Whats Left this week has a fantastic guest, Mike Jackson is the secretary and one of the founding members of LGSM (Lesbian and Gay Men Support the Miners) a long standing Activist amongst the union movement and LGBTQ+ campaigns part of which was illustrated in the film Pride. Mike talks about his time during the strikes and with a special mention to the late Mark Ashton, and the fire brand he was, and the inspiration his memory is too so many people fighting for change.

This week on what's left, we discuss the state of American politics in the wake of Donald Trump's recent legal mishaps. The team discuss the implications and potential fallout and whether this could reunify the country or cause further divisions.

On this weeks Whats Left? We are joined by Matthew Brown, Matthew has been a Labour Councillor in Preston since 2002 and Leader since 2018. He is a central driving force behind the ‘Preston Model’ of Community Wealth Building and has been making headlines at a national level for some time for his transformative approach to local economic

The range of initiatives championed by Matthew in Preston are practical and transformative alternatives to austerity and disinvestment. Together they are retaining and developing local wealth, strengthening local communities, and extending economic democracy. 

Since 2018 Matthew has also worked as a Senior Fellow for the international based think and do tank The Democracy Collaborative and is tasked with promoting Community Wealth Building widely in this country and beyond.

This week we say goodbye to co-founder and host James

This week we are joined by modern day philosopher, best-selling occult author and prolific singer-songwriter, Lon Milo DuQuette's avuncular image belies an outspoken wit and a controversial philosophy.

Critics have compared his writings to those of Mark Twain and Robert Anton Wilson. We discuss the state of religion and politics in the US.

This week we are joined by Nick Loridan, a trade unionist working for the BTB union and former dockworker in the port of Antwerp and BTB activist. He sat on the European Transport Workers Federation representing dockworkers across Europe.

He is a life long socialist and anti fascist and campaigner for working class people. He still works in the port of Antwerp, Europe's biggest seaport. We discuss Spain, the rise of the far right and the future for workers across Europe.

Our Guest this week is Salim Sheikh (website www.ite.ai) - AI and the potential future of humanity.

Over the past 25 years, Salim has built a career in consulting, working both client and supplier side as an interim CIO/CTO and Organisational Change Advisor for businesses in the UK, Europe, US, and MENA region.

He has directed, and engaged in, company wide transformations to effect business performance improvement and “total business integration”.

Salim has now turned his attention to ‘Social Robots’ - conversational AI systems that are human-like in behaviour. He is also an author in the field of AI & Society and a “Tech for Good” advocate.

This week we talk to Mark Thompson about the state of our planet, climate change and why so many would rather deny what for some seems obvious. We then move on to animal rights and what we can do to help each other, opposed to being bitterly divided.

This week we interview George White, looking at the English Civil War and the social groups that emerged from that time - do they hold any lessons for today?

George White is a British Trade Unionist with an interest in the history of social struggles. George became interested in History at school, but his passion for the topic was kindled by attending Trade Union training courses. His interest was further enhanced by conversations with older activists within the movement, discovering the lesser told history of the working class and the struggles and fights that won us our rights.

This week we interview Dr. Bandy Lee who is a medical doctor, a forensic psychiatrist, and a world expert on violence who taught at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Law School for 17 years before transferring recently to Columbia and Harvard. She became known to the public by leading a group of mental health professional colleagues in breaking the silence about the immediate past U.S. president’s dangerous psychology and publishing the New York Times bestseller, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President” (Macmillan, 2017 and 2019). Join us as we explore the rise of the far right and the psychology behind it.