The Critic Podcast

As conference season went online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the experience proved vastly different for those who usually attend the annual party conferences.

In this week's podcast, The Critic's David Scullion, Politeia Director Jonathan Isaby and former Conservative Party councillor Caroline ffiske discuss whether it's still worth political parties meeting in person, and if for the Tories it's now more about attracting corporate sponsors than letting party members have their say.

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Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In a week when backbench MPs and the government clashed over the right to debate Coronavirus regulations before they become law, how does the role of the modern MP compare with that of an eighteenth century honourable member? Were MPs a check upon - or a rubber-stamp for - successive Whig governments and how diligently did they perform their duties?  

In this week's Black's History Week podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Walpole in Power and Parliament and Foreign Policy in the Eighteenth Century, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the nature of parliamentary government in Georgian Britain.

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Image: Sir Robert Walpole in the House of Commons, circa 1700s

Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Last night, Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced off in the first of three presidential debates.

It was a bad-tempered affair, with a lot of squabbling and not much substantive policy discussion. But who came out of the messy encounter on top? And are there any undecided voters who would have changed their minds by the end of the 90 minutes?

In this podcast, The Critic's US editor, Oliver Wiseman, spoke to the publisher and editor of American Greatness, Chris Buskirk, about what we learned last night, as well as the state of the presidential race more generally. 

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details.

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Photo: Photo by JIM WATSON, SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tuesday night is debate night - the first of three US presidential debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, and US editor, Oliver Wiseman, talk about what to expect from the debates in a time of Covid-19.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details.

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Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Has scientific development become so specialised and academic roles so minutely research-focused that there is no longer a role for the inter-disciplinary polymath who prioritises breadth of knowledge and making connections between different subjects?

In this week's Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the idea of the Renaissance Man and how he personally developed such breadth in his own wide-ranging career as a historian. 

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Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

With the opinion polls suggesting the SNP is heading for a clear majority in next May's Scottish parliamentary elections, fuelling their demands for a second referendum on independence - is it beyond the ability of Scotland's Conservative, LibDem and Labour parties to save the union?

Former Labour and Respect MP, George Galloway, has founded the Alliance for Unity as a bipartisan party seeking to ensure that only one pro-union candidate stands in each region against the SNP in May. But will it work, how will it be funded and will the Westminster parties cooperate? If not, will the Alliance for Unity succeed only in further splitting the pro-union vote?

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to George Galloway and the Scottish farmer, writer and Alliance for Unity candidate, Jamie Blackett about their game plan to keep Scotland in the UK.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details.

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Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome to the first episode of Black’s History Week: the latest podcast series from us here at The Critic.

The former prime ministers, John Major, Tony Blair and Theresa May have all criticised Boris Johnson's handling of the Internal Market Bill and the Withdrawal Agreement. But how common is it for ex-prime ministers to continue to play a prominent part in British politics after they have left Downing Street? And do American presidents mostly find it easier to resist the urge to influence political debate after their White House tenure expires?

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, biographer of Robert Walpole and Pitt the Elder, talks to The Critic's editor, Graham Stewart, about the ruling passion and which of the pastmasters have successfully influenced politics after their time in office elapsed.

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Image: William Pitt the Elder, (Image from Studio of William Hoare, held at the National Portrait Gallery, image obtained via Wikipedia)

Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Why is the UK a world leader in tech sector R&D, yet has not a single high growth software business listed on the FTSE 100? Does leaving the EU threaten the UK’s tech sector or does Brexit provide Britain with opportunities? And if so, how and where?

Dr Mike Lynch OBE has been variously described as: Britain’s answer to Bill Gates; Britain’s most successful technology entrepreneur; and, in the Financial Times, as “the doyen of European software.” He co-founded Autonomy Corporation (which was later sold to Hewlett-Packard in a deal that remains the subject of litigation), and his Invoke Capital Fund is a major investor in Britain’s burgeoning AI sector.

In this podcast, Mike Lynch talks to The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, about what policies need to change if the UK’s tech sector is going to thrive in the future.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details.

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Photo:

Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As Beijing has become more bellicose since the Coronavirus pandemic and British attitudes have hardened, how should Britain react?

In a recent paper, Dr Radomir Tylecote the Director of the Good Governance Project and Research Director of the Free Speech Union, argues that Britain is still being naive in its dealings with China and suggests ways to be more resilient to China's "Long March through the (global) Institutions".

The Critic's Deputy Political Editor David Scullion met Dr. Tylecote earlier this week to get his thoughts.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details.

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Photo: Beijing CBD via Getty Images

Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this week's podcast, The Critic's Deputy Political Editor, David Scullion, spoke to Harry Miller, an ex-police officer who last year was visited at work by police officers who wanted to "check his thinking" on trans issues after they read some of his tweets.

Last year the High Court found that the police probe was unlawful, but in a new report into the politicised nature of policing, Fair Cop, the organisation Miller founded, says the police are still routinely enforcing things that are not actually the law but are just on Stonewall's wishlist.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details.

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Photo: Photo by Andres Pantoja/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/