashes of Trump's Iranian dumpster fire, and try to make sense of a blisteringly bleak week in the annals of US foreign policy. The yellow streak that runs though Trump hasn't stopped him declaring victory, of course, but who is really coming out on top? And what does it mean for all of us? Plus, there's drama building in Hungary – is Orban, the European lapdog of both Putin and Trump, really facing a landslide defeat? Or should we perhaps manage our expectations ahead of the looming election? And we've got TWO – count 'em – Grin And Share Its because we really need some good news this week, don't we? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • More from our opening Jimmy Kimmel Live clip • Help Smart Medical Aid for Ukraine if you can. • Help Medecins Sans Frontiers in Gaza and the wider Middle East. • GASI #1: The Springburn ruin resurrected • GASI #2: Sun power lights up Greece • Our guest Arthur Snell's book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Brace for betrayal, resurrection and chocolate in our Easter special! Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell examine the Judas Factor in politics, and then dive into that other great seasonal topic: the soaring price of Easter eggs. All that plus the Wokeydokey we had to hold over from our midweek shows with Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, because there was too much other stuff to talk about. Happy Easter y'all! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Rage at the price of chocolate treats with the help of the Freddo Index • Our podcast pal Arthur Snell's new climate book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Welcome to the second part of our fabulous bank holiday two-parter with Baroness Ayesha Hazarika. What does becoming a peer actually feel like? How should we reform the upper chamber? And will our friendly Baroness give us any juicy insights from behind those woolsacks? If you missed the first part of this two-parter, why not pause this one and go back to hear Ayesha's views on Trump's latest Iranian-adjacent madness, plus Labour's growing gravitation towards Europe – and we ask what the party can do to prepare us all for some expected hard times ahead. Also, we answer the question that our subscriber Sarah was midway through when our latest Ask Us Anything session timed out! Have a lovely Easter weekend xxx ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • To be the first to hear about Best for Britain's exciting new Europe announcement, sign up here. It's free (though donations are always welcome!) • Our podcast pal Arthur Snell's new climate book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Our fabulous bank holiday two-parter with Baroness Ayesha Hazarika kicks off with (of course) Trump's latest Iranian-adjacent madness. And we utter a modest hurrah as Labour starts to move publically towards Europe – and ask what the party can do to prepare us all for some expected hard times ahead. Also, we answer the question that our subscriber Sarah was midway through when our latest Ask Us Anything session timed out! Don't miss Part 2 of this special, uploading imminently, featuring Ayesha's insights from her first couple of years in the House of Lords, ideas for reforming the upper chamber, plus a discussion on disinformation and the state of our media. Happy Easter y'all! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • To be the first to hear about Best for Britain's exciting new Europe announcement, sign up here. It's free (though donations are always welcome!) • Our podcast pal Arthur Snell's new climate book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • Tim Bales book on how the Tories have changed is available at our bookshop here. • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith discuss a parliamentary report on disinformation, in the light of news that the BBC has chosen a former Google executive as its new boss. And - as promised - they bring you our research into party membership in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, to supplement QR's midweek deep dive. Finally, can you tell Prank from Frank? Alex and Naomi test each other with far fetched headlines, some of which are April Fools and some of which are all too real. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Naomi's choice for most informative video on disinformation is here. • Read the Foreign Affairs Committee's report on Disinformation here. • Carole Cadwalladr's piece on the new BBC boss is here. • Visit Northern Ireland's data resource ARK here. • Watch the full BBC Spaghetti Harvest prank here. • Don't forget our podcast chum Arthur Snell's new climate book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
How would you feel about a medical examination that was designed to make you faint? What about having to instal soundproof doors and blinds, because noise and light can bring on seizures? Welcome to the world of the Long Covid patient – and there are millions of them. Six years since the first Covid lockdown, humans have become relatively blasé about the disease. But it has cast a crippling shadow over a great many lives. Long Covid doesn't just leave its victims physically exhausted: the impacts are mental, emotional, economic, social and brutal. Worse still, Long Covid is not well understood and, as a result, treatments are sadly lacking. And it can come with a stigma – like other debilitating illnesses, patients often don't get taken seriously. Kenny Campbell is joined by Claire Higham, who has Long Covid and campaigns for a better understanding of this cruel condition, to find out more about how it wrecks lives, what's being done to combat it and why it isn't making bigger headlines. It's both fascinating and disturbing but, for patients and their loved ones, it can be an appalling brake on their lives – one that many never recover from. Also, a small correction to a figure raised in the show – Germany is dedicating €50m per year for ten years (half a billion over a decade) towards research into MECFS and other infection-associated chronic conditions. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • #LongCovidAwareness ... find out more about Long Covid at... - NHS - MEpedia - Long Covid Advocacy - Long Covid Physio - Open Medicine Foundation - Bateman Horne Centre - Long Covid Justice - ME Scandal Explainer - The Tangled Story - Severe ME - First Do No Harm - Ed Yong - Madeline Miller - The Sick Times • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many interesting politicos besides. • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com • Cover composite images by CDC on Unsplash and xadartstudio on Freepik 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 US keeps 'negotiating with itself' (Iran's words...) we ask tentatively what impact the ongoing conflict will have on our wallets, purses and digital wealth stores. Plus, a look at new research revealing perhaps too much about the sort of people who are actual *members* of a political party. Spoiier alert: they're outnumbered handsomely by the number of criminals out there, not that there's any link between politics and crime of course. No siree. And, of course, Naomi, Alex and Kenny bring you your regular prescription of glee courtesy of Wokey Dokey, and Grin And Share It. What's not to like :-) ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Everything you wanted to know about political geeks (ie party members) but were afraid to ask • Green And Share It (ho-ho): The Hampshire Hedge • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many interesting politicos besides. • Today's opening comedy clip is from The Daily Show. • 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
For this bonus episode, award winning journalist, writer and podcaster Will Hayward joins Naomi Smith to break down all you need to know about the forthcoming Senedd elections, as well as his brilliant new book, "Who Cares About Wales?" As well as discussing the current fortunes of Plaid, Reform, Labour, Conservatives, Greens and Lib Dems, you'll also find out Farage's thoughts on the “foreign” Welsh language and why the new PR voting system might prove an own goal for Labour. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Grab Will's excellent new book "Who Cares About Wales" from our bookshop. Follow Will Hayward's substack here. Find out more about the Taith Scheme here. We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many interesting politicos besides. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
War? What war? As missiles continue to whizz around the Middle East and the global economy continues to sweat as a result, Trump looks to be planning his exit from that Iranian adventure. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell look at the latest, and wonder if US plans to de-escalate the conflict will be as well thought through as its plans to escalate were in the first place. And, away from the madness of Trumpworld, they also look at the (sort of) madness that is featuring in upcoming elections in both Hungary and Denmark. This part may feature extreme pig breeding. Finally, by way of sanity, they have a look at Nigel Farage's video request money-making venture in which he accidentally appears to support Canadian Neo-Nazis, amongst other lovely things. As you do. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Opening clip from SNL cold open here. • Don't forget our podcast chum Arthur Snell's new climate book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com • Original oil photo by A. C. 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
As the UK and Europe push back on Trump's overseas adventures, Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by MP for Oxford East, Dame Anneliese Dodds, to look at the Iran latest, the Ukraine defence partnership, and the government's pivot towards the EU. Starmer is, for once, in tune with the public mood. Can foreign policy repair his domestic reputation? Plus, we talk overseas aid (or the lack of it) with Anneliese who resigned her cabinet position in International Development over aid cuts, and is also Chair of the Sudan and South Sudan parliamentary group. And, despite that packed agenda, we've still got time for a bit of Wokey Dokey action ... and some surprising news about yoyo dieting. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Follow Women4Sudan on LinkedIn, Instagram, or the Women for Women account on Bluesky. And here is the Women4Sudan website. • Stephen Colbert's sharp take on Trump's 'fun' bombing. (Thanks to listener Julia for suggesting, at our recent editorial meeting for subscribers, that we include a link to the source of the pre-show comedy clip.) • More of that Rachel Reeves speech here • Anneliese's speech on protecting civilians in Sudan • Yoyo dieting ... maybe it's not all bad news • Don't forget our pod buddy Arthur Snell's new climate book, Elemental, is available at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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
Brace yourselves for an episode with a particularly adult feel... fret not, it's still Quiet Riot. Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell start with the latest on Mandelson, and the never-ending political fallout from his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Then they turn their gaze to the Government's muddle over pornography – specifically, the row over whether content representing incest pornography should be banned while step-incest pornography is left legal. How on earth did we get to this point? And, to complete a trio of grown-up topics, they look at the somewhat disturbing news that ReformUK wants a say in your bedroom habits. Put that away now Nigel dear, I've got a throbbing headache. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • That UK-Trump drug deal mystery ... write to your MP with Best for Britain's help here • Our pod buddy Arthur Snell's new book, Elemental, featured in our Thursday show ... Get it at our bookshop here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides • 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 Nigel Farage gets Reform's local election campaign under way, we look at how his existing platoon of local representatives is doing (nb may involve the odd shambles). Plus, Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by Quiet Riot's favourite geopolitics titan, Arthur Snell, to discuss the new geography of climate change – which just happens to be the subject of his brand new book, Elemental (buy it below). ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Arthur's new book, Elemental, is a must-read. Get it at our bookshop here. • Check out Best for Britain's Reform Defection Tracker • Britain's groundbreaking geothermal powerplant • Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa's proposal for renaming the "Global South" • James O'Brien and Henry Riley's report on Reform council "savings" • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides. • 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 & Alex Andreou take a good look at whether Labour's new immigration and asylum reform proposals make sense - in terms of either policy or politics. And... As Kirsti Noem becomes the first fallen of Trump's Glorious Revolution 2.0, is this a one-off or has a rubicon been crossed? Plus... What are the series you know you MUST binge, but just haven't got round to yet? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Opening clip from The Late Show with Steven Colbert. Closing Markwayne Mullin compilation from Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Enjoy, Julia!) We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, with all our regular contributors and many more interesting politicos besides. • 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
A spring budget statement in the middle of a global meltdown. Can it make sense even a little bit? Well, possibly. Our guest is someone who really can get under the skin of these issues – uber-economist and author Vicky Pryce. Join Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell to find out (possibly) if Trump's Iranian adventure has rendered Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement redundant. And what of the Middle East meltdown? Can anybody make any sense of what is going on? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Read fabulous stuff, expand your brain! Also ... GET VICKY'S NEW BOOK HERE. Pay attention to the New Economics Foundation Come on in ... our BLUESKY STARTER PACK will help you find your feet in the politer social media sphere... • 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
Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell peer into the developing situation in Iran and the Middle East and try to glean if there is any longterm strategy or just a throwing of the dice. They also look at the Gorton & Denton by-election result and the reaction to it, to assess what its lessons might be and whether anyone at all is interested in learning them. Also Alex gets quite angry. ***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
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
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