Politics on the Couch

Rafael Behr talks to Demos' CEO Polly Curtis about the urgent case for upgrading our democracy and repairing the broken relationship between citizen and state. The conversation is based around a new Demos paper (released 2nd July) that sets out the challenge of the new global democratic emergency and how this is threatening the political landscape in Britain. Over the course of the coming year Demos is work with partners and collaborators to design practical ways to upgrade democracy, revamp the state and strengthen social capacity to achieve this. This is a Behr and Berman podcast production Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Rafael Behr is joined by political scientist Prof. Michael Bang Petersen, whose research challenges the common belief that those who share misinformation are simply uninformed or gullible. Instead, Petersen reveals that many of these individuals are politically savvy and highly motivated-not by truth, but by the usefulness of information in advancing their political goals. The conversation goes on to explore the concept of the "need for chaos": a psychological drive found in a significant minority who actively seek to destabilise political systems, not just support one side over another. Petersen talks how status anxiety-feeling stuck or left behind in a rigid social hierarchy-fuels this destructive impulse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation with writer and broadcaster David Aaronovitch about ripples from the pandemic that still shape politics, with a digression on the ways that Britain is not America and whether that makes 'Maga-populism' less contagious. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An anniversary episode in which host Rafael Behr and producer Philip Berman look back over a tumultuous time and ponder what they have learned from putting politics on the couch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To coincide with the launch of her new book (The Ideological Brain - A Radical Science of Susceptible Minds) Rafael Behr talks to Dr Leor Zmigrod, a political psychologist and neuroscientist, about the ingredients of dogmatic thinking, why some of us are more prone than others, and how we can protect ourselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rafael Behr talks to Paula Surridge Professor of Political Sociology about the fragmentation of support for the two big parties since Brexit, what's causing it and what it means for parties trying to maintain their voter coalitions. Questions also covered: The discussion also touches on the impact of non-voters and the potential for electoral reform to become a more prominent issue. This is a Rafael Behr and Philip Berman production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Rafael Behr talks to author, policy expert and podcaster Sam Freedman about his new book Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It Sam Freedman is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and an Ark Schools adviser. He writes about policy and politics for numerous outlets, including the Financial Times, Sunday Times, Guardian and New Statesman. With his father, he runs ‘Comment is Freed’, Britain’s most popular politics Substack. He has spent his career working in different policy-focused roles around Westminster, including as an adviser to the then opposition leader, David Cameron, and as a senior policy adviser at the Department for Education for three years, working with (friends of the podcast) Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings. Feedspot has chosen Politics on the Couch as one of the Top 25 UK Psychology and Political Science Podcasts on the web. https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_psychology_podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a week of protests, counter-protests and riots in the UK, 5000 miles away in Bangladesh student-led uprising led to 300 people being killed, the toppling of a corrupt PM and violent regime, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner being installed as head a new interim government. In this edition, we're talking about the violent and momentous events in Bangladesh with award-winning British-born investigative journalist David Bergman, who has been following and reporting on the country for almost 30 years. He's written widely about Bangladesh for The Daily Telegraph, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, and The Times. Between 2004 and 2017, he lived in Bangladesh, writing for several Bangladeshi newspapers, including New Age, The Daily Star and bdnews24.com. He was forced to leave in 2017 due to his critical writing about government corruption and human rights violations. Since then, he’s lived in London and helped found Netra News, a media platform based in Sweden that published investigative news and analysis on Bangladesh He’s also won a Royal Television Society award for a documentary he worked on about the atrocities that took place during Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence. In the episode, David explains what happened there, what sparked it off, what’s next for the country, what we know about the next potential leader and the fascinating links between a new Labour Minister and the now deposed Bangladeshi PM and her party. Links mentioned in the podcast https://x.com/TheDavidBergman https://x.com/muktadirnewage https://x.com/nomhossain https://x.com/taqbirhuda https://www.facebook.com/shafiqul.alam.71216 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this summer bonus episode, Raf and (producer) Phil discuss the changing mood around British politics since Labour's election victory, the restoration of seriousness after years of triviality, why some people can't adapt, why others want to believe that Keir Starmer can deliver the change he has promised and whether they are right. Links to stuff mentioned in the podcast More in Common report Tony Judt's essay Reform came 2nd in 89 of the seats that Labour won. Lowest voter turnout for a General Election since universal suffrage began This is a Raf Behr and Larchmont Productions podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition host Rafael Behr talks to Nichola Raihani, Professor of Evolution and Behaviour in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland. She's also the author of, 'The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World' Professor Raihani has unique insight into a problem that has appeared in various forms on this podcast over the years. It's a question of collective action, solidarity, and cooperation. What motivates people to form units of political organisation or cooperation? Tribes, parties, whole nations—what holds them together and what drives them apart? Why do some societies tend to be democratic and some go despotic? Is it an accident of history? Climate? Culture? Religion? Evolution. This is the fabric of politics, the very stuff societies are made of at the most fundamental level, and Professor Rehani shines an evolutionary light on it all. This podcast is produced by Philip Berman of Larchmont Productions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of October 7th and Trump's bid to become US President again, Rafael Behr sits down with fellow Guardian columnist and friend - Jonathan Freedland - to discuss the current state of geopolitics, liberal politics, Israel and Jewish identity. Events featuring Rafael Behr Shoreham, West Sussex, Wed 24 April An evening with Guardian columnist Rafael Behr and television producer Rob Burley in conversation with Ayesha Hazarika MBE, political commentator and broadcaster, and former special adviser to Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband. More details Central London, Thursday 25th April What Everyone Knows About Britain* Except The British: Michael Peel in conversation with Rafael Behr More details J Freeland links Award-winning edition of Unholy podcast The latest edition of the Guardian's weekly US politics podcast Jonathan Freeland and Israeli author Amos Oz New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rafael Behr talks to Tom Gray from Gomez about his bid to become a Brighton MP. Tom's had a hugely successful career in music with Gomez rocketing to fame in 1998, beating Pulp and Massive Attack, among others, to the Mercury Prize. More recently he launched the Broken Record campaign, calling for a fairer deal for musicians from streaming services, among other industry reforms. And now, having banged on the doors to demand political change from the outside, Tom wants to get on the inside. He's on the shortlist to be selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Brighton Pavilion constituency That's the only seat in the country with a green MP right now, Caroline Lucas, although she's standing down at the next election. Raf asks Tom what makes someone want to swap what looks like the perfect job, recording and performing music for eager fans, for the grim, and potentially thankless life of a politician where I think it's safe to say the audiences are less than adoring. https://twitter.com/MrTomGray https://twitter.com/TG4Pavilion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a departure from our normal format Rafael Behr (host) and Philip Berman (the show's producer) agreed to press record when they met yesterday (Thursday 28 September) to discuss a new series idea for Politics on the Couch. And this podcast is the end result, instead of a meta-cast talking about what we could talk about this Autumn, it's more of a casual ramble around Phil's break from Twitter, his despair about the state of political discourse and Raf's one-stop solution for all. Topics covered (in no order of importance): Twitter Laurence Fox GB News Sunak's postion on net zero The mood in Westminster State capture Democratic back-sliding The preface to the paperback version of Rafael's new book. https://rafaelbehr.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raf Behr talks to journalist, author and broadcaster David Aaronovitch about his recent visit to the National Conservatives conference, and what it taught him about state of the Tory party. They discuss: Was there really a re-alignment in British politics post-Brexit? What do the Nat Cons have to offer us Brits apart from hardline anti-immigration vibes? Why do some parts of the commentariat spend so much time talking about 'culture wars' when there are so many other issues to cover? If, as expected, the next government is Labour and inherits an economic mess, will it be possible for them to make all the necessary hard decisions about taxation and spending, and stay in power? David Aaronvitch's substack - https://davidaaronovitch.substack.com Politics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as both one of the Top 25 UK Psychology Podcasts and Political Science Podcasts on the web. https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_psychology_podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rafael Behr talks to Rob Hutton, parliamentary sketch writer at the Critic, about the uneasy relationship between Westminster lobby journalists and MPs. Often political journalists cultivate close relationships with politicians to find out what's really happening in the corridors of power. But does a journalist's 'insider status' cloud their judgement when working out how to write about political stories or policy ssues, or whether to cover them at all? Does it inevitably become a trade-off between, a steady stream of 'exclusives', and a fair and objective approach to reporting? If so, what does this mean for democracy? Rob Hutton is an author and freelance journalist. He spent 16 years covering the British government for Bloomberg, taking in five prime ministers, as many elections, and the odd referendum. Before that, he worked for the Mirror and the Financial Times. He now has a regular spot as sketchwriter for The Critic. His career has been a mix of seriousness and satire. While he was a reporter for Bloomberg, unquestionably The Global News Organisation Least Likely To Tell A Joke, he wrote Romps, Tots & Boffins, a satirical book about the words only journalists use. He followed that up with Would They Lie to You?, about the way politicians got around reality without actually uttering untruths (it was a more innocent age). According to Rob, his most recent book, Agent Jack, doesn’t have quite so many laughs, although he says there’s an incident with a jar of marmalade and a blueprint for a Vickers tank. 'Oh, and there’s a naked German in a wardrobe.' Here's a link to his Podcast - A Pod Too Far Rafael Behr's first book was released in May, 2023 **'Politics, A Survivor’s Guide,'** is all about the infuriating toxicity of politics, how it got that way and how to resist the slide into cynicism and pessimism that are so corrosive of democracy. It’s about the challenge of staying engaged without getting enraged; the need to empathise with people whose views we cannot share and how that is different to appeasement of politics we believe to be dangerous. Available from Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/politics-a-survivors-guide/rafael-behr/9781838955045 Or, for those who are interested in signed copies, from City Books in Hove: https://www.city-books.co.uk Politics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as both one of the Top 25 UK Psychology Podcasts and Political Science Podcasts on the web. https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_psychology_podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition Rafael Behr talks to Professor Ben Ansell about his new book Why Politics Fails: The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them Ben Ansell is Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. He was made Fellow of the British Academy in 2018, among the youngest fellows at that time. His work has been widely covered in the media, including in the World Bank's World Development Report, The New York Times, The Economist, The Times and on BBC Radio 4's 'Start the Week'. He was the Principal Investigator of the multi-million-pound ERC project 'The Politics of Wealth Inequality', is co-editor of the most-cited journal in comparative politics, and has written three award-winning academic books. Why Politics Fail is his latest book and his first for a wider audience. Link to buy Ben's new book https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/284663/ben-ansell Link to Ben's substack https://benansell.substack.com Rafael Behr's first book was released Thursday 4 May, 2023 **'Politics, A Survivor’s Guide,'** is all about the infuriating toxicity of politics, how it got that way and how to resist the slide into cynicism and pessimism that are so corrosive of democracy. It’s about the challenge of staying engaged without getting enraged; the need to empathise with people whose views we cannot share and how that is different to appeasement of politics we believe to be dangerous. Available from Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/politics-a-survivors-guide/rafael-behr/9781838955045 Or, for those who are interested in signed copies, from City Books in Hove: https://www.city-books.co.uk Politics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as both one of the Top 25 UK Psychology Podcasts, and Top 25 Political Science Podcasts on the web. https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_psychology_podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Rafael Behr talks to Claudia Hammond about political empathy, its power and its limits. Claudia is probably best known as the presenter of BBC Radio 4's long-running show, 'All in the Mind' which covers psychology, neuroscience & mental health. She is also the Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex. Her latest book, 'The Keys to Kindness,' looks at what constitutes kindness, effective strategies to build more of it into our lives and the benefits of being kind. She draws on the latest research from psychology and neuroscience, and her work in collaboration with the University of Sussex and the BBC, including the largest global survey ever undertaken into attitudes to kindness. Links https://claudiahammond.com/the-keys-to-kindness https://claudiahammond.com/the-kindness-test https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/kindness/index https://www.sussex.ac.uk/schools/psychology Rafael Behr's first book is released today - Thursday 4 May, 2023 'Politics, A Survivor’s Guide,' is all about the infuriating toxicity of politics, how it got that way and how to resist the slide into cynicism and pessimism that are so corrosive of democracy. It’s about the challenge of staying engaged without getting enraged; the need to empathise with people whose views we cannot share and how that is different to appeasement of politics we believe to be dangerous. The themes include migration, nationalism, family, identity, culture wars, technology, ideology, Europe, Brexit and a little bit of cardiology. Available from Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/politics-a-survivors-guide/rafael-behr/9781838955045 Or, for those who are interested in signed copies, from City Books in Hove: https://www.city-books.co.uk Raf will be speaking at literary festivals, theatres, pubs all around the UK. Often he will be in conversation with fellow journalists and authors, hopefully also in conversation with you in the audience. Below is a list of places and times. Click on date for tickets. There may be more to come... 10 May Brighton Festival 17 May Bath Festival 21 May Aye Write, Glasgow Book Festival 23 May 1000 Trades, Birmingham 25 May Hay Festival 7 June The Elephant and Castle Pub, Lewes (no link yet) 12 June Guardian Live, Kings Cross, London Politics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as both one of the Top 25 UK Psychology, and Political Science podcasts. https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_psychology_podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this wide-ranging and informal conversation*, Rafael Behr chats to former colleague Helen Lewis about whether Whatsapp has changed the way politics is conducted, her favourite Tik Tok channel, the incestous nature of Scottish politics, what's really behind the UK government's immigration policy, what we can learn from Florida culture wars, why the middle ground is so hard to occupy, what we have learnt from the pandemic, and Helen's take on why so many men love listening to other men on podcasts, plus much more. *unstructured Helen Lewis Helen writes about the intersection of politics, society, and digital culture for The Atlantic. Link to Helen’s long read on DeSantis, Trump and the future of American politicsfor The Atlantic She is also the host of the BBC’s long-form interview series, The Spark. Her next book, The Selfish Genius, is scheduled for publication in 2023. Link to ‘The Bluestocking,’ Helen’s substack page. Rafael Behr has a book out very soon about politics If you're interested here's a link to pre-order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Politics-Survivors-Engaged-without-Getting/dp/1838955046/ Now on with the podcast show we call Politics on the Couch. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rafael Behr talks to Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit and co-author, along with Research Fellow Lisa James, of a new book called: The Parliamentary Battle over Brexit, a detailed account of the extraordinary way the Brexit process played out in parliament. Since the 2016 referendum, the hotly contested issue of Brexit has raised fundamental questions about the workings of British democracy. Nowhere was this more true than regarding the role of parliament. This book addresses important questions about parliament's role in the UK constitution, and the impact on this of the Brexit process. While initially intended to re-establish 'parliamentary sovereignty', Brexit wrought significant damage on the reputation of parliament, and the wider culture of UK democracy. This book is published as part of the ‘Brexit, Parliament and the Constitution’ project, funded through Constitution Unit Director Meg Russell's Senior Fellowship with the ESRC-funded UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) programme. For more about the book (and a 30% discount code) see this link: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/parliamentary-battle-over-brexit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Rafael Behr talks to Prof. Tim Bale about why people join political parties and how the members impact democracy. Topics covered inlcude: Tim Bale is Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London. He's the author of several books on British and European party politics, including, Footsoldiers: Political Party Membership in the 21st Century, the research for which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and generated the website http://esrcpartymembersproject.org. His most recent book, The Conservative Party after Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation is out on 30 March 2023. Tim's also a frequent contributor to broadcast and print media in the UK and abroad. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.