Podcasts about Brexit

SPONSORS: - Head to http://lucy.co/stores to get 20% off your first order when you buy online with code YMH. - For simple, online access to personalized and affordable care for Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit https://Hims.com/YMH. - Head to https://Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Tom Segura and Christina P are back for another wild episode of Your Mom's House Podcast, diving headfirst into a new batch of internet insanity before they are joined by some very European guests. This episode covers everything from the viral McDonalds CEO video, to horny grannies, to Obama talking black, to Putin praising some broads, plus, Gene Simmons telling celebs to shut up, pigeons taking over a mans home, and Christina showing Tom a game called "Chernobyl or Hungarian Hospital?" Later in the episode, Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin join the show for a hilarious guest segment packed with sharp cultural commentary, stories about Eastern Europe, parenting, travel, teaching, gratitude, and why seeing more of the world might be the cure for modern stupidity. The conversation bounces from outrageous internet content to real talk about America, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, family life, and raising kids with perspective. Plus Francis and Konstantin get a dose of Christina's TikTok curations just for good measure. Cheerio! Your Mom's House Ep. 851 https://tomsegura.com/tour https://christinap.com/ https://store.ymhstudios.com https://www.reddit.com/r/yourmomshousepodcast Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:11 - Obama Taliking Black 00:07:07 - Opening Clip: Cool Brag 00:09:34 - Clip: Cool Gal Loves Her Fiance 00:13:12 - Clip: Chocolate Massage 00:15:36 - Gene Simmons Says Shut Up 00:20:33 - Clip: Paralympian Tom 00:21:34 - RIP Robert Carradine 00:26:01 - They Did Surgery On A Weiner...In A Car 00:29:48 - Clip: Public Pooper 00:30:30 - Russian Pigeon House 00:32:13 - Chernobyl or Hungarian Hospital? 00:34:18 - Clip: Screaming Into Void 00:35:10 - Mike The Tax Guy 00:37:49 - Francis Foster & Konstantin Kisin 00:44:58 - Brexit, Royals, & Epstein Files 00:50:06 - Talented Pieces Of Shit 00:56:33 - Talking To Yourself & Accents 01:04:01 - Master Of Accents 01:11:28 - Dictators 01:21:05 - Horrible Or Hilarious 01:26:28 - McDonalds CEO Tries New Burger 01:30:06 - Very British Discussion 01:34:06 - TikToks 01:45:53 - Chernobyl Or Hungarian Hospital? Redux 01:49:07 - Closing Song - "How You Say Cucumber" by Micah Akervold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What makes a character so compelling that readers will forgive almost anything about the plot? How do you move beyond vague flaws and generic descriptions to create people who feel pulled from real life? In this solo episode, I share 15 actionable tips for writing deep characters, curated from past interviews on the podcast. In the intro, thoughts from London Book Fair [Instagram reel @jfpennauthor; Publishing Perspectives; Audible; Spotify]; Insights from a 7-figure author business [BookBub]. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community and get articles, discounts, and extra audio and video tutorials on writing craft, author business, and AI tools, at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn This episode has been created from previous episodes of The Creative Penn Podcast, curated by Joanna Penn, as well as chapters from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book. Links to the individual episodes are included in the transcript below. In this episode: Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' trifecta, how to hook readers on the very first page Define the Dramatic Question: Who is your character when the chips are down? Absolute specificity. Why “she's controlling” isn't good enough Understand the Heroine's Journey, strength through connection, not solo action Use ‘Metaphor Families' to anchor dialogue and give every character a distinctive voice Find the Diagnostic Detail, the moments that prove a character is real Writing pain onto the page without writing memoir Write diverse characters as real people, not stereotypes or plot devices Give your protagonist a morally neutral ‘hero' status. Compelling beats likeable. Build vibrant side characters for series longevity and spin-off potential Use voice as a rhythmic tool Link character and plot until they're inseparable Why discovery writers can write out of order and still build deep character Find the sensory details that make characters live and breathe More help with how to write fiction here, or in my book, How to Write a Novel. Writing Characters: 15 Tips for Writing Deep Character in Your Fiction In today's episode, I'm sharing fifteen tips for writing deep characters, synthesised from some of the most insightful interviews on The Creative Penn Podcast over the past few years, combined with what I've learned across more than forty books of my own. I'll be referencing episodes with Matt Bird, Will Storr, Gail Carriger, Barbara Nickless, and Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. I'll also draw on my own book, How to Write a Novel, which covers these fundamentals in detail. Whether you're writing your first novel or your fiftieth, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer like me, these tips will help you create characters that readers believe in, care about, and invest in—and keep coming back for more. Let's get into it. 1. Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' Trifecta When I spoke with Matt Bird on episode 624, he laid out the three things you need to achieve on the very first page of your book or in the first ten minutes of a film. He calls it “Believe, Care, and Invest.” First, the reader must believe the character is a real person, somehow proving they are not a cardboard imitation of a human being, not just a generic type walking through a generic plot. Second, the reader must care about the character's circumstances. And third, the reader must invest in the character's ability to solve the story's central problem. Matt used The Hunger Games as his primary example, and it's brilliant. On the very first page, we believe Katniss's voice. Suzanne Collins writes in first person with a staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short declarative sentences—that immediately grounds us in a survivalist mentality. We care because Katniss is starving. She's protecting her little sister. And we invest because she is out there bow hunting, which Matt pointed out is one of the most badass things a character can do. She even kills a lynx two pages in and sells the pelt. We invest in her resourcefulness and grit before the plot has even begun. Matt was very clear that this has nothing to do with the character being “likable.” He said his subtitle, Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love, doesn't mean the character has to be a good person. He described “hero” as both gender-neutral and morally neutral. A hero can be totally evil or totally good. What matters is that we believe, care, and invest. He demonstrated this beautifully by breaking down the first ten minutes of WeCrashed, where the characters of Adam and Rebekah Neumann are absolutely not likable, but we are completely hooked. Adam steals his neighbour's Chinese food through a carefully orchestrated con involving an imaginary beer. It's not admirable behaviour, but the tradecraft involved, as Matt put it—using a term from spy movies—makes us invest in him. We see a character trying to solve the big problem of his life, which is that he's poor and wants to be rich, and we want to see if he can pull it off. Actionable step: Go to the first page of your current work in progress. Does it achieve all three? Does the reader believe this is a real person with a distinctive voice? Do they care about the character's circumstances? And do they invest in the character's ability to handle what's coming? If even one of those three is missing, that's your revision priority. 2. Define the Dramatic Question: Who Are They Really? Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling, came on episode 490 and gave one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever heard for character-driven fiction. He explained that the human brain evolved language primarily to swap social information—in other words, to gossip. We are wired to monitor other people, to ask the question: who is this person when the chips are down? That's what Will calls the Dramatic Question, and it's what he believes lies at the heart of all compelling storytelling. It's not a question about plot. It's a question about the character's soul. And every scene in your novel should force the character to answer it. His example of Lawrence of Arabia is unforgettable. The Dramatic Question for the entire film is: who are you, Lawrence? Are you ordinary or are you extraordinary? At the beginning, Lawrence is a cocky, rebellious young soldier who believes his rebelliousness makes him superior. Every iconic scene in that three-hour film tests that belief. Sometimes Lawrence acts as though he truly is extraordinary—leading the Arabs into battle, being hailed as a god—and sometimes the world strips him bare and he sees himself as ordinary. Because it's a tragedy, he never overcomes his flaw. He doubles down on his belief that he's extraordinary until he becomes monstrous, culminating in that iconic scene where he lifts a bloody dagger and sees his own reflection with horror. Will also used Jaws to demonstrate how this works in a pure action thriller. Brody's dramatic question is simple: are you going to be old Brody who is terrified of the water, or new Brody who can overcome that fear? Every scene where the shark appears is really asking that question. And the last moment of the film isn't the shark blowing up. It's Brody swimming back through the water, saying he used to be scared of the water and he can't imagine why. Actionable step: Write down the Dramatic Question for your protagonist in a single sentence. Is it “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you brave enough to love again?” or “Will you sacrifice your principles for survival?” If you can't answer this with specificity, your character might still be a sketch rather than a person. 3. Get rid of Vague Flaws, and use Absolute Specificity This was one of Will Storr's most important points. He said that vague thinking about characters is really the enemy. When he teaches workshops and asks writers to describe their character's flaw, most of them say something like “they're very controlling.” And Will's response is: that's not good enough. Everyone is controlling. How are they controlling? What's the specific mechanism? He gave the example of a profile he read of Theresa May during the UK's Brexit chaos. Someone who knew her said that Theresa May's problem was that she always thinks she's the only adult in every room she goes into. Will said that stopped him in his tracks because it's so precise. If you define a character with that level of specificity, you can take them and put them in any genre, any situation—a spaceship, a Victorian drawing room, a school playground—and you will know exactly how they're going to behave. The same applies to Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, as Will described it: a man who believes absolutely in capitalistic success and the idea that when you die, you're going to be weighed on a scale, just as God weighs you for sin, but now you're weighed for success. That's not a vague flaw. That's a worldview you can drop into any story and watch it combust. Will made another counterintuitive point that I found really valuable: writers often think that piling on multiple traits will create a complex character, but the opposite is true. Starting with one highly specific flaw and running it through the demands of a relentless plot is what generates complexity. You end up with a far more nuanced, original character than if you'd started with a laundry list of vague attributes. Actionable step: Take your protagonist's flaw and pressure-test it. Is it specific enough that you could place this character in any situation and predict their behaviour? If you're stuck at “she's stubborn” or “he's insecure,” keep pushing. What kind of stubborn? What kind of insecure? Find the diagnostic sentence—the Theresa May level of precision. 4. Understand the Heroine's Journey: Strength Through Connection Gail Carriger came on episode 550 to discuss her nonfiction book, The Heroine's Journey, and it completely reframed how I think about some of my own fiction. Gail explained that the core difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey comes down to how strength and victory are defined. The Hero's Journey is about strength through solo action. The hero must be continually isolated to get stronger. He goes out of civilisation, faces strife alone, and achieves victory through physical prowess and self-actualisation. The Heroine's Journey is the opposite. The heroine achieves her goals by activating a network. She's a delegator, a general. She identifies where she can't do something alone, finds the people who can help, and portions out the work for mutual gain. Gail put it simply: the heroine is very good at asking for help, which our culture tends to devalue but which is actually a powerful form of strength. Crucially, Gail stressed that gender is irrelevant to which journey you're writing. Her go-to examples are striking: the recent Wonder Woman film is practically a beat-for-beat hero's journey—Gilgamesh on screen, as Gail described it. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, both the first book and the series as a whole, is a classic heroine's journey. Harry's power comes from his network—Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, his friendships with Ron and Hermione. He doesn't defeat Voldemort alone. He defeats Voldemort because of love and connection. This distinction has real practical consequences for writers. If you're writing a hero's journey and you hit writer's block, Gail said, the solution is usually to isolate your hero further and pile on more strife. But if you're writing a heroine's journey, the solution is probably to throw a new character into the scene—someone who has advice to offer or a skill the heroine lacks. The actual solutions to writer's block are different depending on which narrative you're writing. As I reflected on my own work, I realised that my ARKANE thriller protagonist, Morgan Sierra, follows a hero's journey—she's a solo operative, a lone wolf like Jack Reacher or James Bond. But my Mapwalker fantasy series follows a heroine's journey, with Sienna and her group of friends working together. I hadn't consciously chosen those paths; the stories led me there. But understanding the framework helps me write more intentionally now. Actionable step: Identify which journey your protagonist is on. Does your character gain strength by being alone (hero) or by building connections (heroine)? This will inform every plot decision you make, from how they face obstacles to how your story ends. 5. Use ‘Metaphor Families' to Anchor Dialogue and Voice One of the most practical techniques Matt Bird shared on episode 624 is the idea of assigning each character a “metaphor family”—a specific well of language that they draw from. This gives each character a distinctive voice that goes beyond accent or dialect. Matt explained how in The Wire, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, every character has a different metaphor family. What struck him was that Omar, this iconic character, never utters a single curse word in the entire series. His metaphor family is pirate. He talks about parlays, uses language that feels like it belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, and it creates this incredible ironic counterpoint against his urban setting. It tells us immediately that this is a character who sees himself in a tradition of people that doesn't match his immediate surroundings. Matt also referenced the UK version of The Office, where Gareth works at a paper company but aspires to the military. So all of his language is drawn from a military metaphor family. He doesn't talk about filing and photocopying; he talks about tactics and discipline and being on the front line. This tells us that the character has a life and dreams beyond the immediate scene—and it's the gap between aspiration and reality that makes him both funny and believable. He pointed out that a metaphor family sometimes comes from a character's background, but it's often more interesting when it comes from their aspirations. What does your character want to be? What world do they fantasise about inhabiting? That's where their language should come from. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a spiritual hermit, but his metaphor family is military. He uses the language of generals and commanders, and that ironic counterpoint is part of what makes him feel so rich. Actionable step: Assign each of your main characters a metaphor family. It could be based on their job, their background, or—more interestingly—their secret aspirations. Then go through your dialogue and make sure each character is consistently drawing from that well of language. If two characters sound the same when you strip away the dialogue tags, this is the fix. 6. Find the Diagnostic Detail: The Diagonal Toast Avoid clichéd character tags—the random scar, the eye patch, the mysterious limp—unless they serve a deep narrative purpose. Matt Bird on episode 624 was very funny about this: he pointed out that Nick Fury, Odin, and eventually Thor all have eye patches in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eye patches are done, he said. You cannot do eye patches anymore. Instead, look for what I'm calling the “diagonal toast” detail, after a scene Matt described from Captain Marvel. In the film, Captain Marvel is trying to determine whether Nick Fury is who he says he is. She asks him to prove he isn't a shapeshifting alien. Fury shares biographical details—his history, his mother—but then she pushes further and says, name one more thing you couldn't possibly have made up about yourself. And Fury says: if toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. Matt said that detail is gold for a writer because it feels pulled from a real life. You can pull it from your own life and gift it to your characters, and the reader can tell it's not manufactured. He gave another example from The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's mother won't answer the phone after dark. The show's creator, David Chase, confirmed on the DVD commentary that this came from his own mother, who genuinely would not answer the phone after dark and couldn't explain why. Matt's practical advice was to keep a journal. Write down the strange, specific things that people do or say. Mine your own life for those hyper-specific details. You just need one per book. In my own writing, I've used this approach. In my ARKANE thrillers, my character Morgan Sierra has always been Angelina Jolie in my mind—specifically Jolie in Lara Croft or Mr and Mrs Smith. And Blake Daniel in my crime thriller series was based on Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy. I paste pictures of actors into my Scrivener projects. It helps with visuals, but also with the sense of the character, their energy and physicality. But visual details only take you so far. It's the behavioural quirks—the diagonal toast moments—that make a character feel genuinely alive. That said, physical character tags can work brilliantly when they serve the story. As I discuss in How to Write a Novel, Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is an amputee, and his pain and the physical challenges of his prosthesis are a key part of every story—it's not a cosmetic detail, it's woven into the action and the character's psychology. My character Blake Daniel always wears gloves to cover the scars on his hands, which provides an angle into his wounded past as well as a visual cue for the reader. And of course, Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar isn't just a mark—it's a direct connection to his nemesis and the mythology of the entire series. The rule of thumb is: if the tag tells us something about the character's interior life or connects to the plot, it's earning its place. If it's just there to make the character visually distinctive, it's probably a crutch. Game of Thrones takes character tags further with the family houses, each with their own mottos and sigils. The Starks say “Winter is coming” and their sigil is a dire wolf. Those aren't just labels—they're worldview made visible. Actionable step: Start a “diagonal toast” notebook. Every time you notice something strange and specific about someone's behaviour—something that feels too real to be made up—write it down. Then gift it to a character who needs more texture. 7. Displace Your Own Trauma into the Work Barbara Nickless shared something deeply personal on episode 732 that fundamentally changed how I think about putting pain onto the page. While starting At First Light, the first book in her Dr. Evan Wilding series, she lost her son to epilepsy—something called SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. One day he was there, and the next day he was gone. Barbara said that writing helped her cope with the trauma, that doing a deep dive into Old English literature and the Viking Age for the book's research became a lifeline. But here's what's important: she didn't give Dr. Evan Wilding her exact trauma. Evan Wilding is four feet five inches, and Barbara described how he has to walk through a world that won't adjust to him. That's its own form of learning to cope when circumstances are beyond your control. She displaced her genuine grief into the character's different but parallel struggle. When I asked her about the difference between writing for therapy and writing for an audience, she drew on her experience teaching creative writing to veterans through a collaboration between the US Department of Defense and the National Endowment for the Arts. She said she's found that she can pour her heartache into her characters and process it through them, even when writing professionally, and that the genuine emotion is what touches readers. We've all been through our own losses and griefs, so seeing how a character copes can be deeply meaningful. I've always found that putting my own pain onto the page is the most direct way to connect with a reader's soul. My character Morgan Sierra's musings on religion and the supernatural are often my own. Her restlessness, her fascination with the darker edges of faith—those come from me. But her Krav Maga fighting skills and her ability to kill the bad guys are definitely her own. That gap between what's mine and what's hers is where the fiction lives. Barbara also said something on that episode that I wrote down and stuck on my wall. She said the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul. I've been thinking about that ever since. On my own wall, I have “Measure your life by what you create.” Different words, same truth. Actionable step: If you're carrying something heavy—grief, anger, fear, regret—consider how you might displace it into a character's different but emotionally parallel struggle. Don't copy your exact situation; transform it. The emotion will be genuine, and the reader will feel it. 8. Write Diverse Characters as Real People When I spoke with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673—Sarah is Choctaw and a historical fiction author honoured by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian—she offered a perspective that every fiction writer needs to hear. The key message was to move away from stereotypes. Don't write your American Indian character as the “Wise Guide” who exists solely to dispense mystic wisdom to the white protagonist. Don't limit diverse characters to historical settings, as though they only exist in the past. Place them in normal, contemporary roles. Your spaceship captain, your forensic scientist, your small-town baker—any of them can be American Indian, or Nigerian, or Japanese, and their heritage should be a lived-in part of their identity, not the sole reason they exist in the story. I write international thrillers and dark fantasy, and my fiction is populated with characters from all over the world. I have a multi-cultural family and I've lived in many places and travelled widely, so I've met, worked with, and had relationships with people from different cultures. I find story ideas through travel, and if I set my books in a certain place, then the story is naturally populated with the people who live there. As I discuss in my book, How to Write a Novel, the world is a diverse place, so your fiction needs to be populated with all kinds of people. If I only populated my fiction with characters like me, they would be boring novels. There are many dimensions of difference—race, nationality, sex, age, body type, ability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, class, culture, education level—and even then, don't assume that similar types of people think the same way. Some authors worry they will make mistakes. We live in a time of outrage, and some authors have been criticised for writing outside their own experience. So is it too dangerous to try? Of course not. The media amplifies outliers, and most authors include diverse characters in every book without causing offence because they work hard to get it right. It's about awareness, research, and intent. Actionable step: Audit the cast of your current work in progress. Have you written a mono-cultural perspective for all of them? If so, consider who could bring a different background, perspective, or set of cultural specifics to the story. Not as a token addition, but as a real person with a real life. 9. Respect Tribal and Cultural Specificity Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673 was emphatic about one thing: never treat diverse groups as monolithic. If you're writing a Native American character, you must research the specific nation. Choctaw is not Navajo, just as British is not French. Sarah described the distinct cultural markers of the Choctaw people—the diamond pattern you'll see on traditional shirts and dresses, which represents the diamondback rattlesnake. They have distinct dances and songs. She said that if she saw someone in traditional dress at a distance, she would know whether they were Choctaw based on what they were wearing. She encouraged writers who want to write specifically about a nation to get to know those people. Go to events, go to a powwow, learn about the individual culture. She noted that a big misconception is that American Indians exist only in the past—she stressed that they are still here, still living their cultures, and fiction should reflect that present reality. I took a similar approach when writing Destroyer of Worlds, which is set mostly in India. I read books about Hindu myth, watched documentaries about the sadhus, and had one of my Indian readers from Mumbai check my cultural references. For Risen Gods, set in New Zealand with a young Maori protagonist, I studied books about Maori mythology and fiction by Maori authors, and had a male Maori reader check for cultural issues. Research is simply an act of empathy. The practical takeaway is this: if you're going to include a character from a specific cultural background, do the work. Use specific cultural details rather than generic signifiers. Sarah talked about how even she fell into stereotypes when she was first writing, until her mother pointed them out. If someone from within a culture can fall into those traps, the rest of us certainly can. Do the research, try your best, ask for help, and apologise if you need to. Actionable step: If you're writing a character from a specific culture, identify three to five sensory or behavioural details that are particular to that culture—not the generic version, but the real, researched, lived-in version. Consider hiring a sensitivity reader from that community to check your work. 10. Give Your Protagonist a Morally Neutral ‘Hero' Status Matt Bird was clear about this on episode 624: the word “hero” simply means the protagonist, the person we follow through the story. It's a functional role, not a moral label. We don't have to like them. We don't even have to root for their goals in a moral sense. We just have to find them compelling enough to invest our attention in their problem-solving. Think of Succession, where every member of the Roy family is varying degrees of awful, and yet the show was utterly compelling. Or WeCrashed, where Adam Neumann is a narcissistic con artist, but we can't look away because he's trying to solve the enormous problem of building an empire from nothing, and the tradecraft he employs is fascinating. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, readers must want to spend time with your characters. They don't have to be lovable or even likable—that will depend on your genre and story choices—but they have to be captivating enough that we want to spend time with them. A character who is trying to solve a massive problem will naturally draw investment from the audience, even if we wouldn't want to have tea with them. Will Storr extended this idea by pointing out that the audience will actually root for a character to solve their problem even if the audience doesn't actually want the character's goal to be achieved in the real world. We don't really want more billionaires, but we invested in Adam Neumann's rise because that was the problem the story posed, and our brains are wired to invest in problem-solving. This connects to something deeper: what does your character want, and why? As I explore in How to Write a Novel, desire operates on multiple levels. Take a character like Phil, who joins the military during wartime. On the surface, she wants to serve her country. But she also wants to escape her dead-end town and learn new skills. Deeper still, her father and grandfather served, and by joining up, she hopes to finally earn their respect. And perhaps deepest of all, her father died on a mission under mysterious circumstances, and she wants to find out what happened from the inside. That layering of motivation is what turns a flat character into a three-dimensional one. The audience doesn't need to be told all of this explicitly. It can emerge through action, dialogue, and the choices the character makes under pressure. But you, the writer, need to know it. You need to know what your character really wants deep down, because that desire—more than any external plot device—is what drives the story forward. And your antagonist needs the same depth. They also want something, often diametrically opposed to your protagonist, and they need a reason that makes sense to them. In my ARKANE thriller Tree of Life, my antagonist is the heiress of a Brazilian mining empire who wants to restore the Earth to its original state to atone for the destruction caused by her father's company. She's part of a radical ecological group who believe the only way to restore Nature is to end all human life. It's extreme, but in an era of climate change, it's a motivation readers can understand—even if they disagree with the solution. Actionable step: If you're struggling to make a morally grey character work, make sure their problem is big enough and their methods are specific and interesting enough that we invest in the how, even if we're ambivalent about the what. 11. Build Vibrant Side Characters Gail Carriger made a point on episode 550 that was equal parts craft advice and business strategy. In a Heroine's Journey model, side characters aren't just fodder to be killed off to motivate the hero. They form a network. And because you don't have to kill them—unlike in a hero's journey, where allies are often betrayed or removed so the hero can be further isolated—you can pick up those side characters and give them their own books. Gail said this creates a really voracious reader base. You write one series with vivid side characters, and then readers fall in love with those side characters and want their stories. So you write spin-offs. The romance genre does this brilliantly—think of the Bridgerton books, where each sibling gets their own novel. The side character in one book becomes the protagonist in the next. Barbara Nickless experienced this firsthand with her Dr. Evan Wilding series. She has River Wilding, Evan's adventurous brother, and Diana, the axe-throwing research assistant, and her editor has already expressed interest in a spin-off series with those characters. Barbara described creating characters she wants to spend time with, or characters who give her nightmares but also intrigue her. That's the dual test: are they interesting enough for you to write, and interesting enough for readers to demand more? As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, characters that span series can deepen the reader's relationship with them as you expand their backstory into new plots. Readers will remember the character more than the plot or the book title, and look forward to the next instalment because they want more time with those people. British crime author Angela Marsons described it as readers feeling like returning to her characters is like putting on a pair of old slippers. Actionable step: Look at your supporting cast. Is there a side character who is vivid enough to carry their own story? If not, what could you add—a specific hobby, a distinct voice, a compelling backstory—that would make readers want more of them? 12. Use Voice as a Rhythmic Tool Voice is one of the most important elements of novel writing, and Matt Bird helped me think about it in a technical, mechanical way that I found really useful. He pointed out that the ratio of periods to commas defines a character's internal reality. A staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short sentences—suggests a character who is certain, grounded, or perhaps survivalist and traumatised. Katniss in The Hunger Games has a period-heavy voice. She's in survival mode. She doesn't have time for complexity or qualification. A flowing, comma-heavy style suggests someone more academic, more nuanced, or possibly more scattered and manipulative. The character who qualifies everything, who adds sub-clauses and digressions, is a different kind of person from the character who speaks in declarations. This is something you can actually measure. Pull up a passage of your character's dialogue or internal monologue and count the periods versus the commas. If the rhythm doesn't match who the character is supposed to be, you've found a mismatch you can fix. Sentence length is the heartbeat of your character's persona. And voice extends beyond rhythm to the words themselves. As I discussed in the metaphor families tip, each character should draw from a distinctive well of language. But voice also encompasses their relationship to silence. Some characters talk around the thing they mean; others say it straight. Some are self-deprecating; others are blunt to the point of rudeness. All of these choices are character choices, not just style choices. I find it useful to read my dialogue aloud—and not just to check for naturalness, but to hear whether each character sounds distinct. If you could swap dialogue lines between two characters and nobody would notice, you have a voice problem. One practical test: cover the dialogue tags and see if you can tell who's speaking from the words alone. Actionable step: Choose a key passage from your protagonist's point of view and read it aloud. Does the rhythm match the character? A soldier under fire should not sound like a philosophy professor at a wine tasting. Adjust the ratio of periods to commas until the voice feels right. 13. Link Character and Plot Until They're Inseparable Will Storr made the case on episode 490 that the number one problem he sees in the writing he encounters—in workshops, in submissions, even in published books—is that the characters and the plots are unconnected. There's a story happening, and there are people in it, but the story isn't a product of who those people are. He said a story should be like life. In our lives, the plots are intimately connected to who we are as characters. The goals we pursue, the obstacles we face, the same problems that keep recurring—these are products of our personalities, our flaws, our specific ways of being in the world. His framework is that your plot should be designed specifically to plot against your character. You've got a character with a particular flaw; the plot exists to test that flaw over and over until the character either transforms or doubles down and explodes. Jaws is the perfect example. Brody is afraid of water. A shark shows up in the coastal town he's responsible for protecting. The entire plot is engineered to force him to confront the one thing he cannot face. Will pointed out that the whole plot of Jaws is structured around Brody's flaw. It begins with the shark arriving, the midpoint is when Brody finally gets the courage to go into the water, and the very final scene isn't the shark blowing up—it's Brody swimming back through the water. Even a film that's ninety-eight percent action is, at its core, structured around a character with a character flaw. This is the standard I aspire to in my own work, even in my action-heavy thrillers. The external plot should be a mirror of the internal struggle. When those two are aligned, the story becomes irresistible. Will also made an important point about series fiction, which is where most commercial authors live. I asked him how this works when your character can't be transformed at the end of every book because there has to be a next book. His answer was elegant: you don't cure them. Episodic TV characters like Fleabag or David Brent or Basil Fawlty never truly change—and the fact that they don't change is actually the source of the comedy. But every episode throws a new story event at them that tests and exposes their flaw. You just keep throwing story events at them again and again. That's a soap opera, a sitcom, and a book series. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, character flaws are aspects of personality that affect the person so much that facing and overcoming them becomes central to the plot. In Jaws, the protagonist Brody is afraid of the water, but he has to overcome that flaw to destroy the killer shark and save the town. But remember, your characters should feel like real people, so never define them purely by their flaws. The character addicted to painkillers might also be a brilliant and successful female lawyer who gets up at four in the morning to work out at the gym, likes eighties music, and volunteers at the local dog shelter at weekends. Character wounds are different from flaws. They're formed from life experience and are part of your character's backstory—traumatic events that happened before the events of your novel but shape the character's reactions in the present. In my ARKANE thrillers, Morgan Sierra's husband Elian died in her arms during a military operation. This happened before the series begins, but her memories of it recur when she faces a firefight, and she struggles to find happiness again for fear of losing someone she loves once more. And then there's the perennial advice: show, don't tell. Most writers have heard this so many times that it's easy to nod and then promptly write scenes that tell rather than show. Basically, you need to reveal your character through action and dialogue, rather than explanation. In my thriller Day of the Vikings, Morgan Sierra fights a Neo-Viking in the halls of the British Museum and brings him down with Krav Maga. That fight scene isn't just about showing action. It opens up questions about her backstory, demonstrates character, and moves the plot forward. Telling would be something like: “Morgan was an expert in Krav Maga.” Showing is the reader discovering it through the scene itself. Actionable step: Look at the main plot events of your novel. For each major turning point, ask: does this scene specifically test my protagonist's flaw? If not, can you redesign the scene so that it does? The tighter the connection between character and plot, the more powerful the story. 14. The ‘Maestra' Approach: Write Out of Order If you're a discovery writer like me, you may feel like the deep character work I've been describing sounds more suited to plotters. But Barbara Nickless gave me a beautiful metaphor on episode 732 that reframes it entirely. Barbara described her evolving writing process as being like a maestra standing in front of an orchestra. Sometimes you bring in the horns—a certain theme—and sometimes you bring in the strings—a certain character—and sometimes you turn to the soloist. It's a more organic and jumping-around process than linear writing, and Barbara said she's only recently given herself permission to work this way. When I told her that I use Scrivener to write in scenes out of order and then drag and drop them into a structure later, she was genuinely intrigued. And this is how I've always worked. I'll see the story in my mind like a movie trailer—flashes of the big emotional scenes, the pivotal confrontations, the moments of revelation—and I write those first. I don't know how they hang together until quite late in the process. Then I'll move scenes around, print the whole thing out, and figure out the connective tissue. The point is that discovery writers can absolutely build deep characters. Sometimes writing the big emotional scenes first is how you discover who the character is before you fill in the rest. You don't need a twenty-page character worksheet or a 200-page outline like Jeffery Deaver. You need to be willing to follow the character into the unknown and trust that the structure will emerge. As Barbara said, she writes to know what she's thinking. That's the discovery writer's credo. And I would add: I write to know who my characters are. Actionable step: If you're stuck on your current chapter, skip it. Write the scene that's burning in your imagination, even if it's from the middle or the end. That scene might be the key to unlocking who your character really is. 15. Use Research to Help with Empathy Research shouldn't just be about factual accuracy—it's a tool for finding the sensory details that create empathy. Barbara Nickless described research as almost an excuse to explore things that fascinate her, and I feel exactly the same way. I would go so far as to say that writing is an excuse for me to explore the things that interest me. Barbara and I both travel for our stories. For her Dr. Evan Wilding books, she did deep research into Old English literature and the Viking Age. For my thriller End of Days, I transcribed hours of video from Appalachian snake-handling churches on YouTube to understand the worldview of the worshippers, because my antagonist was brought up in that tradition. I couldn't just make that up. I had to hear their language, feel their conviction, understand why they would hold venomous serpents as an act of faith. Barbara also mentioned getting to Israel and the West Bank for research, and I've been to both places too. Finding that one specific sensory detail—the smell of a particular location, the specific way an expert handles a tool, the sound of a particular kind of music—makes the character's life feel lived-in. It's the difference between a character who is described as living in a place and a character who inhabits it. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, don't write what you know. Write what you want to learn about. I love research. It's part of why I'm an author in the first place. I take any excuse to dive into a world different from my own. Research using books, films, podcasts, and travel, and focus particularly on sources produced by people from the worldview you want to understand. Actionable step: For your next piece of character research, go beyond reading. Watch a documentary, visit a location, talk to someone who lives the experience. Find one sensory detail—a smell, a sound, a texture—that you couldn't have invented. That detail will make your character feel real. Bonus: Measure Your Life by What You Create In an age of AI and a tsunami of content, your ultimate brand protection is the quality of your human creation. Barbara Nickless said that the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. Don't be afraid to take that step back, like I did with my deadlifting. Take the time to master these deeper craft skills. It might feel like you're slowing down or going backwards by not chasing the latest marketing trend, but it's the only way to step forward into a sustainable, high-quality career. Your characters are your signature. No AI can replicate the specificity of your lived experience, the emotional truth of your displaced trauma, or the sensory details you've gathered from a life of curiosity and travel. Those are yours. Pour them into your characters, and they will resonate for years to come. Actionable Takeaway: Identify the Dramatic Question for your current protagonist. Can you state it in a single sentence with the kind of specificity Will Storr described? Is it as clear as “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you the only adult in the room?” If you can't answer it with that kind of precision, your character might still be a sketch. Give them a diagonal toast moment today. Find the one hyper-specific detail that proves they are not an imitation of life. And then ask yourself: does your plot test your character's flaw in every major scene? If you can align those two things—a precisely defined character and a plot that exists to test them—you will have a story that readers cannot put down. References and Deep Dives The episodes I've referenced today are all available with full transcripts at TheCreativePenn.com: Episode 732 — Facing Fears, and Writing Unique Characters with Barbara Nickless Episode 673 — Writing Choctaw Characters and Diversity in Fiction with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer Episode 624 — Writing Characters with Matt Bird Episode 550 — The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger Episode 490 — How Character Flaws Shape Story with Will Storr Books mentioned: The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn You can find all my books for authors at CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at JFPennBooks.com Happy writing! How was this episode created? This episode was initiated created by NotebookLM based on YouTube videos of the episodes linked above from YouTube/TheCreativePenn, plus my text chapters on character from How to Write a Novel. NotebookLM created a blog post from the material and then I expanded it and fact checked it with Claude.ai 4.6 Opus, and then I used my voice clone at ElevenLabs to narrate it. The post Writing Characters: 15 Actionable Tips For Writing Deep Character first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Two big topics on the agenda today as Keir Starmer has his pitch – again – on the cost of living. He told us towards the start of the year that every minute not spent tackling the cost of living was a minute wasted, so what has he been doing in all that time?Also today, ahead of her Mais Lecture this week, Rachel Reeves has been laying the groundwork for closer ties with the European Union. This does seem like a change of rhetoric from the Chancellor, who is openly suggesting that Brexit was a mistake. So what would closer ties look like? And is this the only lever that remains for her to deliver growth?James Heale and Tim Shipman discuss.Produced by Megan McElroy.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ellen Coyne and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:· Taoiseach Micheál Martin's St Patrick's Day visit to The White House to meet US president Donald Trump could prove awkward should he face questions about the US and Israel's military action against Iran, and its impact on the Middle East, Gulf regions and soaring fuel prices. Last year's meeting was a minefield to be navigated – perhaps Martin has learned from that experience.· A far less fraught meeting took place on Friday when the Taoiseach welcomed Britain's prime minister Keir Starmer to the UK-Ireland summit at Fota House in Cork. Security and co-operation were the order of the day, as Anglo-Irish relations continued to improve from a post-Brexit low.· And the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided this week, after a mere fifteen years, not to bring criminal charges against anyone arising from the Moriarty tribunal's final report in 2011. Michael Lowry and Denis O'Brien no doubt welcomed the decision.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:· The brave and anonymous women we all owe a debt, the beef between farmers and Government, and Patrick Freyne's golden age of male role models.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 Jahre lang war Patrik Wülser SRF-Korrespondent in Grossbritannien. In dieser Zeit hat er mehrere Premiers kommen und gehen sehen, hat den Tod der Queen oder den Brexit journalistisch begleitet. Nun zieht er weiter und schaut vorher im Tagesgespräch nochmals zurück. Als Patrik Wülser vor 6 Jahren in London angekommen ist, war das Land bewegt von der Pandemie und dem Brexit. Seither ist viel passiert. Wülser war es stets wichtig, die grossen Themen im Kleinen zu erzählen. Nahe bei den Menschen, vor Ort. Im Tagesgespräch erzählt er, wie sich das Land verändert hat, warum es gewohnt ist, mit Erschütterungen umzugehen und warum die Königsfamilie mehr ist als Stoff für die Klatschpresse. Als Korrespondent sei man immer Abruf, sagt Wülser. Es habe sich angefühlt, als hätte er das Königreich stets in der Hosentasche mit dabei. Patrick Wülser ist Gast bei Simone Hulliger.

FOLLOW UP: EU INDUSTRIAL ACCELERATOR ACT REVEALEDThe EU Commission has unveiled the draft Industrial Accelerator Act, which is aimed at making Europe a powerhouse and self contained when it comes to green energy related industries, including automotive. To read more about the proposals, click this electrive article link here.By the fact that so much of the act is pointed inwards to EU countries, this has caused fear in the UK automotive industry that they will be penalised thanks to the idiocy of Brexit. Nissan has declared if there is not agreement on UK built cars then it will close Sunderland. Click this Autocar article for more.FEBRUARY 2026 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESSMMT released the new car registration figures for February 2026 and there was a surprising number of vehicles registered, with this being the best February since 2004. BEV market share is no where near where it needs to be as it sits at 22%, lower than last year, with the mandate requirement of 33%. SMMT called on the Government to urgently look at the mandate in the face of market reality. You can learn more, by clicking this SMMT article link here.TRIBUNAL SHOWS PUBLIC CHARGING VAT SHOULD BE 5%In a tax tribunal, Deloitte proved how the public charging VAT rate should only be 5%, using HMRC's own rules. The use, by an individual, of no more than 1000kWh over a month is classified as “personal use”. To go over this, using public charging, would be very difficult in a EV. To find out more, click this EV Powered article link here.TESLA EU CO2 POOL USERS DECLINEThe EU allows car companies to buy and sell CO2 credits so that companies can avoid hefty fines for not meeting average fleet levels. Tesla has benefited hugely from this, however that is now changing as Toyota and Stellantis leave their pool. If you wish to read more, click this electrive article link here.SUZUKI BUYS SOLID-STATE BATTERY FIRMSuzuki has bought Kanadevia, a company that has been developing solid-state batteries for 20 years. This is a great move by one of the smaller Japanese brands and if batteries can be made affordable at scale, this will help them be competitive or even steal a march on others. Click this electrive article link here, to read more.WRIGHTBUS SELLS 31 EBUSES TO THE ISLE OF WHITEWrightbus is providing 31 double decker electric buses for use on the Isle of White. Using funding from a combination of local and central government schemes, they will help move the islands public transport to being a cleaner service. You can read more by clicking this electrive article link here.ELECQ HIT BY CYBER ATTACKELECQ, a Chinese home and business smart charger company, has been hacked with customer details being accessed. They operate in the UK and Europe and have informed data protection organisations. The company state that their chargers and systems are working and are protected. For more on this story, click the link here from The Register.If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Genesis GV60 MagmaGenesis has revealed their first performance car that we can buy, with the very orange GV60 Magma. Sharing a lot of the underpinnings with the Hyundai Ioniq 5N expect similar levels of go and stop. Click this EV Powered article link to read more.GM Specialty Vehicles UK launchedGM Specialty Vehicles UK will be importing the large and “luxury” models from the General Motors stables. Think along the lines of the Suburban, Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Silverado. The cars will be left hand drive but all requirements to be UK legal will be undertaken by dealership Clive Sutton. Click this Motoring Research article link for more.Lamborghini Lanzador killed offBefore the Lanzandor even made it to market, it has been killed off. The official statement is that it is due to a lack of customer demand for such a vehicle. But it was to share the underpinnings from Porsche but they canned their development meaning Lamborghini would not have anything to make the car from. Click this Motoring Research article to learn more.LUNCHTIME READ: THE GREAT DISGRACEHagerty supply the article we are recommending that you read this week, thanks to Jim Magill for suggesting it! The piece discusses the shocking state of our roads and how that has impacted people's desire to drive. Click the link here to read it for yourself.LIST OF THE WEEK: 25 OF THE COOLEST MID-ENGINED CONCEPT CARS THAT NEVER MADE PRODUCTIONTop Gear is where we are pointing you to for the List of the Week. And boy, is it a CRACKER! Check out 25 concept cars and try to pick on from this wonderful list. Click here to get overwhelmed by the options!AND FINALLY: CAR SONGSaturday Night Live has produced a song that shows the wider population have had enough with silly and dangerous door handles. Click this YouTube link to see for yourself.

Charles Stewart, chief executive of Sotheby's, joins the Big Boss Interview and discusses the scrutiny facing the art market over money laundering, the growth of digital art and NFTs, the expansion of sports collectibles, and how the conflict in the Middle East could affect the industry.Stewart, who previously served as chief executive of a small bank before joining Sotheby's, describes the characterisation of the industry as working with illicit money as a “misjudged notion”. He argues the company's client base consists largely of established collectors, museum trustees and philanthropists who buy works to live with them rather than to obscure wealth.Russian buyers — often cited in discussions about opaque art transactions — represented less than 1% of Sotheby's global business when sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine, he says, challenging assumptions about the role of Russian money in the market.Geopolitics is also shaping the art market. The Middle East has become an increasingly important region for Sotheby's, with auctions in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi reflecting years of market development across the Gulf. Stewart says the company's immediate priority amid escalating regional tensions is the safety of staff working there, though he notes market reaction to the latest conflict has so far been “somewhat muted”.Stewart notes that countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in cultural infrastructure as part of longer-term economic diversification strategies. Institutions such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi — open for nearly a decade — and the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi form part of plans to establish new global cultural destinations.Despite these shifts, London remains central to Sotheby's global operations. The company's New Bond Street headquarters reflects more than 280 years of British heritage and the city continues to function as Sotheby's second-largest sales centre after New York. A recent London auction achieved a 100% sell-through rate with bidders from 40 countries, demonstrating sustained international participation despite post-Brexit complications around import and export logistics.The conversation also examines how technology is changing the art market. Stewart argues digital art represents a natural evolution in artistic practice rather than simply a speculative phenomenon linked to the boom and collapse of NFTs. He distinguishes between cryptocurrency speculation, the blockchain technology underlying NFTs, and the broader creative shift as artists adopt digital tools. Sports memorabilia has also become a growing category for Sotheby's. The market now extends beyond historic trophies and medals to include game-worn shirts and collectibles authenticated through technology that can match items to specific moments in matches. Stewart attributes the expansion partly to generational wealth transfer and to younger collectors' interest in pre-owned objects with personal and cultural significance.Presenter: Sean Farrington Producer: Olie D'Albertanson Editor: Henry Jones02:12 - Middle East conflict impact 15:30 - Anti-Money laundering regulations 17:29 - Russian sanctions 19:30 - "Misguided Notion" of art world bad behaviour 23:34 - Digital Art as natural evolution 29:30 - Sports memorabilia growth

Why has the United Kingdom transitioned from being a global economic powerhouse to a stark warning for other advanced nations. While the United States economy has surged ahead of the rest of the world since the 2008 financial crisis, Britain has remained trapped in a "productivity puzzle" driven by a series of compounding errors - from a punitive tax code that discourages its most skilled workers to a housing market that functions more like a closed shop than a place to live. We'll analyze how decades of under-investment, a rigid post-Brexit labor market, and a "Bunker Economy" that prioritizes asset protection over growth have created a zero-sum political landscape. As the "graduate premium" collapses and a "Lost Million" of young people fall through the cracks, we ask the critical question: can the UK finally find the political courage to unpick the structural anchors dragging it down, or is this the new permanent reality for the once-mighty "workshop of the world"?Patrick's Books:Statistics For The Trading Floor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3eerLA0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Derivatives For The Trading Floor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://amzn.to/3cjsyPF⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Corporate Finance: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3fn3rvC ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ways To Support The Channel:Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/PatrickBoyleOnFinance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/patrickboyle

This week on History's Greatest Idiots (Featuring Peter of In The Wheels), we explore two Scottish success stories: cyclist David Millar's fall from grace and redemption, and comic writer Mark Millar's controversial rise to Hollywood riches.Born 4th January 1977 in Malta, David Millar burst onto cycling's scene in 2000, winning the Tour de France prologue and wearing the yellow jersey. He won four Tour stages and became the first British rider to wear the leader's jersey in all three Grand Tours.On 23rd June 2004, whilst dining in Biarritz, French police arrested Millar. They found empty EPO phials and syringes. Millar confessed to doping in 2001 and 2003. He was banned for two years, stripped of his 2003 World Championship, and fired by Cofidis.Returning in 2006, Millar transformed into cycling's most vocal anti-doping advocate. He served on WADA's Athlete Committee, became peloton spokesperson during Operación Puerto, and proved he could win clean with stages in the Vuelta, Giro, and a 2012 Tour victory. He achieved almost identical results in both halves of his career, retiring in 2014.Born 24th December 1969 in Coatbridge, Mark Millar became one of comics' most successful and divisive figures. After The Authority and The Ultimates (Time's "comic book of the decade"), Millar created Millarworld, designing properties to sell to Hollywood. Wanted, Kick-Ass, and Kingsman became films before issues appeared. Netflix purchased Millarworld in 2017.Critical reception has been harsh. Old Man Logan was called "grotesque" and "without substance", Kick-Ass criticised for undermining its premise, Nemesis dismissed as shock value. When asked about using assaults as a plot device, Millar said: "The ultimate act that would be the taboo, to show how bad some villain is..."Politically, Millar supported Brexit as a path to Scottish independence, then resigned from Labour in 2025, calling Keir Starmer's government "nightmarish, totalitarian."Two Millars. One rebuilt his reputation through honesty. The other built a Hollywood empire on controversy.David Millar: From Yellow Jersey to Prison CellMark Millar: Comics, Controversy and Self-Promotion⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/HistorysGreatestIdiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historysgreatestidiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/historysgreatestidiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Artist: Sarah Chey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fiverr.com/sarahchey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

When oil prices spike nearly 30% in a matter of days and a weak jobs report hits on the same Friday, the word on every investor’s mind is stagflation. On this episode of The Financial Hour of the Tom Dupree Show, host Tom Dupree, James Dupree, and Mike Johnson break down how the Middle East conflict is rippling through oil markets, what it means for interest rates and inflation, and why personalized investment management matters more than ever when volatility takes center stage. Whether you’re thinking about retirement or already drawing income from your portfolio, the current environment is a powerful reminder that how your money is managed — and who manages it — can make the difference between weathering the storm and watching your principal erode. How the Middle East Conflict Is Driving Oil Prices and Market Turbulence The most immediate market impact from the conflict between Israel, the U.S., and Iran has been felt in energy prices. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude surged from roughly $72 per barrel to touch $92, according to data tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration — a move of nearly 30% in just days. Mike Johnson explained the supply dynamics at play: “Kuwait — they’re cutting oil production. And this is because the Strait of Hormuz is cut off for all practical purposes. These big producers are running out of storage for the oil. They’re essentially closing up the wells.” The Strait of Hormuz handles approximately one-fifth of all global oil shipments daily. With roughly 90 million barrels of crude produced worldwide each day, shutting down that corridor has massive supply implications. Tom Dupree noted the physical challenge: “What keeps an oil well going is the oil flowing through all the little capillaries. When that gets turned off, it starts to sludge up.” Restarting shut-in wells can take days to weeks, and operators risk losing pressure and production permanently. For those tracking market commentary on gasoline prices, Mike pointed out a critical consumer threshold: “When you get to about $3.50 a gallon, that’s when you start seeing an impact on spending in a more meaningful way. And then $4 is when things start getting much worse in terms of consumer spending.” Stagflation Fears: Why One Jobs Report Has Investors on Edge The Friday jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics came in weaker than expected, and the combination of rising commodity prices with a slowing labor market triggered immediate stagflation concerns across Wall Street. As Mike explained: “The market’s immediate knee-jerk reaction was that terrible S-word — stagflation. If we have a slowing economy with higher commodity prices, you have inflation and a slowing economy.” Tom was quick to add perspective: “One jobs number does not stagflation make. It’s a trend. But the fact that oil’s going up is gonna be considered inflationary, and then you get that jobs report on top of it.” Despite the volatility — with the market opening down 1.5% on Monday before recovering, followed by a sharp Tuesday sell-off — the broader indices showed resilience for the week. Mike observed: “We’ve essentially declared war. You’ve got oil prices up 30%. The market’s only off a little bit for the week. It’s been resilient as a whole.” This kind of choppy, bifurcated market is exactly why a disciplined investment philosophy matters. When risk-on and risk-off signals get scrambled day to day, reactive investors often make the wrong moves at the worst times. AI and the Job Market: Disruption Is Real, But It’s Not All Bad The conversation turned to how artificial intelligence is reshaping the employment landscape and what it means for market sentiment. James Dupree offered a nuanced take on the weak jobs data: “The AI stocks — they don’t really tie that to the economy because AI is going to replace jobs. So it might actually be good if there’s a bad jobs report for those AI stocks.” Mike broke down where the disruption is hitting hardest: “Some of your more tenured and senior workers — they’re benefiting from AI. What it’s impacting are the entry-level jobs. The number crunchers, entry-level analysts — those are the type of things that are able to be AI-ed away.” Tom drew a historical parallel: “AI is obviously the big thing right now. It’s the same way that the dot-com stuff was 20-something years ago. There will be winners and there will be losers, but I happen to believe that AI may actually create jobs because there will be more things that people can do.” For investors, the takeaway is that AI-related stocks occupy a unique space in the current market. James pointed to NVIDIA’s forward P/E ratio of 22 — below the S&P 500’s five-year average of roughly 23 — as evidence that some of the market’s fastest-growing companies are actually reasonably valued despite the broader market looking stretched. Sequence of Returns Risk: The Retirement Danger Most People Don’t See Coming Perhaps the most critical segment of the episode focused on a concept that every person in retirement or thinking about retirement needs to understand: sequence of returns risk. This is the idea that when your returns happen matters just as much as what they average over time — especially when you’re withdrawing money from your portfolio. Mike walked through a clear example: “Let’s say you have a million dollars and you’re drawing 4%, which is $40,000 a year. In the first year, the market goes down by 10% — your million dollars is now $900,000 plus you took out $40,000. So now you’re at $860,000. The next year, another 10% drop — down another $86,000 plus the $40,000 you withdrew. You have to get massive rises in the stock market to get back to even.” He continued: “There comes a point of no return where you’re forced to lower your withdrawal. If a million dollars is now $700,000 and you’re taking out $40,000, that’s now a 5.5% withdrawal rate. It’s negative compounding.” This is one of the core reasons the team at Dupree Financial Group structures retirement portfolios around dividend-paying investments. Tom explained the logic: “Sequence of returns is one reason why we invest for dividends — so that if the sequence of the return is negative, we may not have to be in a position to sell stocks in a down market. We can draw from the dividends.” For anyone approaching retirement or already drawing income, understanding this risk is essential. Resources from FINRA’s investor education center offer additional background on managing withdrawal strategies and retirement income planning. Berkshire Hathaway Under Greg Abel: Culture, Buybacks, and Alignment The episode also covered Berkshire Hathaway’s transition to new leadership under Greg Abel, who took over from Warren Buffett. Abel’s first annual letter to shareholders ran 18 pages — longer than Buffett’s typical letters — and signaled a leadership style rooted in operational detail and cultural preservation. Mike highlighted two significant announcements. First, Berkshire is resuming share buybacks for the first time since May 2024. Second, Abel is investing 100% of his post-tax salary — roughly $15 million per year — into Berkshire stock personally. “It’s all about alignment with shareholders,” Mike said. “It fits the Berkshire culture to a T.” The team also discussed Abel’s emphasis on corporate culture as a lasting competitive advantage. As Abel wrote in his shareholder letter, “Culture is our most treasured asset.” Tom connected that philosophy to Dupree Financial Group’s own approach: “We’ve worked to earn the trust of our clients and we have to keep working to keep that.” Historical Market Returns After Geopolitical Events Mike shared data that puts the current conflict in long-term perspective. Looking at one-year returns following major geopolitical events, the numbers are striking: 11.2% after the Korean War, 27% after the Cuban Missile Crisis, 13% after the Six-Day War, 10% after the Gulf War, nearly 27% after the invasion of Iraq, 19% after the Brexit vote, and 43% in the year following COVID-19. However, Tom added an important caveat for retirees: “What about the 30% drop that came before that? Individuals have to look at sequence of return, not just the long-term averages.” This distinction between how a static portfolio and a retirement portfolio respond to volatility is central to Dupree Financial Group’s investment philosophy — building portfolios of quality, dividend-paying companies in separately managed accounts where each client owns their individual stocks rather than being pooled into a mutual fund. Key Takeaways from This Episode Oil prices have surged nearly 30% due to Strait of Hormuz disruptions, with WTI crude jumping from $72 to $92 per barrel, creating ripple effects across the global economy. Stagflation fears are rising as weak jobs data combines with inflationary energy prices, though one report alone doesn’t confirm a trend. The $3.50 gas price threshold is where consumer spending starts to contract meaningfully — and $4 per gallon is where it gets significantly worse. Sequence of returns risk is more important than average returns for anyone in retirement or approaching it — early losses combined with withdrawals create negative compounding that can be devastating. Dividend investing provides a buffer during market downturns by allowing retirees to draw income without being forced to sell stocks at depressed prices. AI is reshaping the job market, benefiting senior workers while displacing entry-level roles, and creating a unique dynamic for tech stock valuations. Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel is resuming share buybacks and investing his entire post-tax salary in Berkshire stock, signaling strong alignment with shareholders. Diversification across sectors — including energy exposure — helps portfolios weather geopolitical shocks through negative correlation benefits. Frequently Asked Questions How do rising oil prices affect my retirement portfolio? Rising oil prices can trigger inflation, which erodes purchasing power and can hurt broad market returns. However, portfolios with energy sector exposure may benefit from higher commodity prices. The key is having a diversified, actively managed portfolio that can adapt to changing market conditions rather than being locked into a one-size-fits-all approach. What is sequence of returns risk and why does it matter? Sequence of returns risk refers to the danger that poor market returns early in retirement — combined with portfolio withdrawals — can permanently damage your nest egg, even if long-term average returns are positive. A $1 million portfolio losing 10% while withdrawing $40,000 drops to $860,000 in year one, making recovery increasingly difficult. This is why income-focused strategies using dividends can help reduce the need to sell during downturns. Should I be worried about stagflation? One weak jobs report alongside rising oil prices raises the question, but stagflation requires a sustained trend of economic stagnation paired with persistent inflation. The current market has shown resilience despite the volatility. That said, having a portfolio strategy that accounts for inflation protection — through dividend growth stocks and diversified sector exposure — is prudent regardless of the economic outlook. How is AI affecting investment opportunities right now? AI-related stocks are trading somewhat independently from broader economic indicators. Companies like NVIDIA are showing strong earnings growth with forward valuations actually below the S&P 500 average. AI is displacing some entry-level jobs while creating opportunities for more experienced workers, making it a complex but potentially rewarding area for long-term investors. What did Berkshire Hathaway’s new leader announce? Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett, announced that Berkshire would resume share buybacks and that he would personally invest 100% of his post-tax salary — approximately $15 million annually — into Berkshire stock. His 18-page shareholder letter emphasized operational detail and cultural preservation as his top priorities. Don’t Let Market Noise Derail Your Retirement When oil prices surge, jobs data disappoints, and geopolitical uncertainty dominates the headlines, it’s easy to feel like the ground is shifting beneath your feet. But reactive investing — selling in a panic or chasing the latest trend — is one of the biggest threats to a retirement portfolio. At Dupree Financial Group, every client gets a separately managed account with direct access to their portfolio managers — not an assigned counselor at a call center. Your portfolio is built around your retirement timeline, your income needs, and your risk tolerance, with quality dividend-paying companies that provide income even when markets get choppy. If you don’t know what you own in your portfolio, you need to. Call (859) 233-0400 or schedule your complimentary portfolio review online to find out how a personalized approach could help protect — and grow — your retirement income. Listen to the full episode and explore more market insights on The Financial Hour podcast archive. Hear from clients who’ve made the switch to personalized investment management. Dupree Financial Group is a registered investment advisor (RIA) registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information provided in this blog post and podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Please consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. For more information, please review our firm disclosures on SEC.gov. The post Oil Prices Surge 30%: What Rising Market Volatility Means for Your Retirement Portfolio appeared first on Dupree Financial.

For the last decade or so we've looked on as the United States has radically changed itself, but the UK has been changing too as it continues to struggle with economic stagnation and the fallout from Brexit.The British people, famous for their aversion to radical and emotional politics, have embarked on a course which was supposed to take them back to the comforting certainties of the past, but has instead, brought them into an uncertain new world.It began with the huge shock of Brexit, then the constant turnover of Prime Ministers including Liz Truss whose term in office was famous outlived by a head of lettuce.In 2025 British Labor won government in a massive landslide, which saw many hope things might settle down, but now Kier Starmer is hanging on by his fingernails.And for those looking to the monarchy for a sense of continuity and national unity, that's not going well either.So what on earth has happened to the land of toast and tea? Ian Dunt is a British political journalist and author of How Westminster Works and Why is Doesn't Ian is also a regular contributor to Late Night Live on Radio National.This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores British politics, Brexit, the financial crash, austerity, David Cameron, The Conservative Party, referendum, European Union, New Labor, populism, government services, the UK-US alliance, Christianity, Marxism, puberty, disillusioned, dogma, ideology, psychedelic, journalism, political discourse, British public school system, elites, power, Prime Ministers, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, immigration.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

In this month's ARINS podcast, Professor Brendan O'Leary (UPenn) and Professor John Garry (QUB) together with host Rory Montgomery discuss the recently published article they co-authored with Dr James Pow (QUB): My Symbols or Our Symbols? The Effect of Inclusive Narratives on the Acceptability of Out-Group Symbols.   https://muse.jhu.edu/article/970057/ The article is available open access in Irish Studies in International Affairs, as are all ARINS articles.  This podcast series provides evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south.  Host Rory Montgomery, MRIA, talks to authors of articles on topics such as cross border health co-operation; the need to regulate social media in referendums, education, cultural affairs and constitutional questions and the imperative for good data and the need to carry out impartial research.  ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com    ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.

Het zou volgens de voorspellingen een spannende race tussen Labour en Reform worden, de tussentijdse verkiezingen voor de Lagerhuiszetel van Gorton and Denton, vlakbij Manchester. Maar Hannah Spencer, loodgieter en gemeenteraadslid, won de zetel overtuigend namens de Groenen. Wat betekent deze zege voor de toekomst van Labour, Reform, het tweepartijenstelsel en natuurlijk voor de Groenen zelf? Ook in deze aflevering Keir Starmer probeert weer te laveren tussen zijn wens om Trump tevreden houden en aan de andere kant zijn wens om bijvoorbeeld niet Iran te bombarderen. En: Vergeet Hollywood, Londen wordt de filmhoofdstad van de Westerse wereld. Over Van Bekhovens Britten In van Bekhovens Britten praten Lia van Bekhoven en Connor Clerx elke week over de grootste nieuwsonderwerpen en de belangrijkste ontwikkelingen in het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Van Brexit naar binnenlandse politiek, van de Royals tot de tabloids. Waarom fascineert het VK Nederlanders meer dan zo veel andere Europese landen? Welke rol speelt het vooralsnog Verenigd Koninkrijk in Europa, nu het woord Brexit uit het Britse leven lijkt verbannen, maar de gevolgen van de beslissing om uit de EU te stappen iedere dag duidelijker worden? De Britse monarchie, en daarmee de staat, staat voor grote veranderingen na de dood van Queen Elisabeth en de kroning van haar zoon Charles. De populariteit van het Koningshuis staat op een dieptepunt. Hoe verandert de Britse monarchie onder koning Charles, en welke gevolgen heeft dat voor de Gemenebest? In Van Bekhovens Britten analyseren Lia en Connor een Koninkrijk met tanende welvaart, invloed en macht. De Conservatieve Partij leverde veertien jaar op rij de premier, maar nu heeft Labour onder Keir Starmer de teugels in handen. Hoe ziet het VK er onder Keir Starmer uit? En hoe gaan de ‘gewone’ Britten, voor zover die bestaan, daar mee om? Al deze vragen en meer komen aan bod in Van Bekhovens Britten. Een kritische blik op het Verenigd Koninkrijk, waar het een race tussen Noord-Ierland en Schotland lijkt te worden wie zich het eerst af kan scheiden van het VK. Hoe lang blijft het Koninkrijk verenigd? Na ruim 45 jaar onder de Britten heeft Lia van Bekhoven een unieke kijk op het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Als inwoner, maar zeker geen anglofiel, heeft ze een scherpe blik op het nieuws, de politiek, de monarchie en het dagelijkse leven aan de overkant van de Noordzee. Elke woensdag krijg je een nieuwe podcast over het leven van Van Bekhovens Britten in je podcastapp. Scherpe analyses, diepgang waar op de radio geen tijd voor is en een flinke portie humor. Abonneer en mis geen aflevering. Over Lia Lia van Bekhoven is correspondent Verenigd Koninkrijk voor onder andere BNR Nieuwsradio, VRT, Knack en Elsevier en is regelmatig in talkshows te zien als duider van het nieuws uit het VK. Ze woont sinds 1976 in Londen, en is naast correspondent voor radio, televisie en geschreven media ook auteur van de boeken Mama gaat uit dansen, het erfgoed van Diana, prinses van Wales (1997), Land van de gespleten God, Noord-Ierland en de troubles (2000), In Londen, 9 wandelingen door de Britse hoofdstad (2009) en Klein-Brittannië (2022). Over Connor Connor Clerx is presentator en podcastmaker bij BNR Nieuwsradio. Hij werkt sinds 2017 voor BNR en was voorheen regelmatig te horen in De Ochtendspits, Boekestijn en de Wijk en BNR Breekt. Als podcastmaker werkte hij de afgelopen tijd aan onder andere De Taxi-oorlog, Kuipers en de Kosmos, Splijtstof, Baan door het Brein en Welkom in de AI-Fabriek. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Munira Mirza is a former British political advisor who served as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 through 2022. She is currently the Director of Civic Future, a non-profit that tries to attract talented people to stand for public office. In this interview, she reflects on her time at the highest levels of British government and delivers a bracing diagnosis of why political leadership has deteriorated across liberal democracies. She explores how short-termism, media incentives, and declining elite formation have driven talented people away from public life. The conversation ranges from Brexit and COVID to meritocracy, civic duty, and what it would take to rebuild a serious governing class.

On this latest episode of Innovator's Exchange, our host Hiten Patel interviews Blythe Masters, tracing her circuitous career from photocopying swap documentation in London to leading FNZ Group, a global wealth-technology platform that processes about $2.3 trillion and serves over 30 million end customers. Blythe reflects on her formative experiences at JP Morgan — including helping institutionalize credit derivatives — her career transitions, leadership lessons, and the importance of curiosity and resilience. She outlines FNZ's mission to remove inefficiency in wealth delivery, explains how AI and platform-level data will superpower human advisors (not replace them), and emphasizes the combined importance of software, data, people, and ecosystem strength in building competitive advantage. Blythe also discusses the UK's opportunities for innovation, particularly in light of the flexibility created by certain post-Brexit regulatory changes. Key topics include:  Early career: Blythe shares how her immersion in derivatives began during a gap-year temporary role at Morgan Guaranty, where she spent hours photocopying contracts and documents before eventually reading them. Derivatives and credit innovation: Since the early 1990s, Blythe was scrutinizing nascent credit-linked concepts, eventually leading multi-year efforts at JP Morgan to translate those ideas into institutional products — working with ISDA, rating agencies, regulators, internal risk teams, and clients — to create standardized documentation, risk frameworks, and operational processes. She then helped drive broader adoption, demonstrating how cross‑functional execution is essential to move financial innovation from concept to scale. Current state of wealth infrastructure: Blythe shares her thoughts on how face-value UX improvements hide deep operational inefficiencies, leading to higher costs and reduced end-investor outcomes. AI's realistic role in wealth: She explains that AI can enhance wealth management by augmenting advisors — automating administrative tasks, accelerating onboarding, strengthening compliance, and improving advice quality. FNZ is well-positioned to leverage these gains because its extensive operational data across the wealth lifecycle can be used to train effective AI models. UK's Innovation and regulation: The conversation explores whether the UK can move faster post-EU to pursue tailored regulatory approaches — for example, digital identity, shared KYC/AML solutions. Political will is needed to prioritize these high-impact initiatives.    This episode is part of Innovators' Exchange, a series that explores the financial infrastructure and technology landscape. Tune in for a captivating exploration of key themes and opportunities for both professionals and retail investors, touching on AI's transformative potential in financial markets.  Subscribe for more on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube | Podscribe 

Hvorfor er det så vanskelig for Jonas Gahr Støre å snakke tydelig om EU, samtidig som flere Europa-forskere nå sier at EØS ikke lenger er nok? Er stillheten en strategi eller politisk berøringsangst? Samtidig vil Island trolig allerede til høsten stemme over å starte en ny EU-prosess, med bakgrunn i økt sikkerhetspolitisk uro og geopolitikk. Hva vil det bety for EFTA og for Norge? Og er fiskeripolitikken mindre betent etter Brexit? Kjetil Wiedeswang og Mathilde Fasting diskuterer dette og Kjetils ferske EU-spalter i ny episode av Europeisk halvtime. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welshman living in Scotland who did his Master’s of Ag Science at Lincoln in the 1980s. He spent three years in NZ and returned to the UK, working for the government farm advisory service and then Scottish beef and lamb. He’s now an agricultural economist, involved in Ag reform post Brexit, and works with the Scottish government.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can we fix Britain? (Part 2) Black Spy Podcast number 235, Season 24, Episode 0004   Last week I asked the Can Britain accept its place in the world or will it die under its post colonial pretentions? This week and next week, with my two colleagues, Dr Rachel Taylor from the perspective of the human mind and Fergus Esack from her professional media and spin expertise - we ask can Britain be fixed or is Britain on an inevitable road to real decline turbo charged by an inability to live within its means! Hence, as with last week, the Black Spy Podcast examines one of the most provocative questions in modern British public life: whether the United Kingdom is experiencing terminal decline or simply undergoing a turbulent period of transition. Drawing on his experiences and perspectives from security, economics, geopolitics, and social cohesion, Carlton explores the indicators often cited as evidence of UK national decline — slowing economic growth, pressures on public services, widening inequality, political fragmentation, militaristic solutions often as a side kick of the USA in an effort to retain/regain global influence especially post Brexit. The episode also considers demographic change, actual defence capabilities, energy security, and the resilience of Britain's institutions, asking whether these trends point to structural weakness or cyclical challenge. Rather than accepting headlines at face value, the programme interrogates what "decline" really means. Is national strength measured primarily through economic output and military reach, or through softer power such as diplomatic networks, intelligence capability, legal stability, cultural reach, and financial services dominance? The episode assesses Britain's continuing advantages, including its strategic alliances, intelligence partnerships, global language influence, leading universities, and role as a financial and technological hub. Through balanced analysis and insider-informed commentary, the podcast challenges simplistic narratives of collapse while acknowledging genuine vulnerabilities that could shape Britain's future trajectory. Ultimately, the episode asks whether Britain is fading as a world power, reinventing itself for a new era, or misunderstood in the way its strengths and weaknesses are judged. This ia a timely and thought-provoking exploration, as this instalment invites listeners to reconsider Britain's place in the world — and what the answer means for its future security, prosperity, and above all, its identity. As usual please don't be afraid to contact the Black Spy Podcast and put any questions you might have to any of the team regarding this, or any other of our episodes. Moreover, if you want to continue learning whilst being entertained, please don't forget to subscribe to the Black Spy Podcast for free, so you'll never miss another episode. To contact Firgas Esack of the DAPS Agency go to Linked In To contact Carlton King by utilising any of the following: To donate - Patreon.com/TheBlackSpyPodcast Email: carltonking2003@gmail.com Facebook: The Black Spy Podcast Facebook: Carlton King Author Twitter@Carlton_King Instagram@carltonkingauthor To read Carlton's Autobiography: "Black Ops – The incredible true story of a (Black) British secret agent" Click the link below: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/BO1MTV2GDF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_WNZ5MT89T9C14CB53651 If you are interested in the Male Menopause or fear you or a loved one is suffering for unknown reasons please consider reading Dr Rachel's & Carlton's book on the how the Menopause effects men - search Amazon Books for: The Male Menopause - The Hidden Crisis (ASIN: B0G5M78PSZ)

America may take back control from Trump's cold, dead hands!In his latest Lowdown podcast episode, recorded before US strikes against Iran, Nick Cohen talks to Washington-based British journalist and commentator, Ben Cohen, about the terrible state of the American and politics, particularly focusing on Donald Trump's disastrous presidency and the challenges faced by the Democratic Party. Ben is convinced that - Dracula-like - Donald Trump will keep manipulating events to stay in power however low he sinks in the opinion polls.Nick and Ben discuss Trump's declining popularity but noted his ability to survive scandals and maintain support through his base. Ben highlights how the Democratic Party's partially "Woke" agenda and lack of self-criticism had made them unpopular, while Trump's rampant corruption and lack of accountability currently remains unchecked. They explore potential future candidates for the Democratic nomination and agree that a new, populist figure would be needed to challenge Trump in 2028. They also discuss the broader implications for international relations and the urgent need for Britain to recognise its only Brexit-induced isolation and the threat to its own security and realign its foreign policy away from the United States.Read all about it!Read Ben Cohen @thedailybanter The Banter Substack here and listen to his podcasts here.Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brand New This satirical audio trailer utilizes a medical emergency metaphor to dramatize the return of a political podcaster who has been rendered catatonic by the "pantsdemic," a derogatory term for the chaotic aftermath of Brexit. The narrative follows a group of eccentric doctors attempting to resuscitate the protagonist, Mole, by shocking his system with an overwhelming influx of grim data, ranging from economic statistics to suppressed political scandals. This "treatment" serves as a biting critique of the overwhelming negative feedback loop in modern British politics, suggesting that the populace has become blinded and deafened by systemic failures and "dead cat" distractions. Ultimately, the source functions as a high-concept advertisement for the Strange Mole Show, framing the podcast's revival as a mutated, rage-fueled response to a dystopian political landscape that demands a "clap back" against fascism.

Retrouvez l'épisode en version française ici : https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/alice-bentinck-vf/ She might be the most underrated founder in Europe.Alice Bentinck has no massive press coverage.Just 15 billion dollars worth of companies built quietly over 10 years.Alice is the co-founder of Entrepreneurs First, the talent investor that finds founders before they have a company, before they have an idea, sometimes before they even know they want to be a founder.The model sounds crazy.VCs have told her it would never work.But Entrepreneurs First has now produced 500 seed-funded companies, counts Reid Hoffman and Patrick Collison among its backers.In this episode, Alice breaks down everything she has learned about co-founders: why breakups kill more startups than bad ideas, how to know in 48 hours if someone is the right partner, why three co-founders is the most expensive mistake you'll make, and why megalomania is not a flaw but a necessity in every great founder.If you've ever struggled to find the right co-founder, or wondered whether the one you have is actually the right one, this episode is for you.You can contact Alice on LinkedIn.If you want to apply to Entrepreneurs First, you can reach Julia and Anastasia at: gdiy@joinef.comTIMELINE:00:00:00 Finding founders before they have a company00:11:37 The co-founder mistake that kills startups00:17:42 The 3-founder trap: The most expensive mistake00:26:22 How to know when to have that hard conversation00:33:23 The Human Algorithm: How Alice spots potential before the idea00:44:26 How to access American capital without losing your European soul00:52:11 Scaling the Unscalable: How EF went from 10 to 100 companies a year01:03:47 The Customer Secret: Why your location defines your speed01:12:05 The 5-Attempt Rule: Why your first company doesn't need to work01:19:53 High Personal Exceptionalism: You must believe you are different to succeed01:35:46 The 996 Reality: Startups are the ultimate negative lifestyle choice01:53:07 Methodical is Slow: Why European founders are focusing on the wrong things02:01:12 The AI Performance Hack: How to manage your health & a $15B portfolio02:08:20 The $1,000-An-Hour Secret: How coaching builds a high-performing teamWe referred to previous GDIY episodes : #487 - VO - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business, and AI: Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again#500 - VO - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - How to master humanity's most powerful invention#429 - Nicolas Dessaigne - Y Combinator - Le berceau des futurs géants de la tech#483 - Carlos Ghosn - Out of the box : masterclass business de l'évadé du siècle#158 Edgar Grospiron - Athlète et conférencier - Avance, fais-toi confiance.A few recent episodes in English : #513 - VO - Jesper Brodin - IKEA - 40 billion in revenue empire with no bank loan#500 - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - How to master humanity's most powerful invention#487 - VO - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business, and AI: Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again#475 - VO - Shane Parrish - Farnam Street - Clear Thinking: The Decision-Making Expert#473 - VO - Brian Chesky - Airbnb - « We're just getting started »#452 - VO - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - L'humanité 2.0 : Homo technicus plus qu'Homo sapiens#437 - James Dyson - Dyson - “Failure is more exciting than success”#431 - Sean Rad - Tinder - How the swipe fever took over the worldWe spoke about :DuolingoEntrepreneurs first's portfolioY CombinatorOur documentary to understand the American DreamAu Royaume-Uni, l'impopularité du Brexit relance le débat sur les liens avec l'UEOpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equityAztecPolyAIThe 996 working hour systemReading Recommendations :Fierce Conversations, by Susan ScottSuper Founders, by Ali TamasebThe Road Less Travelled, by M.Scott PeckHow to Be a Founder, by Alice BentinckA work in progress, by René RedzepiInterested in sponsoring Generation Do It Yourself or proposing a partnership ? Contact my label Orso Media through this form.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Check out the episode in its original version here : https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/alice-bentinck-vo/C'est probablement la fondatrice la plus sous-estimée d'Europe.Alice Bentinck est discrète.Pourtant, elle a contribué à construire 15 milliards de dollars de valeur d'entreprises en 10 ans.Alice est la co-fondatrice d'Entrepreneurs First, le fonds qui trouve des fondateurs avant qu'ils aient une société, avant qu'ils aient une idée, parfois avant même qu'ils sachent qu'ils pensent à entreprendre.Le modèle paraît improbable, nombreux sont les VC qui lui ont dit que ça ne marcherait jamais.Aujourd'hui, Entrepreneurs First a accompagné plus de 500 startups, et compte Reid Hoffman et Patrick Collison parmi ses investisseurs.Dans cet épisode, Alice dévoile tout ce qu'elle a appris sur les co-fondateurs : pourquoi les ruptures tuent plus de startups qu'une mauvaise idée, comment savoir en 48h si on est avec le bon partenaire, pourquoi être trois co-fondateurs peut coûter très cher, et pourquoi la mégalomanie n'est pas forcément un défaut mais une caractéristique commune à tous les grands entrepreneurs.Si vous n'avez toujours pas trouvé le bon associé, ou si vous doutez que celui que vous avez soit vraiment le bon, cet épisode est fait pour vous.Vous pouvez contacter Alice sur Linkedin.Si vous souhaitez candidater chez Entrepreneurs First, écrivez à Julia et Anastasia à cette adresse : gdiy@joinef.comTIMELINE:00:00:00 : Repérer les entrepreneurs le plus tôt possible00:10:34 : L'erreur qui tue les startups00:16:05 : Le piège des 3 fondateurs00:23:58 : Avoir la conversation difficile00:30:21 : La méthode d'Alice pour détecter les entrepreneurs potentiels00:40:23 : Lever des fonds aux États-Unis sans vendre son âme européenne00:47:28 : Comment EF est passé de 10 à 100 startups par an00:57:59 : L'importance géographique sur la vitesse d'exécution01:05:32 : Votre première entreprise n'a pas besoin de fonctionner01:12:38 : Se sentir différent : la première étape pour réussir01:27:05 : La réalité derrière le 99601:42:50 : Les entrepreneurs européens n'ont pas les bonnes priorités01:49:17 : Gérer sa santé et un portefeuille de 15 milliards grâce à l'IA01:53:56 : Le secret à 1000€ de l'heure : la magie du coachingLes anciens épisodes de GDIY mentionnés : #500 - VF - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - Comment dompter l'invention la plus puissante de l'humanité#487 - VF - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business et IA : rien ne sera jamais plus comme avant#429 - Nicolas Dessaigne - Y Combinator - Le berceau des futurs géants de la tech#483 - Carlos Ghosn - Out of the box : masterclass business de l'évadé du siècle#158 Edgar Grospiron - Athlète et conférencier - Avance, fais-toi confiance.Nous avons parlé de :DuolingoLe portfolio d'Entrepreneurs firstY CombinatorNotre documentaire sur le rêve américainAu Royaume-Uni, l'impopularité du Brexit relance le débat sur les liens avec l'UEOpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equityAztecPolyAIThe 996 working hour systemLes recommandations de lecture :Fierce Conversations, par Susan ScottSuper Founders, par Ali TamasebThe Road Less Travelled, par M.Scott PeckHow to Be a Founder, par Alice BentinckA work in progress, par René RedzepiVous souhaitez sponsoriser Génération Do It Yourself ou nous proposer un partenariat ?Contactez mon label Orso Media via ce formulaire.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

It's been just over three years since Brexit came into effect and the latest YouGov poll from late February 2023 suggests that 53% of Brits now think it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU. The infamous 2016 Brexit referendum exposed deep divisions within British society, which have only deepened since. Three prime ministers have come and gone since, and current PM Rishi Sunak is facing an unprecedented crisis, with the UK seemingly on the brink of economic and social implosion. Now Brexit is of course a portmanteau term in itself, which has led people to create other neologisms around the subject, including “Bregret”, a combination of Brexit and “regret”.  What does the population think of Brexit in 2023? What are the economic consequences of Brexit so far? How can the United Kingdom get back on track? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: ⁠⁠How can I reduce damp and mould in your home?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Why do I get vertigo?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠How can I sleep well with a blocked nose?⁠⁠ A Bababam Originals podcast, written and produced by Joseph Chance. First Broadcast: 15/3/2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the latest episode of Lunch with Shelley with today's special guest Gerry Gunster, Founder and CEO of Gunster Worldwide.  Gerry is one of the preeminent strategic and tactical minds in issue advocacy and is particularly well known for his successful work on Brexit in the UK.  He is often referred to as the Nigel whisperer, since he continues to work closely with Nigel Farage, and is also a lifelong friend of mine, since we grew up together in Wilkes-Barre PA! Join us at the always cozy and delicious Martin's Tavern for a really fun and interesting conversation that covers Gerry's introduction into referendum politics, how he met his wife, what it was like to work on Brexit, what's happening right now in the UK, how great Harvey's Lake is, and lots more! Check us out at www.lunchwithshelley.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts, and as always and in the meantime Peace, Love and Lunch!

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Spain to check Gibraltar arrivals under post Brexit border deal Chris Mason Drama has swirled ahead of Gorton and Denton by election test Nottingham Inquiry Woman broke spine after falling from window trying to flee triple killer Is Beadnells ban the solution for villages with too many holiday homes American citizen among those killed in Cuba boat shooting, US official says How Ghislaine Maxwell brought Bill Clinton into Epsteins orbit Soham murderer Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack MoD launches review into whether Epstein used RAF bases Russia says it has handed over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers bodies Tracey Emin says her artwork My Bed would be tidy, clean and boring if she made it today

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv MoD launches review into whether Epstein used RAF bases Russia says it has handed over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers bodies How Ghislaine Maxwell brought Bill Clinton into Epsteins orbit Tracey Emin says her artwork My Bed would be tidy, clean and boring if she made it today Chris Mason Drama has swirled ahead of Gorton and Denton by election test Soham murderer Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack Nottingham Inquiry Woman broke spine after falling from window trying to flee triple killer Spain to check Gibraltar arrivals under post Brexit border deal American citizen among those killed in Cuba boat shooting, US official says Is Beadnells ban the solution for villages with too many holiday homes

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Soham murderer Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack MoD launches review into whether Epstein used RAF bases Chris Mason Drama has swirled ahead of Gorton and Denton by election test Spain to check Gibraltar arrivals under post Brexit border deal How Ghislaine Maxwell brought Bill Clinton into Epsteins orbit Is Beadnells ban the solution for villages with too many holiday homes American citizen among those killed in Cuba boat shooting, US official says Tracey Emin says her artwork My Bed would be tidy, clean and boring if she made it today Russia says it has handed over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers bodies Nottingham Inquiry Woman broke spine after falling from window trying to flee triple killer

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2025 on Saturday 18 October at Church House and the Abbey Centre, Westminster. Victory for the Greens in the Gorton & Denton by-election is the latest sign that old political loyalties have broken down. In what was, even as recently as the 2024 General Election, a very safe Labour seat, Hannah Spencer was elected with a majority of over 4,000. Reform came second, pushing Labour into an embarrassing third place while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both lost their deposits. Indeed, the three mainstream parties that have governed the UK for over 100 years managed less than 30 per cent of the vote between them.  What does all this mean for the future of British politics? ORIGINAL FESTIVAL INTRODUCTION Are the mainstream parties facing extinction or can they bounce back by the time of the next General Election in 2029? Can the Tories recover from 14 years of misrule? Will the Labour Party survive from its current economic woes? Will the political vacuum be filled by Ed Davey's Liberal Democrats or the ‘challenger' parties like Reform or the Greens? Take the Conservative Party: the oldest party in the world currently looks as if it is facing electoral wipeout. In a recent survey, 42 per cent of Conservative voters in the 2024 General Election said that even they wouldn't vote for them. The party that squandered Brexit is desperately looking around for a purpose. Some Tories believe that Robert Jenrick poses a more credible alternative than the current leader, Kemi Badenoch. But are they both fighting for a hopeless cause? Jenrick's crime-fighting TikTok videos and Badenoch's recent support of oil exploration got lots of media coverage, but Net Zero and the current failed model of policing were both introduced on their watch. Are they going back to their roots – if they can remember what those roots are – or are they simply mimicking Trump and Farage's agendas from the sidelines? Meanwhile, Labour seems to be imploding. A recent Ipsos poll ranked the current UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, as the most unpopular leader in modern times. In July 2024, his government won almost two-thirds of all seats, with a 174 majority in the Commons, yet a year later it is collapsing in the polls. The government has presided over cuts and tax rises, strikes and bailouts, two-tier justice and a zero-growth economy. The idea that if you pinned a red rosette on a donkey in Wales, it'd get elected no longer holds true. Far from ‘smashing the gangs', the immigration scandal that Labour inherited from the Tories means it is haemorrhaging support in Red Wall seats. Preferring Davos over Westminster, Starmer seems to prefer hob-nobbing with world leaders while taking British democracy for granted. Yet the death of both Labour and the Conservatives has been declared numerous times before, only for them to revive. Is it too soon to count them out? Is Britain's political map being redrawn, or torn up? Might proportional representation reinvigorate the mainstream parties? Must we wait for four more years? We'll take a vote on it. SPEAKERS Rosie Duffield MP member of parliament for Canterbury Dr Richard Johnson writer; senior lecturer in politics, Queen Mary University of London; co-author, Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Labour Party in Opposition since 1922 Mark Littlewood director, Popular Conservatism; broadcaster, columnist, the Telegraph and the Mail Tim Montgomerie conservative journalist; founder, ConservativeHome, UnHerd and Centre for Social Justice Graham Stringer MP member of parliament, Blackley and Middleton South CHAIR Bruno Waterfield Brussels correspondent, The Times

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Is Beadnells ban the solution for villages with too many holiday homes Chris Mason Drama has swirled ahead of Gorton and Denton by election test MoD launches review into whether Epstein used RAF bases Spain to check Gibraltar arrivals under post Brexit border deal American citizen among those killed in Cuba boat shooting, US official says Nottingham Inquiry Woman broke spine after falling from window trying to flee triple killer Tracey Emin says her artwork My Bed would be tidy, clean and boring if she made it today Russia says it has handed over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers bodies Soham murderer Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack How Ghislaine Maxwell brought Bill Clinton into Epsteins orbit

Guy Verhofstadt is oud-premier van België, schrijver en oud-Europarlementariër. Hij was bijna tien jaar minister-president van België. Bij het Europees Parlement was hij Brexit-coördinator en voorzitter van de Brexit Steering Group. Sinds 2023 zet hij zich in voor meer Europese integratie. Eerder schreef Verhofstadt al meerdere boeken over Europa en de politiek. Zo won hij in 2007 voor het boek ‘De Verenigde Staten van Europa' de Prix du Livre Européen. Zijn nieuwe boek ‘De burger in opstand: De toekomst van de politiek & de liberale democratie' is een analyse van de oorzaken van het verval van de liberale democratie. Ook geeft hij een schets voor andere vormen van democratische politiek, waarin er volgens Verhofstadt heel wat veranderd moet worden. Femke van der Laan gaat met Guy Verhofstadt in gesprek.

La desclasificación del 23F refuerza la figura de Juan Carlos I; Feijóo plantea su regreso a España, mientras el Gobierno lo considera una decisión personal del rey emérito, quien reside en Abu Dabi y desea volver. El Gobierno sufre una nueva derrota al ser tumbado el "escudo social" y el tope de precios en emergencias por Junts, PP y Vox, lo que le lleva a estudiar trocear el decreto. En Gibraltar, el acuerdo pos-Brexit elimina la verja física, facilita la circulación de personas y mercancías con doble control, e incorpora IVA; se comparte la gestión del aeropuerto y España mantiene su reclamación de soberanía. En el ámbito judicial, el Tribunal Supremo rechaza incidentes contra el fiscal general. David Sánchez, hermano del presidente, comparece en Badajoz por subcontratación. Citan a Víctor de Aldama por un sobre con datos de PDVSA y financiación del PSOE. La UCO vincula a Pardo de Vera, expresidenta de Adif, al caso Mascarillas por mensajes con Ávalos y Koldo, además de borrado de ...

El acuerdo político alcanzado entre la UE y el Reino Unido sobre Gibraltar y su estatus, pendiente desde el Brexit, incluye, entre otras, el derribo de la verja para crear una zona de prosperidad compartida y controles dobles de entrada y salida. Un "tratado histórico" y un "enorme éxito para el campo de Gibraltar, para Andalucía, para España y para Europa", afirma el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación, José Manuel Albares, en el informativo 24 Horas de RNE, en el que España no hace ninguna concesión para su soberanía. "Cambiamos la relación entre Gibraltar y el campo de Gibraltar con una apuesta por la convivencia y por la prosperidad y la riqueza compartida", señala el ministro. Albares ha puesto fecha al fin de la verja: está previsto que todo esté "a punto antes del verano". "Las obras de acondicionamiento", comenta, "han empezado ya esta misma semana". El tratado tiene que ser todavía ratificado por el parlamento británico y por la Comisión y el Consejo europeos, y anima "a todos los partidos españoles" a votar a favor, especialmente al PP. Sobre este, señala que no entendería si votara otra cosa porque los representantes 'populares' implicados -la Junta de Andalucía y los alcaldes de las localidades cercanas-, dice, le han mostrado en todo momento su apoyo. "No me imagino que nadie votase en contra de un tratado que es histórico", asevera.¿Qué implicaciones tiene para España? El ministro Albares habla de "tres ejes": el de la libertad de personas y mercancías con la caída de la verja; evitar las desigualdades y la dispersión, con un impuesto indirecto similar al IVA que iniciará en el 15%; y obligar a Gibraltar a situarse en los estándares europeos en materias como las de medioambiente.Escuchar audio

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: It's not about foreign trolls, filter bubbles or fake news. Technology encourages us to believe we can all have first-hand access to the ‘real' facts – and now we can't stop fighting about it By William Davies. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

This week, Michael is joined by Munira Mirza. Raised in Oldham and educated at Oxford, Munira worked at Policy Exchange before serving as Deputy Mayor of London under Boris Johnson and later as Director of the No.10 Policy Unit, where she helped shape the Conservatives' 2019 election manifesto. She now leads Civic Future and the think tank Fix Britain.In the first of this two-part interview, Munira reflects on Labour's vulnerability in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, and the ‘serious threat' it faces if the Muslim votes flees to the Greens. She discusses the politicisation of religious identity, the influence of Islamism in Britain, and what she sees as a failure of public authorities to confront hard truths.They also discuss the news this week that Valdo Calocane – the man who killed three people in Nottingham in 2023 – was released from hospital in 2020 because health professionals were concerned about the disproportionate number of black men who were being detained in the mental health system. Munira argues that fear of being accused of institutional racism has distorted decision-making, a scandal of potentially greater magnitude than the grooming gangs and with serious consequences for public safety.Finally, she revisits Brexit and the 2019 realignment, defending the decision to leave the EU and arguing that levelling up was an attempt to fix a broken economic model built on high immigration and weak productivity.Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is - voorlopig - weer een vrij man. Maar de onderzoeken naar zijn banden met zedendelinquent Jeffrey Epstein zijn nog lang niet afgerond. Het is niet duidelijk onder welke voorwaarden Andrew precies op vrije voeten is gesteld. Vluchten naar het buitenland, bijvoorbeeld naar het Midden-Oosten, waar hij al uitgenodigd is, lijkt onwaarschijnlijk. Een paspoort heeft de ex-prins nog nooit gehad. Ook in deze aflevering Keir Starmer heeft de woede van het Witte Huis weer op zijn hals gehaald. Donald Trump is ziedend over het Britse besluit om geen militaire vliegtuigen te ondersteunen vanaf de Chagos-eilanden als ze onderdeel uitmaken van een aanval op Iran. Over Van Bekhovens Britten In van Bekhovens Britten praten Lia van Bekhoven en Connor Clerx elke week over de grootste nieuwsonderwerpen en de belangrijkste ontwikkelingen in het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Van Brexit naar binnenlandse politiek, van de Royals tot de tabloids. Waarom fascineert het VK Nederlanders meer dan zo veel andere Europese landen? Welke rol speelt het vooralsnog Verenigd Koninkrijk in Europa, nu het woord Brexit uit het Britse leven lijkt verbannen, maar de gevolgen van de beslissing om uit de EU te stappen iedere dag duidelijker worden? De Britse monarchie, en daarmee de staat, staat voor grote veranderingen na de dood van Queen Elisabeth en de kroning van haar zoon Charles. De populariteit van het Koningshuis staat op een dieptepunt. Hoe verandert de Britse monarchie onder koning Charles, en welke gevolgen heeft dat voor de Gemenebest? In Van Bekhovens Britten analyseren Lia en Connor een Koninkrijk met tanende welvaart, invloed en macht. De Conservatieve Partij leverde veertien jaar op rij de premier, maar nu heeft Labour onder Keir Starmer de teugels in handen. Hoe ziet het VK er onder Keir Starmer uit? En hoe gaan de ‘gewone’ Britten, voor zover die bestaan, daar mee om? Al deze vragen en meer komen aan bod in Van Bekhovens Britten. Een kritische blik op het Verenigd Koninkrijk, waar het een race tussen Noord-Ierland en Schotland lijkt te worden wie zich het eerst af kan scheiden van het VK. Hoe lang blijft het Koninkrijk verenigd? Na ruim 45 jaar onder de Britten heeft Lia van Bekhoven een unieke kijk op het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Als inwoner, maar zeker geen anglofiel, heeft ze een scherpe blik op het nieuws, de politiek, de monarchie en het dagelijkse leven aan de overkant van de Noordzee. Elke woensdag krijg je een nieuwe podcast over het leven van Van Bekhovens Britten in je podcastapp. Scherpe analyses, diepgang waar op de radio geen tijd voor is en een flinke portie humor. Abonneer en mis geen aflevering. Over Lia Lia van Bekhoven is correspondent Verenigd Koninkrijk voor onder andere BNR Nieuwsradio, VRT, Knack en Elsevier en is regelmatig in talkshows te zien als duider van het nieuws uit het VK. Ze woont sinds 1976 in Londen, en is naast correspondent voor radio, televisie en geschreven media ook auteur van de boeken Mama gaat uit dansen, het erfgoed van Diana, prinses van Wales (1997), Land van de gespleten God, Noord-Ierland en de troubles (2000), In Londen, 9 wandelingen door de Britse hoofdstad (2009) en Klein-Brittannië (2022). Over Connor Connor Clerx is presentator en podcastmaker bij BNR Nieuwsradio. Hij werkt sinds 2017 voor BNR en was voorheen regelmatig te horen in De Ochtendspits, Boekestijn en de Wijk en BNR Breekt. Als podcastmaker werkte hij de afgelopen tijd aan onder andere De Taxi-oorlog, Kuipers en de Kosmos, Splijtstof, Baan door het Brein en Welkom in de AI-Fabriek. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Axe Body Spray has a comeback plan… help users use less Axe Body Spray.10 years after Brexit, Milan is shining as the winner… Milan is the new London.Sam Altman dissed humans for drinking more water than AI… but Temu AI is the real threat.Plus, why hockey players statistically lose teeth… It's a Molar Recession$SPY $UL $META $AMZN $Buy tickets to The IPO Tour (our In-Person Offering) TODAYAustin, TX (2/25): SOLD OUTArlington, VA (3/11): https://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/shows/341317 New York, NY (4/8): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000637AE43ED0C2Los Angeles, CA (6/3): SOLD OUTGet your TBOY Yeti Doll gift here: https://tboypod.com/shop/product/economic-support-yeti-doll NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today's top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can we fix Britain? (Part 1) Black Spy Podcast number 234, Season 24, Episode 0003 Last week I asked the Can Britain accept its place in the world or will it die under its post colonial pretentions? This week and next week, with my two colleagues, Dr Rachel Taylor from the perspective of the human mind and Fergus Esack from her professional media and spin expertise - we ask can Britain be fixed or is Britain on an inevitable road to real decline turbo charged by an inability to live within its means! Hence, as with last week, the Black Spy Podcast examines one of the most provocative questions in modern British public life: whether the United Kingdom is experiencing terminal decline or simply undergoing a turbulent period of transition. Drawing on his experiences and perspectives from security, economics, geopolitics, and social cohesion, Carlton explores the indicators often cited as evidence of UK national decline — slowing economic growth, pressures on public services, widening inequality, political fragmentation, militaristic solutions often as a side kick of the USA in an effort to retain/regain global influence especially post Brexit. The episode also considers demographic change, actual defence capabilities, energy security, and the resilience of Britain's institutions, asking whether these trends point to structural weakness or cyclical challenge. Rather than accepting headlines at face value, the programme interrogates what "decline" really means. Is national strength measured primarily through economic output and military reach, or through softer power such as diplomatic networks, intelligence capability, legal stability, cultural reach, and financial services dominance? The episode assesses Britain's continuing advantages, including its strategic alliances, intelligence partnerships, global language influence, leading universities, and role as a financial and technological hub. Through balanced analysis and insider-informed commentary, the podcast challenges simplistic narratives of collapse while acknowledging genuine vulnerabilities that could shape Britain's future trajectory. Ultimately, the episode asks whether Britain is fading as a world power, reinventing itself for a new era, or misunderstood in the way its strengths and weaknesses are judged. This ia a timely and thought-provoking exploration, as this instalment invites listeners to reconsider Britain's place in the world — and what the answer means for its future security, prosperity, and above all, its identity. As usual please don't be afraid to contact the Black Spy Podcast and put any questions you might have to any of the team regarding this, or any other of our episodes. Moreover, if you want to continue learning whilst being entertained, please don't forget to subscribe to the Black Spy Podcast for free, so you'll never miss another episode. To contact Firgas Esack of the DAPS Agency go to Linked In To contact Carlton King by utilising any of the following: To donate - Patreon.com/TheBlackSpyPodcast Email: carltonking2003@gmail.com Facebook: The Black Spy Podcast Facebook: Carlton King Author Twitter@Carlton_King Instagram@carltonkingauthor To read Carlton's Autobiography: "Black Ops – The incredible true story of a (Black) British secret agent" Click the link below: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/BO1MTV2GDF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_WNZ5MT89T9C14CB53651 If you are interested in the Male Menopause or fear you or a loved one is suffering for unknown reasons please consider reading Dr Rachel's & Carlton's book on the how the Menopause effects men - search Amazon Books for: The Male Menopause - The Hidden Crisis (ASIN: B0G5M78PSZ)

durée : 00:05:56 - Le Journal de l'éco - par : Anne-Laure Chouin - Le Royaume-Uni a officiellement quitté l'Union européenne il y a six ans. Les agriculteurs anglais avaient alors voté en masse pour le Brexit, à 60 %, ils dénonçaient la lourdeur réglementaire de la Politique agricole commune, rêvant d'une agriculture "libérée de Bruxelles". Qu'en est-il désormais ?

UnHerd's Jonny Ball meets historian, academic, and author Anton Jäger to discuss his new book ‘Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization without Political Consequences', charting the pronounced shift in engagement and death of political institutions since the 1980s via analysis of movements like Brexit, BLM, and the rise of the far-Right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin chats with Ken Byrne, Founder of RedSky Europe. Based in Ireland, RedSky supports global brands navigating European eCommerce fulfillment. Byrne shares how his background as an eCommerce brand owner shaped RedSky's approach to technology, scalability, and brand understanding.The conversation explores cross-border and European ecommerce fulfillment, the impact of Brexit, the realities of automation, and why Ireland is becoming a viable alternative to traditional European hubs. Byrne also explains how RedSky helps beauty brands expand into Europe while managing VAT, compliance, and operational complexity.Learn more about Sonaria here. Follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.Support the show

In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the false orthodoxies surrounding the current state of the transatlantic relationship and the UK's post-Brexit strategy. Pointing to Marco Rubio's Munich speech as a signal that America has pivoted its priorities away from its security guarantee with Europe, and highlighting Keir Starmer's attempt to seek a backdoor return to the EU through regulatory alignment, they paint a stark picture of a West in transition, where old alliances are crumbling and delusional European leaders remain unable to confront the fiscal and military realities of a changing world order. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the UK REALLY a democracy?  #CancelElections #UKPolitics #Starmer #LabourParty #ReformUK #NigelFarage #Brexit #BrexitBetrayal #PoliticalElite #JonGaunt #JonGauntTV If Keir Starmer can try to cancel elections without a mandate, what does your vote actually mean? Is the UK REALLY a democracy? Let's stop pretending. This week, Reform UK blocked a move that should have alarmed every voter in the country — Keir Starmer attempting to cancel local elections. Yes — cancel elections.  In a country that never stops lecturing the world about democracy. Starmer has no mandate to do this. No manifesto promise. No referendum. No public consent. And yet here we are — again.  We've seen this movie before. In 2016, the Brexit referendum delivered a result the political elite didn't like. What followed wasn't acceptance — it was years of obstruction, delay, re-runs, legal manoeuvres, and media pressure, all designed to wear the public down and soften the outcome. Voters spoke. Westminster panicked.  Now history looks like it's repeating itself — elections questioned, democratic processes treated as optional, and major national direction shifted without asking the people.  So let's ask the question politicians hate: If elections can be cancelled — is this still a democracy? If referendums are ignored — what's the point of voting? If governments only respect results they agree with — who is really in charge?  As the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band once joked: "There is no point in voting — the government always gets in." It was satire. But does it now sound uncomfortably accurate? Jon Gaunt takes this head-on: Are voters being sidelined? Is democracy being hollowed out by the political class? And if elections can be cancelled today — what gets cancelled tomorrow?

Today, Laura and Paddy are joined by correspondent Joe Pike to go through the biggest stories of the day.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for a stronger, bolder Europe, and deeper links between the UK and the EU. He told world leadersat the Munich Security conference “we are not the Britain of the Brexit years any more,” and Europe “must be ready to fight”.We also look at a story about a think tank, Labour Together, which helped labour win in the General Election. They are accused of paying a PR firm to investigate the personal details of a journalist. Labour Together says its supporting an investigation.And, Laura's been speaking to Dr Hilary Cass, the author of a major review into the treatment of children and young people questioning their gender. On Laura's Sunday show, Cass says children have been "weaponised" by both sides of a toxic debate about transgender rights.You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscordGet in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXdNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O'Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn with Kris Jalowiecki. The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davies. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The weekend series producer is Chris Flynn. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

In the first half, I look at the latest news about Navalny's death, what a change in the composition of the Russian negotiation team in Geneva may mean, and why looking for a dubious Russian connection in the Epstein case risks missing the real scandal: how powerful people and institutions tolerated what they knew.Then, to answer the larger question—what kind of country is Russia?—I spin off two books: a long view of survey data that charts a hybrid regime's rise and fracture after 2014, and a cultural study that sees Russia as fluid, formed by global flows rather than failing toward someone else's model. Putin's project tries to bank the gains of global capitalism while fencing off its social and political shocks. That balancing act is faltering. Deglobalising Russia has become both strategy and trap.But arguably Russia isn't an aberration; it's an early case of how globalisation scrambles identity, power, and legitimacy. From Brexit to big tech, we're all negotiating the same tides—just with different weather. The books are Paul Chaisty & Stephen Whitefield's How Russians Understand the New Russia (Princeton UP, 2025), and Vera Michlin-Shapir's Fluid Russia: between the global and the national in the post-Soviet era (Cornell UP, 2021).The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.You can also follow my blog, In Moscow's Shadows, and become one of the podcast's supporting Patrons and gain question-asking rights and access to exclusive extra materials including the (almost-) weekly Govorit Moskva news briefing right here. Support the show

From the son of a bus driver on a South London council estate to the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital, Sadiq Khan's story is inseparable from the story of modern London. But with that journey has come a decade at the sharpest end of British politics.In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O'Brien sits down with the Mayor of London to trace the path from a crowded flat in Tooting to City Hall. Khan reflects on his parents' migration from Pakistan, the racism he experienced growing up, and the teachers who helped him see that the rooms of power were not off limits. He describes the leap from human rights lawyer to MP, the gamble of running for mayor, and the reality of governing a city through terror attacks, Brexit, a pandemic and deep political division.They discuss the resurgence of overt racism, the personal cost of public life, and why Khan refuses to let abuse dictate his politics. He speaks candidly about the backlash he faced over equal marriage, the solidarity he believes minorities must show one another, and the responsibility he feels to prove that London remains a city where progress is possible.Attention also turns to the future of the Labour Party. As calls emerge for Keir Starmer to stand down, Khan addresses the speculation directly. He reflects on party unity, leadership under pressure and the dangers of allowing internal divisions to overshadow the broader task facing Labour. For Khan, the question is not about personalities but about purpose: what Labour is for, who it represents, and how it responds at moments when confidence wavers.At its heart, this is a conversation about resilience, representation and the fragile idea of social progress. Can a city that once displayed signs reading “No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs” continue to move forward.EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/fulldisclosure Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

First thing on Monday it looked like Keir Starmer was organic sourdough toast. By teatime he'd riled up Labour MPs and looked – somehow – safe for now. Can the PM weather the brutal months ahead? Is it still a case of “when not if” he goes? Plus, we look at how far the toxic misogyny of the Epstein horrorshow spreads. Special guest Morgan Jones takes us back to the anti-Brexit campaign for a second referendum in 2016-19 and we look for lessons for a possible Rejoin campaign. And in the Extra Bit for Patreon people: Does Lord Of The Flies still resonate in its new psychedelic BBC incarnation? • Buy Morgan's book No Second Chances: The Inside Story of the Campaign for a Second EU Referendum through our affiliate bookshop and you'll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org's fees help support independent bookshops too. ESCAPE ROUTES • Hannah has been enjoying eyeliner pop-rock reprobate Yungblud.  • Rachel loved the musical Ballad Lines at the Southwark Theatre. • Morgan has gone old WWII movies mad with Went The Day Well? and In Which We Serve. • Comic book guy Andrew recommends mind-bending time-crash series Assorted Crisis Events  www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe and Hannah Fearn. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Guest: Judy Dempsey. Amidst the Mandelson-Epstein scandal, Dempsey explains how economic struggles and Brexitregrets are driving the Labour Party to consider re-engaging with the European Union.1810 BRUSSELS

PREVIEW FOR LATER TODAY Guest: Judy Dempsey. Dempsey discusses growing voices within Britain's Labour Party considering rejoining the European Union, acknowledging Brexit caused severe economic damage requiring a fundamental relationship reset.1900 ENGLISH CROFTERS

SHOW SCHEDULE 2-3-20261882 CONSTANTINOPLE Guest: Elizabeth Peek. Peek discusses Trump's nomination of hawk Kevin Warsh for Federal ReserveChairman, noting the immediate drop in precious metals and potential monetary policy shifts. Guest: Elizabeth Peek. Peek predicts Democrats will take the House in midterms, forcing Trump to rely on executive actions and non-traditional voter turnout to maintain his agenda. Guest: Judy Dempsey. Dempsey analyzes the stalemated Ukraine conflict, noting European refusal to accept Russian victory, while discussing rising tensions and internal political divisions within Iran. Guest: Judy Dempsey. Amidst the Mandelson-Epstein scandal, Dempsey explains how economic struggles and Brexit regrets are driving the Labour Party to consider re-engaging with the European Union. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. Sternberg details Starmer's unpopularity and lack of economic agenda, noting potential leadership challenges within the Labour Party from rivals like Burnham and Streeting. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. Sternberg warns that revelations linking Peter Mandelson to Epstein reinforce narratives of elitism, damaging Starmer's already unpopular Labour government among working-class voters. Guest: David Shedd. Shedd discusses the conviction of a Google engineer for stealing AI secrets, illustrating corporate naivety regarding China's state-mandated espionage and intelligence gathering operations. Guest: David Shedd. Shedd warns against selling advanced chips to China, describing Beijing's "capture, cage, and kill" economic strategy and criticizing the U.S. administration's transactional approach. Guest: Mary Kissel. Kissel argues U.S. talks with Iran are dangerous, as Tehran uses negotiations to stall while maintaining brutality and nuclear ambitions amidst regional military buildup. Guest: Mary Kissel. Kissel discusses the futility of appeasing Putin regarding Ukrainian territory and the need for security plans to support Venezuela's opposition against the Maduro regime. Guest: David Albright. Albright warns of "loose nukes" and dangerous materials in Iran, urging planning for a "day after" scenario to secure nuclear assets during potential regime instability. Guest: David Albright. Albright emphasizes the need for a coalition-led inspection and removal regime to secure Iranian nuclear materials and protect scientists if the government collapses. Guest: Gregory Copley. Copley analyzes new talks involving Turkey and the UAE, noting U.S. reluctance to support Iranian civil society leaves the clerical regime breathing room despite weakness. Guest: Gregory Copley. Copley observes Russia targeting Ukrainian infrastructure to pressure the public, noting that despite Western support, Moscow retains the upper hand while demanding territorial concessions. Guest: Gregory Copley. Copley details a civil war within the CCP as Xi Jinping purges military leaders, risking regime collapse while Western leaders ignore China's economic hollowing. Guest: Gregory Copley. Copley discusses the Epstein scandal involving Lord Mandelson and Prince Andrew, suggesting King Charles is distancing the monarchy from these revelations to protect the institution.