In this episode, Co-Director, Colm Murphy is joined by Marc Stears (University of Sydney) and Emily Robinson (University of Sussex) to discuss Marc’s recent book ‘Out of The Ordinary: How Everyday Life Inspired a Nation and How It Can Again'.

They consider whether contemporary politics can learn from ordinary people, as it did in the 1920s to 1950s, in an age of ever-increasing polarisation. 

This week MEI Deputy Director, Karl Pike, and Madeleine Davis (QMUL) were joined by the Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, Jon Cruddas, to discuss his new book, The Dignity of Labour.

Jon offers his perspective on what he sees as intersecting crises that are consuming society and politics: the crisis of social democracy, the rise of authoritarian populism, and flatlining productivity. He also offers his thoughts on electoral challenges for Labour and the debates around work itself. Is it something that gives life purpose? Or is it a necessity that will eventually be abolished by technology and automation?

This feature-length episode launches the final part of the trilogy, 'Irish Political Prisoners from 1848 to 2000', by QMUL’s Professor Seán McConville.

This week, Tim Bale was joined by Antony Mullen (Director, The Thatcher Network) and Emily Stacey (Associate Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University) to discuss the social and cultural legacies of Margaret Thatcher. They consider how ‘Thatcherism’ manifests itself today and the ideological impact it has had not only on the Conservative Party, but across the UK more widely.

In this episode, MEI Director Patrick Diamond examines the public policy challenges that will be faced by the Mayor of London during his second term of office. He is joined by guests Tony Travers (Director, LSE London), Claire Harding (Research Director, Centre for London), and Jason Strelitz (Director of Public Health, Newham), who in turn discuss the future of London as a global city, and the challenges and opportunities the capital will face as a result of economic, social and political change.

In this episode, the MEI’s Karl Pike and Farah Hussain were joined by Ben Jackson, Associate Professor of Modern History at University College Oxford.

They discuss the history of Scottish nationalist political thought in the 20th century, how it has been affected by political turbulence in the UK more broadly, and the prospects for an independent Scotland in the wake of recent elections to Holyrood and in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this episode of the MEI podcast, Farah Hussain (Queen Mary University of London), was joined by Sadiya Akram (Manchester Metropolitan University), and Shardia Briscoe-Palmer (De Montford University), to discuss the controversial report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

The conversation places the report in a historical context, looks at the use and usefulness of ‘BAME’ and assesses what the findings and narrative of the report might mean for future discussions about race and racism in the UK.

In this episode Matthew d’Ancona, author of Identity, Ignorance, Innovation: Why the Old Politics is Useless - and what to Do about it, joins Tim Bale to discuss what we should make of identity politics, what we need to teach in our schools and universities, and what the digital future holds for all of us.

With polling suggesting that Labour is going to have an awful lot of trouble holding on to Hartlepool in the upcoming by-election, we look at what's gone wrong for the party in northern England and what it might do to put it right. Veteran Labour activist Sally Gimson joins Tim Bale to discuss the fall of the ‘Red Wall.’ And, drawing on her recent work on Bassetlaw, for which she was briefly the party's candidate, Sally offers practical suggestions for how Labour might win back the seats it lost in 2019.

In this special episode of the Mile End Institute Podcast, guest host, Dr Peter Brett is joined by Dr Reuben Loffman, author of 'Church, State and Colonialism in Southeastern Congo, 1890–1962'.

This broad discussion outlines the pre-colonial history of southeastern Congo, how the Catholic Church began its encounters, and the relationship between Catholic missionaries and the colonial administration.