Podcast appearances and mentions of Gordon Brown

It's 2007, and Tony Blair is out. In his place is Gordon Brown, who'd proved his capacity as a Chancellor. Sadly, he was now to show that promotion to Prime Minister was one step too many , since he simply didn't have the skills needed for the top job. He might have won an election in the autumn of 2007, when he had a small poll lead. Instead, his nerve failed him and he called off the election the Labour Party had been preparing. That meant that he took the blame for the world crash that hit the following year, and though he and his Chancellor did well to get Britain back to growth, with the deadline for a new election bearing down on them, they had run out of time to build the party a new lead.The result of the 2010 election was to return a hung parliament, one in which no party had a majority in the Commons. Fraught negotiations finally led to the formation of a Conservative coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. Dominated by the Tories, it pursued austerity policies to reduce the government deficit and public debt. It had some success in the first of these aims, but none in the second. Austerity created a fairly dismal atmosphere in the country and, for the LibDems, the policy turned toxic when it forced an increase in university fees which the party, now led by Nick Clegg, had vowed to abolish.When the next election was held, in 2015, the LibDems were severely punished, with their haul of MPs reduced from the respectable 57 won in 2010, to the miserable total of just eight.Labour had elected itself a hopeless, uncharismatic leader, Ed Miliband, an easy figure for Cameron to beat. Labour lost more seats from its low tally of 2010. Cameron, on the other hand, took his Conservatives to a majority in the Commons. The majority was small but enough to form a new government of Tories alone, with the LibDems once more consigned to the backbenches.So Cameron took office for the second time. Things looked good for him. Unfortunately, however, an explosion that would bring him down was building within his own party, as we'll see next week.Illustration: Cameron (left) of the Tories and Clegg of the LibDems, senior and junior leaders of the 2010 coalition government. Photo from the GuardianMusic: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

After a wild week in No.10 Downing Street, host Patrick Baker takes listeners on a podcast tour of the famous building to find out how the hell a cobbled-together Georgian townhouse is meant to run a modern state. Patrick asks how the rabbit warren layout influences those who govern the country, for better or worse. In one of his first interviews since stepping down, former Cabinet Secretary Simon Case opens up on how the building is less-than-ideal for the demands of modern government — with problems like losing the PM all-too-common. Case argues its layout contributed to the Partygate scandal that toppled Boris Johnson. The set designer of the film “Love Actually,” Jim Clay, recounts a tour given to him by Gordon Brown so he could memorise the layout  — and commentates on Hugh Grant as he boogies down the Grand Staircase.     Jack Brown, author of “The Power of Geography at No 10,” gives a step-by-step tour, taking us inside the pokey “Den,” the prime minister's office at the heart of Downing Street.  POLITICO Political Editor Dan Bloom explains why Keir Starmer prefers working in open-plan offices — and shares some secrets from rooms you've never heard of. Beatrice Timpson, former deputy press secretary to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, shares her sympathy for those in the policy unit, seen as banished to the rafters of Number 10. And she reveals the constant battle for phone signal that rages at the heart of British power.  John McTernan, who served as political secretary to Tony Blair, reveals stories from the Number 10 flat — and sets out what the current government must do to overcome the limitations of the building. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the title of this episode suggests, this is where we look at how Tony Blair's reputation was wrecked by the growing awareness that he'd produced infamously bad justifications to launch Britain into war in Iraq. Many people now reversed the vowels in his name, making Blair into Bliar. For a man who'd once assured Britain that he was a ‘straight sort of guy', being seen as a liar was quite a fall.Despite all that, Blair had racked up quite a series of achievements. This episode looks at some of them, particularly in education and healthcare. He was, however, very much a ‘yes, but' Prime Minister: many of his achievements were associated with a failure, either immediately or stored up for the future, which rather qualified how admirable they would ultimately appear. So, alongside his achievements, the episode also looks at how often they were accompanied by a ‘but'.That and the terrible legacy of two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, were the background of Blair's campaign for the election of 2005. He took Labour to its third victory in a row in that contest, an unprecedented accomplishment for the party. However, while it left his government with a strong majority, the win fell short of what would qualify as a landslide – he couldn't pull off Thatcher's trick of winning three straight landslide victories in a row.What's more, he was under increasing strain. The shine had come off his government. And Gordon Brown, up till then his Chancellor of the Exchequer, was putting him under pressure to stand aside. After all, Brown had dropped campaign against him for the Labour leadership back in 1994; now it was his turn at the premiership.Two years into his third government, Blair agreed. In May 2017, he stood down. Gordon Brown at last got his chance to show what he could make of the top job. We'll see how that went next week. Illustration: ‘Bliar' button produced by the Stop the War Coalition, from the Imperial War Museum, which produced the photo.Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Taxes set to rise? Spending set to be cut? Promises to be kept – or maybe broken? Whatever chancellors choose to reveal on budget day, it's normally a good idea to let people know what they can expect…   So has Rachel Reeves done a good job of rolling the pitch? How did former chancellors go about warming up their party, voters, the media and business? And what can they do to make sure the right people are listening   Stewart Wood and Giles Winn, former advisers to Gordon Brown and Philip Hammond, join this special Inside Briefing episode to reveal how chancellors get ahead of the big day in parliament – and give their verdict on Rachel Reeves' attempts to set the scene for the November 26 budget.   Presented by Gemma Tetlow. With Jill Rutter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Riley-Smith, the political editor of the Daily Telegraph, assesses the latest developments at Westminster.Ben discusses the troubles at the Home Office with two former Home Secretaries: Alan Johnson, who served under Gordon Brown and Amber Rudd, who served during Theresa May's premiership.Following the row over the China spying allegations, Ben discusses managing relations with China with Lord Sedwill, the former Cabinet Secretary and former National Security Adviser and Labour MP Matt Western who is the chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.The 'Speaker's Conference' - which has been investigating abuse and intimidation towards politicians - published its final report this week. Ben discussed the findings of the report with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons. And, in the week that the Prime Minister discussed his musical tastes on the Radio Three programme 'Private Passions', Ben spoke to two musical politicians about the power of music: Labour's Baroness Thangam Debbonaire, who was a professional cellist and the LIberal Democrat MP Anne Sabine, who plays the bassoon.

Love a political blooper? Well, you've come to the right place. Gordon Brown put his foot well and truly in it in April 2010. It's Bugle issue 113 - Countdown to Vote-ageddon.Hear more of our shows, buy our book, and help keep us alive by supporting us here: thebuglepodcast.com/This episode was produced by Chris Skinner and Laura Turner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Driving through Gaza is like "driving through the ruins of Hiroshima, or Stalingrad, or Dresden"Tom Fletcher has been the United Nations humanitarian chief for almost a year and speaks to Nick two weeks into his organisation's efforts to get as much aid as possible into the Gaza Strip.He gives a behind-the-scenes account of how he works with the Trump White House and how the ceasefire deal was struck in Sharm el-Sheikh.Fletcher also shares his lessons learned from his years as foreign adviser to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.Producer: Daniel Kraemer Research: Chloe Desave Editor: Giles Edwards Sound: Hal Haines and Ged Sudlow

Is the modern Conservative Party a repudiation of the Cameron-Osborne years? George Osborne is challenged by Ed Davey, who asks him to consider whether Kemi Badenoch's leadership means there's no place for him in the party he once helped lead.Then, Ed Balls sets the record straight on one of New Labour's defining policies, revealing the true story behind making the Bank of England independent and taking credit from both Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.Also on the agenda: the breaking of unwritten rules during party conference season, the politics of attending the Women's Rugby World Cup final, and the Brexit parallels of trying to reform the ECHR.To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

What tactic did Donald Trump steal from Gordon Brown? What can we learn from when Labour beat UKIP in the 2012 Rotherham by-election when it comes to taking on Farage? As a New Labour alumnus, why does John Healey think there was more patience for change in 1997 compared to 2024?  Rory and Alastair are joined by John Healey, The Secretary of State for Defence, to discuss all this and more.  For Leading listeners, there's free access to the Wordsmith Academy - plus their report on the future of legal skills. Visit https://www.wordsmithai/politics To save your company time and money, open a Revolut Business account today via https://www.revolut.com/rb/leading, and add money to your account by 31st of December 2025 to get a £200 welcome bonus or equivalent in your local currency. Feature availability varies by plan. This offer's available for New Business customers in the UK, US, Australia and Ireland. Fees and Terms & Conditions apply. For US customers, Revolut is not a bank. Banking services and card issuance are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Visa® and Mastercard® cards issued under license. Funds are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Lead Bank, in the event Lead Bank fails. Fees may apply. See full terms in description. For Irish customers, Revolut Bank UAB is authorised and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania in the Republic of Lithuania and by the European Central Bank and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. For AU customers, consider PDS & TMD at revolut.com/en-AU. Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 517589). Join The Rest Is Politics Plus: Start your free trial at therestispolitics.com to unlock exclusive bonus content – including Rory and Alastair's miniseries – plus ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members' newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. Instagram: @restispolitics  Twitter: @RestIsPolitics  Email: restispolitics@gmail.com Social Producer: Celine Charles Producer: Alice Horrell Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Head of Politics: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have just heard the Prime Minister's headline speech at Labour Party Conference and – whisper it quietly – that might have been Keir Starmer's best yet. As briefed out beforehand it was a patriotic address, with lots of flag waving in the room as he presented his version of patriotism in contrast to a Nigel Farage who is guilty of talking Britain down.It was miles better than the dreariness of last year and instead struck a chord of hope against the broken Britain narrative. Even though there was little of actual substance on the economy and more platitudes about ‘smashing the gangs', this did seem like a landmark moment for Keir Starmer where he communicated an actual plan for the Britain he wants to build. He also managed to trumpet some of Labour's successes, mimicking Gordon Brown as he listed off their first year wins. At times this Labour party has felt like an ocean liner, but is he finally turning things around and bringing the fight to Reform? Is this ‘Starmerism'?Oscar Edmondson speaks to Tim Shipman and James Heale.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.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.

Labour's deputy leadership contender and Keir Starmer ally Bridget Phillipson joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy on The Fourcast to set out her vision for the party.She talks about the threat from Reform UK and Nigel Farage, and how she would still hold Keir Starmer to account even though she's a cabinet minister and widely believed to be the prime minister's preferred choice. Plus - does she prefer Tony Blair or Gordon Brown?

Labour party conference has kicked off in Liverpool, and the Chancellor has just delivered her keynote speech.‘Security, security, security' was the message from Rachel Reeves as she addressed the Labour party faithful. The Labour government, she said, will create an economy that puts the British worker above all else. Aside from setting out her economic vision, she made time for a few jabs in Manchester mayor Andy Burnham's direction and gave a nod to shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson (should we take that as an endorsement?). Has she been taking notes from Gordon Brown?Elsewhere, the mood in the bars is much more buoyant than it was last year – although that has a lot to do with the absence of Sue Gray. Starmer's change of tack and taking the fight to reform on indefinite leave to remain, as well as the announcement of some juicy bits of policy, seems to have placated many. But is conference just a holiday from reality?Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and Michael Simmons.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.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.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.theflyingfrisby.comBefore we begin today's piece, let me flag this video I made based on my recent article about Triffin's Dilemma. 13 mins long and hopefully worth the effort. Might be the most important thing you watch this week.With all the narratives that come with a gold bull market - and also a bitcoin bull market - that we're heading to some kind of money reset, the dollar or the pound is going to collapse, we are going to end up on a gold or bitcoin standard and so on - you have an end goal. The bull market will continue until we reach that eventuality.However, I doubt very much we go back to a gold standard. Yes, gold's role as reserve asset increases, ditto bitcoin, but I don't see a return to the gold standards of the 19th or 20th century. Much more likely is a Hayekian world of competing currencies.The 20th century gold standards were bogus anyway - which is why they failed. There was no gold in circulation. Americans weren't allowed to own it. When Britain returned to a gold standard in 1925, the British government ensured there was little gold actually circulating. It minted zero gold coins, while the Bank of England hoarded what it already had. ( It's all in the book, if you're interested).The Secret History of Gold is available to at Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops. I hear the audiobook, read by me, is excellent. Amazon is currently offering 20% off.There was plenty of gold in circulation under the gold standards of the 19th century, but we are not going back to them because we barely use physical cash any more. We are not going to pay for physical things with gold or silver coins in the way we once did.It might be that China gives the yuan some gold backing, and makes its (digital) notes interchangeable with gold, but I find that unlikely. It might also be that gold backing is used to make US Treasuries more attractive, as economist Judy Shelton, former advisor to Donald Trump, has proposed.Again, though possible, I would give it a low probability.The gold bull markets of the 1970s and 2000s did not end with gold standards. I doubt this one will. A gold standard is a political ideal. Real life is a lot more mucky.Unlike gold, gold bull markets do not last forever, any more than tech or any other kind of bull markets do.And this bull market is getting hot. That's for sure. Gold is at $3,700/oz. While the mainstream press are not really covering it, there has been a definite change in tone online. Silver is starting to lead. Gold miners are starting to deliver.Towards the end of previous gold bull markets, I usually get invited on to the BBC to talk about gold. Massive name drop, I was actually fraternising with BBC Director General, Tim Davie, this week - enough to get a selfie at least - but I am currently so far from being invited on to the BBC, whether for my satirical songs or for my market commentary - even with a new book on gold just out - that I believe we are a way from that.(In another age, I would have been a fixture on BBC radio. I have got the voice. I have got the intellect. But obviously, wrong age, wrong sex, wrong colour and all of that. Wrong views too).Anyway, back to more important matters.Things got hot and spicy with gold in the spring, as we warned, not unlike now. But we didn't feel it was the top. We just needed to go sideways for a few months, which we have.With physical gold, especially if you live in a Third World country like the UK, there is a strong argument never to sell. Even during gold's bear market (2011-2020), gold was a brilliant hedge against woeful sterling.If you buying gold or silver to protect yourself in these “interesting times” - and I urge you to - as always I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.You could just hold your gold and then pass it on to your heirs. Bitcoin's the same. But then again you might want the money for something else.In the 1970s gold went from $35/oz (an artificially low price due to US suppression) all the way to $850/oz.But that $850 mark was just as much an illusory price. Though it has been logged in people's minds for decades ever since, the reality is it reached that price during one spike on one afternoon. The Cold War was looking grim: the Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan a month before. The Iranian hostage crisis was making everyone panic (the hostages were released the day before the spike). It was the day after US President Ronald Reagan had been inaugurated. Nobody yet knew what a success he was going to be. There was an ongoing and severe crisis in the US bond markets, which had sent interest rates above 10%.In other words, there was a lot going on. And yet gold only hit $850 for an afternoon. Hardly anyone sold the top of that spike.The launch to $850 gold began in December 1979 with that Soviet invasion. Gold broke above $450. The day after the spike, gold collapsed like a stone. By March it was below $500.Gold then did something you commonly see at the end of bull markets. The Nasdaq did something similar in 2000. Silver did it in 2011. It rallied. That rally persuaded people the bull market was still on. It was a suckers' rally.But the retest did not even make it back to the old high. It was a lower high, in other words.Then the relentless declines kicked in. By 1982 - 18 months later - gold was at $300/oz. It then spent the next 20 years - 20 years! - trading between $300 and $400, before eventually hitting a low in 1999 at $250/oz, when Gordon Brown sold. Idiot.My point is that in 1980 it looked to some like a return to gold standards was coming. The US had only abandoned gold 9 years earlier - and, in President Nixon's words, temporarily. Gold was still normal in people's minds. But the gold standard never came and gold was a rotten investment for 20 years.2011, by the way, was not of 1980 standards but the price still shot from $1,500 to $1,920 in a couple of months with the Greek debt crisis. There followed another gruesome bear market which saw gold go all the way back to $1,050.There is so much anti-dollar sentiment out there now, it might be that everything turns on its head - as things are wont to do - and we get a dollar rally.I recognise that things are looking frothy. Anytime silver starts doing well, that is usually a warning sign.A lot of American commentators like to use the baseball analogy. I would suggest maybe we are in inning six of nine. Something like that, possibly.So when to sell?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.theflyingfrisby.comBefore we begin today's piece, let me flag this video I made based on my recent article about Triffin's Dilemma. 13 mins long and hopefully worth the effort. Might be the most important thing you watch this week.With all the narratives that come with a gold bull market - and also a bitcoin bull market - that we're heading to some kind of money reset, the dollar or the pound is going to collapse, we are going to end up on a gold or bitcoin standard and so on - you have an end goal. The bull market will continue until we reach that eventuality.However, I doubt very much we go back to a gold standard. Yes, gold's role as reserve asset increases, ditto bitcoin, but I don't see a return to the gold standards of the 19th or 20th century. Much more likely is a Hayekian world of competing currencies.The 20th century gold standards were bogus anyway - which is why they failed. There was no gold in circulation. Americans weren't allowed to own it. When Britain returned to a gold standard in 1925, the British government ensured there was little gold actually circulating. It minted zero gold coins, while the Bank of England hoarded what it already had. ( It's all in the book, if you're interested).The Secret History of Gold is available to at Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops. I hear the audiobook, read by me, is excellent. Amazon is currently offering 20% off.There was plenty of gold in circulation under the gold standards of the 19th century, but we are not going back to them because we barely use physical cash any more. We are not going to pay for physical things with gold or silver coins in the way we once did.It might be that China gives the yuan some gold backing, and makes its (digital) notes interchangeable with gold, but I find that unlikely. It might also be that gold backing is used to make US Treasuries more attractive, as economist Judy Shelton, former advisor to Donald Trump, has proposed.Again, though possible, I would give it a low probability.The gold bull markets of the 1970s and 2000s did not end with gold standards. I doubt this one will. A gold standard is a political ideal. Real life is a lot more mucky.Unlike gold, gold bull markets do not last forever, any more than tech or any other kind of bull markets do.And this bull market is getting hot. That's for sure. Gold is at $3,700/oz. While the mainstream press are not really covering it, there has been a definite change in tone online. Silver is starting to lead. Gold miners are starting to deliver.Towards the end of previous gold bull markets, I usually get invited on to the BBC to talk about gold. Massive name drop, I was actually fraternising with BBC Director General, Tim Davie, this week - enough to get a selfie at least - but I am currently so far from being invited on to the BBC, whether for my satirical songs or for my market commentary - even with a new book on gold just out - that I believe we are a way from that.(In another age, I would have been a fixture on BBC radio. I have got the voice. I have got the intellect. But obviously, wrong age, wrong sex, wrong colour and all of that. Wrong views too).Anyway, back to more important matters.Things got hot and spicy with gold in the spring, as we warned, not unlike now. But we didn't feel it was the top. We just needed to go sideways for a few months, which we have.With physical gold, especially if you live in a Third World country like the UK, there is a strong argument never to sell. Even during gold's bear market (2011-2020), gold was a brilliant hedge against woeful sterling.If you buying gold or silver to protect yourself in these “interesting times” - and I urge you to - as always I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.You could just hold your gold and then pass it on to your heirs. Bitcoin's the same. But then again you might want the money for something else.In the 1970s gold went from $35/oz (an artificially low price due to US suppression) all the way to $850/oz.But that $850 mark was just as much an illusory price. Though it has been logged in people's minds for decades ever since, the reality is it reached that price during one spike on one afternoon. The Cold War was looking grim: the Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan a month before. The Iranian hostage crisis was making everyone panic (the hostages were released the day before the spike). It was the day after US President Ronald Reagan had been inaugurated. Nobody yet knew what a success he was going to be. There was an ongoing and severe crisis in the US bond markets, which had sent interest rates above 10%.In other words, there was a lot going on. And yet gold only hit $850 for an afternoon. Hardly anyone sold the top of that spike.The launch to $850 gold began in December 1979 with that Soviet invasion. Gold broke above $450. The day after the spike, gold collapsed like a stone. By March it was below $500.Gold then did something you commonly see at the end of bull markets. The Nasdaq did something similar in 2000. Silver did it in 2011. It rallied. That rally persuaded people the bull market was still on. It was a suckers' rally.But the retest did not even make it back to the old high. It was a lower high, in other words.Then the relentless declines kicked in. By 1982 - 18 months later - gold was at $300/oz. It then spent the next 20 years - 20 years! - trading between $300 and $400, before eventually hitting a low in 1999 at $250/oz, when Gordon Brown sold. Idiot.My point is that in 1980 it looked to some like a return to gold standards was coming. The US had only abandoned gold 9 years earlier - and, in President Nixon's words, temporarily. Gold was still normal in people's minds. But the gold standard never came and gold was a rotten investment for 20 years.2011, by the way, was not of 1980 standards but the price still shot from $1,500 to $1,920 in a couple of months with the Greek debt crisis. There followed another gruesome bear market which saw gold go all the way back to $1,050.There is so much anti-dollar sentiment out there now, it might be that everything turns on its head - as things are wont to do - and we get a dollar rally.I recognise that things are looking frothy. Anytime silver starts doing well, that is usually a warning sign.A lot of American commentators like to use the baseball analogy. I would suggest maybe we are in inning six of nine. Something like that, possibly.So when to sell?

He may have described himself as a ‘fighter not a quitter', but even Peter Mandelson couldn't survive new and lurid revelations about his relationship with convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. The ultimate political animal, Mandelson was no stranger to scandal – having twice been forced to resign from Tony Blair's Cabinet. But brought back into the Labour fold by Gordon Brown after a successful stint as European Commissioner, the former spin doctor went on to enjoy a career renaissance – which eventually took him to Washington as the UK's ambassador to the United States. However, Mandelson was summoned home from DC in disgrace, following the publication of a cache of embarrassing emails and other communications between himself and Epstein.  Was his downfall inevitable? And should Sir Keir Starmer have known better than to entrust one of the biggest diplomatic roles in the world to a man with a track record of self-destruction? Niall is joined by former ambassador and National Security Advisor, Lord Ricketts, and Sky News' former political editor, Adam Boulton. Producer: Emily Hulme Editor: Mike Bovill 

What happens when the life you dreamed of doesn't bring you happiness? This week on the Evolve to Succeed Podcast, we're joined by Katherine Baldwin. Former Reuters political and foreign correspondent who once travelled the world alongside Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron. From covering wars, natural disasters, and global crises, Katherine lived a life of adrenaline, success, and status. Yet behind the scenes, she was battling burnout, binge eating, alcohol dependence, and an overwhelming sense of emptiness. In this deeply honest and inspiring conversation, Katherine shares how she transitioned from chasing external validation to finding inner peace and purpose. We discuss the dangers of overachievement, the role of addiction and denial in high-pressure careers, and the courage it takes to step away from an identity built on success. Katherine also reveals the practices and mindset shifts that helped her recover, embrace self-love, and build meaningful relationships. Whether you're an entrepreneur, business leader, or professional striving for balance, this episode will give you tools to pause, reflect, and realign with what truly matters.

Steve Richards gives his views on the state of British politics, some of the challenges facing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer - including the vital importance of communication skills - the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK, the shift towards a multi party landscape, and the urgent need, as he sees it, to improve public services. Richards has been a political journalist for decades and, during their time in government, regularly met both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. His new book, Tony Blair, is about to be published and in this podcast he also gives his verdict on the Blair years and compares him to Starmer. Whether you're a Westminster nerd or more loosely interested in the world around you, this is a riveting and insightful take on power, people and politics. 

By winning the 1992 general election, John Major had his own mandate to form a government, instead of imply inheriting Margaret Thatcher's. He'd shown himself capable of leading the Conservative Party to success, as he took it to its fourth election win in a row. He'd emerged somewhat from the shadow of his Iron Lady predecessor. And then things immediately started going wrong. Black Wednesday, when a major run on the pound turned George Soros into ‘the man who broke the Bank of England' and drove Britain out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Major's positive poll ratings collapsed overnight and never entirely recovered.Then his own party began to creak as its seams, as a growing group began to emerge and express an increasingly strident Euroscepticism. It mounted a rebellion against the government's proposal to ratify what came to be known as the Maastricht Treaty, which converted the European Economic Community into the European Union, with more ambitious aims towards integration (from some of which Major obtained British opt-outs). Though eventually the sceptics voted with their own party's government to avoid bringing it down, their behaviour had been so objectionable to Major that, in an unguarded moment with a journalist, he referred to them as ‘bastards'.Meanwhile, in the Labour Party, John Smith, the well-respected leader who'd replaced Neil Kinnock after the general election defeat, died suddenly of a heart attack. There were two frontrunners to take over from him, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. It seems clear that they came to a deal whereby Brown would stand down as a candidate for the leadership to give Blair a clear run, in return for a big role in a future Labour government.Blair took over from Smith. He'd be leading Labour against Major's Conservatives at the next general election. Our subject for next week.Illustration: promotional image for Stephen Frears' The Deal, showing David Morrissey as Gordon Brown and Michael Sheen as Tony BlairMusic: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

With a very busy autumn of politics just around the corner, many in the government are looking at the polls and wondering how they turn their fortunes around. This week, host Patrick Baker explores how Labour might use the coming months to try and reset the narrative. Speaking for the first time since he left Number 10, Ravinder Atwhal, Labour's former head of policy and author of its election-winning manifesto, takes us inside the government's difficult first year of power and explains what he thinks Keir Starmer needs to do to get back on track. With the autumn bringing plenty of reset opportunities, Scotland Office minister and Gordon Brown's former speechwriter Kirsty McNeill reveals the secret to a barnstorming conference speech and offers her advice to the PM about how to make a success of his own Labour conference address in Liverpool. Poppy Trowbridge, former Treasury comms director under Theresa May and someone with no shortage of experience working on tricky budgets, offers her advice to Chancellor Rachel Reeves on how to turn this autumn's big fiscal event into a political success (spoiler: it might not be possible). And former government chief whip under Rishi Sunak, Simon Hart, lifts the lid on the art of the government reshuffle and sets out why, in his view, they rarely provide the reset moment governments hope they might. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is it really like to go from nine years in the political wilderness to running one of the most challenging departments in government? For Wes Streeting, Labour's Secretary of State for Health, it's a challenge he has been visibly relishing this past year, after a long, frustrating period fighting from the opposition benches.With Ed Balls away interrailing, Streeting joins George Osborne to give him a candid inside look at Labour's first year in power, revealing what Keir Starmer is really like as a leader, the secret orders he gives his cabinet, and his ambitious plan to reform the NHS by shifting power to patients and focusing on prevention. Plus, he explains why he believes Nigel Farage and Reform UK are now the "real opposition" to the government.Plus, Ed and George reunite to pull back the curtain on a subject of endless obsession for politicians and the press: ministerial cars. The pair explain why a minister's driver knows more about them than their own family, how drivers' gossip can make or break a career, and share hilarious and shocking stories involving heavy petting, a disastrous escape from a prime ministerial motorcade, and fish and chips with Gordon Brown. They also offer some crucial advice for any aspiring minister on how not to behave in the back of a Jag…To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

The Shergar Cup is supposed to be a bit of fun on a summer Saturday but the annual jockeys' challenge this year delivered unexpected controversy. The latest edition of The Front Page, featuring Lee Mottershead, Chris Cook and Liam Headd, looks at Maureen Haggas's criticism of the standard of jockeyship at Ascot and asks whether she was right to argue some of those who took part should not have been included in the competition. The panel also reflects on weekend Group 1 glory for Billy Loughnane, Oisin Murphy and Kia Joorabchian before examining the changes announced in British racing's 2026 fixture list and an intervention by former prime minister Gordon Brown on the gambling tax debate.

Kwasi Kwarteng reflects on what went wrong.The former Chancellor joins Ed Balls to talk through the decisions behind the Truss mini-budget - from bypassing the OBR to what he now calls its “real intellectual failing.” He explains why the Bank of England's intervention “killed the government,” and why he believes his sacking was no coincidence.Kwarteng also looks ahead, urging the Conservative Party and Kemi Badenoch to focus on unity, and warning Rachel Reeves about the political cost of trying to rein in spending.Plus, Ed and George turn to political speechwriting. Who writes the big speeches? What makes them stick? And how do you find the right words for someone else? From Trump rallies to Gordon Brown's “no time for a novice,” the pair give us a peek inside the craft of effective political communication.To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

(I am sending this week's commentary early this week due to travel)Dear Chancellor,Me again.I am the author of Bitcoin: The Future of Money? (2014), generally agreed to the first book on bitcoin from a recognised publisher.I write with regard to the proposed sale of the UK's bitcoin. Since bitcoin was first introduced in 2009 - invented in reaction to the loose monetary policies of the Global Financial Crisis - bank bail outs, quantitative easing, zero interest policies etc - and the economic injustices they created, the protocol has grown from nothing to a market cap above $2 trillion. A whole new economy has emerged around the technology where none previously existed, providing countless opportunities for individuals, entrepreneurs and nations alike.Initially the domain of a few coders, it is now finding mass adoption at the corporate and even national level. The US is recognizing the digital asset's importance, as it introduces its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, while China, according to estimates, holds 190,000 coins.Initially, the UK was at the heart of the Bitcoin story. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor, wrote in British English, cited UK media, and many early meetups and conferences took place here. Chancellors George Osborne and Rishi Sunak both expressed their desire for the UK to become a global hub for this emerging technology. But the FCA took an opposing view and made it increasingly difficult for UK citizens to participate, so that we have now fallen behind.Opinion about bitcoin is divided. Those who use the technology regularly believe it is not just likely, but inevitable, that it will become the world's dominant monetary network. Many others – typically the older generation, economists or legacy finance – dismiss it as a bubble, often without having tested the tech in any meaningful way.Whichever side of the debate you fall on, the fact that Bitcoin has become the most desired digital asset in the world is indisputable.Among the many features that make bitcoin unique is that its supply is finite. With its estimated 61,000 confiscated bitcoins, the UK has been gifted an extraordinary opportunity. We now hold roughly 0.3% of total supply.I understand that politics demands a focus on the short term – the next Budget, the next election – but I urge you to approach your decision with long-term vision. Please consult with people who regularly use the technology. Do not make this decision based solely on advice from people who never use bitcoin. Take Bulgaria, for example. In 2017, it sold all of its seized bitcoin to cover a short-term budget gap. Those coins today would be worth enough to eliminate the country's entire national debt. From a strategic perspective, the UK's bitcoin holdings represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity. As fiat currencies decline in purchasing power and the global economy moves toward digital and AI-driven systems, this asset could help Britain re-establish itself as an economic superpower with significant geopolitical leverage and monetary independence.An opportunity of this kind is not to be thrown away lightly.Once those coins are sold, we will never be able to buy them back.If bitcoin becomes a hundred trillion dollar network – as some project – the UK's share could prove transformational. That may sound fanciful today, but every surprise in bitcoin's history has been to the upside.There is also your personal political legacy to consider.You would be the Chancellor who sold Britain's bitcoin.That will be how people remember you – just as Gordon Brown, for all else he did, is remembered primarily for needlessly selling Britain's gold at the bottom of the market. For the rest of your life, every timebBitcoin rises in price, people will look at what you sold our coins for and say: “This is how much she lost us.” You are consigning yourself to that fate.Do you want that to be your legacy?So once again, I implore you: take advice from people who understand this technology and its potential. Don't just listen to nocoiners.If you sell bitcoin for fiat you are swapping a superior asset for an inferior one. It is that simple.The trade might bring short-term benefit, but it does nothing to address the underlying structural issues facing this country. If, however, you hold on to the bitcoin – and understand how to integrate it into policy – perhaps create a UK Strategic Reserve - you may find it solves many of our problems.As bitcoiners often say, “bitcoin fixes this.”I hope you read and consider this letter with an open-mind.Yours sincerely,Dominic FrisbyAuthor of Bitcoin: The Future of Money?Writer of The Flying Frisby newsletterPS Please like, share - all that stuff. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

Nick, in New York, is joined by award winning Racing Post writer Jonathan Harding for today's essential horseracing news and views digest. They bring you the latest on Delacroix's running plans, plus examine why trainers The Gosdens and Ed Dunlop found the wheels of justice turning very differently following recent drug infringements. Also on today's show, Joseph O'Brien on Irish Oaks fancy Wemighttakedlongway, plus Al Riffa in the Curragh Cup and Green Sense in the Robert Papin at Chantilly. In the USA, Nick talks to trainers Michael McCarthy and Brendan Walsh as they face off with Journalism and Gosger in the Haskell at Monmouth Park. Plus, Gordon Brown on the 78th anniversary of the first ever British evening fixture at Hamilton Park, NHRM's Tracey Harding on the latest innovative exhibitions, and Tom Dunlop's Great Big Bike Ride aiming to raise £60,000 for good causes.

Secrets, lies and spies are on the agenda for this week and your co-pilots are here to make sense of the madness.Allison is horrified by the secrecy surrounding the Ministry of Defence data leak, which has been estimated at a potential cost of £7bn to the UK tax payer, without any oversight or accountability of where people will be settled around the Country.Meanwhile Liam focuses on the news inflation has increased and the warning that the Labour tax increases are curtailing growth, which could lead to the dreaded term ‘stagflation'.Stowing away this week is MD of REIDsteel, Simon Boyd, who lays out his case for Ed Miliband's net zero policies being ‘dangerous'.Read Allison: ‘Starmer is sacrificing our troops on the altar of human rights law' https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/15/starmer-sacrificing-british-troops-on-altar-of-human-rights/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |Read Liam: ‘Reeves needs to take a leaf out of Gordon Brown's book‘ ​​https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/13/reeves-needs-take-a-leaf-out-gordon-brown-book/ |Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |For 30 days' free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk to crime writer Gordon Brown about his new novel, The Cost - written as Morgan Cry. We also delve in to his colourful employment history which includes finding a way to sell all sorts of things in all corners of the globe

Whoop whoop! It's the 500th episode of the podcast! Welcome back to the Chris Moyles Show on Radio X Podcast. This week we learned more about Dom's swinging friends and Chris received a special gift in the post from Mr Will Smith.Rob Rinder was on the show this week to talk about his newly released book, The Protest. Through his usual witty humour, he told us about his orchestral conducting skills and his role as an honorary Colonel. Who Are You? returned this week! After a lot of incorrect guesses, Chris and Dom finally figured out that the man in front of them was one of the best drummers (and also maybe chiropractors) of all time!The 25k Box continued this week with four lucky listeners walking away with £1k and one with £2k, but alas, still no winner of the big cash prize. However, there is finally a clue for next week!But wait! There's more!Oasis merch unboxingThe team's previous radio jobsDom's water buttEnjoy!The Chris Moyles Show on Radio XWeekdays 6:30am - 10am

This week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker takes a pint-fueled tour through some of Westminster's best-known watering holes in his bid to find out what makes the best political boozer. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage explains why the Westminster Arms is his favorite pub and why his longtime friend, Gerry Dolan, its former landlord, is behind the pub's popularity. Dolan himself recounts how lager-loving politicians would race over the road to vote at the sound of the division bell, before haring back to finish their drinks, and remembers how each of the different parties under his roof would occupy various corners of his pub like tribes.  Celia McSwaine, a former special adviser to ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, illuminates the role of the Two Chairmen as the Treasury's designated post-Budget pub and recounts how the drinks were flowing in the immediate hours after the fateful mini-budget, before any economic meltdown had struck. Pub enthusiast James Potts, a Labour councillor in Islington and author of "What's in a London pub name?" regales Patrick with the exotic history of the Two Chairmen from the secrecy of its top room, the site of much political plotting over the years.  Andy McSmith, former Chief Political Correspondent at The Observer, joins Patrick at the Red Lion in the heart of Westminster, recounting his pivotal role in breaking the infamous story that Gordon Brown's former spin doctor Charlie Whelan had told Tony Blair that the U.K. would not be joining the Euro, from just outside the pub. Former Education and Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan returns to The Blue Boar, a discreet pub she says she hasn't been back inside since she found out there that the UK was to leave the European Union. Labour insider Sienna Rodgers, Deputy Editor of parliamentary magazine The House, meets Patrick in The Clarence, and offers her top tips on where to find Labour MPs and special advisers nowadays.  And finally Patrick visits the famous Marquis of Granby pub, where journalist and Reform supporter Tim Montgomerie and Nigel Farage's former press secretary Gawain Towler describe how the 'MOG', as it's known, is Westminster's consummate rebel pub, ideal for plotting a political insurgency during the long days of opposition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flared trousers, the fate of Northern Ireland, free speech, swimming with Gordon Brown and childish children's books. All human life, as they say, is here. Sarah wants to know why we're afraid of difficult conversations and saying what we really think, is it that we're always being shouted down by those who don't agree with us? What ever happened to civilised debate? Not that our debates are ever civilised.While Peter reminisces about his time in Iran some decades ago and how it's not the country torn from recent headlines with a huge number of its people who actually want to live in a peaceful, secular society, not the regime enforced on them under mullah rule. On our reading and watch list this week: · The Apartment – Director: Billy Wilder· The Wind In the Willows – Kenneth Grahame· The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien· The Water Babies – Charles Kingsley· Black Beauty – Anna Sewell· Iran: A Nation of Nose Jobs, Not Nuclear War – Peter HitchensPlease do get in touch, email: alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas'.Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Alex GrahamProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie EastA Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2014, the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks stood on the AJC Global Forum stage and delivered a powerful call to action: “We have to celebrate our Judaism. We have to have less oy and more joy… We never defined ourselves as victims. We never lost our sense of humor. Our ancestors were sometimes hated by gentiles, but they defined themselves as the people loved by God.” Over a decade later, at AJC Global Forum 2025, AJC's Director of Jewish Communal Partnerships, Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman, revisits that message in a special crossover episode between People of the Pod and Books and Beyond, the podcast of the Rabbi Sacks Legacy. She speaks with Dr. Tanya White, one of the inaugural Sacks Scholars and host of Books and Beyond, and Joanna Benarroch, Global Chief Executive of the Legacy, about Rabbi Sacks's enduring wisdom and what it means for the Jewish future. Resources: The State of the Jewish World Address: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks The Inaugural Sacks Conversation with Tony Blair Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus: Untold stories of Jews who left or were driven from Arab nations and Iran People of the Pod:  Latest Episodes:  “They Were Bridge Builders”: Remembering Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky AJC's CEO Ted Deutch: Messages That Moved Me After the D.C. Tragedy Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript of the Interview: Manya Brachear Pashman: On this week 16 years ago, the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks published Future Tense, a powerful vision of the future of Judaism, Jewish life, and the state of Israel in the 21st Century. Five years later, he delivered a progress report on that future to AJC Global Forum.  On the sidelines of this year's Global Forum, my colleague Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman spoke with two guests from the Rabbi Sacks Legacy, which was established after his death in 2020 to preserve and teach his timeless and universal wisdom. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:   In 2014, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks addressed our Global Forum stage to offer the state of the Jewish world. Modeled after the US President's State of the Union speech given every year before Congress and the American people, this address was intended to offer an overview of what the Jewish people were experiencing, and to look towards our future. The full video is available on AJC's website as well as the Sacks Legacy website. For today's episode, we are holding a crossover between AJC's People of the Pod podcast and Books and Beyond, the Rabbi Sacks podcast. On Books and Beyond, each episode features experts reflecting on particular works from Rabbi Sacks. Channeling that model, we'll be reflecting on Rabbi Sacks' State of the Jewish World here at AJC's 2025 Global Forum in New York. AJC has long taken inspiration from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and today, AJC and the Rabbi Sacks legacy have developed a close partnership. To help us understand his insights, I am joined by two esteemed guests. Dr. Tanya White is one of the inaugural Sacks Scholars and the founder and host of the podcast Books and Beyond, the Rabbi Sacks podcast. Joanna Benarroch is the Global Chief Executive of the Rabbi Sacks legacy. And prior to that, worked closely with Rabbi Sacks for over two decades in the Office of the Chief Rabbi.  Joanna, Tanya, thank you for being with us here at AJC's Global Forum.  Tanya White:   It's wonderful to be with you, Meggie. Joanna Benarroch:   Thank you so much, Meggie.  Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:   I want to get to the State of the Jewish World. I vividly remember that address. I was with thousands of people in the room, Jews from different walks of life, Jews from around the globe, as well as a number of non-Jewish leaders and dignitaries. And what was so special is that each of them held onto every single word.  He identifies these three areas of concern: a resurgence of antisemitism in Europe, delegitimization of Israel on the global stage, and the Iranian regime's use of terror and terror proxies towards Israel.  This was 2014, so with exception of, I would say today, needing to broaden, unfortunately, antisemitism far beyond Europe, to the skyrocketing rates we're living through today, it's really remarkable the foresight and the relevance that these areas he identified hold.  What do you think allowed Rabbi Sacks to see and understand these challenges so early, before many in the mainstream did? And how is his framing of antisemitism and its associated threats different from others? And I'll let  Tanya jump in and start. Tanya White:  So firstly, I think there was something very unique about Rabbi Sacks. You know, very often, since he passed, we keep asking the question, how was it that he managed to reach such a broad and diverse audience, from non Jews and even in the Jewish world, you will find Rabbi Sacks his books in a Chabad yeshiva, even a Haredi yeshiva, perhaps, and you will find them in a very left, liberal Jewish institution. There's something about his works, his writing, that somehow fills a space that many Jews of many denominations and many people, not just Jews, are searching for. And I think this unique synthesis of his knowledge, he was clearly a religious leader, but he wasn't just uniquely a religious leader.  He was a scholar of history, of philosophy, of political thought, and the ability to, I think, be able to not just read and have the knowledge, but to integrate the knowledge with what's going on at this moment is something that takes extreme prowess and a very deep sense of moral clarity that Rabbi Sacks had. And I would say more than moral clarity, is a moral imagination. I think it was actually Tony Blair. He spoke about the fact that Rabbi Sacks had this ability, this kind of, I think he even used the term moral imagination, that he was able to see something that other people just couldn't see.  Professor Berman from University of Bar Ilan, Joshua Berman, a brilliant Bible scholar. So he was very close to Rabbi Sacks, and he wrote an article in Israeli, actually, an Israeli newspaper, and he was very bold in calling Rabbi Sacks a modern day prophet.  What is a prophet? A prophet is someone who is able to see a big picture and is able to warn us when we're veering in the wrong direction. And that's what you see in the AJC address, and it's quite incredible, because it was 11 years ago, 2014. And he could have stood up today and said exactly the same thing. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:  But there is nonetheless a new antisemitism. Unlike the old it isn't hatred of Jews for being a religion. It isn't hatred of Jews as a race. It is hatred of Jews as a sovereign nation in their own land, but it has taken and recycled all the old myths. From the blood libel to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  Though I have to confess, as I said to the young leaders this morning, I have a very soft spot for antisemites, because they say the nicest things about Jews. I just love the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Because, according to this, Jews control the banks, Jews control the media, Jews control the world. Little though they know, we can't even control a shul board meeting. Tanya White:  So what's fascinating is, if you look at his book Future Tense, which was penned in 2009.The book itself is actually a book about antisemitism, and you'll note its title is very optimistic, Future Tense, because Rabbi Sacks truly, deeply believed, even though he understood exactly what antisemitism was, he believed that antisemitism shouldn't define us. Because if antisemitism defines who we are, we'll become the victims of external circumstances, rather than the agents of change in the future.  But he was very precise in his description of antisemitism, and the way in which he describes it has actually become a prism through which many people use today. Some people don't even quote him. We were discussing it yesterday, Joanna, he called it a mutating virus, and he speaks about the idea that antisemitism is not new, and in every generation, it comes in different forms. But what it does is like a virus. It attacks the immune system by mutating according to how the system is at the time.  So for example, today, people say, I'm not antisemitic, I'm just anti-Zionist. But what Rabbi Sacks said is that throughout history, when people sought to justify their antisemitism, they did it by recourse to the highest source of authority within that culture. So for example, in the Middle Ages, the highest recourse of authority was religion. So obviously we know the Christian pogroms and things that happen were this recourse the fact, well, the Jews are not Christians, and therefore we're justified in killing them.  In the Enlightenment period, it was science. So we have the and the Scientific Study of Race, right and Social Darwinism, which was used to predicate the Nazi ideology. Today, the highest value is, as we all know, human rights.  And so the virus of antisemitism has mutated itself in order to look like a justification of human rights. If we don't challenge that, we are going to end up on the wrong side of history. And unfortunately, his prediction we are seeing come very much to light today. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  I want to turn to a different topic, and this actually transitioned well, because Tanya, you raised Prime Minister Tony Blair. Joanna, for our listeners who may have less familiarity with Rabbi Sacks, I would love for you to fill in a larger picture of Rabbi Sacks as one of the strongest global Jewish advocates of our time. He was a chief rabbi, his torah knowledge, his philosophical works make him truly a religious and intellectual leader of our generation.  At the same time, he was also counsel to the royal family, to secular thought leaders, world leaders, and in his remarks here at Global Forum, he actually raised addressing leading governing bodies at the European Union at that time, including Chancellor Merkel. These are not the halls that rabbis usually find themselves in. So I would love for you to explain to our audience, help us understand this part of Rabbi Sacks' life and what made him so effective in it.  Joanna Benarroch:  Thanks, Meggie. Over the last couple of weeks, I spent quite a bit of time with people who have been interested in learning more about Rabbi Sacks and looking at his archive, which we've just housed at the National Library in Israel. Then I spent quite a significant amount of time with one of our Sacks Scholars who's doing a project on exactly this.  How did he live that Judaism, engaged with the world that he wrote so eloquently about when he stepped down as chief rabbi. And a couple of days ago, I got an email, actually sent to the Sacks Scholar that I spent time with, from the gifted archivist who's working on cataloging Rabbi Sacks' archive. She brought our attention to a video that's on our website.  Rabbi Sacks was asked by a young woman who was a student at Harvard doing a business leadership course, and she asked Rabbi Sacks for his help with her assignment. So he answered several questions, but the question that I wanted to bring to your attention was: what difference have you sought to make in the world?  The difference that he sought to make in the world, and this is what he said, “is to make Judaism speak to people who are in the world, because it's quite easy being religious in a house of worship, in a synagogue or church, or even actually at home or in the school. But when you're out there in the marketplace, how do you retain those strong values?  And secondly, the challenge came from University. I was studying philosophy at a time when there were virtually no philosophers who were religious believers, or at least, none who were prepared to publicly confess to that. So the intellectual challenges were real. So how do you make Judaism speak to people in those worlds, the world of academic life, the world of economy?  And in the end, I realized that to do that credibly, I actually had to go into the world myself, whether it was broadcasting for the BBC or writing for The Times, and getting a little street cred in the world itself, which actually then broadened the mission. And I found myself being asked by politicians and people like that to advise them on their issues, which forced me to widen my boundaries.” So from the very beginning, I was reminded that John–he wrote a piece. I don't know if you recall, but I think it was in 2005, maybe a little bit earlier. He wrote a piece for The Times about the two teenagers killed a young boy, Jamie Bulger, and he wrote a piece in The Times. And on the back of that, John Major, the prime minister at the time, called him in and asked him for his advice.  Following that, he realized that he had something to offer, and what he would do is he would host dinners at home where he would bring key members of either the parliament or others in high positions to meet with members of the Jewish community. He would have one on one meetings with the Prime Minister of the time and others who would actually come and seek his advice and guidance.  As Tanya reflected, he was extremely well read, but these were books that he read to help him gain a better understanding into the world that we're living in. He took his time around general elections to ring and make contact with those members of parliament that had got in to office, from across the spectrum. So he wasn't party political. He spoke to everybody, and he built up. He worked really hard on those relationships.  People would call him and say so and so had a baby or a life cycle event, and he would make a point of calling and making contact with them. And you and I have discussed the personal effect that he has on people, making those building those relationships. So he didn't just do that within the Jewish community, but he really built up those relationships and broaden the horizons, making him a sought after advisor to many.  And we came across letters from the current king, from Prince Charles at the time, asking his guidance on a speech, or asking Gordon Brown, inviting him to give him serious advice on how to craft a good speech, how long he should speak for? And Gordon Brown actually gave the inaugural annual lecture, Memorial Lecture for Rabbi Sacks last in 2023 and he said, I hope my mentor will be proud of me.  And that gave us, I mean, it's emotional talking about it, but he really, really worked on himself. He realized he had something to offer, but also worked on himself in making his ideas accessible to a broad audience. So many people could write and can speak. He had the ability to do both, but he worked on himself from quite a young age on making his speeches accessible. In the early days, they were academic and not accessible. Why have a good message if you can't share it with a broad audience? Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  What I also am thinking about, we're speaking, of course, here at an advocacy conference. And on the one hand, part of what you're describing are the foundations of being an excellent Jewish educator, having things be deeply accessible.  But the other part that feels very relevant is being an excellent global Jewish advocate is engaging with people on all sides and understanding that we need to engage with whomever is currently in power or may who may be in power in four years. And it again, speaks to his foresight.  Joanna Benarroch:  You know, to your point about being prophetic, he was always looking 10, 15, 20 years ahead. He was never looking at tomorrow or next week. He was always, what are we doing now that can affect our future? How do I need to work to protect our Jewish community? He was focused whilst he was chief rabbi, obviously on the UK, but he was thinking about the global issues that were going to impact the Jewish community worldwide. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  Yes. I want to turn to the antidote that Rabbi Sacks proposed when he spoke here at Global Forum. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:  I will tell you the single most important thing we have to do, more important than all the others. We have to celebrate our Judaism. We have to have less oy and more joy.  Do you know why Judaism survived? I'll tell you. Because we never defined ourselves as victims. Because we never lost our sense of humor. Because never in all the centuries did we internalize the disdain of the world. Yes, our ancestors were sometimes hated by gentiles, but they defined themselves as the people loved by God. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  So he highlights the need to proudly embrace the particularism of Judaism, which really in today's world, feels somewhat at odds with the very heavy reliance we have on universalism in Western society. And underpinning this, Rabbi Sacks calls on us to embrace the joy of Judaism, simchatah, Chaim, or, as he so fittingly puts it, less oy and more joy. How did both of these shape Rabbi Sacks's wider philosophy and advocacy, and what do they mean for us today? Tanya White:  Rabbi Sacks speaks about the idea of human beings having a first and second language. On a metaphorical level, a second language is our particularities. It's the people, it's the family we're born. We're born into. It's where we learn who we are. It's what we would call today in sociology, our thick identity. Okay, it's who, who I am, what I believe in, where I'm going to what my story is. But all of us as human beings also have a first language. And that first language can be, it can manifest itself in many different ways. First language can be a specific society, a specific nation, and it can also be a global my global humanity, my first language, though, has to, I have to be able to speak my first language, but to speak my first language, meaning my universal identity, what we will call today, thin identity. It won't work if I don't have a solid foundation in my thick identity, in my second language. I have nothing to offer my first language if I don't have a thick, particular identity.  And Rabbi Sacks says even more than that. As Jews, we are here to teach the world the dignity of difference. And this was one of Rabbi Sacks' greatest messages. He has a book called The Dignity of Difference, which he wrote on the heels of 9/11. And he said that Judaism comes and you have the whole story of Babel in the Bible, where the people try to create a society that is homogenous, right? The narrative begins, they were of one people and one language, you know, and what, and a oneness of things. Everyone was the same. And Rabbi Sacks says that God imposes diversity on them. And then sees, can they still be unified, even in their diversity? And they can't.  So Rabbi Sacks answers that the kind of antidote to that is Abraham. Who is Abraham? Abraham the Ivri. Ivri is m'ever, the other. Abraham cut this legacy. The story of Abraham is to teach the world the dignity of difference.  And one of the reasons we see antisemitism when it rears its head is when there is no tolerance for the other in society. There is no tolerance for the particular story. For my second language. For the way in which I am different to other people. There's no real space for diversity, even when we may use hashtags, okay, or even when we may, you know, proclaim that we are a very diverse society. When there is no space for the Jew, that's not true dignifying of difference. And so I think for Rabbi Sacks, he told someone once that one of his greatest, he believed, that one of his greatest novelties he brought into the world was the idea of Torah and chochma, which is torah and wisdom, universal wisdom. And Rabbi Sacks says that we need both.  We need to have the particularity of our identity, of our language, of our literacy, of where we came from, of our belief system. But at the same time, we also need to have universal wisdom, and we have to constantly be oscillating and be kind of trying to navigate the space between these two things. And that's exactly what Rabbi Sacks did.  And so I would say, I'll actually just finish with a beautiful story that he used to always tell. He would tell the story, and he heard this story from the late Lubavitcher, Menachem Schneerson, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who was a very big influence on Rabbi Sacks and the leader of the Chabad movement.  So in the story, there's two people that are schlepping rocks up a mountain, two workers, and one of them just sees his bags that are full of rocks and just sees no meaning or purpose in his work. The other understands that he's carrying diamonds in his bag.  And one day they get a different bag, and in that bag there's rubies, and the person who carries the rocks sees the rubies as rocks, again, sees that as a burden. But the person who's carrying the rubies and understands their value, even though they may not be diamonds, understands the values of the stones, will see them in a different way.  The Lubavitcher Rebbe said, if we see our identity, our Judaism, as stones to carry as a burden that we have to just schlep up a mountain, then we won't see anyone else's particular religion or particular belief system or particularity as anything to be dignified or to be valued.  But if we see our religion as diamonds, we'll understand that other people's religions, though for me, they may be rubies, they're still of value. You have to understand that your religion is diamonds, and you have to know what your religion is, understand what it is. You have to embrace your particularity. You have to engage with it, value it, and then go out into the world and advocate for it. And that, to me, was exactly what Rabbi Sacks did. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  So much of what you're outlining is the underpinning of being a successful engager in interfaith and inter religious work. And Rabbi Sacks, of course, was such a leader there. At  AJC, we have taken inspiration from Rabbi Sacks and have long engaged in interfaith and inter-religious work, that's exactly a linchpin of it, of preaching one's own faith in order to engage with others. Tanya White:  That's the oy and the joy. For Rabbi Sacks, it's exactly that, if I see it as the oy, which is schlepping it up the mountain, well, I'm not going to be a very good advocate, but if I see it as the joy, then my advocacy, it's like it shines through. Joanna Benarroch:  It's very interesting, because he was interviewed by Christian Amanpour on CNN in 2014 just after he stepped down, as she she quoted the phrase “less oy and more joy” back to him, referring to his description of the Jewish community. When he came into office in 1991 he was worried about rising assimilation and out-marriage. And she said: How did you turn it around?  He said, “We've done the book of Lamentations for many centuries. There's been a lot of antisemitism and a lot of negativity to Jewish identity. And if you think of yourself, exactly as you're describing, as the people who get hated by others, or you've got something too heavy to carry, you're not going to want to hand that on to your children.  If you've got a very open society, the question is, why should I be anything in particular? Being Jewish is a very particular kind of Jewish identity, but I do feel that our great religious traditions in Judaism is the classic instance of this.  We have enormous gifts to offer in the 21st century, a very strong sense of community, very supportive families, a dedicated approach to education. And we do well with our children. We're a community that believes in giving. We are great givers, charitably and in other ways.  So I think when you stay firm in an identity, it helps you locate yourself in a world that sometimes otherwise can be seen to be changing very fast and make people very anxious. I think when you're rooted in a people that comes through everything that fate and history can throw at it, and has kept surviving and kept being strong and kept going, there's a huge thing for young people to carry with them.” And then he adds, to finish this interview, he said, “I think that by being what we uniquely are, we contribute to humanity what only we can give.” What Rabbi Sacks had was a deep sense of hope. He wore a yellow tie to give people hope and to make them smile. That's why he wore a yellow tie on major occasions. You know, sunshine, bringing hope and a smile to people's faces. And he had hope in humanity and in the Jewish people.  And he was always looking to find good in people and things. And when we talk about less oy and more joy. He took pleasure in the simple things in life. Bringing music into the community as a way to uplift and bring the community together.  We just spent a lovely Shabbat together with AJC, at the AJC Shabbaton with the students. And he would have loved nothing more than being in shul, in synagogue with the community and joining in.  Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  Thank you Joanna, and that's beautiful. I want to end our conversation by channeling how Rabbi Sacks concluded his 2014 address. He speaks about the need for Jewish unity at that time. Let's take a listen.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:  We must learn to overcome our differences and our divisions as Jews and work together as a global people. Friends, consider this extraordinary historical fact: Jews in history have been attacked by some of the greatest empires the world has ever known, empires that bestrode the narrow world like a colossus. That seemed invulnerable in their time. Egypt of the pharaohs, Assyria, Babylonia, the Alexandrian Empire, the Roman Empire, the medieval empires of Christianity and Islam, all the way up to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Each one of those, seemingly invulnerable, has been consigned to history, while our tiny people can still stand and sing Am Yisrael Chai. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  In Rabbi Sacks' A Letter in the Scroll, he talks about the seminal moment in his life when he most deeply understood Jewish peoplehood and unity. And that was 1967, the Six Day War, when the Jewish people, of course, witnessed the State of Israel on the brink of existential threat. To our AJC audience, this may ring particularly familiar because it was evoked in a piece by Mijal Bitton, herself a Sacks Scholar, a guest on our podcast, a guest Tanya on your podcast, who wrote a piece about a month after 10/7 titled "That Pain You're Feeling is Peoplehood'.  And that piece went viral in the Jewish world. And she draws this parallel between the moment that Rabbi Sacks highlights in 1967 and 10, seven, I should note, Tanya, of course, is referenced in that article that Mijal wrote. For our audiences, help us understand the centrality of peoplehood and unity to Rabbi Sacks' vision of Judaism. And as we now approach a year and a half past 10/7 and have seen the resurgence of certain communal fractures, what moral clarity can we take from Rabbi Sacks in this moment? Tanya White:  Okay, so it's interesting you talked about Mijal, because I remember straight after 7/10 we were in constant conversation–how it was impacting us, each of us in our own arenas, in different ways. And one of the things I said to her, which I found really comforting, was her constant ability to be in touch. And I think like this, you know, I like to call it after the name of a book that I read to my kid, The Invisible String. This idea that there are these invisible strings. In the book, the mother tells the child that all the people we love have invisible strings that connect us. And when we pull on the string, they feel it the other side.  1967 was the moment Rabbi Sacks felt that invisible pull on the string. They have a very similar trajectory. The seventh of October was the moment in which many, many Jews, who were perhaps disengaged, maybe a little bit ambivalent about their Jewish identity, they felt the tug of that invisible string. And then the question is, what do we do in order to maintain that connection? And I think for Rabbi Sacks, that was really the question. He speaks about 1967 being the moment in which he says, I realized at that moment every, you know, in Cambridge, and everything was about choice. And, you know, 1960s philosophy and enlightenment philosophy says, at that moment, I realized I hadn't chosen Judaism. Judaism had chosen me.  And from that moment forth, Rabbi Sacks feels as if he had been chosen. Judaism had chosen him for a reason. He was a Jew for a reason. And I think today, many, many Jews are coming back to that question. What does it mean that I felt that pull of the string on the seventh of October?  Rabbi Sacks' answer to that question of, where do we go from here? I think very simply, would be to go back to the analogy. You need to work out why Judaism is a diamond. And once you understand why Judaism is a diamond and isn't a burden to carry on my back, everything else will fall into place.  Because you will want to advocate for that particularity and what that particularity brings to the world. In his book, Future Tense, which, again, was a book about antisemitism, there was a picture of a lighthouse at the front of the book. That's how Rabbi Sacks saw the antidote for antisemitism, right? Is that we need to be the lighthouse. Because that's our role, globally, to be able to be the light that directs the rest of the world when they don't know where they're going. And we are living in a time of dizziness at the moment, on every level, morally, sociologically, psychologically, people are dizzy. And Judaism has, and I believe this is exactly what Rabbi Sacks advocated for, Judaism has a way to take us out of that maze that we found ourselves in. And so I think today, more than ever, in response to you, yes, it is peoplehood that we feel. And then the question is, how do we take that feeling of peoplehood and use it towards really building what we need to do in this world. The advocacy that Judaism needs to bring into the world. Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman:  We all have a role, a reason, a purpose. When Rabbi Sacks spoke to us a decade ago, more than a decade ago, at this point, those who were in the room felt the moral imperative to stand up to advocate and why, as Jews, we had that unique role.  I am so honored that today, now with Rabbi Sacks not here, you continue to give us that inspiration of why we are a letter in the scroll, why we must stand up and advocate. So thank you, Tanya and Joanna, for joining us at Global Forum and for this enlightening conversation. Tanya White:  Thank you so much for having us. Thank you. Joanna Benarroch:  Thank you so much.  Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed last week's episode, please be sure to listen as two AJC colleagues pay tribute to their friends Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky who were brutally murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May.   

The Global Power Shift has begun – The East Has a plan has UK lost the plot? As the West fumbles with political chaos, rising debt, and short-term thinking, the East powers ahead with vision and purpose. Countries like China, Malaysia, and the UAE are investing in infrastructure, education, and long-term strategy—while the UK seems stuck in a loop of tax hikes, red tape, and broken systems.  In this episode, I explore how global power is shifting fast—and why investors, entrepreneurs, and even families are looking East for opportunities, stability, and growth. What can you do to secure your financial future in this changing world? Has Britain lost the plot? Let's find out. Watch full video at Charles Kelly Money Tips Podcast - https://youtu.be/_5jK8oHuj8o China's multi-billion dollar ‘Belt and Road Initiative' project is linking three quarters of the world's countries - 150 nations through Road and Maritime former silk routes.  Linking countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and more.  They are building it, not talking about it for 30 years like we do in the UK. Successive governments have been debating expanding London's Heathrow Airport by one runway since the Beatles were together.  Take That and Taylor Swift were not even born!  Rail links across Laos and Cambodia to China allow farmers to deliver produce to the vast Chinese market in 6 days. Trade has exploded in SE Asia from car manufacturing, industry to education and agriculture. What can you do to secure your financial future in this changing world?  Check out my SMART MONEY COURSE - https://bit.ly/4klq0mv  As China expands its influence, where do you think countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East will look to for its future? America or China?  Who do they see as their friend when China is building trading links while America is ‘weaponizing' the dollar and telling them what to do? Why are more countries applying to join BRICS? Chinese overtook the US as Africa's largest trading partner in 2009. The West (Europe and America) has been asleep at the wheel for decades.  UK previously had strong links with African nations, (many of whom were given Independence after the Second World War as the empire declined), through the commonwealth. But with all due respect to the Royal Family, wheeling out the Queen to wave at the crowds every few years is not enough.  China is running rings around the west.  Unlike western democracies who can only plan as far as the next election, China has a long term vision and strategy.  Look what's happening in the Middle East in countries like Dubai, Qatar and Saudi which are all embarking on massive multibillion-dollar projects to reinvest their oil wealth for their future. They also attracting the brightest and the best entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists and IT people, while the UK is taxing them out of existence.  New World Order?  What do you think? China and many other Southeast Asian countries have a plan. The Middle East has a plan. What is the UK's plan? Tax and spend our money! Tax and spend our savings! Tax and spend our pensions! (Rachel Reeves is doing a Gordon Brown tax raid on pensions.  He bankrupted Britain). Tax business and landlords Tax jobs and employment Tax motorists Tax parents who send their children to private schools! The government is coming after YOUR money! They have already borrowed billions and can't afford to fund their fantasy schemes.  Where is the big thinking and long term vision? Where is the growth, green energy? Really? While they lurch from one crisis to the next, smart people, educated professionals, businesses and entrepreneurs are leaving the UK to go where they are appreciated. Have any of the top ministers ever run a large business? I wouldn't trust them with a market stall? What can you do? As Warren Buffett said, financial education is the key to building wealth. It's the stuff they don't teach you in school.  Learn how to build and protect wealth. Learn how to manage your money. Learn how to invest in assets rather than losing money by lending it to the banks.  Learn about the invisible taxes like inflation which is eating up your savings.  Learn about Gold and Silver, the only real money. Property Stocks and Shares I teach this and much more in my SMART MONEY COURSE – check out the link below: Join my SMART MONEY COURSE - - https://bit.ly/4klq0mv #GlobalPowerShift, #UKEconomy, #RiseOfTheEast, #ChinaStrategy, #MalaysiaMM2H, #InvestInAsia,  #BritainInDecline, #Geopolitics2025, #EastVsWest, #EmergingMarkets, #EconomicShift, #MoneyTipsPodcast, #SmartInvesting2025

The political masterminds are joined by former Tory cabinet minister David Gauke, fresh from leading the sentencing review for Keir Starmer's government. When does bringing people into the big tent work, and when is does it go wrong? They talk about Tony Blair's tsars, Gordon Brown's GOATS and Chris Grayling's gaffe.They also discuss cabinet tussles over the spending review, and Robert Jenrick's vigilante video tackling fare dodgers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iain Dale interviews Labour peer and political consultant Deborah Mattinson. They discuss the challenge of telling party leaders bad news, her work advising Keir Starmer as leader of the opposition and the drama around Gordon Brown not calling an election - and much more!

The former Labour prime minister speaks to the New Statesman Podcast about how the government can reduce levels of child poverty.Read: Gordon Brown: the moral economist Submit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.   As Sir Keir Starmer waves goodbye to the Chagos Islands and his planned cuts to the winter fuel allowance, Sam and Anne assess what it all means.   How much “backseat driving” on the winter fuel U-turn has come from former chancellor Gordon Brown? And what's the best way to implement a volte face?  And what do the Gauke reforms, set to be accepted by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, mean for our stretched prison and probation services? 

Fun fact: the only countries that own more bitcoin than the UK are the US (which own 207,000) and China (194,000). The UK has 61,000 bitcoin - worth almost $6 billion.They are mostly seized bitcoin, a lucky legacy from the early days when the UK was at the heart of bitcoin's evolution. (Remember Satoshi Nakamoto wrote in British English, the Times was referenced in the Genesis block, and many of the early conferences and meet-ups happened here). The FCA, in its wisdom, put a stop to all that, and so we fell behind.The stupidest thing our Chancellor can do, even with the parlous state of the national finances, is to sell those bitcoin. History would look back on her as an even greater fool than Gordon Brown for selling the national gold.This legacy has given the UK an extraordinary advantage in the global arms race that is bitcoin adoption. We would be mad to spurn it.Meanwhile, something extraordinary is taking place in the corporate world of bitcoin adoption, and I think it is going to accelerate rapidly very soon.It is being spearheaded by Michael Saylor, Chairman and Founder of Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR).I recommended MicroStrategy, as it used to be called, to readers back in August 2023, largely because it was a means to get bitcoin exposure via your broker. You wouldn't have to jump through all the hoops of buying bitcoin through exchanges, which the FCA has made so difficult.It has been a big win for readers, having more than 12x'd since we tipped it, outperforming bitcoin by a considerable margin. (Bear in mind it has undergone a 10-for-1 stock split since that article.)You really should upgrade your subscription :)Strategy now has some 555,450 bitcoin, meaning it has more bitcoin than any other publicly traded company in the world (excluding the ETFs, which now hold 1.35 million). Note again: there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins - rather less if you discount the 2.5 million that have likely been lost, and the 1.3 million that Satoshi never touched and probably never will).Saylor is also the world's most articulate and charismatic proponent of bitcoin. The man is a genius, and I do not use that word lightly. He has turned Strategy from a quiet, business intelligence software firm, which traded sideways for 20 years with a market cap less than $2 billion, into one of the most talked-about and traded stocks in North America with a market cap north of $100 billion. Options traders love it.His method for doing so - extraordinarily bold at the time, though now it looks easy - was brilliantly simple. He bought bitcoin. He was worried about the erosion of the value of the corporate treasury due to inflation and currency debasement. he started slowly. Then, in buying bitcoin and using it, as tends to happen, he caught the bitcoin bug. He started issuing paper - stock, debt, convertible notes - and bought more bitcoin. Just last week he bought another 1,895 bitcoin, funding the purchase with sales of common and preferred stock.In effect, he is creating money out of (almost) nothing and using it to buy the hardest money in the history of mankind. (Sorry, goldbugs - and you know I'm on your team - but bitcoin is harder money, because the supply is more finite).In doing so, he has enabled many of his investors to retire early.But he has also set in motion something quite extraordinary.Other companies are starting to follow his model. I'm surprised more haven't, but it takes extraordinary courage and vision to do what he did, as demonstrated by the fact that more companies haven't copied him. They're too cautious. Even with him having blazed the trail and shown the way.I think there's a very good chance Strategy becomes a trillion dollar company, while Michael Saylor becomes the world's richest man.To call the pre-bitcoin Strategy a zombie company is harsh, but it was not really going anywhere. Interestingly, it is zombie or near-zombie companies with large treasuries that are most likely to follow the Saylor model. Their need for a new direction is greater.Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently gave Saylor 5 minutes - 5 minutes! - to pitch his model to them, and duly ignored it. It is their loss. But Microsoft is Microsoft. At the moment, it doesn't need bitcoin, and it doesn't need to take the risk.GameStop (NYSE: GME), on the other hand, is a different matter. Remember GameStop from 2021 and all those memes during lockdown? The video game retailer had more than 3,000 outlets, and its business model was considered defunct. People buy games online now. But some private investors noted that the short position exceeded 100% of the issued shares of the company, and started buying. The ensuing short squeeze sent the stock from $17 to north of $500, and, it is said, almost broke Wall Street. (Not quite, but you get the point).The problem is GameStop's business model is somewhat defunct. This year, it closed over 400 stores. This week, it sold its Canadian outlets.But the company has about $4.7 billion in cash, low debt, and just raised another $1.5 billion, it announced.What does it do now?Bitcoin is the answer.We don't yet know how much it has bought, but its earnings call is on June 6, so perhaps we can expect an announcement then.The Japanese company Metaplanet (3350:TYO) is doing something similar. Formerly a zombie hotel company, now known as the “Asian MicroStrategy,” it has bought some 5,555 bitcoin. It bought another 555 this week after it issued its 13th set of bonds. The stock rose 40% on the news. Since spring 2024, when the company began its strategy, the stock has gone from below ¥20 to north of ¥600.The same thing is happening as happened to Saylor. Initially, the company bought it as a hedge against currency debasement. It discovered it was onto something. Now it is doing all it can to issue paper - bonds, warrants, stock, you name it - and use the proceeds to buy bitcoin.Perhaps GameStop will make a similar discovery.A year ago, Semler Scientific (NYSE: SMLR), which provides technology products and services for healthcare providers, made its first purchase of bitcoin: 581. It couldn't stop accumulating. Now it has 3,467 bitcoin.Sol Strategies (CA:HODL), my old company, is doing something similar for Solana, having just announced a $500 million convertible note. This company had a market cap of barely C$20 million a few months ago.What started as a trickle is starting to flow. The more companies that do this, the bigger the rush is going to get. Corporations are changing they way they store capital. They are changing the capital they store.The implications for how corporates hold their treasuries are one thing. The implications for fiat money are extraordinary. Issue debt - ie create money - and buy hard digital assets with it. This is going to be a big, big theme in the next few years.If you enjoyed this article, please like it, share it, all that stuff :) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

To Snap or Not to Snap?... As we turn to October 2007, election fever has taken over the UK - everyone from journalists to the opposition to Ed Balls himself is expecting Gordon Brown to call a snap general election. But with the polls lurching back towards the Tories, Brown gets cold feet. In the final episode of this series, Deborah Mattinson rejoins the series to recall those final war room discussions with Gordon Brown himself and his closest advisors, discussions that end up with the election… aborted. Brown chooses to make this public in a blockbuster Downing Street interview with Andrew Marr, who joins us in the studio for the second half of the show to take us behind the scenes at that momentous juncture. How did he end up with the scoop, what was Gordon Brown's demeanor in the room, and why did he decide to break the news as soon as he walked out the door of number 10? To listen our bonus 'The Inquiry' episode, where Ed and George reflect on this series, sign up to Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. Head to Apple Podcasts or www.patreon.com/PoliticalCurrency to find out more. Producers: John Rogers and Miriam HallTechnical Producer: Danny PapeExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford and Dino SofosPolitical Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Election Speculation... Labour had a substantial lead in the polls in 2007, fuelling talk of a snap general election to cement Gordon Brown's place in Number 10. And things only got better as the party arrived in Bournemouth for their party conference. By the end of it, election fever was well and truly in the air.To listen to episode 3 straight away, sign up to Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. Head to Apple Podcasts or www.patreon.com/PoliticalCurrency to find out more. Subscribers will also get exclusive access to 'The Inquiry' - our bonus episode where Ed and George give their reflections on the series.EPISODE 2: Labour's rivals had to follow the show, and shadow chancellor George Osborne had an ace up his sleeve to unveil at their own conference in Blackpool: a hugely popular cut on inheritance tax. David Cameron followed it up with his own surprise move, a ‘no-notes' speech that was well received. Suddenly, the polls swung back, erasing the Labour lead in less than a week. Deborah Mattinson - a key pollster for Gordon Brown - continues in the studio with George and Ed to relive these tumultuous couple of weeks.Producers: John Rogers and Miriam HallTechnical Producer: Danny PapeExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford and Dino SofosPolitical Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deborah Mattinson joined the House of Lords as a Labour peer in February. Her involvement in politics began when she worked alongside Peter Mandelson and Philip Gould to create Labour's Shadow Communications Agency for Neil Kinnock. In 1992 she co-founded Opinion Leader Research, and she went on to advise Tony Blair ahead of the 1997 election and later became Gordon Brown's chief pollster. In 2021 she was appointed Director of Strategy for Keir Starmer, a position she held until stepping down following last year's landslide victory. On the podcast, Deborah tells Katy Balls about growing up as a Labour supporter with a father active in local Tory politics, the work hard/play hard culture of advertising in the 1980s and how to decipher what voters really think during focus groups. They also talk about the differences between the 1987, ‘92, and ‘97 campaigns, the ‘Hero voters' that were key to Labour's electoral success in 2024 and how Labour can best tackle the threat from Reform today. With experience working with Labour spanning four decades, they touch on the Labour giants she worked with, including Alf (now Lord) Dubs, Peter (now Ambassador – also Lord) Mandelson and, more recently, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Deborah Mattinson joined the House of Lords as a Labour peer in February. Her involvement in politics began when she worked alongside Peter Mandelson and Philip Gould to create Labour's Shadow Communications Agency for Neil Kinnock. In 1992 she co-founded Opinion Leader Research, and she went on to advise Tony Blair ahead of the 1997 election and later became Gordon Brown's chief pollster. In 2021 she was appointed Director of Strategy for Keir Starmer, a position she held until stepping down following last year's landslide victory. On the podcast, Deborah tells Katy Balls about growing up as a Labour supporter with a father active in local Tory politics, the work hard/play hard culture of advertising in the 1980s and how to decipher what voters really think during focus groups. They also talk about the differences between the 1987, ‘92, and ‘97 campaigns, the ‘Hero voters' that were key to Labour's electoral success in 2024 and how Labour can best tackle the threat from Reform today. With experience working with Labour spanning four decades, they touch on the Labour giants she worked with, including Alf (now Lord) Dubs, Peter (now Ambassador – also Lord) Mandelson and, more recently, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Gordon Brown tells BH that the full effects of the world's economic shock are yet to be felt. He says immediate multinational cooperation is needed.

Tom in for Nick and joined by Jane Mangan who argues the UK Trainers' Championship is no forgone conclusion! The voice of Scottish racing Gordon Brown tells us why the Coral Scottish National meeting is so special. Macdermott is back in the race to defend his crown this year and we hear from his owner Pat Gallagher about his chances this year. Sadly no Apple Away in the race but the man who bought her (and Whistle Stop Tour who lines up on the card), Paul McIvor, tells us what he'll be looking for at next week's Tattersalls Cheltenham sale. With news that Inothewayurthinkin will not run again this season we hear from trainer Gavin Cromwell who also takes us through his Irish National hopefuls. William Haggas is along to talk Dubai Honour ahead of a bid for more Australian silverware in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday and Christophe Lemaire also joins ahead of his first ever ride in Sydney. And Sporting Life's Dave Ord is with us providing something for the weekend.

Loose Ends this week is all about finding the light. Poet, performer and broadcaster Michael Rosen is touring a one man show making sense of some of the darker moments of his life. Dylan Jones was the editor of era-defining magazines like i-D, Arena and British GQ in the 1990s and noughties. Now his memoir, These Foolish Things - tells how he left behind a difficult childhood to embrace a career that encompasses hobnobbing with celebrities from Elton John to Tracey Emin, taking phone calls from David Bowie and recommending a tailor to Gordon Brown. There's dark themes too to the Texan comedian Kemah Bob's new show Miss Fortunate which tells the story of a disastrous solo trip to Thailand. It was hailed as "chest-achingly funny" and "charismatic" by the critics and won her a Best Newcomer nomination at Edinburgh Festival Last year. The actress Barbara Flynn knows how to pick her projects, appearing in Cracker, Cranford and now the BBC's hit drama Beyond Paradise where cosy crime meets health concerns, heated relationships and family niggles. With music by the winner of Channel 4's talent show The Piano Brad Kella, who is about to tour with Take That's Gary Barlow and the folk singer and protest song writer Grace Petrie.Presented by Stuart Maconie Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy

Spring has nearly sprung, but the fiscal forecasts made for a rather gloomy spring statement for Rachel Reeves. Stewart Wood, a Labour peer and former adviser to Gordon Brown, joins the podcast team to assess the state of the economy - and Reeves's attempts to turn it around.  How much will welfare cuts upset Labour backbenchers? What could Donald Trump's tariffs mean for Reeves's plans? And just how difficult are the choices awaiting the chancellor as the spending review approaches? Plus: New IfG research focuses on left behind groups - and sets out some of the tensions in how the government is approaching one of its missions and milestones. Presented by Alex Thomas. With Jill Rutter, Gemma Tetlow and Sophie Metcalfe. Produced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joining Iain Dale on Cross Question this evening are Labour MP Stella Creasy, Conservative MP and former net zero minister Graham Stuart, Theo Bertram of the Social Market Foundation think tank (who also used to work for TikTok and Gordon Brown) and LBC's political editori Natasha Clark.

Gyles really enjoyed meeting this week's guest, Ed Balls, because he enjoyed bonding over their shared experience of Westminster. And the political gossip and insight in this chat is fascinating - from a very funny behind-the-scenes account of the famous dinner at Granita in Islington at which Tony Blair and Gordon Brown thrashed out their leadership in 1997; to a description of what it's like to lose a seat as an MP (like being at your own funeral, apparently). But there's much more than politics, here. This is also the fascinating story of Ed himself, his humble Norfolk beginnings, his academic success, his early journalistic career, his marriage to fellow Labour Party high-flier, Yvette Cooper, and why it's best to lean in to a mid-life crisis. We hope you enjoy this week's brilliant edition, and thank you very much to Ed for your time, warmth and fabulous company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gyles really enjoyed meeting this week's guest, Ed Balls, because he enjoyed bonding over their shared experience of Westminster. And the political gossip and insight in this chat is fascinating - from a very funny behind-the-scenes account of the famous dinner at Granita in Islington at which Tony Blair and Gordon Brown thrashed out their leadership in 1997; to a description of what it's like to lose a seat as an MP (like being at your own funeral, apparently). But there's much more than politics, here. This is also the fascinating story of Ed himself, his humble Norfolk beginnings, his academic success, his early journalistic career, his marriage to fellow Labour Party high-flier, Yvette Cooper, and why it's best to lean in to a mid-life crisis. We hope you enjoy this week's brilliant edition, and thank you very much to Ed for your time, warmth and fabulous company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a return! The Chancellor is exceptional form as she discusses Trump, tariffs, the threat of Reform and the inside story of when her hair turned ginger. This interview has it all. The realities of life in government plus invaluable advice for creating the perfect Yorkshire Pudding. Oh and a brilliant story about Gordon Brown's tribute to John Prescott... The next guests at The Duchess Theatre are: 10 March: Alastair Campbell31 March: Anthony Scaramucci12 May: Wes Streeting9 June: Kemi Badenoch14 July: Michael Gove Get tickets for all shows here: https://nimaxtheatres.com/shows/the-political-party-with-matt-forde/ SEE Matt at on tour until April 2025, including his extra date at The Bloomsbury Theatre: https://www.mattforde.com/live-shows12 February: Bath, Komedia13 February: Southend, Palace Theatre16 February: Cambridge, The Junction20 February: Nottingham, Lakeside Arts23 February: Brighton, Komedia25 February: Cardiff, Glee Club26 February: Bury St Edmunds, Theatre Royal28 February: Chelmsford Theatre 2 March: Bristol, Hen and Chickens (Matinee)2 March: Bristol, Tobacco Factory4 March: Colchester Arts Centre 6 March: Birmingham, Glee Club7 March: Maidenhead, Norden Farm11 March: Aberdeen, Lemon Tree12 March: Glasgow, Glee Club27 March: Oxford, Glee Club28 March: Nottingham, Lakeside Arts Centre4 April: London, Bloomsbury Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Labour heavyweight John Prescott's funeral took place yesterday with former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown leading the tributes. What is Prescott's legacy? And does the current Labour Party have politicians that emulate his appeal? Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and former Blair adviser John McTernan about how Prescott was the glue that held Labour together during the Blair-Brown years. Also on the podcast, they discuss the borders and migration bill which Labour published this week. The bill sees the government adopt many measures that they voted against when in opposition. Does this show that Labour have what it takes to tackle immigration? Meanwhile the Conservatives still haven't come to terms with their own legacy on migration, as shown by shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel's comments to Talk TV... Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Gavin Newsom smiles and claps as California burns… The British PM responded to Elon Musk's posts about the sexual exploitation gangs in prison. And here is a pastor who demonstrated how one can make people hate everything to do with Jesus.Episode Links:"This is like a third-world country, there is no water coming out of the fire hydrants. LA Mayor Karen Bass is on a foreign trip to Ghana." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass should resign now!Look at @GavinNewsom clapping and smiling when dementia joe accounces he is a grandpa while SoCal burns. This pathetic man needs to resign.LAFD Chief is being hailed as the first female and LGBTQ fire chief in Los Angeles. She says her priority is DEI. There's no water to fight the wildfire in Los Angeles! Resign Now! California deserves better!This county worker and ‘environmentalist' harasses these homeowners for their grill smoke. He claims that BBQ smoke is illegal! What would you say to this guy?This reporter just sat here and showered the mayor of Los Angeles with scathing questions for being MIA during the fires.Ex-police officer Dionne Miller. "The British Labour Government ( Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith ) wilfully allowed British children to become prey to Pakistani rape gangs. They issued a BLANKET BAN on investigations." Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith should be in Prison!He did it. Starmer did the meme. I hope you face the wrath of the fathers whose daughters were brutalized by the Islamis, @Keir_Starmer. You bloody coward."Why don't you lengthen that dress baby? Then you wonder why so many men are raping so many women." -'Pastor' John Koletas of Grace Baptist Church rages against 'Jezebel' women who wear makeup and paint their toenails, blaming them for being assaulted.Wisdom Nutrition https://trywisdomnow.com/toddStock up on Wisdom for 33% off plus free shipping. Visit trywisdomnow.com/toddAlan's Soaps ttps://www.alansartisansoaps.comUse coupon code ‘TODD' to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bonefrog https://bonefrogcoffee.com/toddMake Bonefrog Cold Brew at home!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.Bulwark Capital Bulwark Capital Management (bulwarkcapitalmgmt.com)Get a second opinion on the health of your retirement portfolio today.  Schedule your free Know Your Risk Portfolio review go to KnowYourRiskRadio.com today.My Pillow https://mypillow.com/toddUse promo code TODD to save big on the entire MyPillow classic Collection with the Standard starting at only $14.88.  Renue Healthcare https://renue.healthcare/toddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit renue.healthcare/Todd