The Critic Podcast

Opinion polls show a majority of Scots saying they would vote 'yes' for Scottish independence in a second referendum - which may be granted if the SNP win next May's Scottish parliamentary elections.

--

Why has Scottish opinion shifted in favour of breaking-up the UK at a time when the UK Treasury is pumping billions into Scotland's Coronavirus response? In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Kevin Hague, Chairman of These Islands, a cross-party pressure group that seeks to play a prominent role in shaping the debate in favour of maintaining the UK in a future referendum. Is all lost, or do the Unionists have a plan?

--

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

--

Image: Pro-Scottish independence march on October 5, 2019 (Photo by Ewan Bootman/NurPhoto 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/

Half the world has seen a James Bond film, or so the estimates have it, making 007 one of the most globally recognisable British brands as well as the longest, most successful film franchise in history.

But what does Bond stand for and how has he changed since Ian Fleming created him in the 1950s? Professor Jeremy Black, author of The World of James Bond and The Politics of James Bond unpicks the life and times of 007 with The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart.

--

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

--

Image: Sean Connery in a scene from the film 'James Bond: From Russia With Love', 1963. (Photo by United Artist/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/

What did the radical essayist and polemical journalist, Christopher Hitchens, and the conservative philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton, have in common?

In this podcast, Douglas Murray, the commentator and author of The Strange Death of Europe and, most recently, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, talks to the political editor of The Critic, Graham Stewart, about the personal debt he owes to the two men he considers his literary mentors and the wider contribution that they made to debate and critical thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

--

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

--

Image: Douglas Murray(Photo by Roberto Ricciuti/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 the first of a new series of podcasts featuring those who shaped politics over the last fifty years, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Lord Taverne of Pimlico.

As Dick Taverne, he was a minister in Harold Wilson's government, working with Roy Jenkins on many of the economic and social reforms of the 1960s, before being forced out of the Labour Party in 1973 because of his support for membership of the European Economic Community.

How does the calibre of politicians compare between now and the 1960s? Were we better governed? And how close was Roy Jenkins to splitting the Labour Party by creating a Social Democrat Party in 1973, rather than 1981? Dick Taverne recalls politics, past and present.

--

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

--

Image: Dick Taverne is lifted aloft by supporters as he arrives at the House of Commons, London, March 7th 1973. (Photo by Dennis Oulds/Central Press/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/

As we grow further and further away from the twentieth century, has our perceptions on its course changed? And do we consider the themes and events that shaped it - and us - differently?

The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, discusses with the historian, Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange, whether greater distance from the twentieth century alters our perception of it.

--

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

--

Image: The Greedy, by George Barbier (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis 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/

The spirit of 1968 has returned. From protests, to boycotts and even riots, ‘direct action’ is back in vogue as protestors impatient with the pace of change raise consciousness about the issues they want to put centre-stage. The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, asks Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange, whether we are witnessing a new age of emancipation or the undermining of democratic institutions?

--

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

--

Image: Photo by PhotoQuest/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/

The Cold War ended with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. But when did it start? Shortly after the end of the Second World War is the common view. But did it really start with the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917?

And if we view it as a confrontation between the West and Soviet Union are we forgetting about the actions and influence of Communist China? Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange, picks-over the evidence with Graham Stewart.

--

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

--

Image: Photo by SSPL/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/

Can the West live without China? Would decoupling from China inflict greater damage to the American and British economies than it would hurt China? Graham Stewart talks to Stewart Paterson, research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation and author of China, Trade and Power: Why the West's Economic Engagement Has Failed about whether disengagement is an act of self-harm or a sensible stitch in time.

--

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

--

Image: Photo by Zhang Ping/China News Service 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/

And do we still have a national story?

--

He won a large majority in last December's election, but with his judgment and performance increasingly questioned, is Boris Johnson the wrong man to be leading the government?

Simon Heffer, professor of modern British history at Buckingham University and a columnist for the Sunday and Daily Telegraph argues that the prime minister is unsuited to the job.

And Graham Stewart also talks to Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange about how British history is taught at schools and universities. Is there still a national story?

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

--

Image: Photo by Dan Kitwood/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/

And what is the relationship between war and the state?

--

This week, Graham Stewart speaks to Nick Timothy, former Downing Street adviser and now Daily Telegraph columnist and author of Remaking One Nation: the Future of Conservatism, on what future there is for liberalism in British politics, as well as to Emeritus Professor of History at Exeter University, Jeremy Black, on the relationship between war and the power of the state.

--

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

--

Image: Galerie Bilderwelt/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/