A miniseries from the New Economics Podcast which asks how have energy crises shaped our economy and what do we need to do to shockproof our energy system in an increasingly volatile world?

It's 1947. People in the UK were facing one of the most brutal winters on modern record. It was so cold that sheep and cows froze to death in their fields. There was so much snow that railways and roads were blocked off, causing problems with the transportation of coal and the generation of electricity.

1947 was significant for another reason. It was the year the Electricity Act passed, which nationalised the electricity supply in the UK. In this first episode we're asking: what made the government at the time nationalise some of our energy system? Is a nationalised energy system better able to absorb shocks? And did nationalisation improve people’s everyday lives?

Katrina Gaffney was joined by New Economics Foundation economists Dr Alex Chapman and Jaya Sood, alongside writer and academic Gareth Fearn, to find out.

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The National Energy Guarantee: https://neweconomics.org/2023/04/the-national-energy-guarantee

The Private Finance Myth: https://neweconomics.org/2026/04/the-private-finance-myth

Produced by Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Music by Maarten Schellekens, Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-schellekens/motion-score/like-clockwork/ used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

Two years’ ago, the UN human rights high commissioner issued the UK with a warning. He said that new restrictions being imposed on the right to protest were deeply troubling. Two years’ later, we have a new government in charge and now the police are due to get even more powers to restrict repeat protests, like the central London Palestine solidarity demos.

That’s not all - this government also wants to introduce digital ID cards, facial recognition technology in town centres, shrink the number of trials by jury, and water down the European Convention on Human Rights.

Why have pro-Palestine demos prompted protest restrictions? What are the human rights laws our prime minister wants to constrain? And should we be afraid of becoming a surveillance state?

Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Sotez Chowdhury, director of activism and education at Amnesty International UK, to discuss.

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Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

After months of rumours, speculation and gossip, today the chancellor finally delivered her autumn budget - but not before an accidental leak of the budget document rendered the whole speech somewhat pointless. Alongside billions of pounds of tax rises came the long-awaited end of the two-child benefit cap.

But our public services have been decimated by years of austerity, and the cost of living crisis hasn’t gone anywhere. It doesn’t seem like this budget will rocket us into an era of joy and prosperity any time soon.

So, did progressives get the wealth taxes they have been demanding? Will the bond markets be popping champagne this evening? And why has the chancellor found it so hard to turn our economy around?

Hannah Peaker, deputy chief executive at the New Economics Foundation, is joined by James Meadway, host of Macrodose, and Carys Afoko, host of Over the Top Under the Radar, for a special cross over episode.

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Produced by Planet B Productions with support from Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

It’s a new technology that everyone’s desperate to get a piece of. CEOs say it’s going to change how we work, access information, and even relate to each other. Investors are showering companies with money - even when they aren’t turning a profit.

You might think this is the story of artificial intelligence. But it’s actually what happened during the dotcom bubble, back in the late nineties. When the frenzy of investment ended, the bubble burst. Companies went bust and trillions of dollars of investment capital evaporated.

Today, AI companies are raising over a trillion dollars in investment, with very little revenue to show for it.

Is the dotcom bubble a vision of our future? Has the AI hype outpaced its profits? And if the bubble bursts - what does it mean for the rest of us?

This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Eleanor Shearer, senior research fellow at Common Wealth and Carsten Jung, interim associate director for economic policy and AI at the Institute for Public Policy Research.

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Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Last week democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election. His election campaign was bolstered by a slick social media campaign, seen by millions in his city and beyond.

Politicians in the UK have taken inspiration, with figures like Zarah Sultana and Zack Polanski raking in the views on TikTok. But these progressive voices are a drop in the ocean compared to the reach of right-wing voices like Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage and Andrew Tate.

So, why are right-wing influencers so successful online? What lessons do the left need to learn about digital strategy? And do we even have a hope when some of the biggest social media platforms are owned by right-wing billionaires?

This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Will Davies, professor of political economy at Goldsmiths, and Dunya Kamal, social media specialist working at the Trades Union Congress, to discuss.

Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/

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Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

We used to own things. The essential services we need to survive - things like water, trains and our energy system - used to be owned by us: the UK public. But over the last four decades, our public services have been sold off to private corporations over whom we have no control.

The result? Soaring bills for us, but massive payouts to shareholders. Sewage in our waterways, but bailouts for water companies. Constantly delayed trains, but ticket prices getting higher every year.

But what if it didn’t have to be like this? What if we had democratic control over the things which mattered to us? And what if this went beyond public services - to the factories, farms and markets across the UK?

Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Keir Milburn, author of Radical Abundance: how to win a green democratic economy, and Frances Northrop, head of community economic power at the New Economics Foundation.

Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/

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Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza have been described by ministers as “intolerable”, “appalling” and “cruel”. Last year this government suspended around a tenth of Israel’s arms export licences. Yet this summer the UK managed to sell record amounts of arms to Israel, including over one hundred thousand bullets in just one month.

The UK exports billions of pounds worth of parts for fighter jets, bombs and other defence equipment every year. Protest groups, like the now-banned Palestine Action, have repeatedly targeted UK defence sites, including those belonging to Israel’s largest arms producer, Elbit Systems.

So why are we exporting arms to countries who target civilians? Why is the arms industry so entwined with the UK economy? And does more military spending really keep us safe?

Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Khem Rogaly (Common Wealth and Transition Security Project) and David Wearing (University of Sussex).

Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/

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Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Is the party over before it has even begun? Tens of thousands of people signed up to be members of Your Party, the new political project founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. But within hours, rumours of a rift within the party leadership exploded into warring public statements and threats of legal action.

Meanwhile, Zack Polanski won eighty-five percent of the vote in the Green Party leadership election, with record numbers of members signing up to his eco-populist vision. But the Greens face an electoral system stacked in favour of the bigger parties.

As of the time of recording, Your Party has relaunched its membership drive. So what would it mean for them to get off the ground? Will Polanski change the fortunes of the Greens? And do either of these parties have what it takes to challenge the rise of the far right?

This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Adam Ramsay and Shanice McBean to discuss.

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Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

This government has taken a record-breaking plummet in popularity, our chancellor keeps telling us the Treasury has no spare cash for our crumbling schools and hospitals, and Reform have become the most popular party in the country.

So, where did it all go wrong for Labour? Is it true that this government is hamstrung by the UK’s ailing economy? And why are so many people turning to Reform?

For the first episode in a new series of the New Economics podcast, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined By Faiza Shaheen, chief executive of Tax Justice UK, and Alex Chapman, senior economist at the New Economics Foundation.

Follow our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/

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Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

During the presidential campaign, the Democratic Party warned that American democracy was under attack from Trump. Since the start of Trump two-point-0, his administration has deported pro-Palestine student protestors. He has barred Oval Office access to journalists who have used the phrase “Gulf of Mexico” rather than “Gulf of America”. And he has called for a judge blocking his orders to be impeached.

With such anti-democratic forces ensconced in the White House, have US progressives failed? Have the far-right thrived because they are simply better at organising? And how can Americans come together to prevent the stripping away of their most basic rights?

Hannah Peaker is joined by Marshall Ganz, legendary organiser, lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, and author of People, Power, Change: Organising for Democracy Renewal.

Links:

The Leading Change Network: https://leadingchangenetwork.org/

.......

Music: Canyon by A.A. Aalto, used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh.

The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future

New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254