Nathen Jones joins Alan to discuss his research and book on the other special relationship between Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar. His book The adoption of a pro-US foreign policy by Spain & the United Kingdom: José María Aznar and Tony Blair's personal motivations and their global impact looks at how the modernisers of their day worked hand in hand on issues such as the EU and Iraq, but also shared similar outlooks on their respective parties and countries. 

Nathan Jones is a lecturer in Politics in the Division of Politics and International Relations at Nottingham Trent University. He specialises in comparative European politics, party politics, elections and electoral systems, voter behaviour, and public opinion. 

This week Eoghan talks to Nick Lloyd about his book 'Forgotten Places: Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War'. The discussion ranges from George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and the strategic dilemmas facing the Republican side during the 1936-9 conflict to the contrasting experiences of the war in Madrid and Barcelona.

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You can find more information about the Nick's Civil War tours at his website: https://thespanishcivilwar.com/

In Spain this week there has been a lot of discussion around the age of gaining consent to get an abortion, should you need your parent's consent if you are between 16-18? This law says no. Internationally we have seen headline after headline talking about 'period leave' but unlike the Daily Mail says it is not unlimited. 

Deb Madden is a feminist academic who joins Alan do discuss the history of the law, the wider global fight for women's rights and why Spain stands at the forefront of the global feminist movement. 

The ‘Catalangate’ espionage case has rocked Spanish politics over the last month and has led to the sacking of the country's head of intelligence. The scandal, which involves the use of Pegasus spyware against Catalan and Basque independentists, also raises serious questions around the democratic deficiencies of Spain's post-Franco constitutional regime.

In this episode Alan and Eoghan discuss the fallout from the crisis.

Karl Qualls joined Eoghan and Alan to discuss his book Stalin's Niños: Educating Spanish Civil War Refugee Children in the Soviet Union

Here they talk about how the 3,000 Spanish children ended up in the USSR and what happened during their childhood there. They also speak about the education they received and why they were considered hero children in the eyes of the Soviet Union. They also explore why it was important for them to keep their Spanish culture but also develop a Soviet way of thinking. Finally, they explore what we can learn from this in the context of today's war in Ukraine.

You can buy the book here

Luke Bowe, a PhD candidate from New York University, talks to Alan about the cultural depictions of Asturias via the medium of novels, short stories and film. Asturias often gibes of two images: natural and peaceful or working class and industrial. Here they explore how these myths and identity were portrayed and the connected contradictions that go with them. 

Alan and Eoghan (the new co-host!) discuss recent events linked with Pedro Sanchez and Western Sahara, the last part of Africa to have not been through the decolonization process that Spain is still responsible for. We talk about how it is related to Spain's monarchy and the history of its occupation.

Following this Eoghan interviews Sahrawian journalist Nazha Elkhalidi for further discussion on this geo-political issue.