Politics on the Couch

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.

Ahead of the first bilateral summit between the two countries' leaders for five years, Rafael Behr talks to Georgina Wright, from the Institut Montaigne in Paris, about what the French really think about us Brits, and what we often get wrong about French discourse, customs and political culture. Quite a lot, as it happens. Georgina Wright is Senior Fellow and Director of Institut Montaigne’s Europe Program. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, associate of the Institute for Government in London and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey. Before joining Institut Montaigne, she was senior researcher at the Institute for Government (2019-2020) and research associate at Chatham House (2014-2018). She has also worked for the European Commission and NATO in Brussels. Georgina regularly represents Institut Montaigne on national and international news media, and has written widely for foreign policy outlets. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and the College of Europe (Bruges). https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/experts/georgina-wright This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition, Rafael Behr talks to England's most prodigious political screenwriter and playwright - James Graham. He's probably most well known for writing the recent BBC1 hit drama 'Sherwood', which aired on BBC One in 2022 to rave reviews, and will return for a second series. James also wrote Quiz (ITV) in 2020, which was one of the most watched UK television dramas of the year; and Brexit: An Uncivil War, which garnered huge public attention and critical acclaim in 2019. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and HBO, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, and a BAFTA for Single Drama. In this episode James talks to Rafael about how narratives are fundamental to political storytelling, what they are, why recently parties on the right seem to have been better at them, where James draws his inspiration for writing from, and what his next play is about. More about James For theatre, James’s play Best of Enemies, about the political debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., opened at the Young Vic in 2021, and is currently playing on the West End. It has been nominated for an Olivier for Best New Play, and won a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award. His new musical, Tammy Faye, with music from Elton John and lyrics from Jake Shears, opened at the Almeida in 2022. Ink - about the early days of Rupert Murdoch - opened to huge praise at the Almeida before transferring to the West End in September 2017, where it played in the theatre next door to James’ other new play – political romantic comedy Labour of Love - creating theatre history. James's breakout play This House premiered at the National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in September 2012 and transferred to the Olivier in 2013 where it enjoyed a sell-out run. It garnered critical acclaim and a huge amount of interest and admiration from current and former MPs for his rendition of life in the House of Commons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Rafael Behr talks to Fuschia Sirois, Professor of Social and Health Psychology at Durham University, and co-Editor-in-Chief at the British Journal Of Health Psychology, about procrastination. In this free-flowing conversation, Fuschia and Rafael talk about what procrastination is, how it impacts politics and public policy, what we can do about it, and why Rafael may have incorrectly compared himself to Brad Pitt when he was a lot younger (Raf that is) For more on Rafael Behr, and to order his eagerly anticipated first book: https://rafaelbehr.com Fuschia Sirois’ latest book Procrastination: What It Is, Why It's a Problem, and What You Can Do About It Some of her other recent publications Biskas, M. Sirois, F. M., & Webb, T. L. (2022). Using social cognition models to understand why people, such as perfectionists, struggle to respond with self-compassion. British Journal of Social Psychology, 61, 1160-1182. Open access Sirois, F. M., & Owens, J. (2021). A meta-analysis of loneliness and use of primary health care. Health Psychology Review. Open access Baird, H. Webb, T. L., Sirois, F. M., & Gibson-Miller, J. (2021). Understanding the effects of time perspective: A meta-analysis testing a self-regulatory framework. Psychological Bulletin, 147 (3), 233-267. Link Sirois, F. M., & Owens, J. (2021). Factors associated with psychological distress in health-care workers during an infectious disease outbreak: A rapid systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Open access. Neff, K., Tóth-Király, I., Yarnell, L., Arimitsu, K., Castilho, P., Ghorbani, N., Guo, H., Hirsch, J., Hupfield, J., Hutz, C. S., Kotsou, I., Lee, W. K., Montero-Marin, J., Sirois, F. M., de Souza, L., Svendsen, J., Wilkinson, L., & Mantzios, M. (2019). Examining the Self-Compassion Scale in 20 diverse samples: Support for use of a total score and six subscale scores. Psychological Assessment, 31, 27-45. Link This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One year on from Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, host Rafael Behr talks to Anne Applebaum about why so many US Republicans and conservatives are still seduced by Putin’s anti-West rhetoric and tropes. Anne, a Pullitzer-prize winning historian, is particularly well positioned to discuss this, and associated issues, given that her most recent book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism looked at why some of her contemporaries had abandoned liberal democratic ideals in favor of strongman cults, nationalist movements, or one-party states. Anne Applebaum Anne Applebaum is a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Agora Institute, where she co-directs Arena, a program on disinformation and 21st century propaganda. A Washington Post columnist for fifteen years and a former member of the editorial board, she has also worked as the Foreign and Deputy Editor of the Spectator magazine in London, as the Political Editor of the Evening Standard, and as a columnist at Slate as well as the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs. From 1988-1991 she covered the collapse of communism as the Warsaw correspondent of the Economist magazine and the Independent newspaper. She has lectured at Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Columbia Universities, as well as Oxford, Cambridge, London, Heidelberg, Maastricht, Zurich, Humboldt, Texas A&M, Houston and many others. In 2012-13 she held the Phillipe Roman Chair of History and International Relations at the London School of Economics. She received honorary doctorates from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and Kyiv-Mohyla University. Anne Applebaum was born in Washington, DC in 1964. After graduating from Yale University, she was a Marshall Scholar at the LSE and St. Antony’s College, Oxford. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode host Rafael Behr talks to Prof Anand Menon about what the latest polling on 'bregret' means for identity politics, Starmer's strategy on future EU relations, and the economic and democratic health of the UK. Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College London in the United Kingdom, and was appointed in January 2014 as director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative. Prior to arriving at King's College, London, Menon lectured at Birmingham University. Previously he was Lecturer in European Politics at Oxford University for ten years and a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford for five. Bibliography His publications include European Politics (Oxford University Press, 2007), co-edited with Colin Hay and Europe: The State of the Union (Atlantic Books, 2008), and he has written for popular publications including the Financial Times, the London Review of Books and Prospect.[2][4]Anand was a Professor of West European Politics, and founding Director of the European Research Institute at the University of Birmingham. For more information on Professor Menon: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/anand-menon For more information on the UK in a changing Europe https://ukandeu.ac.uk/ For more on Rafael Behr, and to order his new book visit https://rafaelbehr.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex alongside other eminent roles in the field of advanced research into the nature of consciousness and perception. His bestselling book ‘Being You: A New Science of Consciousness’ is a masterpiece of making complex scientific issues accessible to the non-expert reader. Anil demonstrates that same skill in this relaxed and free-flowing discussion with Politics on the Couch host Rafael Behr. They talk about the essence of what it means to be a conscious being, whether we can ever be said to experience objective reality, whether our present self is really the same as our past self and some of the moral, philosophical and political issues provoked by those questions. For more information on Professor Seth and ‘Being You’, visit https://www.anilseth.com/ Here's the perception census he mentions in the podcast: https://perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world For more on Rafael Behr visit https://rafaelbehr.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode host Rafael Behr talks to Dr Karen Stenner, the political psychologist & behavioral economist best known for long ago predicting the rise of Trump-like figures uner the kinds of conditions we now confront. Her research on authoritarianism and 'Far Right' politics uses psychological theories and methods (in particular, Randomized Controlled Trials) to explain human behavior. She also use those same theories and methods (particularly RCTs) to shift human behavior via communications and campaigns (of every kind), including designing and embedding messages that de-activate authoritarianism and diminish expressions of intolerance and racism in a society. We also discuss the recent Labour victory in the Australian general election and the part that 'independent teals' played. If you'd like to find out more about Dr Stenner and work please visit her site: https://www.karenstenner.com And you may find her articles below of particular interest. For Hope Not Hate on how to help authoritarians live in peace with liberal democracy. https://hopenothate.org.uk/2020/11/01/authoritarianism Her recent piece with Jessica Stern for Foreign Policy on how liberal democracy must treat authoritarianism as a chronic condition to be managed. https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/11/capitol-insurrection-trump-authoritarianism-psychology-innate-fear-envy-change-diversity-populism/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rafael Behr talks to pollster and political strategist James Johnson about what's next for Labour, a matter of minutes after PM Johnson announced his resignation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rafael Behr and Professor Helen Thompson discuss her new book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century. The book, which was released on the day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, recounts three histories—one about geopolitics, one about the world economy, and one about western democracies. She explains how a confluence of different crises, building over many years, has created the current mood of global, epoch-defining disorder. It shows how much of this turbulence originated in problems generated by fossil-fuel energies, and it explains why, as the green transition takes place, the longstanding predicaments energy invariably shapes will remain in place. In light of her new book and the war raging in Ukraine, in this edition of Politics on the Couch Rafael and Helen discuss a wide-range of ideas and issues: Topics discussed: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/disorder-hard-times-in-the-21st-century/9780198864981https://www.polis.cam.ac.uk/Staff_and_Students/dr-helen-thompsonPolitics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as 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.

Human beings routinely make terrible choices but humanity still achieves amazing things. How does this paradox work? And is it still working when technology seems to amplify the worst in us. In this episode, Politics on the Couch host Rafael Behr talks to Professor Steven Pinker about the constant struggle between evidence and emotion for control of the political agenda; whether truth and fact are winning the long war against superstition and falsehood, and why rationality always has the last word. Professor Steven Pinker is Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and the author of a number of highly acclaimed and prize-winning books about psychology, cognitive science, linguistics and history. His latest book Rationality: What it is; why it seems scarce; why it matters was published in September. https://stevenpinker.com/publications/rationality-what-it-why-it-seems-so-scarce-and-why-it-matters More about Steven Pinker: https://stevenpinker.com/biocv Other books by Steven Pinker mentioned in episode The Better Angels of our Nature https://stevenpinker.com/publications/better-angels-our-nature Enlightenment Now https://stevenpinker.com/publications/enlightenment-now-case-reason-science-humanism-and-progress A couple of references in this episode that might be useful as further reading. Michael Ignatieff’s book Fire and Ashes, about a failed career in politics https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/27/michael-ignatieff-fire-ashes-review Jonathan Rauch’s book The Constitution of Knowledge, about the crisis of trust in institutions https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/26/the-constitution-of-knowledge-review-jonathan-rauch-trump Politics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as 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.