The New Statesman Podcast, Subscriber Only Edition

Ten years after the Brexit referendum, a British Prime Minister has said out loud what much of the country has concluded: Brexit did more harm than good.

Andy Burnham has told his party that no credible ten-year plan for Britain can avoid the Europe question, and has since declined to rule out rejoining the EU in Labour's next manifesto.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Tom McTague and Ethan Croft to discuss.

Since the publication of No Logo in 1999 - a critique of big brands and consumer culture - Naomi Klein has been one of the most influential voices in leftist politics in the world. In the past 3 decades, she's explored the intersection of capitalism, war, climate, and conspiracies.

Now in her latest work, and first written collaboration, she turns to fascism. As she sees it, we've entered "End Times Fascism" - a perfect storm of the rise of right-wing authoritarianism, tech evangelism, and ever-growing inequality. "The most powerful people in the world are preparing for the end of the world," she warns with co-author Astra Taylor, "an end they themselves are frenetically accelerating."

It's a difficult conversation to have, contemplating the destruction of our world. But if there's one person who can articulate this clearly and precisely, it's Naomi Klein.

It's been a tumultuous time for the Green Party. Their controversial "Zionism is racism vote" and leader Zack Polanski's defeat in a by-election in North London has led to turmoil within the party.

Meanwhile, is the long-suffering Tory party finally experiencing a "Kemi-bounce"?

And how about the Lib Dems? Is leader Ed Davey facing a coup?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft.

Correction: Jamie Driscoll was not suspended from the Labour Party. He wasn't allowed to stand as a candidate and so he left the party.

Reform clearing its own officials of breaking party funding law, Kemi Badenoch's inheritance tax gambit and was Britain really better off in the 1980s?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Dunn for our weekly round up.

READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2026/10/spains-warning-to-andy-burnham

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/the-sketch/2026/10/vegan-sausages-and-loathing-at-green-party-conference

https://www.newstatesman.com/business/economics/2026/10/was-britain-really-better-off-in-the-1980s

You know what you know, and I know what I know, but only when we know what the other knows do we have common knowledge.

That's the crux of cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker's latest work, focusing on the shift from private to public knowledge, and how this can suddenly change behaviours or even start revolutions.

Steven Pinker joins Tanjil Rashid to discuss.

Labour has held the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with Sagal Abdi-Wali retaining the seat for the party despite a hard-fought contest from Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

The result preserves Labour's long-standing grip on the constituency, and disrupts Polanski's momentum.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ben Walker to discuss.

The summer just passed was the hottest on record. Next year, the scientists predict, will be even hotter.

And what will happen between these two infernos? Respite? Wrong. More extreme weather.

Storms, droughts, and floods will sweep the world in coming months.

George Monbiot, environmental activist and author, joins Oli Dugmore to discuss our new climate reality, how prepared (or rather unprepared) we might be, and why governments and those in power around the world are still ignoring not just the warning signs - but the unfolding disaster.

At the Green Party conference, party members backed a motion to describe Zionism as racism.

Zack Polanski, currently campaigning in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, missed the controversial vote, which called for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state.

Is this a watershed moment for the Green Party?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon.

Every story, they say, needs a beginning, a middle and an end; every story needs a setting.

What if that isn't true? Can you write when everything is in flux, when you are unmoored from places, and when the time is out of joint?

Tanjil Rashid is joined by Amit Chaudhuri, a singer, composer, poet, critic and novelist, to discuss how a story is less important – and less interesting – than the movement of life.

At this week's Labour conference, Andy Burnham announced bigger and bolder policy ambitions than anyone expected. Was this too big a swing? Or the grand vision the country needs?

Elsewhere, next Thursday, there is a by-election happening in Holborn and St Pancras, the seat vacated by Keir Starmer.

Oli Dugmore is joined by business editor Will Dunn and political correspondent Megan Kenyon to discuss.