The number of working age people out of work in Britain 2010 was around 9 million. In 2025? Around 9 million. But why is worklessness in Britain now deemed a crisis, and what can the government do to fix this?

Will Dunn, the New Statesman's business editor, is joined by Alison McGovern, Minister of State for Employment.

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Donald Trump has reached out to Vladimir Putin, over the heads of Ukraine and Europe. The Western alliance is fracturing, so what comes next? Can European nations find the defence budget? And whose terms will this war end on?

Hannah Barnes is joined by Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of War Studies at Kings College London, and later in the programme by the New Statesman's associate political editor Rachel Cunliffe, and the former justice secretary David Gauke to discuss the future of our prisons.

Read: The threat of peace, Penal populism has broken Britain’s prisons

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Last Friday the US Vice President - JD Vance, took to the stage and railed against his country’s European allies, accusing them of not listening to voters on issues of migration and free speech. That speech raised serious questions about how the transatlantic alliance will be transformed. 

But Vance also called into question the "democracy" of the firewall. In Germany, there has long been an agreed firewall against the far right. That centrist parties will not collaborate with them, to prevent far right groups from getting in to power. 

This weekend Germany will head to the polls, and currently the far right populist - Alternative fur Deutchland or AfD are polling at around 20%. Could Germany’s far right break through the firewall? 

Kate Lamble is joined by Hans Kundnani and Annette Dittert.

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The novel is a living thing, argues author Deborah Levy in the New Statesman Goldsmith's Prize lecture.

Tom Gatti hosts Deborah Levy, author of Swimming Home and The Man Who Saw Everything, to deliver a special lecture live from the Southbank Centre in London.

Presented in partnership with the Goldsmiths Prize and the Southbank Centre, and recorded at the Southbank Centre.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHFN7ZY9lzM

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Are local council changes "an attack on democracy"?

Rachel Cunliffe and Megan Kenyon join Hannah Barnes to discuss changes to the rules governing local elections, which Ed Davey and Nigel Farage have attacked as anti-democratic. They answer a listener question about why their local council can "delay my right to vote".

Also in this episode, Megan Kenyon meets Kim Leadbeater for an update on the assisted dying bill, and we answer your questions about the checks and balances that would apply if the bill were to pass.

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Keir Starmer is making a radical shift to appease Reform and "blue labour".

"There has been a conservative revolution going on around the world," says Andrew Marr - and it leaves Keir Starmer with some hard choices.

Andrew joins Hannah Barnes to explain why the prime minister is making a "handbrake turn", and how a new group of MPs known as Blue Labour are having an outsized impact on Labour policy.

Hannah also speaks to Blue Labour member David Smith MP, who claims that the group has more members than are currently known.

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The freedoms that the UK's academy schools have been granted could be curtailed.

Labour's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill proposes centralising and standardising decision making across state schools in the UK. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, claims this will improve conditions for every student across the country.

Katharine Birbalsingh, who has been called "Britain's strictest headteacher", is highly critical of these developments, calling them cultural Marxism. However, senior educator Leora Cruddas - who leads an organisation representing two thirds of UK academies - has welcomed many of the measures in the bill.

Pippa Bailey is joined by Birbalsingh, Cruddas and the New Statesman's Hannah Barnes to discuss who should decide how and what children are taught.

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The rapid rise of generative AI has revolutionised creativity while also raising significant challenges.

The rapid rise of generative AI has revolutionised creativity while also raising significant challenges. In this episode, we explore how responsible innovation can reduce misinformation's impact and protect creators.

Host Jon Bernstein is joined by Adobe’s Head of Policy and Government Relations EMEA Stefanie Valdés-Scott, Vale of Glamorgan MP Kanishka Narayan and AI and deepfake expert Henry Ajder.

Our panel discusses the balance between risk and opportunity in AI development, as well as how to approach AI innovation ethically. They talk about how government, industry and creators might work together to create a safer, more reliable digital landscape and address the impact new AI copyright laws might have.

Learn how government policies and industry initiatives like the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative are fostering innovation and building a more trustworthy and transparent digital ecosystem.

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Ten years ago the sunshine state was mainly known for its outlandish stereotypes: swamps, gators, retirees, Disneyland all the time. But now power is shifting.

How did that state that was once the political joke of America become the nation’s centre of power?

Tom Gatti is joined by Gary Mormino author of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida, and New Statesman contributor Lily Lynch.

Read: Donald Trump's Florida project

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US investment already owns much of the British high street. Are "ignorant" politicians "selling the UK down the river"?

As Donald Trump announces new tariffs on trading partners around the world, Hannah Barnes and Rachel Cunliffe are joined by Angus Hanton, author of Vassal State, to explore how the UK economy is, in many ways, "in thrall" to the US.

They also discuss Trump's shock declaration of intent to "take over" the Gaza Strip. Later in the show they're joined by George Eaton to analyse Keir Starmer's great EU reset - and discuss whether the Prime Minister can please both Europe and the United States (spoiler: he can't).

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