The Critic Podcast

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors. 

In this episode, Felipe Fernández-Armesto says that empty shelves need not mean dreary eating in his column from the December/January issue of The Critic: “The art of fast food”, while Daisy Dunn narrates her book review of Mary Beard's Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern, and Michael Prodger reads aloud his art column from the latest issue of The Critic: “To catch a culture thief”.

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Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors. 

In this episode, Sarah Ditum reveals the joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in as she narrates her column from the December/January issue of The Critic: “Strange Brew”, while David Scullion says the Church of England are woefully out of touch and with falling congregations, now faces a crisis of leadership and theology, as he reads his feature: “Remotely wishing you a Merry Christmas”. 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

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In this episode, David Starkey says Feminists like Stock have made a belated rediscovery of biological reality in his column ‘Welcome back to reality, feminists’, while Boris Starling outlines the latest rivalry in F1 in ‘Top Guns of the Track’ and Claudia Savage-Gore drags woke Will back to therapy. 

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Hello and welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors. 

In this episode, Lisa Hilton reads her piece ‘How Britiain really eats’, where she relays how she enjoys a Thai feast that shows that fiery and exotic has now become mainstream. Henry Hill says a new breed of “muscular unionists” is seeking to reverse the damage done by devolution, as he narrates his feature: ‘Putting muscle behind the Union’ and our Secret Author says we need heavyweights to separate good from back, in this month’s column: 'Bring back the panjandrums'.

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As President Macron climbs down on his deadline to punish Britain over fishing licences, David Scullion asks Patrick O'Flynn whether Britain is getting the better of the French, or if the post-Brexit deal has left UK fishermen high and dry. 

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Image: The Scottish scallop trawler "Cornelis-Gert Jan" leaves the northern French port of Le Havre after being granted permission by French port authorities on November 3, 2021, after being held for days amid a post-Brexit dispute over fishing rights between France and Great Britain. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

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Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors. 

In this episode, Robert Hutton reads the secret diary of Boris and Carrie Johnson's dog, Dilyn, as he attends Glasgow COP26, Josephine Bartosch, author and campaigner for women’s rights narrates her feature, 'Turning victims into folk devils' and Robert Thicknesse reads his November Opera column, ‘Hot Valks Live!’.

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In this episode of The Critic Narrated, Revd. Marcus Walker, Rector of Great St Bart’s in the City of London, reads his piece ‘Resurrect Forgiveness’, Hannah Betts narrates her column: ‘Time for Coco’ and Patrick Galbraith reads his piece from Country Notes, this week entitled ‘Do the Right Thing’. These articles are taken from the October issue of The Critic.

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Welcome back to The Critic Podcast, and welcome to our new series: The Critic Narrated!

Each week, we will be bringing you a selection articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors for you to listen to on your commute, around the house or alongside reading the written piece. Don’t forget you can visit our website to subscribe to the print issue, and to read a plethora of articles on politics, current affairs, society, culture and beyond. 

In this episode, architectural historian Matthew Lloyd Roberts reads his article ‘The Critic’s New Home’, Anna Price, podcast producer here at The Critic, narrates Claudia Savage Gore’s October Hot House column, 'Eat, Pray, Hate', and Jonathan Aitken, Christ Church alumnus, former Conservative cabinet member and current Prison Chaplain, reads his feature ‘Low Panic at the High Table’. All articles taken from The Critic’s October issue. 

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After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan ignited a bitter briefing war between the President and members of the British Cabinet, it seemed that Britain's relationship with the US was on ice. But then, out of the blue, a secret trilateral agreement between the US, UK and Australia was struck, gifting Australia nuclear propulsion technology for use in their submarines, much to the chagrin of France. Are we witnessing the usual ups and downs in the anglosphere relationship or do countries really only act in self interest?

In this podcast, David Scullion discusses this, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the Special relationship with Patrick Porter, Professor of International Security at Birmingham University and Sebastian Milbank, a PhD Candidate in the Cambridge Faculty of Divinity and a journalist based at the Tablet.

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In this episode of The Critic's podcast, publisher Olivia Hartley speaks to Chris Elston — A.K.A Billboard Chris — about the progression of gender ideology in Canada as well as the use of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria.

Chris has travelled the length and breadth of Canada raising awareness of these issues and has amassed an online following of over 35,000. In this podcast, Olivia asks him why he does what he does and what he would say to the activists who question his authority to speak on these polarising topics.

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By his own admission, Vivek Ramaswamy is a traitor to his class. A self-made man who founded a successful bio-tech firm in his 20s, Ramaswamy’s story has the telltale signs of membership of America’s corporate elite. But in his new book, Woke, Inc, he takes aim at fellow business leaders for what he calls “the defining scam of our time”.

According to Ramaswamy, big business’s enthusiastic embrace of woke identity politics isn’t just hypocritical but undemocratic. He argues that it’s dividing his country, and undermining the values on which America has thrived in the past. Ramaswamy spoke to Oliver Wiseman, the Critic’s US Editor, about why ruthless captains of industry have gone woke, why it matters, and what should be done about it. 

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A campaign is underway to elect members to the General Synod of the Church of England under a “Save the Parish” banner. The campaign leader Marcus Walker, the Rector of St Bartholomew’s, described it as “the last chance to save the system that has defined Christianity in this country for 1000 years”. Campaigners say the Church of England hierarchy already squeezes parish churches and is planning to use vital funds to open new churches in places like cafes and cinemas rather than prioritising the existing parish structure. But critics say the movement fails to recognise the dire reality of church attendance, and are afraid of embracing new radical ideas that could reverse the fortunes of the established church.

David Scullion speaks to Alison Milbank, Professor of Theology and Literature at the University of Nottingham, and the founder of the campaign Marcus Walker.

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The dramatic events in Afghanistan in recent days mark many things. The end of America’s longest war, the end of the post-9/11 era and the return of the Taliban.

They also constitute the first and perhaps defining foreign policy crisis for US President Joe Biden.

To try to make sense of the US side of the momentous Afghanistan story, the Critic’s US Editor, Oliver Wiseman spoke to Jacob Heilbrunn, Editor of The National Interest, a foreign policy journal, and Luke Thompson, a Republican strategist and advisor.

They debate what Biden has got right, what he has got wrong, how the American people will react and where US foreign policy goes next.

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In this episode, The Critic's publisher, Olivia Hartley, speaks to Dr Jon Pike, co-convener of the newly established Open University Gender Critical Research Network and a philosopher of sport and ethics, about setting up the UK’s new network for gender-critical academics and the inclusion of transwomen in women’s sport.

Jon tells Olivia that, far from being a gender-critical activist group, the network "isn't a political campaign; it's a research network with a focus on sexed bodies".

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In this episode of The Critic Podcast, Jo Bartosch is joined by Helen Joyce, the Britain editor of The Economist, to talk about her new book: Trans. Bartosch and Joyce discuss the ideology of the Trans movement, the influences behind this new book and how the direction the Trans movement is taking is damaging to young homosexuals.

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In this Critic podcast, the writer Alexander Larman tells The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, why he thinks studying English literature at university is becoming such a deadening experience.

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Image: A general view of the Duke Humphrey’s Library at the Bodleian Libraries (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images).

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In this podcast, The Critic's publisher, Olivia Hartley, talks to journalist and feminist campaigner Julie Bindel about her July feature, "When is a rape not a rape?", which covers LGBT charity Stonewall and its campaign to change the UK’s sex-by-deception clause.

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Introducing The Critic's new column, "This Sporting Life", Graham Stewart talks to the sports writer and Critic columnist, Boris Starling, about the enduring appeal of a British Lions tour — and the players who regard it to be more memorable than winning the Rugby World Cup.

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On this week's Critic podcast, our Online editor David Scullion speaks to Christopher Howarth about the plot to remove Theresa May from office. In a real-life political thriller, the senior parliamentary researcher spills the beans for the first time about how his visit to a dying man in hospital secured a vital piece of information which led to the Prime Minister's downfall. Christopher's article is in the July issue of The Critic which will be available in shops from Thursday.

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Why are the membership numbers of the national trust falling? Are they placing themselves in socio-political conversations where they don’t belong? What is the purpose of the Trust in modern society?

In this episode, Editorial Assistant at The Critic, Anna Price, speaks to Constance Watson, Assistant Editor of the Catholic Herald and author of the piece: Burned by political expedience in the June issue of The Critic about how the National Trust’s priorities are potentially in the wrong place. 

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In this episode of The Critic Podcast, Josephine Bartosch, journalist and regular contributor toThe Critic, speaks with Maya Forstater about her recent victory at the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

Forstater had lost her job after posting tweets on gender recognition, following which she lost her original case at a tribunal in 2019. However, last week a High Court judge ruled that her "gender-critical" beliefs fell under the Equalities Act.

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All major parties agree that the UK needs to cut carbon emissions but is the goal of "Net Zero" achievable or will it leave us, in the words of Steve Baker MP, "quivering under duvets in the dark on windless winter nights"? On this podcast the former Brexit rebel explains his scepticism with The Critic's Online Editor David Scullion.

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Should heritage be preserved at all costs or can defunct and forgotten buildings make space for better use? On this week's Critic Podcast, our Online editor David Scullion discusses with Brice Stratford about the restoration of parliament and the heel-dragging by MPs over what should be done. Stratford argues that there are parallels between today and the conditions in 1834 just before the palace was destroyed by fire.

Stratford has written about the issue here, and also about the closure of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry here.

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As the literary would comes out of its Covid-induced hibernation, The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, discusses with the writer and journalist Alexander Larman, the merits of celebrity authors and literary book prizes.

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Are progressive leaders more moral than their conservative rivals or are they just better at doing politics? In this podcast The Critic's Online editor David Scullion discusses with Patrick Hess whether the likes of Jacinda Ardern and Justin Trudeau are more machiavellian than Donald Trump.

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Matthew Roberts, the Minister of Trinity Church York and Jo Bartosch, a writer and reporter for Lesbian and Gay news, share their concerns with The Critic's David Scullion about the proposed legislation to outlaw "gay cure".

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This week marked the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena.

In this podcast, The Critic's publisher, Olivia Hartley, talks to Dr Arabella Byrne, a freelance journalist and writer with a doctorate in French Studies, about why, 200 years after his death, Bonaparte remains such a polarising figure in France and beyond.

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From fighting gender inequality with power poses to defeating racism with unconscious bias tests, psychologists are not shy when it comes to the claims they make about their field's ability to solve some of society's thorniest problems. In his new book, Quick Fix, the American journalist Jesse Singal exposes much of these claims as bunk that doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.

In this podcast, the Critic's US Editor Oliver Wiseman spoke to Jesse about his new book, how bad ideas spread so easily and why the psychological cures to our social ills should be taken with a spoonful of salt.  

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Where has "modernising the royal family" taken Britain's monarchy and where can it go next? If the age of chivalry is dead, what can the crown put in its place?

In this podcast, the historian of monarchs and monarchy, David Starkey, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the Crown's delicate balance between reform, revolution, and sustaining a useful role.

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The Chairman of the Northern Ireland Select Committee Simon Hoare and David Hoey, businessman and producer of the PoliticalOD podcast debate the merits of the Northern Ireland Protocol with The Critic's Deputy Political Editor David Scullion.

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Is Beijing's growing assertiveness towards its neighbours and especially with Britain and the United States a reflection of Chinese self-confidence and an alternative world view that requires careful management? Or is it evidence of a determined hostility that requires a clear-headed strategy to address? And if the latter, what should that response involve?

In this podcast, the former leader of the Conservative party, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, against who Beijing has imposed sanctions in retaliation for his criticism, gives his assessment to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart.

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Alex Salmond is encouraging Scottish nationalists to 'game' Holyrood's electoral system by voting for their SNP constituency candidate but on the regional ballot list voting for Salmond's Alba Party. Would the same tactical voting work for Scottish unionists? In this podcast, All For Unity's leader, Jamie Blackett makes the case for voting for George Galloway's pro-union alliance to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart.

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Is Sinn Fein's current popularity on both sides of the Irish border the fruition of decades of its left-wing campaigning paying off, or a conscious break from the past terrorist activities of Sinn Fein's armed wing, the IRA? How has Ireland's media responded and what part does Brexit play in renewed Irish Anglophobia?

For over 40 years, Kevin Myers has been one of the most fearless and outspoken journalists in Ireland - but in 2017 he found himself effectively cancelled following a controversial article he wrote for the Sunday Times. In this podcast, Kevin talks about Sinn Fein's success and the narrowing spectrum of the Irish commentariat, in conversation with The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, and Simon Kingston, founder of the West Cork History Festival.

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The Critic's David Scullion talks to Nick Buckley about the reasons why he is standing for Mayor of Manchester.

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In this episode of The Critic's podcast, the theme is the dangers of our addiction to digital information, social media, and the algorithms that direct us to what to view next.

The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, is joined by former olympic rower and broker Alex Story, who has recently written about "How Gen Z became Gen Me", and Robert Wigley, the chairman of UK Finance whose book Born Digital: The Story of a Distracted Generation has just been published.

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In this podcast, writer, photographer, and face of the March edition of The Critic, Laura Dodsworth talks about her cover piece, Faith Masks, which focusses on the ideological significance of mask-wearing and the quasi-religious narrative surrounding lockdown.

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There is no reliable data on the number of people who regret their decision to undergo transgender surgery. James Caspian, a trained psychotherapist who worked for a decade with people who wanted to change their gender decided to find out more but was blocked by Bath Spa University for trying to research a non "politically correct" topic. He's now trying to take his university to court.

Laura Dodsworth is a writer and photographer who documented detransitioners for the Sunday Times through photographs of their bodies and she has written a longer piece on interviews with detransitioners here. Both join David Scullion on the podcast this week.

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In this Critic magazine podcast, Graham Stewart and David Scullion talk to Radomir Tylecote about his research into how academics at British universities are cooperating with organisations linked to the Chinese military on technological projects that may have useful defence applications for Beijing.

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The entrepreneur Jim Mellon has a track record in investing in some of the technologies and innovations that shape our future. The one that is preoccupying him at the moment is the cultured meat market, sometimes called "cell meat". He has also written an investor's guide to the new agrarian revolution entitled Moo's Law.

In this podcast The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Jim about the development of cultured meat and when we can expect to see it on our supermarket shelves.

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In this week's Critic Podcast, David Scullion speaks to the DUP leader in Westminster about an aspect of the Brexit deal under so much attention recently, the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have said freight levels to Ulster are at usual levels for this time of year and that any issues with the Protocol, which came into force at the start of the year, are teething problems. But the DUP say the Protocol undermines the Good Friday Agreement and needs to be scrapped as soon as possible, or it will do severe damage to the Northern Ireland economy.

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Only a year ago, Rishi Sunak was a name known only to close followers of Westminster politics. Now the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the most important figure in the government after the prime minister and the man talked about as the most likely future leader of the country, or at least the Conservative party.

But who is he? Has he risen so quickly that his views are not fully formed and how broad are his interests and his appeal? In the podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Michael Ashcroft, whose new book Going for Broke: the rise of Rishi Sunak is the first biography to be written about the British government's coming man.

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After Michael Gove unexpectedly struck an agreement with EU Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on Northern Ireland, the the UK agreed to remove controversial clauses in its Brexit legislation. But does this mean we're about to strike a trade deal or the opposite?

Graham Stewart speaks to David Scullion on a fast moving day in politics.

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The River Thames has been the site of constant human activity for at least two millennia... is it any surprise that so much evidence of this history washes up on the foreshore every single day? Mudlarkers are those who search for such treasure, and they have a fascinating history of their own.

In this podcast, Olivia Hartley speaks to Lara Maiklem, author of The Sunday Times bestseller Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames, about what how mudlarking on the Thames foreshore has changed her relationship with the city, how she felt during lockdown when she was unable to visit the river, and some of her favourite historical finds from over the years (including an incredibly preserved child's shoe dating back to the Tudor period).

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In this week's podcast David Scullion talks to British businessman and longtime Brexit campaigner John Longworth about his role in achieving a vote to leave the EU and why he dramatically broke away from his longtime ally Nigel Farage. During the 2019 General Election campaign he publically called on the Brexit Party leader to stand down candidates in Conservative seats and asked people to vote Tory at the General Election instead of his own party, leading to a rift with the former UKIP leader that hasn't been healed.

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In the latest issue of The Critic Magazine, Julie Bindel reveals how abused women are being let down by domestic violence perpetrator programmes, while Louise Perry shows how the political labels of ‘left’ and ‘right’ are irrelevant for feminists.

In this podcast, David Scullion talks to both Louise and Julie about their articles, and the future of feminism in the West. 

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America is still counting the votes, but as things stand, Joe Biden is on course to be the next president of the United States. Donald Trump's chances of victory are slim, and getting slimmer, while his legal team look set to lodge complaints and demand recounts in several crucial states.

But 48 hours after election day, a couple of things are clear: the polls were a long way off and Democrats have badly underperformed expectations. It also seems likely that Republicans retain control of the Senate and that Joe Biden will be president in a divided government. 

To make sense of these results, Graham Stewart, The Critic's political editor, spoke to US Editor Oliver Wiseman, Republican strategist Luke Thompson and conservative journalist and AEI fellow Matthew Continetti.

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The Critic's political sketch-writer, Rob Hutton, previously spent 16 years reporting on Westminster's comings and goings from the very different vantages of The Mirror and Bloomberg. How have politicians as well as journalists adapted to the 24 hour news cycle and is the expectation of instant commentary debasing serious journalism?

In this podcast, Rob Hutton talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how politics and the media have changed and reveals his journalistic inspirations.

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In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to the author of The Elephant in the Room, the entrepreneur John Mills, chairman of the consumer goods company JML and the Labour Party's largest individual donor, about how the UK's manufacturing base could be revived through policies designed to sustain a more competitive exchange rate.

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The second–and final–US presidential debate of the 2020 election campaign ended as many viewers and commentators say they hoped it would begin: with something approaching an actual debate. But who won?

With 47 million Americans already having voted, and the vast majority of those who haven't saying that they have already made their decision, will this last debate have changed anything?

To discuss the outcome of the final presidential debate and what it means for the race, The Critic‘s political editor, Graham Stewart, joins US editor Oliver Wiseman and editor of the journal American Greatness, Chris Buskirk.

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Azerbaijan has attacked Armenian-backed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia has guaranteed Armenia's territory whilst Turkey, a NATO member, is backing Azerbaijan.

How much worse can this conflict in the Caucasus get and will neighbouring countries, Europe and the United States be drawn in?

In this podcast, Kapil Komireddi assesses the messages from his interview with Armenia's president, Armen Sarkissian, and explains to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, what is at stake.

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With Azerbaijan attacking Armenian-backed positions in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh, the president of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, spoke to Kapil Komireddi for The Critic on the conflict in the Caucuses, the role of Turkey and what he expects from Russia and western countries.

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Photo: Armenia's president, Armen Sarkissian, 2018. (Photographer: Nazik Armenakyan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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In this week's podcast, David Scullion speaks to Ben Woodfinden, a political theorist at McGill University, Montreal about whether conservatives are fighting a "war on woke", how they're responding to the charge that our statues need pulling down, and whether Donald Trump can truly be called a conservative.

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It has been an extraordinary few weeks in US presidential politics – not least with President Trump's illness.

Meanwhile, it was the understudies who were in the hot seat for the vice presidential debate.

To discuss the vice presidential debate and what it means for the presidential race, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, joins US editor Oliver Wiseman and editor of the journal American Greatness, Chris Buskirk.

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As conference season went online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the experience proved vastly different for those who usually attend the annual party conferences.

In this week's podcast, The Critic's David Scullion, Politeia Director Jonathan Isaby and former Conservative Party councillor Caroline ffiske discuss whether it's still worth political parties meeting in person, and if for the Tories it's now more about attracting corporate sponsors than letting party members have their say.

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Last night, Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced off in the first of three presidential debates.

It was a bad-tempered affair, with a lot of squabbling and not much substantive policy discussion. But who came out of the messy encounter on top? And are there any undecided voters who would have changed their minds by the end of the 90 minutes?

In this podcast, The Critic's US editor, Oliver Wiseman, spoke to the publisher and editor of American Greatness, Chris Buskirk, about what we learned last night, as well as the state of the presidential race more generally. 

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Tuesday night is debate night - the first of three US presidential debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, and US editor, Oliver Wiseman, talk about what to expect from the debates in a time of Covid-19.

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With the opinion polls suggesting the SNP is heading for a clear majority in next May's Scottish parliamentary elections, fuelling their demands for a second referendum on independence - is it beyond the ability of Scotland's Conservative, LibDem and Labour parties to save the union?

Former Labour and Respect MP, George Galloway, has founded the Alliance for Unity as a bipartisan party seeking to ensure that only one pro-union candidate stands in each region against the SNP in May. But will it work, how will it be funded and will the Westminster parties cooperate? If not, will the Alliance for Unity succeed only in further splitting the pro-union vote?

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to George Galloway and the Scottish farmer, writer and Alliance for Unity candidate, Jamie Blackett about their game plan to keep Scotland in the UK.

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Why is the UK a world leader in tech sector R&D, yet has not a single high growth software business listed on the FTSE 100? Does leaving the EU threaten the UK’s tech sector or does Brexit provide Britain with opportunities? And if so, how and where?

Dr Mike Lynch OBE has been variously described as: Britain’s answer to Bill Gates; Britain’s most successful technology entrepreneur; and, in the Financial Times, as “the doyen of European software.” He co-founded Autonomy Corporation (which was later sold to Hewlett-Packard in a deal that remains the subject of litigation), and his Invoke Capital Fund is a major investor in Britain’s burgeoning AI sector.

In this podcast, Mike Lynch talks to The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, about what policies need to change if the UK’s tech sector is going to thrive in the future.

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As Beijing has become more bellicose since the Coronavirus pandemic and British attitudes have hardened, how should Britain react?

In a recent paper, Dr Radomir Tylecote the Director of the Good Governance Project and Research Director of the Free Speech Union, argues that Britain is still being naive in its dealings with China and suggests ways to be more resilient to China's "Long March through the (global) Institutions".

The Critic's Deputy Political Editor David Scullion met Dr. Tylecote earlier this week to get his thoughts.

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In this week's podcast, The Critic's Deputy Political Editor, David Scullion, spoke to Harry Miller, an ex-police officer who last year was visited at work by police officers who wanted to "check his thinking" on trans issues after they read some of his tweets.

Last year the High Court found that the police probe was unlawful, but in a new report into the politicised nature of policing, Fair Cop, the organisation Miller founded, says the police are still routinely enforcing things that are not actually the law but are just on Stonewall's wishlist.

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From fake news and propaganda to covert funding, bribery and everyday espionage, allegations of foreign interference in British politics and society is as old as the belief that Britain equally seeks to interfere in the internal affairs of its overseas competitors.

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Professor Jeremy Black, author of A History of Diplomacy, about the forms that foreign interference have taken and asks whether it is any worse now than in the past.

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When Richard Leonard became leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2017, he inherited Scotland's third largest party. It still is. And with opinion polls suggesting that popular support for the once dominant power in Scotland is now down to around 15 to 17 percent, the prospects for Labour in the Scottish Parliament election in May next year look dire.

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to John McTernan, the political strategist and former political secretary to Tony Blair, whether anything or anyone can save Scottish Labour?

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What might Meghan and Harry have learnt from Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson?

In this podcast, The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Alexander Larman, author of The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication, about how Edward VIII was manoeuvred off the throne, whether Wallis really was as bad as she has been painted, and how the House of Windsor adapts and endures.

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From consumerism and urban growth to becoming the first industrialising nation and permitting a level of free speech and press that would be envied elsewhere in Europe, Hanoverian Britain set trends that others would later follow. Why so?

In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart talks about what made Georgian Britain a trendsetter with Professor Jeremy Black, whose books on the eighteenth century include Walpole in Power, George II: puppet of the politicians?, Pitt the Elder and George III: Madness and Majesty. 

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In the twenty years after the end of the Second World War, the Holocaust was recalled as part of the horror of Hitler's Reich but in the popular commemoration rarely singled out as the single greatest manifestation of its moral depravity.

How and when did this begin to change and with what shifting emphasis do different countries remember the crime?

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of The Holocaust: History and Memory, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how eastern as well as western Europe has slowly come to terms with the murder of six million Jews.

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In this podcast,The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to the investor and statistician, Alistair Haimes, about whether the data really stacks-up for a resurgence of Covid-19

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A country on the Atlantic coast of Europe that looks outwards and establishes a global empire stretching from the Americas to Africa and Asia - Portugal has much in common with its oldest ally, Britain.

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of A Brief History of Portugal talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the country managed its place in the world.

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Does Spain wrestle with its imperial legacies in a similar way to Britain? How important has monarchy been to Spanish unity and is the narrative of a long decline a myth?

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of A Brief History of Spain, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the grandeur, instability, and endurance of the Spanish nation.

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The Scottish Government is planning to criminalise the 'stirring up of hatred', a proposal which has been criticised by police officers, lawyers, the Roman Catholic Church and now Blackadder Actor Rowan Atkinson. 

But what are the proposals and why are they so controversial? In this podcast David Scullion, The Critic's Deputy Political Editor discusses the new legislation with long-time political campaigner Brian Monteith and Jamie Gillies of the Free to Disagree Campaign.

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The wait is over: Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate.

It has been described as the safe choice, but is it the wise choice?

Do vice-presidential running choices even make much difference to who Americans want to elect to the White House?

In this podcast, The Critic's Political Editor, Graham Stewart, talks to The Critic’s US Editor, Oliver Wiseman, about what Kamala Harris has to bring to the U.S. presidential elections.

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What is the Dolan case and should the government be worried?

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To combat the spread of Covid-19, the British government has restricted personal, social and economic behaviour on a scale unheard of in peacetime conditions. But has the basis upon which it has done so been legal?

To discuss the entrepreneur Simon Dolan's legal challenge to the government's actions, John Joliffe, a barrister specialising in government and public law, talks in this podcast to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about what is at stake and the chances of Dolan's challenge succeeding.

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Why did it take 1,400 years after the end of the Roman Empire for Italy to unite as one country? And how strong is Italian national unity now?

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of A Brief History of Italy, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about Italian identity, regionalism and state-building.

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Where does the Labour Party stand on trans rights? Is fear of being branded "transphobic" now putting the party of Barbara Castle and Jennie Lee at odds with mainstream feminism?

In this podcast, the feminist campaigner, writer, and former Labour party member, Jo Bartosch, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the gender battle is shaking-up British party politics.

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Does the Mediterranean have a common culture that transcends its national, political and religious differences and did its modern tourist industry develop naturally or as part of government planning and incentives?

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of ‘A Brief History of the Mediterranean’, talks to The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, about the trading, colonial and strategic forces that have shaped Mediterranean history in war and peace.

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As Parliament heads into recess, politics isn't stopping.

Graham Stewart and David Scullion discuss what we can expect in the coming weeks: from Brexit talks and the renewal of Coronavirus legislation, to the Lib Dem leadership election and who's likely to be fired in a coming reshuffle.

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In 1950, over 20 million newspapers were bought every weekday in Britain, equivalent to one-and-a-half newspapers for every household per day. By 2010, they were buying 10 million a day, or 0.4 newspapers per household. Now it's closer to five million. or 0.2 per household.

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of The English Press: A History, talks to The Critic's political editor and official historian of The Times newspaper, Graham Stewart. about what drove the growth of Britain's newspaper industry and whether it is destined to die or can better harness modern alternative media to thrive in different forms.

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As social and political movements, such as Black Lives Matter, continue to gain traction nationwide, cancel culture is becoming an increasingly worrying trend. People who privately question or disagree with parts of such organisations are being publicly vilified with their jobs on the line.

In this podcast, David Scullion talks to physicist Mike Mcculloch, ex-charity boss Nick Buckley and Free Speech Union founder Toby Young, on what it’s like to be cancelled and how we can move forward.

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For the first time in half a century, Britain is planning a major permanent Royal Navy deployment in the seas of Southeast and East Asia, led by the new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. But how important was the Royal Navy in Asia-Pacific between the 1830s and 1960s?

In this podcast The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, discusses with Professor Jeremy Black, author of Geopolitics and the Quest for Dominance, whether returning the White Ensign to the Pacific is a welcome sign of Global Britain or a misguided exercise in post-imperial overstretch.

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How did Huawei destroy its western competitors to achieve such dominance? And does the government’s decision to phase Huawei out of the UK’s 5G network go far enough to address security fears? In this podcast, former leader of the Conservative Party, Iain Duncan Smith MP, talks to The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, about the issues that remain to be settled concerning Huawei’s presence in the UK as well as the role Britain should play in building an international alliance to compete with China - from telecoms technology to keeping the peace in the South China Sea.

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Much of Europe is now open again for British summer holiday-makers. But how different are the aims and experience of leisure travellers to Europe now compared to the 18th century?

The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Professor Jeremy Black, author of The British Abroad, Italy and the Grand Tour, France and the Grand Tour and most recently, A Short History of the Mediterranean about what British travellers used to get up to abroad.

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Image: A View on the Grand Canal Venice', Canaletto, circa 1740, held by the National Gallery, London.(Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

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Opinion polls show a majority of Scots saying they would vote 'yes' for Scottish independence in a second referendum - which may be granted if the SNP win next May's Scottish parliamentary elections.

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Why has Scottish opinion shifted in favour of breaking-up the UK at a time when the UK Treasury is pumping billions into Scotland's Coronavirus response? In this podcast, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Kevin Hague, Chairman of These Islands, a cross-party pressure group that seeks to play a prominent role in shaping the debate in favour of maintaining the UK in a future referendum. Is all lost, or do the Unionists have a plan?

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Image: Pro-Scottish independence march on October 5, 2019 (Photo by Ewan Bootman/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Half the world has seen a James Bond film, or so the estimates have it, making 007 one of the most globally recognisable British brands as well as the longest, most successful film franchise in history.

But what does Bond stand for and how has he changed since Ian Fleming created him in the 1950s? Professor Jeremy Black, author of The World of James Bond and The Politics of James Bond unpicks the life and times of 007 with The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart.

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Image: Sean Connery in a scene from the film 'James Bond: From Russia With Love', 1963. (Photo by United Artist/Getty Images)

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What did the radical essayist and polemical journalist, Christopher Hitchens, and the conservative philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton, have in common?

In this podcast, Douglas Murray, the commentator and author of The Strange Death of Europe and, most recently, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, talks to the political editor of The Critic, Graham Stewart, about the personal debt he owes to the two men he considers his literary mentors and the wider contribution that they made to debate and critical thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

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As we grow further and further away from the twentieth century, has our perceptions on its course changed? And do we consider the themes and events that shaped it - and us - differently?

The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, discusses with the historian, Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange, whether greater distance from the twentieth century alters our perception of it.

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In the first of a new series of podcasts featuring those who shaped politics over the last fifty years, The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Lord Taverne of Pimlico.

As Dick Taverne, he was a minister in Harold Wilson's government, working with Roy Jenkins on many of the economic and social reforms of the 1960s, before being forced out of the Labour Party in 1973 because of his support for membership of the European Economic Community.

How does the calibre of politicians compare between now and the 1960s? Were we better governed? And how close was Roy Jenkins to splitting the Labour Party by creating a Social Democrat Party in 1973, rather than 1981? Dick Taverne recalls politics, past and present.

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Image: Dick Taverne is lifted aloft by supporters as he arrives at the House of Commons, London, March 7th 1973. (Photo by Dennis Oulds/Central Press/Getty Images)

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The spirit of 1968 has returned. From protests, to boycotts and even riots, ‘direct action’ is back in vogue as protestors impatient with the pace of change raise consciousness about the issues they want to put centre-stage. The Critic’s political editor, Graham Stewart, asks Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange, whether we are witnessing a new age of emancipation or the undermining of democratic institutions?

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The Cold War ended with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. But when did it start? Shortly after the end of the Second World War is the common view. But did it really start with the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917?

And if we view it as a confrontation between the West and Soviet Union are we forgetting about the actions and influence of Communist China? Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange, picks-over the evidence with Graham Stewart.

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Can the West live without China? Would decoupling from China inflict greater damage to the American and British economies than it would hurt China? Graham Stewart talks to Stewart Paterson, research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation and author of China, Trade and Power: Why the West's Economic Engagement Has Failed about whether disengagement is an act of self-harm or a sensible stitch in time.  

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He won a large majority in last December's election, but with his judgment and performance increasingly questioned, is Boris Johnson the wrong man to be leading the government?

Simon Heffer, professor of modern British history at Buckingham University and a columnist for the Sunday and Daily Telegraph argues that the prime minister is unsuited to the job.

And Graham Stewart also talks to Professor Jeremy Black, senior fellow at Policy Exchange about how British history is taught at schools and universities. Is there still a national story?

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This week, Graham Stewart speaks to Nick Timothy, former Downing Street adviser and now Daily Telegraph columnist and author of Remaking One Nation: the Future of Conservatism, on what future there is for liberalism in British politics, as well as to Emeritus Professor of History at Exeter University, Jeremy Black, on the relationship between war and the power of the state.

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This week, Graham Stewart speaks to Katharine Birbalsingh, headmistress of Michaela Community School in Brent, on education and schooling during Coronavirus. Michaela Community School (mcsbrent.co.uk/) is a trail-blazing school achieving very high results from its pupils. Also in this podcast, Graham asks Jeremy Black, Emiritus Professor of History at Exeter University, whether there is a point to counter-factual history.

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In this week's Critic podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Imperial Legacies: the British Empire around the world, argues that campaigns across universities to "decolonise the curriculum" are often less about broadening the range of interpretations of the past and more about promoting a radical alternative political agenda. 

Graham Stewart also talks to the critic, Nicholas T. Parsons, author of Civilisation and its Malcontents on how oligarch money is turning the art world into a circus of absurdity. And the Critic's artist in residence, Miriam Elia, talks with Graham about the satisfaction of caricaturing the postures of the chattering classes.

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How much longer should the lockdown go on and is it now causing more problems than it is solving? To discuss the suppositions that got us into the lockdown and whether the government's 5 tests are valid measures to meet before relaxing it, the Critic's political editor Graham Stewart talks to the lockdown sceptic and entrepreneur, Luke Johnson, who was formally chairman of Channel 4 and who is now chairman of Risk Capital Partners and of Bread Ltd, and to Alistair Haimes, who runs a private asset managements business based in Bristol and who has written for The Critic online about what the data tells us.

And, one event that the lockdown is set to scale down is this Friday's 75th anniversary of VE Day. How much longer can Britain's commemorations of its sacrifices in two world wars endure into the future, and what did pre-20th century Britons united nationally to celebrate? Professor Jeremy Black charts our evolving history of national commemorations.

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In this week's Critic podcast, our political editor, Graham Stewart asks Professor Jeremy Black why Britain's armed forces are better trusted to deliver procurement than other state bodies (like the Department of Health and Public Health England) and whether Britons have always held the armed forces in such high esteem? Graham also talks to John McTernan, former special adviser to Tony Blair, on the contribution Scots have made to the Labour Party and whether that debt still exists now that Scottish Labour only has one MP?

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As working from home becomes the new norm, Natascha Engel (former Labour MP for North East Derbyshire and Deputy Speaker for the House of Commons) discusses with Graham Stewart about the shift to online parliament, and why we should be wary about making this a permanent change. Also, Professor Jeremy Black considers how online learning has effected universities, and what this means for their futures.

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In this week's podcast, Graham Stewart discusses with Kapil Komireddi and Toby Young about the origins of the Coronavirus crisis, whether we should be in a lockdown at all, and whether saving vulnerable lives is an economic price worth paying.

Kapil Komireddi is the author of internationally acclaimed ‘Malevolent Republic: A short History of the New India’, and Toby Young is the commentator and founder of Free Speech Union, and LockdownSceptics.org (lockdownsceptics.org/) a place for those who question official approaches and information about the coronavirus crisis.

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Image: A pedestrian passes the boarded up 'Ye Olde London' pub in the City district of London, U.K., on Thursday, April 9, 2020. U.K (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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This week, Graham Stewart speaks to Emiritus Professor of History at Exeter University, Jeremy Black, about historical reactions to national crises, and David Scullion discusses how Europe’s response to the Coronavirus differs to that of Taiwan with Dr Radomir Tylecote who studied State interventions in the Chinese Economy for his PhD which included fieldwork at Tsinghua University Beijing.

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This week, Graham Stewart spoke to James Orr, lecturer in the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University, about the effects of Coronavirus on the church and where faith fits into our pandemic-stricken society. 

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This week Graham Stewart spoke to our US editor Oliver Wiseman who reports back from a Prepper camp in West Virginia, and the Director of the European Research Group Christopher Howarth explains how MPs are carrying on in a half-empty parliament.

Oliver’s dispatch from Fortitude Ranch can be found in the upcoming issue of The Critic Magazine.

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This week Graham Stewart spoke to author DJ Taylor about the many women pursued by the novelist George Orwell – and he caught up with TV Critic Adam LeBor to discuss Channel 4’s monarchy-based satire ‘The Windsors’.

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This week Richard Waghorne argues for keeping people in the dark when it comes to Coronavirus to improve morale, Sarah Ditum, our new Pop Critic talks about how TikTok is influencing the way music is written and Oliver Wiseman gives an update on the US election 2020.

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Is Parliament’s role to be a check on government (as John Bercow believed) or a means of government (as Boris Johnson expects)? In this week’s Critic podcast Professor David Starkey distills 750 years of parliamentary history to challenge the notion of a constitutional separation of powers. David’s latest article can be found by clicking here.

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Steve Baker, the long-standing chairman of the European Research Group, has stepped down and given an exclusive interview with The Critic magazine.

The Critic’s Deputy Political Editor David Scullion has written a profile on the Brexiteer here but you can listen to our interview with him Political Editor Graham Stewart below:

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This week Graham spoke to US Editor Oliver Wiseman about Mike Bloomberg’s unorthodox attempt to win the Democratic nomination and Joseph Connolly explains why he gives men a dressing down in his latest piece for The Critic.

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his week on The Critic podcast we spoke to John Whittingdale MP, 24 hours before he was made a Minister of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

But while he was critical of the current “regressive” method of collection, John Whittingdale made clear to us that he believes there is no credible alternative except being funded from general taxation – an idea he is not fond of because of the increase in power it might give to the state.

Also on the podcast this week we spoke to writer Alexander Larman on the recent Academy Awards: giving his verdict on whether the Oscars are going to stay woke – a subject he has written about here – and Graham caught up with Adam Dant on a pub crawl of SW1 for some serious tavern-based research on the division bells of Westminster.

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Today we launch a new weekly podcast where we’ll be speaking to MPs, peers, pundits and – (of course!) – our Critics.

In the first episode we chatted to former trade minister Peter Lilley on what Boris Johnson can learn from Margaret Thatcher’s huge Commons majority and we caught up with regular Critic writers Hannah Betts and Robert Thicknesse on the enduring power of wearing black and the politics of opera.

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