The Prospect Podcast

Author, politician and former member of the Israeli Knesset Avraham Burg joins Ellen Halliday to discuss political leadership in Israel and the influence that extremist voices are having on Netanyahu. Burg argues Israelis must push for the change in leadership needed for the nation to pursue a more peaceful path. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year three councils in England went bust, and the BBC political research unit has reported that one in five councils have warned of effective bankruptcy in five years, unless there is reform. Contributing editor Tom Clark joins Ellen Halliday to unpick the deficit in local government funding, and to the chart the sorry course of Birmingham, a city that was once the cradle of municipal governance, which is now run by a bankrupt council that is forced to make unprecedented cuts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prospect contributing editor Isabel Hilton is joined by Margot Wallström, a former Swedish foreign affairs minister and head of the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine. They discuss the environmental damage Russia’s war has caused in Chernobyl and across the country. Also on the podcast, climate scientist Gavin Schmidt discusses the worrying news that climate models can’t explain 2023’s historic temperature high. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and journalist Phil Tinline joins Ellen Halliday on the podcast to discuss the threat Trump poses to US democracy and the cross-partisan movement of lawyers, activists and politicians fighting to safeguard it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our cover story this month, author, broadcaster and theologian Andrew Graystone explores media tycoon Paul Marshall’s God-driven mission to reshape Britain. He joins deputy editor Ellen Halliday to discuss Marshall’s life, faith and media empire—and why it matters for Britain. Read Andrew Graystone's cover story here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month, OCD sufferer Sarah Collins faces her phobia of sleeping alone, while Gen Z-er Alice Garnett reflects on a search for a new job. Former England cricket captain Mike Brearley celebrates the many apprenticeships he's completed both in sport and in life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rumours abound about the so-called “billionaire” city planned by a former banker and his backers in Solano County California. Is California Forever, as the project is known, a money-making scheme for those disillusioned with San Francisco’s rocketing prices and accumulating problems? Or is it just America’s answer to Milton Keynes? Author and broadcaster Deyan Sudjic joins the podcast to discuss the California Forever and what it illustrates about how capitalism grapples with the crisis in affordable housing. Read Deyan's piece here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Handing cash to rough sleepers has always been a controversial act, but is it actually the solution to our homelessness crisis? It’s an idea that award-winning journalist and author Samira Shackle explored in a feature for the most recent issue of Prospect. Shackle joins Ellen Halliday and Jonathan Tan, chief executive of non-profit Greater Change, on the podcast to discuss cash transfers, universal basic income and other measures that could ease Britain's growing homelessness problem. Read Samira Shackle’s feature here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of the podcast, 91-year-old actor Sheila Hancock and 24-year-old writer Alice Garnett discuss the age-old question: are things really harder for the young? Gen Z Alice and nonagenarian Sheila are joined by Prospect’s boomer editor Alan Rusbridger and millennial Sarah Collins to discuss everything from housing to climate change to mental health—and whether there’s anything one generation can learn from the other. This conversation with two of Prospect’s Lives columnists is also available to read in the latest issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kim Darroch, who was the UK ambassador to the US from 2016-2019, joins Ellen Halliday to discuss how likely a second Trump presidency is and how the UK and Europe should prepare for it. In a wide-ranging conversation that covers Trump's domestic agenda and foreign policy regarding Nato, China, Ukraine and Gaza, Darroch argues that there are steps the UK can take to help Trump-proof our geo-politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leading European historian Timothy Garton Ash joins Ellen Halliday to discuss the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, the challenges facing the Ukrainian armed forces and the west’s unpreparedness in dealing with Putin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Physical cash is dying—but should we be worried about the consequences, or leave that to conspiracists and cranks who are concerned about digital payments? Author and journalist Stuart Jeffries joins Ellen Halliday to discuss what the payments of the future might look like, from cryptocurrency to Amazon wishlists, as well as an unusual group of rebels who are burning cash to make a point. Read Stuart's feature here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month, some of our writers are looking towards the future while others are reflecting on the past, reassessing their hopes and beliefs. Sex worker Tilly Lawless is in a new kind of relationship with new norms for communication while actor Sheila Hancock is renouncing republicanism, after developing an affection for the Royals in her older age. Meanwhile, Sarah Collins, who suffers with OCD, reflects on how a health incident from years ago has sparked a present-day obsession—and a chat with his father gives Tom Martin pause for thought about his physical fitness on the farm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So far, since 7th October, Hezbollah has held back from an all-out war with Israel. How long can that last? And, as tensions rise in the Red Sea, what motivates the Houthis, Iran and the “Axis of Resistance” in the Middle East? Simona Foltyn, an independent journalist, writer and videographer, joins the podcast to discuss what she’s seen and heard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Swifties spotted connections between their favourite singer and a new spy thriller, Argylle, a theory took hold: was the book, ostensibly by a debut writer Elly Conway, actually written by the reigning queen of pop? Why did Apple Studios pay £200 million to adapt a book that hadn't even been published yet? And what does the mystery of Argylle say about the publishing industry and online fandom today? Assistant editor Sarah Collins and Books and Culture editor Peter Hoskin join Ellen Halliday to get sleuthing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economist Daron Acemoglu is officially Prospect's Top Thinker of 2024. A professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Acemoglu is an expert in labour, technology, development and political economy. His work tackles a difficult problem: how can we ensure power and reward are shared fairly as technology remakes our world? Acemoglu joins Prospect contributing editor Tom Clark on the podcast to discuss all that, plus democracy, liberty and the institutions that uphold them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Legendary pollster and political analyst Peter Kellner joins Ellen Halliday and assistant editor Emily Lawford to explain how political polling works and to assess how effective it is at predicting election results. He also trails his new Election countdown column, which will launch on the 29th of January and will give a weekly dose of analysis in the run-up to the UK general election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Safety of Rwanda Bill returns to Parliament, Helen Mountfield, Murray Hunt and Richard Hermer discuss the myriad ways it breaches international law and undermines the rule of law. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emeritus professor of international relations at the University of Oxford, Avi Shlaim joins Ellen Halliday to discuss his experience as an Arab Jew and how it has informed his perspective on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Taiwan prepares to hold key elections on 13th January, China is escalating its campaign to influence the vote’s outcome. What will 2024 look like for Taiwan? And could the CCP’s “grey zone” tactics, which currently fall short of war, and include military drills and cyber operations, escalate into outright conflict? Elizabeth Green, a researcher on China, Taiwan and cross-strait relations joins Prospect contributing editor Isabel Hilton to discuss. Elizabeth has used a pseudonym to protect her identity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.