On this week's MACRODOSE, James Meadway unpacks: the UK's Spring Statement and Labour’s reckless welfare cuts (0:51), how Trump’s America is using dollar swap lines to pressure the EU (7:55), and how global shipping companies are raking in record profits from worldwide trade disruptions (16:55).

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To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.

James is away from the show this week, so we’re sharing a great conversation between him and Paris Marx for the podcast Tech Won’t Save Us - a show offering a critical take on Big Tech and its impact on society.

Paris and James dive into the UK’s relationship with tech. Why is Keir Starmer promising to, quote, “mainline AI into the veins of the nation”? Can we do anything about the UK’s dependence on Silicon Valley? And what might an alternative tech future look like?

Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.

Support Tech Won't Save Us ⁠here⁠.

Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.

On this week's MACRODOSE, James Meadway unpacks: Germany’s dramatic break from austerity as the government abandons its balanced budget commitments for the first time since 2009 (1:14), and a look at Rachel Reeves' planned cuts in Britain, sticking to the same old austerity playbook even as Germany goes the other way (10:37).

Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.

MICHAEL BURKE – INCREASING MILITARY SPENDING WILL NOT RAISE LIVING STANDARDS

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To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.

In a new show from Macrodose:The Curve, James Meadway and Grace Blakeley break down the week’s biggest economic stories and what they mean for all of us.

In this excerpt, they discuss the recent German federal election results and how Die Linke managed to turn things around (1:08).

In the full episode, James and Grace look at how US food imports are at a record level, and some recommended reading on the global debt crisis.

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On this week's MACRODOSE James Meadway unpacks: Trump and Putin’s plans for Ukraine – and the geopolitical stakes for Europe (1:29), why new research debunks the myths about working from home (7:50), and our top economics reads for beginners (12:08).

Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Post-Work: What It Is, Why It Matters and How We Get There - by Helen Hester and Will Stronge

CEP LSE: Not incentivized yet efficient: Working from home in the public sector

Our Macrodose Reading List 

Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.

In a new show from Macrodose:The Curve, James Meadway and Grace Blakeley break down the week’s biggest economic stories and what they mean for all of us.

In this excerpt, they discuss the Bank of England’s interest rate cut and its forecast of 3.5% inflation- are we seeing the return of stagflation? (0:40)

In the full episode, James and Grace examine why Britain’s gas prices are soaring, and tackle a listener question: where do they stand on the hotly debated notion of techno-feudalism?

The extended version of this show is available to Macrodose Patreon members. Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.

On this week's MACRODOSE, James Meadway unpacks: the Bank of England’s gloomy forecast for the UK economy (1:08), new warnings about just how water-hungry Britain’s data centres will be (6:23), and how the rising price of eggs is the fresh political headache for US president Donald Trump (13:57).

Red Shadow - 'Stagflation'

Jo Michell - 'Rate cuts won’t save us: why Rachel Reeves must do more to fix the economy'

Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.

In the first episode of The Curve, James Meadway and Grace Blakeley dive deeper into the economic stories hitting the headlines and what they mean for all of us. First up is US President Donald Trump announcing a slew of tariffs that have provoked reaction globally.

The extended version of this show is available to Macrodose Patreon members. Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.

On this week's MACRODOSE, James Meadway unpacks: how China’s new DeepSeek AI model is sparking chaos in Silicon Valley (0:38), a look back at the first 10 days of Trump 2.0 and the early economic trends emerging (6:53), and a listener question: what the hell is Trump coin, and why is it now worth millions of dollars? (13:18).

Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment?

Reach out to us at [email protected].

To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.

In the media, the importance of the legacies of empire and colonialism are often dismissed, with the public conversation often centring on the "culture war" elements of this history, from debates about statues to institutions like the National Trust becoming "woke". The implication of much of this discourse is that empire and colonialism are features of the past, and should be left there.In reality, it is far from that simple. Our guest for Episode 18 is legal scholar Kojo Koram, whose first book, Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire, unpacks how the legacies of empire continue to structure every part of our unequal global economy, from international tribunals that protect corporate interests to the systems that leave countries trapped in cycles of debt. Rather than a thing of the past, Kojo expertly breaks down just how present empire really is, and critically, how it has shaped both the roots and impacts of climate and ecological crisis.