Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London — author of books that puncture our most sacred cows and a demystifier-in-chief of generational squabbles and supposed divides.

We delve into the why: why certain myths have grown such sturdy roots, why “delusions align with an identity,” and its impact on shaping norms.

Culturally, are we closer to the Americans or the Europeans? Does the US predict our future? Are we, “slightly canary” — an early indicator of what may be heading Europe’s way?

And does one side see things “clearly”? And in a world of deep divides should we be kissing more Tories?

Then there’s the global view of civilisation: as China and South East Asia succeed, will those values eventually trump those of the West?

“Something has shifted in the last 18 months, two years” is Bobby’s view of our times as bad as we fear?

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

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Michael Crick is an Oxford-honed, long-haul chronicler of the Westminster circus. He’s run the whole gauntlet—from bare-knuckle TV newsrooms to writing biographies of colourful grandees, and chasing Cabinet Ministers down Whitehall.

Together, we explore how news got smarter (and sometimes not), why local papers are the canaries in the democratic coalmine, and how AI could blow it all apart.

With friends such as Robbie Gibb, what does Michael make of the latest BBC crisis? Are malign forces circling?

And as the biographer of Nigel Farage: why do voters like him, and why would governing by Reform—which already has form—be no laughing matter?

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Krugman is a Nobel laureate, economics sage, “deranged bum” according to President Trump, and a former New York Times heavyweight.

Together, we unravel Trump’s economic policy (does he have one?) and why he’s “not a Mussolini” when it comes to public transport.

We dissect the Trump era’s political theatre: Nazis in the Republican institutional structure, and a Putin/Orban-style bid for takeover. But is Trump following the right rule book? How’s the resistance faring? Will there be fair elections, or is “everything on the table as a possibility”?

We also explore the chill felt by academics, authoritarian shifts, the clout of oligarchs and think tanks, global echoes of populism, the decline of expertise in government—and, finally, why Paul left the New York Times.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.