The CapX Podcast

By CapX

What's The CapX Podcast about?

CapX editor Alys Denby interviews the most interesting people in politics Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The CapX Podcast episodes:

01.12.2024
Boats and votes
Parliament is back and so are the Tory factions fighting over the Rwanda scheme. In the first CapX Podcast of 2024, Alys Denby is joined by Research Director at the Centre for Policy Studies Karl Williams to discuss how debates...
12.15.2023
CapX's Christmas podcast: Heroes and villains of 2023
CapX Editor Alys Denby runs through the people and policies that made 2023 another peculiar year in politics, with Poppy Coburn, Assistant US Opinion Editor at the Telegraph, William Atkinson, Assistant Editor at Conservative Home and Joseph Dinnage, Deputy Editor...
12.01.2023
Analysing the Autumn Statement with Richard Hughes and Vicky Pryce
Aside from a windfall from higher inflation which the Chancellor used to make tax cuts, the underlying picture for the economy is essentially flat. That being said, some welcome pro-growth measures were announced, most notably the decision to make full...
10.13.2023
Israelophobia with Jake Wallis Simons
The world has just witnessed the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. Yet amid the international condemnation of Hamas terrorists, there has also been equivocation – and even celebration in some quarters. No other conflict stirs emotions like...
09.29.2023
Making sense of Conference with Robert Colvile
It’s Party Conference season, and while the Lib Dems were kayaking and playing crazy golf in Bournemouth last week, this weekend it’s the Tories’ turn to troop up to Manchester. Attendees are anticipating drama, gossip and exciting policy announcements –...
08.01.2023
Cambridge, too far?
CapX talks about housing a lot – most often to scream 'build more houses!' into a void – yet politicians appear stuck in a doom loop when it comes to this urgent topic. Conservative MPs talk a good game about the...
07.21.2023
The War On Your Mind
In a world saturated with information, we have more choices than ever – but how freely do we make them? In their new book Free Your Mind – The new World of Manipulation and how to Avoid it, journalist Laura...
07.14.2023
Isabel Hardman on the NHS' Fight for Life
The NHS recently marked its 75th birthday with the kind of love-in most countries reserve for a passing monarch or truly iconic celebrity. So what is about our health service that has created such a fervent attachment amongst so many Brits,...
06.30.2023
Where does all your rubbish go?
Trash, garbage, litter or rubbish – whatever you call it the world is producing ever more of the stuff. But where does it all go once it's left our colour-coded bins? And what about all those clothes you leave at...
06.23.2023
Frank Luntz on the language of freedom
He’s best known for coming up with the terms death tax and climate change, so it’s fair to say Frank Luntz knows a thing or two about political communication – making him an ideal guest for the CapX Podcast. We sat...
06.16.2023
This is Europe with Ben Judah
How do we really live now? From a Romanian truck driver to an Amazon deliveryman and a factory production line worker, Ben Judah tried to answer that question by speaking to the people whose labour makes the freedom and prosperity...
06.09.2023
The big AI debate
As with so much modern political theatre, the debate on artificial intelligence has become polarised to a point that is often profoundly unhelpful, with a false dichotomy between 'doomers' and utopians who see AI as a solution to the world's many...
05.26.2023
A fork in the road
There are few political questions as vexed as how to tax hard-pressed motorists. For many years, the Treasury has treated British drivers as a cash cow, levying high taxes while investing relatively little in the road network. Now, however, things are...
05.19.2023
What's the point of National Conservatism?
What is National Conservatism? That's the question we're grappling with this week following the big National Conservatism Conference in London. While it certainly generated lots of media heat, it's still not particularly clear what this US-imported idea actually stands...
05.12.2023
Lord Frost on the state of Brexit Britain
Our guest this week played an instrumental role in the UK's departure from the European Union. As Boris Johnson's Europe adviser and then chief negotiator in the exit talks with the EU, Lord Frost drew on a lifetime of experience...
05.05.2023
In defence of the rich – with Emily Carver, Luke Johnson, Merryn Somerset Webb & Martin Vander Weyer
Here at CapX we love an unfashionable cause – and in a cost of living crisis, few demographics are less popular than those who seem to be struggling less. But we're also fans of basic economic concepts, and with the tax...
04.28.2023
Fuelling the future
Did you know that every time you fill up your car, you are paying for the UK’s biofuels mandate, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)? In fact, some 6% of the price Brits pay at the pump goes on biofuel...
04.21.2023
Reasons to be fearful, with Ed West
Things can seem a bit gloomy at the moment, and no one is better suited to explaining why than our guest this week, the Tory writer and self-proclaimed doom-monger Ed West. In an eclectic career that has spanned lad mags, religious...
04.14.2023
AI-pocalypse now?
Breathless predictions of AI-induced doom are all around, with some experts in the field saying the technology has already advanced beyond the point of no return. The recent open letter signed by the likes of Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and...
04.06.2023
Stephen D King on why we need to talk about inflation
After years where prices barely seemed to rise and interest rates remained stubbornly low, the last two years have seen inflation come roaring back - combined with union strife and an energy crisis it has felt like we've been living...
03.31.2023
Ben Ansell on Why Politics Fails
Would we all be better off if only we had better politicians? It's a comforting illusion, but really the problem isn't those who sweep in and out of power, but you and me, the public - that's the basic...
03.24.2023
Hannah Barnes on the rise and fall of the Tavistock gender clinic
How did an NHS clinic end up prescribing young people potential dangerous medical treatment with next to no data on the long-term effects? And why did that same clinic fail to respond to the concerns not just of outsiders, but its...
03.17.2023
Breaking down the Budget
It's that special time of year again when the Chancellor delivers a Budget, before commentators, policy wonks and political opponents rush to tear it apart in the ensuing days. In that noblest of British traditions, we invited our editor-in-chief, Robert Colvile...
03.10.2023
Colonialism and the culture wars with Nigel Biggar
How bad was the British Empire? That's the question Nigel Biggar, Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, has attempted to answer in his book Colonialism a Moral Reckoning. But in doing so, he...
03.03.2023
Ross Clark on 'Not Zero'
The Government's Net Zero target is nothing if not ambitious - to decarbonise the British economy - energy, manufacturing, transport and agriculture included - all in the space of just a few decades. But while there is a glut of potentially...
02.24.2023
Gavin Jackson on how money makes the world go round
This week we're talking about moola, lolly, dough or dosh - the thing that makes the world go round...Money. In his recent book Money in One Lesson the economic journalist Gavin Jackson tries to answer a seemingly basic but very tricky...
02.17.2023
Alex Massie on the Sturgeon succession
Nicola Sturgeon's resignation on Wednesday morning was a slightly puzzling political event – 'shocking', in the sense that it heralds the departure of a politician who has occupied the highest perch in Scottish politics for so long, but also not...
02.10.2023
Remaking Britain
Britain isn’t working well for many of us right now. The cost of energy, housing, and food are too high, while decent jobs with real prospects are hard to come by. That is the clarion call of a new campaign group...
02.03.2023
Why is tax so taxing?
Few political questions are as basic, or as pressing, as how a government raises the money it spends – and the last year in British politics has provided ample examples of the political pitfalls of tax reform. In principle a good...
01.27.2023
Christopher Snowdon on why Nanny doesn't know best
From sin taxes to plain packaging, smoking bans to warnings about the perils of office cake, the reach of Britain's nanny state has never felt more pervasive or pedantic. Only this week the public health panjandrums came up with...
01.20.2023
John Longworth on how to make Brexit work for Britain
Our guest this week. John Longworth, is a real titan of UK PLC. As a scientist, business, entrepreneur and advocate for the interests of British business, there aren't many who have John's breadth or depth of experience - something he's...
01.13.2023
Samuel Hughes on solving the housing puzzle
CapX regulars know all too well the parlous state of British housing. We don't build enough, what we do build is often shoddy and angrily opposed by local people, and both rents and mortgages are increasingly out of the reach...
12.16.2022
The CapX Podcast: The heroes and villains of 2022
Trying to boil down this eventful, hectic and often tragic year into a single podcast was always going to be a hell of a challenge - but here on the CapX Podcast we like to shoot for the moon...
12.09.2022
Educating England
Wherever you look workers are going on strike and our schools are no exception - even though Jeremy Hunt managed to find an extra few billion behind the Treasury couch for education at his recent Autumn Statement. So what's going on...
12.02.2022
Census sensibilities
What kind of country is Britain today? That might be a rather broad question, but thanks to the recently published census, we can have a stab at answering it – at least for England and Wales. For this week's topical podcast...
11.25.2022
Baroness Dambisa Moyo on the global growth challenge
Baroness Dambisa Moyo is a seriously impressive woman. She’s worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs analysing global economic trends, and sat on the boards of numerous FTSE100 companies including Barclays and Chevron. She’s also the author of five...
11.18.2022
Tyler Cowen on talent, economic optimism – and where to find a decent curry
Our guest this week is one of a kind. A truly polymathic personality, there's not much Tyler Cowen doesn't have a well informed view on, from the merits of Bradford curry houses to the future of cryptocurrencies and the fate...
11.11.2022
Oliver Wiseman on America's 'red ripple'
We're turning our gaze Stateside this week where the mid-term elections promised a red wave and delivered ,well, something more like a ripple. A bad night for Donald Trump, a pretty good one for Joe Biden and a fascinating...
11.04.2022
Ian Acheson on police, prisons and protecting the border
Law and order has shot up the political agenda in the last year or so, with the chaos in the Channel, damning reports into the culture of the Met Police and chaos in the prison system. Just this week we've...
10.28.2022
Third time lucky?
Typical isn’t it – you wait ages for a new Prime Minister and then three come along in six months. Rishi Sunak has taken command of a party that’s been through a bruising ideological battle and taken a battering in...
10.21.2022
Iuliia Mendel on working for Zelensky and Ukraine's fight for survival
Volodymyr Zelensky became a a global icon almost overnight following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of this year. The force of his leadership and defiance in the face of overwhelming Russian force offered hope in his country's darkest...
10.14.2022
The CapX Podcast: Bonds, Bailey and Bonking for Britain
We aren't in the habit of quoting Lenin on CapX, but his observation that there are 'decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen' has felt pretty apposite recently. So there's plenty to discuss in our latest topical podcast: from...
10.07.2022
The CapX Podcast: Richard Reeves on why modern men are struggling
When we think of the fight for gender equality, more often than not it's framed in terms of the unequal, often violent, treatment suffered by women and girls. In many, many places, that is very much still the case -...
09.30.2022
The CapX Podcast: Julian Jessop on a tough week for 'Trussonomics'
There's no doubt it's been tough week for proponents of so-called 'Trussonomics', with the Government's Growth Plan taking pelters from all sides and the Bank of England stepping in to calm down the gilt markets. But does that mean the...
09.23.2022
Edward Chancellor on The Price of Time
From ancient Mesopatamia to the Monetary Policy Committee, the story of trade, commerce and capitalism is also the story of interest rates. Few people are as intimately acquainted with that topsy-turvy narrative as our guest this week, the financial journalist and...
09.16.2022
Brad DeLong on Slouching Towards Utopia
In a world of relentless, high-velocity news, sometimes it pays to take a step back and look at the big picture. Our guest this week, the US economist Brad DeLong, does that with some aplomb in his new book 'Slouching...
08.26.2022
Exam questions with Dr David James
It’s results season, so as well as an opportunity to offer congratulations or commiserations to all our many teenage listeners getting their GCSEs and A Levels this week, it’s a chance to talk about education policy. This is the first...
08.19.2022
Robert Colvile and Henry Hill on the way water works
Water, water everywhere...this week's news has been dominated by rows over the privatised utilities. From polluting water companies to 'greedy' energy bosses, it's open season on anyone who dares turn a (highly regulated) profit while providing an essential public service. Recent...
08.12.2022
Are you a Booster or a Doomster?
Are you a booster or a doomster? A recent article by the economist and CapX regular Sam Bowman suggests this is the divide in UK economic policy. For the Boosters, not only is growth paramount, but there's plenty we can do...
08.05.2022
Madeline Grant on the age of 'vibes politics'
This week we were delighted to welcome one of the stars of the centre-right media landscape, Madeline Grant. After starting out in thinktank world at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Madeline has since forged a path in journalism as a...

What's The CapX Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The CapX Podcast episodes:

Boats and votes

CapX's Christmas podcast: Heroes and villains of 2023

Analysing the Autumn Statement with Richard Hughes and Vicky Pryce

Israelophobia with Jake Wallis Simons

Making sense of Conference with Robert Colvile

Cambridge, too far?

The War On Your Mind

Isabel Hardman on the NHS' Fight for Life

Where does all your rubbish go?

Frank Luntz on the language of freedom

This is Europe with Ben Judah

The big AI debate

A fork in the road

What's the point of National Conservatism?

Lord Frost on the state of Brexit Britain

In defence of the rich – with Emily Carver, Luke Johnson, Merryn Somerset Webb & Martin Vander Weyer

Fuelling the future

Reasons to be fearful, with Ed West

AI-pocalypse now?

Stephen D King on why we need to talk about inflation

Ben Ansell on Why Politics Fails

Hannah Barnes on the rise and fall of the Tavistock gender clinic

Breaking down the Budget

Colonialism and the culture wars with Nigel Biggar

Ross Clark on 'Not Zero'

Gavin Jackson on how money makes the world go round

Alex Massie on the Sturgeon succession

Remaking Britain

Why is tax so taxing?

Christopher Snowdon on why Nanny doesn't know best

John Longworth on how to make Brexit work for Britain

Samuel Hughes on solving the housing puzzle

The CapX Podcast: The heroes and villains of 2022

Educating England

Census sensibilities

Baroness Dambisa Moyo on the global growth challenge

Tyler Cowen on talent, economic optimism – and where to find a decent curry

Oliver Wiseman on America's 'red ripple'

Ian Acheson on police, prisons and protecting the border

Third time lucky?

Iuliia Mendel on working for Zelensky and Ukraine's fight for survival

The CapX Podcast: Bonds, Bailey and Bonking for Britain

The CapX Podcast: Richard Reeves on why modern men are struggling

The CapX Podcast: Julian Jessop on a tough week for 'Trussonomics'

Edward Chancellor on The Price of Time

Brad DeLong on Slouching Towards Utopia

Exam questions with Dr David James

Robert Colvile and Henry Hill on the way water works

Are you a Booster or a Doomster?

Madeline Grant on the age of 'vibes politics'