Life of the Party

By Ampersounds Productions

Life of the Party takes you inside the debates, personalities and politics shaping the new left party in the UK. Hosts Shanice, Jonas and Joe bring critical analysis, unfiltered takes, and lively d

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FAQs about Life of the Party:

How many episodes does Life of the Party have?

The podcast currently has 28 episodes available.

Life of the Party episodes:

April 20, 2026 Live Shows! We’re Coming to Bristol (April 28) , Norwich (May 16) & London (June 4)
Come see the Life of the Party Live!

Ticket links:

April 28th in Bristol w/ the Bristol Cable.
May 16th in Norwich w/ Norwich Transformed.
June 4th in London: email [email protected] w/ 'London Event' in the subject line.

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2min
April 13, 2026 17: The Troubled Story of the Socialist Workers’ Party
Shanice opens us up by comparing the outwards-looking priorities of Zack Polanski’s Greens with their fraught neighbours in Your Party. Whilst Jonas uses the opportunity of the recent mass anti-racist Together march to deep dive into one of its central organisers: the Socialist Workers Party.
Readings

John Maynard Keynes - The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money

Red Mole Substack - Duncan Chapel

Comrade Delta - D K Renton

Please subscribe, comment and leave a review!

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut for ⁠Ampersounds Productions.⁠

Become a supporter: ⁠https://lifeoftheparty.uk/ ⁠
Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠.

This is an Ampersounds production.

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 23min
March 30, 2026 16: NATO is Dead. So What Next?
Jonas takes us across the pond in this week's news section, analysing the French municipal elections and gleaning some insight from Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise. Whilst Shanice argues that the acceleration of US imperial decline also heralds the fracturing of Western military alliances and the emergence of new possibilities for anti-war politics.

Readings

Now, the People! Revolution in the Twenty-First Century - Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Homeland Empire w/ Nikhil Pal Singh - Politics Theory Other

Love, Loneliness and AI: Where Should We Begin? Live with Esther Perel

Please subscribe, comment and leave a review!

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut for Ampersounds Productions.

Become a supporter: https://lifeoftheparty.uk/
Follow us on Instagram.

This is an Ampersounds production.

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 29min
March 16, 2026 15: Should the Greens Poach Labour’s Left MPs?
Shanice brings in this week’s news with a warning that the Green Party needs to tread cautiously as left-wing MPs consider jumping off the sinking Labour ship and defecting to the eco-populist insurgency. Whilst Joe and Shanice clash over the growing recourse to motion maximalism within the Green Party, as the former’s defence of socialist comms rubs up against the latter’s insistence on the primacy of political principle.

Reading

Mars Trilogy - Kim Stanley Robinson
Adults in the Room - Yanis Varoufakis
Scattered - Aamna Mohdin
Vineland - Thomas Pynchland

Become a supporter: lifeoftheparty.uk/support

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 23min
March 02, 2026 14: Queen of the North? What Hannah Spencer's Win Means for the Left
What a week! Shanice, Joe and Jonas dissect the Green party's exciting and decisive victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election. How did Hannah Spencer's campaign win? Is Keir Starmer’s Labour party finished? And where does this leave Your Party? With Jeremy Corbyn's The Many slate coming out of the CEC elections with a big majority, we ask where next for the beleaguered new left party. To wrap up a big episode, Jonas digs deeper into the question of ideology and positioning: should left parties advocate for radical policies like drug decriminalisation and decarceralisation, or do we need to appeal more to the status quo?

Reading
⁠Golden Gulag - Ruth Wilson Gilmore⁠
⁠Policing the Crisis - Stuart Hall⁠
⁠The Interpretation of Dreams - Sigmund Freud ⁠
⁠RSPB Handbook of British Birds - Tim Cleeves⁠
⁠On the Ground in Gorton and Denton - Joe Todd⁠

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 34min
February 16, 2026 13: Left Parties That Win: Lessons from the DSA and the Belgian Workers’ Party
With the Your Party CEC elections in full swing, Jonas breaks down the current state of play in the party - and the gang despair at Your Party’s deteriorating culture of political debate. Would Your Party and the Greens be better if they were a little bit more like the Belgium Worker's Party (PTB), or the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)? Joe challenges the assumptions of the British left, arguing that the PTB and DSA are very different organisations, and we need to analyse them on their own merits.

Reading

Between Autonomy and Control: Comparing the Democratic Socialist of America and the Belgian Workers Party - Joe Todd

The Breaking of the English Working Class - Jonas Patrick Marvin

We Found Love in a Hopeless Place - Gabriel Wynatt

The History and Practice of Political Police in Britain - Tony Bunyan

Parks and Houses For the People - Johan Pries

Your Party's Infantile Disorder - Sam Joyce

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 16min
February 02, 2026 12: Matt Goodwin is a Loser
With Andy Burnham out for the count - blocked by Keir Starmer and his allies from running to be Gorton and Denton's next MP - Joe, Jonas and Shanice grapple with the dynamics at play in this upcoming, historic by-election that could change the face of British electoral politics. Can the Greens really beat Reform in the North? Are Labour out of the race? And most importantly, why is Reform's candidate Matt Goodwin such an incorrigible loser?

Reading
A Very British Coup - Chris Mullen
The Gorton and Denton by-election: a tale of two Manchesters? - Rob Ford
Matt Goodwin and the Politics of Resentment - James Bloodworth
How to Block ICE in Your City - Eric Blanc

Support
Help make Life of the Party happen. Donate at lifeoftheparty.uk/support

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 11min
January 19, 2026 11: Who Are the Trade Unions Really For?
To kick off series two of Life of the Party Shanice, Jonas and Joe are back to their usual antics with spicy hot takes and pressing party news. This week Jonas gives you the lowdown on Your Party's CEC elections so far. Meanwhile Shanice goes against the grain: arguing that trade unions aren't the only site of working class struggle, and why Your Party and the Greens shouldn't formally affiliate to them.

Readings:

Disaster Nationalism - Richard Seymour
Grub first, then ethics? - Jonas Marvin
Lenin's Last Struggle - Moshbe Lewin

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 8min
January 05, 2026 10: Uprisings, New Leaders and the End of MAGA?
Wrapping up the first season of Life of the Party Shanice, Joe, and Jonas give out awards for the major players (and wreckers!) on the burgeoning British left. Meanwhile your hosts dust off their crystal balls to give their predictions on the big political moments heading our way in 2026.

Readings:

Mistaken Identity - Asad Haider
The Populist Moment: The Left after the Great Recession - Anton Jäger and Arthur Borriello
Black Marxism - Cedric J. Robinson

Become a supporter at lifeoftheparty.uk

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 17min
December 22, 2025 9: Are We Revolutionaries? Your Questions Answered
In the run up to Christmas Joe, Jonas, and Shanice answer your listener questions. Are we revolutionaries, what does that even mean? Should the left run as councillors? What does community organising mean? Why have some of the Independent Alliance remained in Your Party? We answer these questions, and more - as well as give you our favourite reads of 2025.

Readings:

Workers Can Win - Ian Allinson
Supermarket Struggle - Workers' Inquiry
⁠Pessimism of the Will - Asad Haider⁠
⁠New Model Island - Alex Niven⁠
Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain - Sam Wetherell
Intermezzo - Sally Rooney

CREDITS

Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.
Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠⁠⁠.
Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.uk
Music by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVN
After Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1T
Become a supporter: patreon.com/LifeoftheParty
Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠This is an Ampersounds production.
⁠
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 20min

FAQs about Life of the Party:

How many episodes does Life of the Party have?

The podcast currently has 28 episodes available.