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Americans, it's time to move to Europe! The American geo-strategist Jason Pack anticipated last week's advice from Simon Kuper and moved to London a few years ago during the first Trump Presidency. Pack, the host of the excellent Disorder podcast, confesses to be thrilled to have escaped MAGA America. He describes the esthetics of contemporary Washington DC as "post-apocalyptic" and criticizes what he sees as the Trump administration's hostile atmosphere, ideological purity tests, and institutional destruction. Contrasting this with Europe's ideological fluidity, Pack warns that Trump's isolationist policies are increasing global disorder by fundamentally undermining America's global leadership role with its erstwhile European allies. Five Key Takeaways* Pack left America because he found the "esthetics" of working in policy and media spaces increasingly distasteful, particularly during Trump's first administration.* He argues that European political systems allow for greater ideological fluidity, while American politics demands strict partisan loyalty.* Pack describes Washington DC as "post-apocalyptic" with institutions functioning like zombies - going through motions without accomplishing anything meaningful.* Unlike European populists who want to control institutions, Pack believes Trump's administration aims to destroy government institutions entirely.* Pack warns that America's deteriorating relationships with traditional allies is creating a "rudderless world" with increased global disorder and potential for conflict. Full TranscriptAndrew Keen: Hello, everybody. Over the last few days, we've been focusing on the impressions of America, of Trump's America around the world. We had the Financial Times' controversial columnist, Simon Cooper, on the show, arguing that it's the end of the American dream. He had a piece in the FT this week, arguing that it's time to move to Europe for Americans. Not everyone agrees. We had the London-based FT writer Jemima Kelly on the show recently, also suggesting that she hasn't quite given up on America. She is, of course, a Brit living in the UK and looking at America from London. My guest today, another old friend, is Jason Pack. He is the host of the Excellent Disorder podcast. Jason's been on the shows lots of times before. He's an observer of the world's early 21st century disorder. And he is an American living in London. So I'm thrilled that Jason is back on the show. Jason, did you have a chance to look at Simon Cooper's piece? Is it time for Americans to move to Europe?Jason Pack: You've already moved. Well, he's just popularizing what I've believed for eight or 10 years already. So yeah, I looked at the piece. I really enjoyed your podcast with him. I don't think many Americans will move because most Americans are not particularly global in their outlook. And as disenchanted as they will be, their networks of family and of perspective are in America. Some elites in media and finance will move. But for me, I just found the aesthetics of America becoming distasteful when I worked in D.C. during the first Trump administration. And that's why I pursued a European citizenship.Andrew Keen: Jason, it's interesting that you choose the word aesthetics. Two thoughts on that. Firstly, America has never been distinguished for its aesthetics. People never came to America for aesthetics. It's never been a particularly beautiful country, a very dynamic place, a very powerful place. So why do you choose that word aesthetic?Jason Pack: Because for most upper middle class Americans, life under Trump, particularly if they're white and heterosexual, will not change tremendously. But the aesthetics of working in the policy space or in the media will change. Having to deal with all the BS that we hear when we wake up and turn on the TV in the morning, having to interact with Republican nutcase friends who say, oh, the fat is being trimmed by the doge and don't worry about all those people who've been being laid off. The aesthetics of it are ugly and mean. And I have found among some Republican colleagues and friends of mine that they love the vileness of this dog-eat-dog aesthetic.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's an interesting way of putting it. And I understand exactly what you're saying. I'm less concerned with the aesthetics as with the reality. And my sense in some ways of what's happening is that the Trump people are obsessed with what you call aesthetics. They want to appear mean. I'm not actually sure that they're quite as mean as they'd like to think they are.Jason Pack: Oh, they're pretty mean. I mean, people are running around the NIH offices, according to colleagues of mine. And if you're out to the bathroom and your card is inserted in your computer, they go in, they steal the data from your computer.Andrew Keen: Actually, I take your point. What I meant more by that is that whereas most traditional authoritarian regimes hide their crimes against migrants. They deny wrongdoing. My sense of the Trump regime, or certainly a lot of the people involved in this Trump administration, is that they actually exaggerate it because it gives them pleasure and it somehow benefits their brand. I'm not convinced that they're quite as bad as they'd like to think.Jason Pack: Oh, I agree with that. They make Schadenfreude a principle. They want to showcase that they enjoy other people's pain. It's a bizarre psychological thing. Trump, for example, wanted to show his virility and his meanness, probably because he's an inner coward and he's not that feral. But we digress in terms of the aesthetics of the individual American wanting to leave. I experienced American government, like the State Department, and then, the bureaucracy of the policy space, say think tanks, or even the government relations trade space, say working for oil companies and government relations, as already authoritarian and ass-kissing in America, and the aesthetics of those industries I have always preferred in Europe, and that's only diverging.Andrew Keen: One of the things that always struck me about Washington, D.C. It was always uncomfortable as an imperial city. It always has been since the end of the Second World War, with America dominating the world as being one of two or perhaps the only super power in the world. But Washington, DC seems to always have been uncomfortable wearing its imperial mantle cloak in comparison, I think, to cities like London or Paris. I wonder whether, I'm not sure how much time you've spent back in America since Trump came back to power. I wonder if in that sense DC is trying to catch up with London and Paris.Jason Pack: I actually was giving a briefing in Congress to staffers of the House Foreign Affairs Committee only three weeks ago, and DC seemed post-apocalyptic to me. Many of my favorite restaurants were closing. There was traffic jams at bizarre hours of the day, which I think this is because the Trump people don't know how public transport works and they just ride their cars everywhere. So, yes, it seemed very bizarre being back. You were trying to gauge the interlocutor you were speaking to, were they merely pretending to be on board with Trump's stuff, but they actually secretly think it's ridiculous, or were they true believers? And you had to assess that before you would make your comments. So there is a slide to a kind of, again, neo-authoritarian aesthetic. In my conference, it became clear that the Republican Congressional staffers thought that it was all junk and that Trump doesn't care about Libya and he doesn't understand these issues. But we needed to make lip service in how we expressed our recommendations. So, fascinatingly, various speakers said, oh, there's a transactional win. There's a way that cheaper oil can be gotten here or we could make this policy recommendation appeal to the transactional impulses of the administration. Even though everyone knew that we were speaking in a Democrat echo-chamber where the only Republicans present were anti-Trump Republicans anyway.Andrew Keen: Describe DC as post-apocalyptic. What exactly then, Jason, is the apocalypse?Jason Pack: I don't think that the Trump people who are running the show understand how government works and whether you're at state or the NIH or USAID, you're kind of under siege and you're just doing what you're supposed to do and going through the motions. I mean, there's so much of like the zombie apocalypse going on. So maybe it's more zombie apocalypse than regular apocalypse, whereby the institutions are pretending to do their work, but they know that it doesn't accomplish anything. And the Trumpian appointees are kind of pretending to kind of cancel people on DAI, but the institutions are still continuing.Andrew Keen: I'm going to vulgarize something you said earlier. You talked about Trump wanting to appear bigger than he actually is. Maybe we might call that small penis syndrome. Is that, and then that's my term, Jason, let's be clear, not yours. Maybe it's fair or not. He probably would deny it, but I don't think he'll come on this show. He's more than welcome. Is that also reflected in the people working for him? Is there a bit of a small penis syndrome going on with a lot of the Trump people? Are they small town boys coming to America, coming to D.C. And in all their raison d'état trying to smash up the world that they always envied?Jason Pack: 100%. If you look at the Tucker Carlson and the Hegset, who went to Princeton in 03, and obviously Tucker Carlsen's WASP elite background is well known, they wanted to make it conventionally and couldn't. Hegson didn't achieve the rank of lieutenant general or colonel or anything in the army. He didn't make it in finance and Vance, obviously had just a minor career in finance, they didn't make the big time except through their hate and resentment of the establishment that succeeded on merit. So, I mean, you could call that small penis syndrome. I think another thing to point out is that many of them have been selected because whether they've been accused of rape or financial crimes or just meanness, they owe the great leader their ability to be in that position. And if he would throw them overboard they're entirely exposed, so that cash patels of the world and the Hexeds of the world serve at the mercy of the great leader, because if they were thrown to the wolves, they could be devoured for their misdeeds. And I think that that makes it a place where it's all about loyalty to the boss. But maybe we could pivot to the initial topic about how I think Europe is a place where you can reinvent yourself as an individual now. Certainly in the political and ideology space, and America really hasn't been for much of my left.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's interesting. And this is how actually our conversation you're doing. You're a much better podcast host than I am, Jason. You're reminding us of the real conversation rather than getting led down one Trumpian byway or another. I did a show recently on why I still believe in the American dream. And I was interviewed by my friend, David Maschiottra, another old friend of the show. And I suggested I originally came to America to reinvent myself and that's always been the platform with which Europeans have come to America. You're suggesting that perhaps the reverse is true now.Jason Pack: I really enjoyed that episode. I thought you were a great guest and he was a natural host. But I realized how it wasn't speaking to me. Many of my European friends who work in law, finance, tech, startup, you know, they finished their degrees in Italy or in England and they moved to America. And that's where they raised venture capital and they go on the exact success trajectory that you explained and they fetishize, oh my God, when my green card is gonna come through, I'm gonna have this big party. That never resonated with me because America was never a land of opportunity for me. And it hit me in hearing your podcast that that's because what I've aspired to is to work in government slash think tank or to be a professional expert. And if you don't ally yourself with one of the major political movements, you're always branded and you can never move ahead. I'll give a few examples if you're interested in the way that my trying to be in the center has meant that I could never find a place in America.Andrew Keen: Absolutely. So you're suggesting that your quote-unquote American dream could only be realized in Europe.Jason Pack: So I moved to the Middle East to serve my country after 9/11. If Gore had been elected president, I likely would have joined the army or the Marines or something. But Bush was president and I knew I needed to do this on my own. So, you know, I lived in Beirut, then I went to Iraq. Where did you graduate from, Jason? I graduated from Williams in 2002, but I was changing my studies as soon as the 9-11 happened. I stopped my senior thesis in biology and I pivoted to doing the Middle East. I thought the Middle East was going to be the next big thing. But I didn't realize that if you wanted to do it your own way, for example, living in Syria prior to working in government, then you couldn't get those security clearances. But in the UK, that's not really a problem. If you go to Leeds or Oxford and you got sent to study Arabic in Syria, you can work for the UK government, but not in America. If your went and did that your own way, your loyalties would be questioned. You wouldn't get your security clearance. I got an internship to work at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, where I fell afoul of my supervisors because I was someone who wanted to speak in Arabic with Omanis and, for example, go to hear prayers at the mosque and really be a part of the society. And I was told, don't do that. But aren't we here to understand about Oman? And they're like, no, it's really important to mostly socialize with people at the embassy. But my British colleagues, they were out there in Omani society, and they were, for example, really participating in stuff because the relationship between the Omanis and the Brits and the Americans is a happy one. That's just a small example, but I wanna make the kind of further point, which is that if you wanna get promoted in think tank world in America, it doesn't matter whether it's Cato or Heritage on the right or New America Foundation or Middle East Institute on the left. You have to buy in hook, line, and sinker to the party line of those institutions. And if that party line is DEI, as it was at the Middle East Institute when I was there, and you're a white heterosexual male, you're not going to get promoted. And if, for example, you want to then interact with some Zionist think tank like FDD, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, I was going to a fellowship there for work that I had done about monitoring ISIS in Libya, and they had proposed a funding line for my project, which was just technically reading jihadi Facebook posts and monitoring them. And then they did some more research on me, ironically, after we had already signed the funds. And they said, oh, we're so sorry, we are going to have to pull back on this. We are going have to pay you a kill fee. We are really, really sorry. And I came to understand why that was. And it was because I had advocated that the Iranians should be allowed to get the bomb so that they could have mutually assured destruction theory with Israel.Andrew Keen: Well, Jason, I take your point, but everyone has their own narrative when it comes to why their career didn't did or didn't take off and how they know what that doesn't happen in Europe. I'm just making a contrast. Let me just come back to my argument about America, which is it isn't necessarily as straightforward as perhaps at first it seems. I think one of the reasons why America has always been a great place for reinvention is because of the absence of memory.Jason Pack: No, but what I'm saying is Google will inspire on you, and if you're not within the ideological cadre, you cannot progress at these kind of institutions.Andrew Keen: Okay, I take your point on that, but thinking more broadly, America is a place where you can, I've done so many different things in this country from being a scholar to being an internet entrepreneur to being an expert on technology to being a critic of technology to being against podcasts, to being a podcaster. And you can get away, and I've failed in practically all of them, if not all of them, but the fact is that because people don't have memory, you can keep on doing different things and people won't say, well, how can you get away with this? Last week you were doing X. My sense, and maybe correct me if I'm wrong about London or Europe, is there is much more memory. You can't get away with perpetual reinvention in Europe as you can in the U.S. and maybe that's because of the fact that in your language, living in Europe with its memory and respect for memory is more aesthetically pleasing. So I'm not suggesting this is as simple as it might appear.Jason Pack: I agree with that last point, but I think I'm trying to bring something else out. In spheres like tech or podcasting, there isn't credentialism in America. And therefore, if you're just good at it, you don't need the credentials and you can get going. And you and other Europeans who had great merit, as you do, have benefited from that. And in Europe, you might run up against credentialism, but, oh, but you didn't work at the BBC, so you don't get the job. I'm making a different point about ideological purity within the very specific realms of, say, working for an American presidential candidate or briefing a policymaker or rising up at a think tank. I have briefed labor MPs, Lib Dem MPs and Tory MPs. And they don't ask my politics. I can go in there and get a meeting with Keir Starmer's people on Libya, and they don't care about the fact that I want him to do something slightly different. Criticized him and praised him at different times on my podcast, try having an influence with some Trump people and then say, Oh, well, you know, I really think that I can help you on this Libya policy, but I happened to run a fairly anti-Trump podcast. No, you just can't get the briefing because America is about ideological purity tests and getting your ticket punch in the government and think tank and exporting professions, and therefore it's not some place you can reinvent yourself. If you're clearly an anti-Trump Republican McCainite, you can't all of a sudden become an AOC Democrat for the purpose of one meeting. But in Europe you can, because you can be a Lib Dem like Liz Truss and then be a Tory Prime Minister. And no one cares what my position on these topics are when they ask me to brief Keir Starmer's people and that's something that I find so fantastic about Europe.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, you know this stuff better than I do. But isn't someone like Truss rooted in ideological purity? She was a Lib Dem when she was at Oxford. Yeah, but that was a long time ago. I can reverse that, Jason, and say, well, when Trump was young, he ran around with Bill and Hillary Clinton, he went to their wedding, he funded them. He never was even a Republican until 2014 or 15. So, I mean, he's an example of the very ideological fluidity that you idealize in Europe.Jason Pack: I agree with your point. I think that he's an exception there and he wouldn't have allowed it from his staffers. They now have essentially loyalty tested everything. It's not a place where if you were Democrat with ideas that would benefit the Trumpian establishment, you can be heard. I'll give an example. I like the Abraham Accords and I have a colleague who wants to help extend the Abraham Accords to Pakistan, she can only work with ideologically pure Republicans in the pitching of this idea. She can't work with someone like me because I don't have the ideological purity, even though this is a nonpartisan idea and it should be embraced if you can get the Trumpians to be interested in it. But that's not how America works and it has not been. Reagan, of course, if you said that you like taxes, and I'm someone who likes taxes and I don't believe in the Laffer curve, and neoliberalism is a sham, you couldn't be on that economic team. So there are different ideological tests. Trump was never a politician, so he's not an expert like me in the expert class where we've been litmus tested our whole careers.Andrew Keen: Interesting. Jason, yesterday I was talking to someone who was thinking of hiring me to do a speech in Europe to a business group, and we were discussing the kinds of speeches I could give, and one of the things I suggested was a defense of America, suggesting that we can believe in America and that everyone's wrong. And these people have hired me before. I've often made provocative counterintuitive arguments, there was a little bit of a silence and they said, you can't make that speech in Europe. No one will take it seriously to a business community. What's generally, I mean, you travel a lot, you talk to lots of different people. Have people really given up on the promise of America, particularly within the establishment, the business establishment, the political establishment?Jason Pack: I don't know. I think that many Europeans still think that this is a passing phase. I will comment on the fact that I do not see anti-Americanism in my daily life as a result of Trump, the way that, for example, you do see anti-Semitism as a results of Netanyahu's policy. The individual Jew is tarred by horrible things happening in Gaza, but the individual American is not tarred by the deporting and illegal detentions and sacking of people by Doge because people in Poland or London or even the Middle East understand that you're likely to not be a Trump supporter and they're not targeting you as an individual as a result of that. So I think they believe in the promise of America and they still might like to move to America. But on individual level if you want to be a political animal inside the beast of campaigns, rising up to be a David Axelrod kind of figure. America has been a place of these litmus tests. Whereas in Europe, you know, I feel that there's tremendous fluidity because in Italy they have so and so many political parties and in Germany, what's the distinction between the SPD at one moment in the CDU and the Greens and there's a tradition of coalitions that allows the individual to reinvent himself.Andrew Keen: One of the things that came up with Cooper, and he's certainly no defender of Marine Le Pen or Meloni in Italy, but he suggested that the Trump people are far to the right of Le Pen and Meloni. Would you agree with that?Jason Pack: Because they want to break down institutions, whereas Le Pen and Meloni simply want to conquer the institutions and use them. They're not full-blown, disordering neopopulists, to use the language of my disorder podcast. When Meloni is in power, she loves the Italian state and she wants it to function merely with her ideological slant. Whereas the Trumpians, they have a Bannonite wing, they don't simply wanna have a MAGA agenda, use the U.S. Government. No, they want to break the Department of Agriculture. They want to break the EPA. They simply want to destroy our institutions. And there's no European political party that wants that. Maybe on the fringe like reform, but reform probably doesn't even want that.Andrew Keen: But Jason, we've heard so much about how the Bannonites idealized Orban in Hungary. A lot of people believe that Project 2025 was cooked up in Budapest trying to model America on Orban. Is there any truth to that? I mean, are the Trump people really re-exporting Orbanism back into the United States?Jason Pack: That there is some truth, but it can be overplayed. It can go back further to Berlusconi. It's the idea that a particularly charismatic political leader can come to dominate the media landscape by either having a state media channel in the Berlusconi sense or cowing media coverage to make it more favorable, which is something that Orban has done geniusly, and then doling out contracts and using the state for patronage, say, Orban's father's construction business and all those concrete soccer stadiums. There is an attempt potentially in Trump land to, through an ideological project, cow the media and the checks and balances and have a one-party state with state media. I think it's going to be difficult for them to achieve, but Chuck Carlson and others and Bannon seem to want that.Andrew Keen: You were on Monocle recently talking about the Pope's death. J.D. Vance, of course, is someone who apparently had a last, one of the last conversations with the Pope. Pope wasn't particularly, Pope Francis wasn't particularly keen on him. Bannon and Vance are both outspoken Catholics. What's your take on the sort of this global religious movement on the part of right-wing Catholics, and how does it fit in, not only to the death of Francis, but perhaps the new Pope?Jason Pack: It's a very interesting question. I'm not a right-wing Catholic, so I'm really not in a position to...Andrew Keen: I thought you were Jason, that's why you could always come on the show.Jason Pack: I think that they don't have the theological bona fides to say that what they call Catholicism is Catholicism because obviously Jesus turned the other cheek, you know, and Jesus didn't want to punish his enemies and make poor black or Hispanic women suffer. But there is an interesting thing that has been going on since 1968, which is that there was a backlash against the student protests and free love and the condom and all the social changes that that brought about. And Catholics have been at the forefront, particularly Catholic institutions, in saying this has gone too far and we need to use religion to retake our society. And if we don't, no one will have children and we will lose out and the Muslims and Africans will rule the roost because they're having babies. And that right-wing Catholicism is caught up in the moral panic and culture wars since 1968. What I argued in the monocle interview that you referenced from earlier today is something quite different, which is that the Catholic Church has a unique kind of authority, and that that unique kind of authority can be used to stand up against Trump, Bannon, Orban, and other neopopulists in a way that, say, Mark Carney or Keir Starmer cannot, because if Mark Kearney and Keir Stormer say, you guys are not sufficiently correctly American and you're not following the American laws, blah, blah blah, the kind of Americans who support Trump are not convinced by that because they say, these are just, you know, pinko Brits and Canadians. I don't even care about Mark Kearny, but it's quite different if the next Pontiff is someone who comes not only from the school of Francis, but maybe more so is a great communicator vested in the real doctrines of the church, the Lateran Councils and Vatican too, and can say, actually this given thing that Trump has just said is not in line with the principles of Jesus. It's not inline with what the Vatican has said about, for example, migration or social equity. And I find that that is a unique opportunity because even the right-wing Catholics have to acknowledge the Pope and Christian doctrine and the ability of the Catholic hierarchy to say this is not in line with our teachings. So I think there's a very interesting opportunity right now.Andrew Keen: Perhaps that brings to mind Stalin's supposedly famous remarks to Churchill at Potsdam when they were talking about the Pope. Stalin said to Churchill, the Pope, how many divisions does he have? In other words, it's all about ideology, morality, and ultimately it doesn't really. It's the kind of thing that perhaps if some of the Trump people were as smart as Stalin, they might make the same remark.Jason Pack: That was a physical war, and the Pope didn't have divisions to sway the battles in World War II, but this is an ideological or an influence war. And the Pope, if you've just seen from media coverage over the last week, is someone who has tremendous media influence. And I do think that the new pontiff could, if he wanted to, stand up to the moral underpinnings of Trump and pull even the most right-wing Catholics away from a Trumpian analysis. Religion is supposed to be about, because Jesus didn't say punish your enemies. Don't turn the other cheek and own the libs. Jesus said something quite different than that. And it will be the opportunity of the new Catholic leader to point that out.Andrew Keen: I'm not sure if you've seen the movie Conclave, which was very prescient, made by my dear London friend, or at least produced by Tessa Ross at House Productions. But I wonder in these new conversations whether in the debates about who should the new Pope be, they'll mull over TikTok presence.Jason Pack: I hope they will. And I want to point out something that many people probably are not aware, which is that the College of Cardinals that constitutes the conclave does not have to pick one of their member to be pope. For the last six centuries, they have always chosen one of their own number, but they don't have to. So they could choose someone who has not only an ability to make great TikToks, but someone who can put forth a vision about climate change, about tax equity, for example, maybe about AI and what constitutes humanity from within the Catholic tradition, but reaching new faithful. And I think that they might actually consider we're doing this because in places like Western Europe, attendance is down, but in Eastern Europe and Latin America, it isn't. And in Africa, it's surging. So they may want to reach new millennials in Gen Z with a new message, but one which is rooted in their tradition. And I think that that would be a great counterbalance to what Trump and his ilk have done to how media coverage place things like climate change and migrants these days.Andrew Keen: Speaking of Trump and his ilk, Jason, lots of conversations here about the first cracks in his monolith. Speaking to me from London, I always look at the front page of The Telegraph, a conservative English newspaper. I refuse to give the money, so I never actually read any of the pieces. But I'm always curious as to the traditional conservative media attitude to Trump. What do not so much the Conservative Party, which seems to be in crisis in the UK, but what does Conservative media, Conservative thinkers, what's their take currently on Trump? Are you seeing a crack? Are people seeing this guy's absolutely insane and that the tariff policy is going to make all of us, everybody in the world poorer?Jason Pack: Well, Trump has always been a vote loser in the UK. So that even though Farage brags about his relationship, it isn't something that gets him more votes for reform. And whether it's Sunak or Badnak, and Badnak is the current leader of the Tory party, which is an opposition, she can't so closely associate herself with Trump because he's not popular in even right-wing British circles. However, the Tory media, like the telegraph and the spectator, they love the idea that he's owning the Libs. We talked about Schadenfreude, we talked about attacking the woke. The spectator has taken a very anti-woke turn over the last five to 10 years. And they love the ideal of pointing out the hypocrisies of the left and the effeminacy of it and all of that. And that gets them more clicks. So from a media perspective, there is a way in which the Murdoch media is always going to love the click bait, New York post bait of the Trump presidency. And that applies very much, you know, with the sun and the Daily Mail and the way that they cover media in this country.Andrew Keen: Although I was found in the U.S. That perhaps the newspaper that has been most persistently and usefully critical of Trump is the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch.Jason Pack: Yeah, but that's a very highbrow paper, and I think that it's been very critical of the tariff policy and it said a lot of intelligent things about Trump's early missteps. It doesn't reach the same people as the New York Post or the Daily Mail do.Andrew Keen: Finally, Jason, let's go back to Disorder, your excellent podcast. You started it a couple of years ago before this new Trump madness. You were always one of the early people on this global disorder. How much more disordered can the world become? Of course, it could become more disorded in terms of war. In late April 2025, is the world more disordered than it was in April 2024, when Biden was still in power? I mean, we still have these wars in Gaza, in Ukraine, doesn't seem as if that much has changed, or am I wrong?Jason Pack: I take your point, but I'm using disorder in a particularly technical sense in a way by which I mean the inability of major powers to coordinate together for optimal solutions. So in the Biden days of last year, yes, the Ukraine and Gaza wars may be waging, but if Jake Sullivan or Blinken were smarter or more courageous, they could host a summit and work together with their French and British and Argentinian allies. Put forth some solutions. The world is more disordered today because it doesn't have a leader. It doesn't have institutions, the UN or NATO or the G7 where those solutions on things like the Ukraine war attacks could happen. And you may say, but wait, Jason, isn't Trump actually doing more leadership? He's trying to bring the Ukrainians and the Russians to the table. And I would say he isn't. They're not proposing actual solutions. They don't care about solving underlying issues. They're merely trying to get media wins. He wants the Japanese to come to Washington to have the semblance of a new trade deal, not a real trade deal. He's trying to reorder global finance in semblance, not in reality. So the ability to come to actual solutions through real coordinating mechanisms where I compromise with you is much weaker than it was last year. And on the Disorder Podcast, we explore all these domains from tax havens to cryptocurrency to cyber attacks. And I think that listeners of Keen On would really enjoy how we delve into those topics and try to see how they reflect where we're at in the global system.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's a strongly, I would strongly agree with you. I would encourage all keen on listeners to listen to Disorder and vice versa if this gets onto the Disorder podcast. What about the China issue? How structural is the tariff crisis, if that's the right word, gonna change US relations with China? Is this the new Cold War, Jason?Jason Pack: I'm not an economist, but from what I've been told by the economists I've interviewed on my podcast, it's absolutely completely game changing because whether it's an Apple iPhone or most pieces of manufactured kit that you purchase or inputs into American manufacturing, it's assembled everywhere and the connections between China and America are essential to the global economy. Work and it's not like you can all of a sudden move those supply chains. So this trade war is really a 1930s style beggar thy neighbor approach to things and that led to and deepened the great depression, right? So I am very worried. I had the sense that Trump might back off because he does seem to be very sensitive to the markets. But maybe this is such an ideological project and, you know, Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC was just saying, even though he's willing to back off if the T bill rate changes, he thinks that his strategy is working and that he's going to get some deals. And that terrifies me because that's not what's happening. It isn't working. And God forbid that they'll push this to its logical conclusion and cause a new recession or depression.Andrew Keen: I know you've got to run Jason. So final question, let's return to where we began with America and the changing nature of America. Your last episode of Disorder was with Corey Sharpe, who is a very, very good and one of Washington DC's, I think, smartest foreign policy analysts. She asks, what's America without allies? If this continues, what, indeed, I mean, you're happy in London, so I don't sound like you're coming back, whatever. But what will America become if indeed all these traditional allies, the UK, France, Germany, become, if not enemies, certainly just transactional relationships? What becomes of America without allies?Jason Pack: Wow, great question. I'm gonna treat this in two parts, the American cultural component and then the structural geopolitical component. I'm a proud American. Culturally, I work on Sundays. I don't take any holiday. I get angry at contractors who are not direct. I am going to be American my whole life and I want an American style work ethic and I wanna things to function and the customer to always be right. So I didn't move to Europe to get European stuff in that way, and I think America will still be great at new inventions and at hard work and at all of that stuff and will still, the NFL will still be a much better run sports league than European sports leagues. Americans are great at certain things. The problem is what if America's role in the world as having the reserve currency, coordinating the NATO allies. If that's eviscerated, we're just going to be living more and more in the global enduring disorder, as Corey Schacke points out, which is that the Europeans don't know how to lead. They can't step up because they don't have one prima inter Paris. And since the decline of the British Empire, the British haven't learned how, for example, to coordinate the Europeans for the defense of Ukraine or for making new missile technologies or dealing with the defense industry. So we're just dealing with a rudderless world. And that's very worrying because there could be major conflict. And then I just have to hope that a new American administration, it could be a Republican one, but I think it just can't be a Trumpian one, will go back to its old role of leadership. I haven't lost hope in America. I've just lost hope in this current administration.Andrew Keen: Well, I haven't lost hope in Jason Pack. He is an ally of ours at Keen On. He's the host of the Excellent Disorder podcast. Jason, it's always fun to have you on the show. So much to discuss and no doubt there will be much more over the summer, so we'll have you back on in the next month or two. Thank you so much. Keep well. Stay American in London. Thank you again.Jason Pack: It was a great pleasure. Thanks, Andrew. See you then. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest Rafael Behr to talk about the choices facing the Starmer government. Or as Raf put it "the fork on the road that everyone seems to see, but Starmer refuses to acknowledge. And - why has our right wing media landscape become so Americanised? Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ”I think we should be very glad that we are blessed with quite bad fascists.”  “The public expect Starmer to be more ambitious in recalibrating the UK's relationship with the EU. If he is not prepared to do that now, when the atmospherics are what they are and the entire world order has been turned upside-down, maybe we have to accept he is just not going to do it.” “There is no way to explain why one would think TikTok is dangerous because the firm is close to the Chinese regime, but X is fine because it is fully owned by a rich guy that does Nazi salutes, to think one agenda dangerous but not the other, that doesn't involve some basic ‘state-bad, private-good' belief.”  “There is a profound crisis in the British Right, because the refutation of their big-picture political model has been so thorough - not just Brexit, austerity, the Truss budget, the most popular thing Sunak ever did was to pay everyone's wages - they have nowhere to go.”  CALLS TO ACTION Go here to add your voice on what our new UK/EU relationship should look like. https://www.commonsensedeal.com/ Foxglove - the UK organisation fighting for tech equality can be found here. The international network People vs Big Tech is here. GRIN AND SHARE IT Read about antiviral lablab chewing gum. READING Read the FT piece about why the anti-woke platform seems to have backfired for Australian Conservatives. ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Rec: 17/10/23) Soviet in-flight entertainment, a moon gift, luncheon meat, mechanically-recovered food, Brenda's Sunak nickname, and Farage's TikTok. Join the Iron Filings Society: https://www.patreon.com/topflighttimemachine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the one-hundred-and-seventy-second episode, we explore the Jingoism Fallacy, starting with Trump quoting Napoleon and making transphobia a patriotism issue, and Dr. Carole Lieberman asking why Democrats hate America.In Mark's British Politics Corner, we look at Starmer, Sunak, and Laurence Fox doing their best to sound patriotic, an insanely jingoistic ad for Brexit, and Nigel Farage wondering why Britons aren't proud of our national history just because it includes a bit of slavery .In the Fallacy in the Wild section, we check out examples from Malcolm in the Middle, Dinosaurs, and Cheers.Jim and Mark go head to head in Fake News, the game in which Mark has to guess which one of three Trump quotes Jim made up.Then we talk about the on-again-off-again tariffs.And finally, we round up some of the other crazy Trump stories from the past week.The full show notes for this episode can be found at https://fallacioustrump.com/ft172 You can contact the guys at pod@fallacioustrump.com, on BlueSky @FallaciousTrump, Discord at fallacioustrump.com/discord or facebook at facebook.com/groups/fallacioustrumpCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastrSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fallacious-trump/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, including the dramatic recall of Parliament on Saturday to rescue the Scunthorpe Steel Works, the over racism David Lammy gets, and Sunak's resignation dishonours. Packed and gorgeous and VERY funny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Correction: I was unfair to Liz Truss, she was in for *49 days not 45!Get bonus podcasts: https://www.patreon.com/c/MrMitchellHistory

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/354059/episodes/16801279-16-03-25-citizens-of-heaven-dave-watmoreCitizenship of heavenPhilippians 3 v 20 + Philippians 4 v 4-9Look at the first page of your passport.Why am I telling you this story? It is not about the power of my prayers but you can think that. No it is about the peace that comes from being a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.Philippians 3 v 20.It made me think.I'm a UK citizen but now I'm born again, I'm now a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is the King and the Lord of heaven.So let's look at that;I was listening to an interview with Rishi Sunak and Nick Robinson and Sunak tells of his meetings with the king and how he found them helpful. I'm sure he did. It is always good to have a friendly conversation with someone you know is helpful towards you.I don't remember the king or queen calling me up when I was made redundant or comforting me when my children were so upset and ringing me a 3 o'clock in the morning. I'll be honest. I didn't expect them to. They don't know me. They have no relationship with me. They are just humans, weak and sinful like me.I do remember Jesus giving me a dream to prepare me before I was made redundant and a promise that he would always provide for me.I do remember Jesus comforting and giving me words to help my son and comfort me at a very dark time.I love being a citizen of the UK. I cheer when England play sport, I love our countryside and our culture and language but I am also a citizen of Heaven.When I lost my passport, I lost my way back to my home and my family. Part of me lost my peace but I also knew that the King of kings and Lord of lords was with me. He would run towards me to help me in my distress.Isaiah 26 v 3I have a new allegiance and much more powerful King who happens to have created the heavens and the Earth and all that is in it.When I have that in my heart I have to change too.Philippian 4 v 4-9.V 8. Fix your thoughts on what is good.We live in a Kingdom where Jesus is King and Lord. He does not want you to fill your mind or body with things that are bad for you.When we read or watch or think on the wrong things, it is like putting petrol in a diesel engine. We might do it by accident but it still needs to be cleared out, otherwise we don't fire correctly or we create a lot of black smoke of anger, unforgiveness, etc..You have been bought with a high price because He loves you. There is no other explanation for why you are saved or why you are here today. He wants a relationship with you. Not like the one you have with king Charles or Keir Starmer or your boss at work, He was and can give you an intimate relationship. Sometimes when we feel far away from Him, anxious, frightened and lost He will say “look at my word, you are now a citizen of Heaven not of the UK”Questions;Your Bible has far more promises about your identify, your destination and your well being than your UK passport. Tell each other scriptures that have helped you in the past. Encourage those who don't have that experience, the scripture that can help them.How do you remember to magnify who Jesus is when you are feeling small and alone?If appropriate, tell each other or a on a one to one basis, the struggles you might have with things you know are wrong to watch or read etc..Encourage repentance but exercise forgiveness especially

An exclsuive in-depth interview with the Rishi Sunak. In this first instalment, the former prime minister tells stories from behind the scenes on the world stage explains why he thinks we must now cut welfare spending to fund defence.Sunak reflects on how a sense of duty - inspired by his Hindu faith - helped drive his political career, and reflects on how and why he ultimately led the Conservative Party to the worst electoral defeat in its history.Producers: Daniel Kraemer and Joel Massey

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack The UK is, let's face it, stuck in the shit economically, socially and now most worryingly geopolitically. The change of management from Sunak to Starmer hasn't changed very much for the ordinary citizen, except maybe for the branding and the louder drumbeats of war. Rejoining us to talk about it all is listener favourite, outspoken commentator and now Professor Emeritus Richard Murphy. We need a new song. Richards YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@RichardJMurphy The Lynn Boylan MEP on her deportation from Israel pod is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-123381157 New Reboot Pod with Rory and Louise Bayliss is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-123311633

Joanne Murphy and Keith Grint come to the swamp to discuss their views on leadership and the effort required to do it well. Joanne and Keith are deeply informed on this topic of leading. Their academic background includes teaching, research and writing. We discuss the differences between command, management and leadership. All three approaches matter and we explore the value of each role. The state of the world calls for more people with the stamina to lead. In this episode, stamina will be supported with craft.LinksJoanne's LinksJoanne's Book: Management and War: How Organisations Navigate Conflict and Build Peace' University of Birmingham Joanne's WebsitePublic Service PodcastThe Leadership Challenge of Northern IrelandTwitter - @changeresearch10000 SwampLeaders Joanne Murphy Podcast (Episode)Keith's LinksBioLinkedInkeith.grint@wbs.ac.ukNew Blog: ILA Blog article: Care-Full Leadership: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/care-full-leadership/ New Articles:“Closing ranks: Leadership and the mundanization of the extraordinary in military history” Leadership https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150241238811 WhatsApp to Sunak' Leadership (2024) https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150241240598  New Books:A Cartography of Resistance: Leadership, Management & Command https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-cartography-of-resistance-9780198921745?lang=en&cc=gb  Mutiny & Leadership https://global.oup.com/academic/search?q=grint+mutiny&cc=gb&lang=en Leadership: Limits and Possibilities 2nd ed. (with Owain Smolovic Jones) https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/leadership-9781350333130/ Thanks for listening. Send me your feedbackI want to thank my great team that helps me sound better than I am. Jacki Hydock for her lending her wonderful voice to our introduction and outro Great music by Jazz Night Awesome episode production by the great team of We Edit Podcasts all the way up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Check them out at www.weeditpodcasts.com Thanks For Listening and Jumping into the Swamp

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.theflyingfrisby.comBitcoin to $200,000k anyone? Sterling to crash? The US dollar to 20 year highs? As for silver …OK, folks. It's predictions time.As ever, the eternal conflict applies: the more outlandish the prediction, the more entertaining it is to read about - but the less likely it is to actually happen.On these pages, we attempt to strike a balance.Here are 15 things to look out for in 2025.1. The long overdue correction in the UK housing market finally begins.“Record Boxing Day bounce,” says Rightmove. Read beyond the headline and you get this: “Our data shows a 26% increase in the number of new properties listed for sale compared to Boxing Day 2023, which previously held the record.” They're trying to spin more sellers.More sellers means more supply.Meanwhile… houses are overpriced. The economy is not booming, so people have less money. Labour's higher taxes also mean buyers have less capital to spend. Higher mortgage rates mean there is less money to borrow, and, thus, less newly created money to come into the market and prop up prices. The rich are not coming to Britain - they are leaving, if they haven't already left.More supply of houses, but less money to buy them with.Meanwhile, stamp duty is a massive deterrent to buyers. Never mind people choosing not to move because of it, anyone buying a second or third home - they're as good as gone: who is going to pay 5% stamp duty for a second or third home? Not many people, I wouldn't have thought. More supply, less money, fewer buyers.Then there is the general perception of the economy. Psychologically, people are not feeling rich, nor are they bullish about the economy, meaning fewer people will take the plunge.What about investment from overseas?See my earlier comment about stamp duty. The cost of buying drives away investment.Moreover, the UK is not currently well looked upon. Rich Americans, for example (normally a good source of buyers), are not going to pile in given, one, the costs of buying and, two, how the UK is currently perceived over there.Then Labour are going to loosen planning laws and build a whole load more houses - well, they say they are - meaning even more supply.As if that wasn't enough, 2026 is the year the 18-year-cycle in property turns down. If houses don't turn down this year, I'll declare this market permanently immune.2. Keir Starmer survivesHis premiership is already looking dicey. It's one crisis after another, and it's difficult to see how he survives, especially with all the rape gang stuff.However, I think short-term PMs became a bit normalised in the Cameron-May-Johnson-Truss-Sunak era. Cameron went because of Brexit. May went for the same reason. Johnson got his landslide, handed to him by Farage, but then Covid came along, and Johnson, under a lot of pressure from the Left, got the shove from Tory MPs with whom he was never particularly popular anyway, worried about their seats. Not having been elected, Truss and Sunak were toast before they even started.None of that applies to Starmer. I admit he is looking shaky, particularly under this extraordinary pressure from Elon Musk. But I still think it's too early for Labour MPs, worrying about their seats, to give him the shove, and it's normal for a PM to last the full term - what happened under the Idiots Tories was not normal - so somehow Starmer survives the year.3. Gold hits $3,000.I'm not wildly bullish about gold at the moment, at least in US dollar terms, though I still think it is absolutely essential you own some. One, because at some point the China gold story is going to hit the mainstream, and suddenly there will be a scramble for gold. It probably won't be this year, but you never know, and gold is one particular lifeboat you want to have ready in advance. Second, if you are in the UK, I think sterling has problems - more on this in a moment - and your wealth is much better stored in shiny yellow metal than it is in British government digital stuff. (You would normally say British government paper, but it isn't paper anymore).On which note, if you are buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times, 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.And If you haven't already, take a look at my buddy Charlie Morris's monthly gold report, Atlas Pulse. It is, in my view, the best gold newsletter out there, and, best of all, it's free. Sign up here.$3,000 - landmark number though it is - is only 12.5% higher than where we are. We could easily see that by June.4. Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) becomes a top 100 company by market cap. Currently, Deutsche Telecom (market cap US$145 bn) is 100th. Microstrategy is $85 billion at time of writing. It joins the elite. What a pick this has been for readers.5. Bitcoin … I was in Miami on New Year's Eve at Michael Saylor's - strictly on reconnaissance, of course - and one thing I learned there was that roughly half of corporate donations during the 2024 Presidential Election - $245m according to the Federal Election Commission - came from the crypto industry. Coinbase alone contributed $75 million. I'm a beneficiary, so I'm not complaining, but, really, you have to say, buying such favour is more than a little dodgy, even if that is how the world works and has almost always worked.But it means the likelihood of the Republicans delivering on their pledge for a strategic bitcoin reserve is likely. The US isn't going to buy a million coins straight away, but it may well buy 3-400,000 in year one. That sends bitcoin a lot higher.The prediction?

Completing our countdown of the events of 2024 that we can barely believe happened. From Rishi Sunak dooming his own election campaign by launching it in a downpour to Robert F Kennedy Jr's shenanigans with a dead bear (blame the brainworms) to America deciding that its new folk hero is an actual murderer, we examine the moments that made 2024 incomprehensible. Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge of Paper Cuts join Andrew Harrison to complete an ignominious countdown. (Part One available now) • Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this special edition of Coffee House Shots Katy Balls speaks to Lord Liam Booth-Smith, Rishi Sunak's former chief of staff. In his first interview since leaving government: Liam takes us inside Rishi's No. 10 and the characters that made it tick; sets the record straight on the infamous Sunak–Johnson arm wrestle to decide who would run for leader after Truss; gives his take on when would have been the optimal time to have a general election; offers a different version of events on Rishi's ‘doomed' campaign; and provides advice to a Labour government struggling in government. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

In this special edition of Coffee House Shots Katy Balls speaks to Lord Liam Booth-Smith, Rishi Sunak's former chief of staff. In his first interview since leaving government: Liam takes us inside Rishi's No. 10 and the characters that made it tick; sets the record straight on the infamous Sunak–Johnson arm wrestle to decide who would run for leader after Truss; gives his take on when would have been the optimal time to have a general election; offers a different version of events on Rishi's ‘doomed' campaign; and provides advice to a Labour government struggling in government. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

In recent years, politicians appearing in reality TV shows has become something of a trend - think Matt Hancock and Nigel Farage on I'm a Celebrity, Ed Balls on Strictly, or Penny Mordaunt on Splash!The latest to join their ranks is former cabinet minister Jacob Rees Mogg, who earlier this year let cameras into his 17th century stately home in Somerset, where he lives with his wife and six children.Jacob joins Camilla and Kamal over breakfast in the Daily Tea studio, to discuss how his children felt about appearing on the series, whether reality TV can really help a politician get out a message, and which TV shows he's inclined to binge (the answers may surprise you). Meet the Rees-Moggs streams from Monday 2nd December exclusively on discovery+Archive from BBC News, ITV's This Morning, and Channel 5 NewsReadMeet the Rees-Moggs, review: Sunak's early election scuppers the fun, Anita SinghProducer: Georgia Coan Planning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsVideo Editor: Luke GoodsallStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Niamh WalshEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With incensed British farmers set to descend on London in protest to the government's new rules on inheritance tax for agricultural property, Ed Balls and George Osborne consider the likelihood of the Treasury reversing course. What made George change his mind on the so-called “pasty tax” in 2012 - and will Rachel Reeves consider a similar u-turn? This past week marked a special anniversary – the day George thought the UK would go to the polls. Should Rishi Sunak have let his run go a little longer? Author and journalist Tim Shipman, who has examined the issue of Sunak's timing in his latest book Out: How Brexit Got Done and the Tories Were Undone asks George and Ed their view on when the Tories should've called the election. They also consider: does Donald Trump's election, and his love of protectionist policies, make the idea of the UK joining the European Union Customs Union more justifiable? And… exactly what is Gerrymandering? Professors Balls and Osborne are here to explain. You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free!Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

In the one-hundred-and-sixty-first episode, we explore Parade of Horribles, starting with Trump listing all the bad things that would happen if Kamala won the election.In Mark's British Politics Corner we look at campaign speeches from Sunak and Starmer, Brexit arguments from Johnson and Cameron, and Nigel Farage's views on the dangers of immigration.In the Fallacy in the Wild section, we check out examples from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Lincoln, and Ghostbusters,Jim and Mark go head to head in Fake News, the game in which Mark has to guess which one of three Trump quotes Jim made up.Then we talk about what the hell just happened in the election.And finally, we round up some of the other crazy Trump stories from the past week.The full show notes for this episode can be found at https://fallacioustrump.com/ft161 You can contact the guys at pod@fallacioustrump.com, on Threads @FallaciousTrump, or facebook at facebook.com/groups/fallacioustrumpCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastrSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fallacious-trump/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Le chef de l'Etat va présider ce lundi matin les cérémonies du 106ᵉ anniversaire de l'armistice de 1918. Des commémorations décrites par l'Elysée comme "particulières" cette année puisqu'elles sont placées sous le signe de l'amitié franco-britannique, en présence du Premier ministre du Royaume-Uni.

Today, Adam, Alex, Nick Watt and Ben Chu discuss The Budget, Rishi Sunak's legacy as he steps back as Leader of the Conservative Party and the economic policies of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris ahead of the US Election.You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Chris Gray with Anna Harris. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham

Labour's first budget in nearly fifteen years will also be the biggest tax-raising budget in history. Hugo unpacks it all with Times Radio's Political Correspondent Theo Usherwood. Plus: In Rishi Sunak's last hurrah at PMQs, he talks up his record in Number 10. Hugo pauses and analyses the action with the help of Lara Spirit and comedian Jon Harvey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Cohen chats to The Guardian's celebrated and much loved Guardian parliamentary sketch-writer John Crace about the pitiful state of UK politics over the last 14 years - dominated by the interminable shitshow of Brexit - a calamitous epoch that's seen John stick his pen into a line of Tory duds from Cameron to Sunak.It's been such a dog's breakfast that John has long come to the conclusion that even his dog Herbie could have done a much better job of running the country! So John @JohnJCrace has a new book out from Herbie's point of view - Taking the lead - a dog at Number 10 published by Constable. Herbie's political career starts with a chance encounter with Sadiq Khan's Labrador which lands our hound hero landed Herbie a job working as a special advisor to Ed Miliband in 2014. He then goes on to work with Cameron, the "Maybot" (aka Theresa May), Bunter Johnson and is then rewarded with a ringside seat for the Liz Truss clown car & Truss's blink-and-you'll miss it premiership.In a highly entertaining interview, John even posits the perhaps rather ungenerous theory that Liz Truss may well have been responsible for the demise of Queen Elizabeth II - having visited Her Majesty at Balmoral just two days before her death. That may be a tough rap even for Truss! Or did the Queen have a premonition of the Kwarteng-Truss mini budget and associated follies and simply come to the conclusion - at her age and stage - that it was as good a time as any to shuffle off the mortal coil? You decide!Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 regular Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond is another must-read. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Starmer and Sunak debated Labour's position on China at today's PMQs, with Starmer denying going soft on the Asian superpower. Did Sunak draw inspiration from Katy Balls's cover article in last week's Spectator? Katy and Isabel Hardman speak to Oscar Edmondson about the party dynamics behind the debate; how much pressure is each party under from their own China hawks?  Isabel also gives an overview of the debate around the Assisted Dying Bill, which was introduced to Parliament today. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

Welcome to the PoliticsJOE Podcast.After a quick recess for conferences, Prime Minister's Questions has returned. Ava and Ed analyse Sunak's line of questioning, MPs upset about VAT on private schools, and the worst things they did at school.Presenters: Ava Santina, and Ed CampbellProducer: Laura BeveridgeSting design: Chris WhiteProduction: Oli Johnson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prince Harry's 40th birthday, Kate Middleton back at work, and ANOTHER dramatisation of that Prince Andrew interview. Headlines about the Royals are frequent front pages - but is this actually news? The monarchy is given a fairly easy ride in the media - rarely questioned, often praised, history erased. But why don't editorial guidelines about ‘due impartiality' apply to the royal family, when 40% of Brits disagree with its existence? This week, storyteller Kelechi Okafor and author Dr Laura Clancy (who wrote Running the Family Firm: how the monarchy manages its image and our money) join us to talk about monarchy in the media. How much money does the taxpayer spend on the monarchy? What is the actual job of a royal correspondent - and why are they all called Ms England, or Mr Dymond, or Ms Bond? And what actually happened during Elizabeth II's Empire? Plus, your weekly media storms. How the Trump campaign is playing the papers; how British tabloids got a pro-Palestine pregnant mother arrested for calling Sunak and Braverman ‘coconuts'; and what the Jewish Chronicle scandal reveals about our wider media's mistakes. Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Assistant Producer: Katie Grant Episode research: Camilla Tiana Support Media Storm on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No 'rash' policy commitments, no mistaking 'friendship' with INDIA bloc partners and a reality check of 2024 poll verdict, how Rahul Gandhi has his work cut out, ThePrint Political Editor DK Singh analyses in this episode of #PoliticallyCorrect ----more---- https://theprint.in/opinion/what-rahul-gandhi-can-learn-from-tory-leaders-tips-for-rishi-sunaks-successor/2258708/

Keir Starmer has confirmed that the government is looking at plans to revive Sunak's smoking ban legislation. They may go even further - reports suggest they will seek to extend the current indoor ban for hospitality venues, to outdoor places such as pub gardens. What's the rationale behind this, and where could it lead? How popular is the measure with the public? And, following Starmer's speech on Tuesday about the economic problems the nation faces, is this another thing for business to worry about? Patrick Gibbons speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.

How did the Conservatives turn 14 years of unprecedented political power into near-extinction at the ballot box? Where did it all go so wrong? How will their era go down in history? And what made Rishi Sunak  take his catastrophic electoral gamble in 2024? Steve Richards of the Rock & Roll Politics podcast talks to Ben Riley-Smith, whose new book Blue Murder: The Rise and Fall of the Conservative Government 2010-2024 charts the dramatic rise and fall of the Tories.   We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.   www.patreon.com/bunkercast   Written and presented by Steve Richards. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production   www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is this simultaneously the most uplifting and heart-rending episode we've done to date?    Matt Forde is Britain's foremost political comedian. Until the end of last year he seemed unstoppable, then from nowhere was diagnosed with a rare condition that saw him having to go through life-saving surgery.    His story is astonishing and it's told with such verve, such humour and humanity that it's required listening. Make a little bit of time to consume this one properly because it will touch every part of your heart. And make you laugh a lot too.    Matt is now well on the road to recovery...and on the road! He's touring his show 'End of an Era' around the UK. It summarises the last few years of British politics taking in Truss, Sunak and having a good poke at the current Labour Party as well. I saw it in Edinburgh and it's well worth your time. Proper good stuff.  Find out where, when, how and why Matt is by going to

Today the Bank of England has cut rates for the first time in four years, bringing more good economic news to the Labour government. On the episode, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about how this raises the question – again – of why Rishi Sunak called an election before he could reap a summer's worth of economic good news. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Prime Minister Starmer (still getting used to that) faced his first PMQs this week. How did he do? And does Sunak make a better opposition leader than he does PM? Plus, Kamala Harris is all but confirmed as the Democratic nominee. What attack lines can we expect from the RNC now? Can the oldest presidential nominee in US history, Donald Trump, even afford to fund any more after splurging ageism attacks on Biden? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers: Andy Murray quit, Southgate quit, Biden quit and Liz Truss just won't quit. The panel discusses when to call it a day and the dangers of outstaying your welcome.    We're on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow   www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow    Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Yasmeen Serhan, Marie Le Conte and Alex Andreou. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production by Alex Rees. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comStephen Fry is a legendary British actor, comedian, director, writer, and narrator. His TV shows include “A Bit of Fry & Laurie,” “Jeeves and Wooster,” and “Blackadder,” and his films include Wilde, Gosford Park, and Love & Friendship. His Broadway career includes “Me and My Girl” and “Twelfth Night.” He's produced several documentary series, including “Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive,” and he's the president of Mind, a mental health charity. He has written 17 books, including three autobiographies, and he narrated all seven of the Harry Potter books. You can find him on Substack at The Fry Corner — subscribe!For two clips of our convo — on the profound pain of bipolar depression, and whether the EU diminishes Englishness — pop over to our YouTube page. Other topics: growing up in Norfolk; his mom's Jewish ancestry in Central Europe; her dad facing anti-Semitism after fighting in WWI and coming to England to train farmers; embracing Englishness; family members lost to the Holocaust; Disraeli; the diversity of Tory PMs; Stephen's wayward youth; wanting to become a priest as a teen; growing up gay in England; the profound influence of Oscar Wilde and his trials; Gore Vidal on puritanism; Cavafy; Auden; E.M. Forster; Orwell; Stephen's bipolarism; the dark lows and manic highs; my mum's lifelong struggle with that illness; dementia; her harrowing final days; transgenerational trauma; Larkin's “This Be the Verse”; theodicy; the shame of mental illness; Gen Z's version of trauma; the way Jesus spoke; St. Francis; the corruption and scandals of the Church; Hitchens; the disruption of Silicon Valley and the GOP; Chesterton's hedge metaphor for conservatism; Burke and Hayek; Oakeshott; coastal elites and populist resentment; the Iraq War and the 2008 financial crisis; Stephen writing jokes for Tony Blair; Brexit and national identity; Boris Johnson; Corbyn and anti-Semitism; Starmer's victory and his emphasis on stability; Labour's new super-majority; and Sunak's graceful concession.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Lionel Shriver on human limits and resentment, Anne Applebaum on autocrats, Eric Kaufmann on reversing woke extremism, and Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy on animal cruelty. (Van Jones' PR team canceled his planned appearance.) Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Today, we recap the first meeting of the new parliament and the latest roll call of government appointments, as well as the new chair of the Conservative's 1922 committee.Adam is joined by Vicki Young to explain the day's ceremonies, the latest government appointments, and the first House of Commons speeches by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and leader of the opposition Rishi Sunak. And health secretary Wes Streeting met with the British Medical Association (BMA) to discuss junior doctor strikes. Adam is joined by Health Editor Hugh Pym to discuss the significance of the meeting - and what the new health secretary would have to do to bring an end to industrial action.Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Miranda Slade with Sam McLaren and Gemma Roper. The assistant editor is Ben Mundy. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Sunak Out As UK Leader, Farage Gets Seat In Parliament British election results have arrived with the leftist Labour Party taking control of Parliament.

The general election may be three days away, but for some Tory candidates it is merely the staging post for the competition they are really focused on: their party leadership contest. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

On today's episode, Laura talks with Paddy and Henry about her interview with Rishi Sunak this morning, in which the PM came out fighting once again.Labour's campaign chief Pat McFadden was also on her show. They discuss why it was him, and not Keir Starmer.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Laura Kuenssberg, Paddy O'Connell and Henry Zeffman. It was made by Chris Flynn with Keiligh Baker and Josh Jenkins. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Today we look at Rishi Sunak saying he was "hurt" and "angry" after a Reform UK canvasser used a racist term to describe him.Adam is in Glasgow with Newsnight's Kirsty Wark and Nick Watt to discuss the Conservative Leader's response and to answer some of your questions.And Marianna Spring is back with the UK Undercover Voters to look at the influence young people are having on social media during the general election. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Miranda Slade with Gemma Roper and Sam Maclaren. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Sebastian Budgen, Editorial Director of Verso Books, splits his time between London and Paris. He joins us to discuss the surprising elections called in each country.In the UK, Rishi Sunak called a general election for July 4 at what seems like the worst time for Tory rule. And across the pond, Emmanuel Macron called a snap election in France for June 30 and July 7 after Marine Le Pen's far right Rassemblement National swept the European elections on June 9. He didn't have to do it, any more than Sunak did, though Macron's government isn't teetering like Sunak's.Why now? Conventional wisdom holds that Macron called the election after the right trounced the center in the European elections because he was certain the divisions in the left would make him the rational choice, apparently betting that the center can hold. But the left responded to this new reality, getting its act together and forming a New Popular Front consisting of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's France Insoumise, the Parti Socialiste, the Greens, and the Communist Party. According to the NYT on June 21, the new coalition is increasingly well-positioned to form a new government that could weaken Macron's grip on power.In the UK, PM Rishi Sunak called a general election for July 4 at a terrible time for his government. Whereas Macron is unpopular, Sunak's Tories are falling apart after fourteen years in power. What's behind both these elections? What are the possible outcomes? To get a deeper analysis and perspective, we turn to Sebastian Budgen in Paris.Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With just one week to go until the election, Rishi Sunak's chances of avoiding a landslide defeat might have just got slimmer - all thanks to “gamble-gate”. Nish and Coco are joined by political correspondent Liz Bates to discuss the betting scandal plaguing the government. Sunak vowed to lead the world in “standards of decency” but has been very slow to act. Might this mean a complete wipeout for them?But that's not all the scandals this week. Education secretary Gillian Keegan has repeatedly used a claim about children being taught there are “72 genders” to back up government plans to ban schools from talking about gender identity. Nish, Coco and Liz investigate her so-called sources. And from politicians playing minecraft to the Reform UK Party singing the Spice Girls, the WTF moments are multiplying. Nish, Coco and Liz dissect their favourites from the week. Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.Contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.ukWhatsApp: 07494 933 444 (UK) or + 44 7494 933 444 (internationally)Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheukTwitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheukTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheukFacebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/podsavetheworld Guest:Liz Bates, Political Correspondent, Sky News Useful links:https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/pod-save-the-uk-live Audio clips:BBC ITVReform UKTrophyTime

Today, Newscast are in the spin room at the BBC Prime Ministerial Debate. Adam is joined by Laura and Chris for the final big set piece moment of the campaign.Apply to join us on election night: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/newscast-all-nighterYou can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Chris Gray with Gemma Roper. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls speak to Patrick Gibbons following the second, and final, debate between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak. With a week to go until the general election, who came out on top and did we learn anything? 

My dad returns to talk about the current political situation in the UK. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a general election to take place on 4 July. Why did Sunak call an election at this moment? What do people think of the Consvervative Party, who have been in power for 14 years? Will we have a new government and a new Prime Minister in the UK in a couple of weeks? Also, what about England's performances in the Euro 2024 football championship?Episode page

#LondonCalling:  PM Sunak leaves Normandy anniversary early and the Tory chance of re-election even earlier & What is to be done? @JosephSternberg @WSJOpinion https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/under-pressure-britains-sunak-unveils-party-election-manifesto-2024-06-10/ 1798 Westminster

Today, we look at the Sky News leaders' event where the two main party leaders were quizzed on their plans for government.Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer were interviewed by Beth Rigby before facing questions from the studio audience. The Labour leader was grilled on tax rises whilst the prime minister faced tough questions on the NHS and immigration. Adam is joined by former Conservative adviser Jo Tanner and former Labour adviser Tom Hamilton.And the Green Party launched their manifesto with a focus on taxing the wealthy to pay for the NHS and housing. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Gemma Roper and Sam McLaren. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Today Adam, Laura and Henry talk Sunak's D-Day blunder, and the 7-way TV debate that followed it.Henry also talks about receiving a letter from the chief Treasury civil servant disputing the Conservatives' £2000 tax claim.And we lookahead to manifesto launches next week.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming, Laura Kuenssberg, and Henry Zeffman. It was made by Chris Flynn with Gemma Roper. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham

Today Adam, Laura and Henry talk Sunak's D-Day blunder, and the 7-way TV debate that followed it.Henry also talks about receiving a letter from the chief Treasury civil servant disputing the Conservatives' £2000 tax claim.And we lookahead to manifesto launches next week.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming, Laura Kuenssberg, and Henry Zeffman. It was made by Chris Flynn with Gemma Roper. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham

#UK: Starmer and Sunak debate & What is to be done? Simon Constable, Occitanie https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/uk-s-labour-says-sunak-lied-about-its-tax-plans-in-election-debate/ar-BB1nFug 1941 CHURCHILL

#LondonCalling: Sunak calls for National Service.  @JosephSternberg @WSJOpinion https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/28/sunak-my-daughters-are-excited-about-doing-national-service/ The Income Tax

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls a general election as he trails the opposition in the polls. Russia's military has started tactical nuclear weapons drills in response to what the Kremlin says are growing threats from the West amid the war in Ukraine. And there aren't a lot of homes on the market, but those that are for sale are selling fast as competition among would-be buyers is keeping prices high. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Nick Spicer, Julia Redpath, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Nina Kravinsky. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Zac Coleman. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

#LondonCalling: PM Sunak vs the Migrants. @JosephSternberg @WSJOpinion https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/graduate-visa-route-uk-migration-rishi-sunak-92wzh77cc 1889 Manchester

America's political climate, British elections, Scotland's political scene, and the future of AI. Andy is joined by co-hosts Alice Fraser, her newborn, and Alistair Barrie.Plus, when was the Eiffel Tower discovered? Send thoughts and questions for Andy at hellobuglers@thebuglepodcast.com. Click follow to make sure you get every episode and please drop us a nice review or rating wherever you choose.This episode was presented and written by:Andy ZaltzmanAlice FraserAlastair BarrieAnd producer by Chris Skinner and Laura Turner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.