Quiet Riot

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's political news, with a focus on the apparent briefing and counter-briefing war inside No. 10, the softening of policy on winter fuel payments, and the latest ONS migration data. PLUS guest Arthur Snell explains the significance of the change of stance by the US and Europe towards Israel over Gaza. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** “Conventional wisdom was that local election results had strengthened the hand of the Blue Labour lot. The ‘Island of Strangers’ speech was seen as such an overreach, such a turnoff by so many that, whatever advantage they had, they overplayed it. It's backfired and backfired badly. So we now have a significant briefing and counter-briefing operation going on.”  “Some of the usual suspects have offered some hilariously hot takes on the winter fuel payment rethink, even linking it to market turbulence. To look at an environment where you have Trump threatening 50% tariffs on the EU and come to the conclusion that markets are worried about the threshold of the winter fuel payment… I mean, that is deranged.” “Everybody I speak to, on either side of the Channel, who wants [the UK-EU reset] to succeed is saying the biggest risk we face now is loss of enthusiasm on both sides. Business communities within Europe, within the UK, voter groups that want it, civilian groups, civil society - we have got to keep the pressure up.” “The one thing that is certain is that this can't go on for four years. You can't have No.10 factions briefing against each other. There needs to be some kind of sanitisation exercise with the widely expected reshuffle in June. Starmer will have to do the thing that Stammer really hates doing most: pick a side.” Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can find Arthur's superb "Behind The Lines" podcast here. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith discuss Labour's obsession with voters to the right, while haemorrhaging voters to the left, with guest Labour MP Marsha de Cordova. Also, a deep dive into Labour's reform of support for people with disabilities and the worry and hurt it is causing. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠*** GRIN AND SHARE IT Read more about the International Museum of Migration. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. A Cooler Heads production, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith with a quick, end-of-the-day reaction to the UK-EU Summit. Light on detail, high on symbolism, does it have the potential to be a turning point? SPOILERS: Absolutely. Also, why is the media losing its mind over mackerel? The facts on fishing - including quite a lot of stuff you will NOT have heard widely discussed. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's political news, including the presentation of a huge unconstitutional bribe as a moral and intellectual imperative, the state of the super-wealthy in the UK, the blocking of bonuses for Thames Water bosses, and last minute jitters before the EU-UK Corral. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠*** Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith, and Kenny Campbell discuss Starmer's immigration policy, the language employed, the economic and psychological impact. Also a full preview of Monday's UK-EU summit. What to expect and when. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. "I look at Starmer's trajectory and it is immensely difficult not to notice the trail of devastation left behind. Disabled people, Palestinians, trans people, and now immigrants. All I can see is someone who is willing to throw anyone out of his hot air balloon, just so it can rise higher." ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠*** CALLS TO ACTION Help Best for Britain here. Help Hope not Hate here. Help The 3 Million here. Help The Joint Council for The Welfare of Immigrants here. GRIN AND SHARE IT Pair convicted of felling sycamore gap tree. Vandals questioned in homophobia case. Gap sycamore sprouts new growth. Trees of Hope - 49 sycamore saplings to be planted. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. A Cooler Heads production, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to trade expert David Henig about the UK-US. Is it a trade deal? Is it a deal? What about hormone beef and chlorinated chicken? What about the tech tax? What about Boeing? What about the EU summit? ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠*** Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's political news, This week all the political significance and reaction to the UK-US deal and your potted guide to the new Pontiff and what his election means for the global fight against populism - including a special Wokey Dokey! ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠*** Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠ Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith with special guest Zack Polanski, talk about the Greens performance at the local elections, their agenda going forward, and Zack's bid to be their next leader. Also, the trade deal with India - big fish or small fry? Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠*** CALLS TO ACTION Find out more about Zack's campaign here. GRIN AND SHARE IT An end to animal testing? Read all about it here. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. A Cooler Heads production, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to journalist, best-selling author - and former Wallaby - Peter FitzSimons about the results, the campaign, the Trump backlash, the extraordinary phenomenon of The Teals, and the inexportability of American culture wars. What lessons can Labour in the UK learn? ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠*** ”The key transformation was when Donald Trump got elected. The vast majority of Australians looked at Trump aghast. Day after day after day, we have seen chaos on roller-skates. And most said: look, we may not know what we’re doing, but we’re not doing THAT.”  “The Liberals have been wiped out. The problem is that I don’t see any potential leader among them who can say what needs to be said. And what needs to be said is: All you old white blokes who oppose marriage equality, out! All the people who deny the science of climate change, out! You are stinking up the place.” “Trumpian politics is about activating your base. So you get every nutter you can to vote for you. In Australia , everyone has to vote, so it’s not about activating any base. It’s about appealing to the largest number of people.”  Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith analyse the week's political news, including the results of the local and mayoral elections in England, the by-election in Runcorn, and the general election in Australia. Is Starmer missing on the anti-Trump dividend? ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠*** “Labour need to start governing. They need to stop triangulating and start running the country. They are wasting the term they have been given, worrying about a second one. They can do a lot of good, if they stop being terrified of losing power in 2029 and start using the power they have in 2025.” “Every single time I speak to officials in Brussels, they ask: ‘What does your government want, Naomi? We’re very open about what we would like to see from the reset. We still don’t know what you guys want.’ And if they don’t know, then British voters sure-as-hell don’t know.” Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith opolling guru Peter Kellner, dissect opinions polls on Trump's second, first, 100 Days in the White House, the result of the Canadian election, and preview the local and mayoral elections in England. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. “What Mark Carney did was to come close to monopolising the centre/centre-left vote. Which, of course, might have echoes for what Starmer needs to do here. Labour is losing many more votes to the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the SNP. Labour is suffering, in large measure, because the progressive vote is fragmenting.” “Businesses live in an uncertain world, but it’s what I would call ‘ordered uncertainty’. We don’t know whether interest rates will be half a point up or down in a year, but we know how the decision will be taken, the forces at work. There is a rational basis for the array of possibilities. With Trump, there is irrational uncertainty.” “We may, in some local and mayoral contests, which are four- or five-way splits, see very strange results; people elected on a quarter of the vote. In 48 hours, when we know all the figures, they may be the greatest argument that electoral reformers have ever had.” “Brexit trade barriers were going to defy the laws of economics. And didn't. And in a surprise to precisely no one, except maybe Navarro, the same is happening in the US.” “If I were to try and find a silver lining to Trump’s first 100 days, it is this: Our time on this Earth is limited, so we should all be thankful to someone that makes it feel SO. MUCH. LONGER.”  ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠*** CALLS TO ACTION VOTE! Also, subscribe to Peter Kellner's substack here. Also, sign up for the Europe Day lunchtime zoom here - 9 May at 12:30. GRIN AND SHARE IT An new home for an old olive tree - read about it here. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. A Cooler Heads production, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠. Or visit our website ⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, including the mood music (AARGH) around the upcoming UK/EU summit and Reeves' visit to Washington, the latest IMF economic report, and the Pope's funeral as well as the politics that unfolded around it. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126⁠ SPOTIFY: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f⁠ AMAZON MUSIC: ⁠https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey⁠ OVERCAST: ⁠https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q⁠ POCKET CASTS: ⁠https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd⁠ YouTube Music: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo⁠ PODBEAN: ⁠https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast⁠ Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed:⁠ https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey⁠ SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠ ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at ⁠quietriotpod@gmail.com⁠. Or visit our website ⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith on a special episode, à trois, with Kenny Campbell discuss the skip fire that is the Trump administration right now - including Pete Hegseth's imminent departure to spend more time with a bottle of Grey Goose, Elon Musk's reversing away from the White House, so fast he should make a beeping noise, and RFK Jr's obsession with jizz. We also discuss the anti-far-right conference in Scotland and why Reform UK seem to be doing quite well north of the border. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** CALLS TO ACTION Free resources from US public radio NPR and how to support them. https://www.npr.org/ GRIN AND SHARE IT Read about fermented banana drinks and The Tanzanian Diet here. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith gets the behind the scenes skinny on Podyssey from Alex Andreou. Where did the idea come from? What's coming up in Season 2? What is the most surprising fact so far? Lots of exclusive access, previews, and exclusive announcements. ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, including the Supreme Court's decision on the protections under the Equality Act, the Trump administration's ultimatum in Ukraine, and rumours of a UK/France returns deal. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest Rafael Behr to talk about the choices facing the Starmer government. Or as Raf put it "the fork on the road that everyone seems to see, but Starmer refuses to acknowledge. And - why has our right wing media landscape become so Americanised? Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ”I think we should be very glad that we are blessed with quite bad fascists.”  “The public expect Starmer to be more ambitious in recalibrating the UK’s relationship with the EU. If he is not prepared to do that now, when the atmospherics are what they are and the entire world order has been turned upside-down, maybe we have to accept he is just not going to do it.” “There is no way to explain why one would think TikTok is dangerous because the firm is close to the Chinese regime, but X is fine because it is fully owned by a rich guy that does Nazi salutes, to think one agenda dangerous but not the other, that doesn’t involve some basic ‘state-bad, private-good’ belief.”  “There is a profound crisis in the British Right, because the refutation of their big-picture political model has been so thorough - not just Brexit, austerity, the Truss budget, the most popular thing Sunak ever did was to pay everyone’s wages - they have nowhere to go.”  CALLS TO ACTION Go here to add your voice on what our new UK/EU relationship should look like. https://www.commonsensedeal.com/ Foxglove - the UK organisation fighting for tech equality can be found here. The international network People vs Big Tech is here. GRIN AND SHARE IT Read about antiviral lablab chewing gum. READING Read the FT piece about why the anti-woke platform seems to have backfired for Australian Conservatives. ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, including the dramatic recall of Parliament on Saturday to rescue the Scunthorpe Steel Works, the over racism David Lammy gets, and Sunak's resignation dishonours. Packed and gorgeous and VERY funny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest Henry Morris to talk - what else? - TRUMP TARIFF MADNESS, as well as the destruction of biodoversity, why it matters, and why we find it difficult to balance it with the need to build. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ”Trump wanted the Nobel peace prize, for resolving the situation in Ukraine within 24hours. Having failed… he’s now trying for the economics one. Maybe he’ll do the double.”  “The story of Julius Caesar seems to map very well onto the story of Donald Trump , the end of the Republic and a man declaring himself King, in a place that is not designed for Kings.”  CALLS TO ACTION Tell your MP here to attend the debate on our future relationship with the EU. Become and advocate for the flora and fauna that does not have a voice at Wild Justice. Support the petition to ban driven grouse shooting here. David Allen Green's piece on Trump abusng emergency legislation. GRIN AND SHARE IT Read about Amber Rudd heading a group of pro-European Tories. ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith with a Grin And Share It Special, featuring TEN good news stories from politics to the environment and LEGO bricks to beavers. Read more about Intertrade UK here. Find out about the Senedd's plans to punish politicians who lie. Look at the French metro's turnstiles that generate energy! Read about (and see) the LEGO bricks here. Why are publishers taking Russell Brand to court? The loveliest little video rental place in Canada. Sing up for updates from Patriotic Millionaires UK. Transparent solar panels! They are actually a thing. Check out this underwater rewilding programme. Oh - and of course, WHO COULD FORGET BEAVERS! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell talk through the week's news, with a focus on the fallout from Trump's tariffs, Scottish politics in flux, and the dénouement of the South Korean attempted imposition of martial law last December. Packed and gorgeous and VERY funny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** -“So, how do you think they came up with the list of countries and tariffs?” -“Someone asked ChatGPT to create an episode of Pointless.”  “Some of these market losses will be recovered when Trump either u-turns or when stock becomes so trashed it is seen as low risk again. But some of the damage will be permanent. Just like the pandemic, economies globally may recover to a lower equilibrium and it could take a decade just to get to where we would have been had this nut not done what he did.” ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l9GIOOP7pUU&list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation and author of "Power to The People", to discuss how to stop the current global backsliding on minority rights, diversity initiatives, and democratic norms. As well as practical advice on how to organise at the grassroots level. Plus, of course, 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured, including Danny's "Power to The People" and can be found at https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-quiet-riot-contributor-bookshop. CALLS TO ACTION: Sign up for updates and to help the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. Find out how to tajke part in Society of Authors actions day of protest against Meta AI pilfering authors' work. Find out about the work of the New Economics Foundation and sign up to become their supporter. GRIN AND SHARE IT: Please spread the word about pharmacy dispensing of the morning after pill. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou with special guest top economist Vicky Pryce explores Trump's tariffs and other economic policies on their merit. Is there any logic behind them, however unorthodox? Could they actually work? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From presidential hopeful to criminal with an electronic tag, Marine Le Pen's fall from grace has been swift and – at least as far her punishment is concerned – eye-popping. Quiet Riot producer Kenny Campbell is joined by our favourite Chevalier/French expert, Olivier Morel who, as well as being a partner at Cripps lawyers, holds senior trade positions and is a champion of Anglo-French business links. How did this all start? What does it mean for France? Is it good or bad news for Le Pen's party, and the ambitious individuals within? Pop open le popcorn and enjoy a bit of political drama from the other side of La Manche. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***  ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on Labour's welfare cuts, Trump's tariffs, JD Vance's visit to Greenland. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! CALLS TO ACTION: You can find the Myanmar Unicef Appeal here. Here is the app that helps email your MP. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest Vicky Pryce - former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service and Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economics and Business Research - to discuss Rachel Reeves Spring Statement. Plus, of course, 'Wokey Dokey'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With pollution out of control, infrastructure at breaking point and water companies prioritising the pumping of pounds – many pounds – to shareholders, our water industry has dissolved into a murky mess. Our seas and rivers are a disgrace, the National Audit Office has warned some areas could run out of water by 2034, and Britain's biggest water company is begging for a Government bailout, after years of loading up with debt to help it pay out juicy dividends. In this Quiet Riot special, our producer Kenny Campbell takes a deep dive into the issues and possible solutions to the water crisis with Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, whose Private Member's Bill on the subject will be debated this week. It's a topic that vexes our listeners – we know, because it's listeners who suggested we look into the scandalous state of affairs the water industry finds itself in. How did we get into this dreadful situation? What can we do about it? How did Labour MP Clive Lewis find himself buttonholed by Richard Tice only to find the Reform MP was in agreement about the state of water companies? And how are Trumpian politics linked to what is going on in the industry? If you swim, paddle or drink water, then this is a must-listen episode. SHOW LINKS Visit the Clive Lewis Action Network for more details on the work he is doing on Britain's broken water industry – and please drop your MP a letter this week, urging them to attend the imminent debate on Clive's bill. The Rivers Trust has an interactive map of sewage spills in England here – it's pretty up-to-date and utterly shocking. The trust also has links for those seeking Scottish and Welsh data. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW Our bookshop selling many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with SandStone Global.Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on the Labour govt's excellent plans for solar, "unpacking the coalition of the willing", and Lib Dem conference. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! LINKS: Old Lib Dem manifesto, as Naomi mentioned. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest David Gauke - former Conservative Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of Justice, and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who had the whip withdrawn over his rebellion against no-deal Brexit, and was recently appointed by Starmer to lead an independent review into prison sentences. They discuss Liz Kendall's welfare reform proposals, Kemi Badenoch's net zero u-turn, and the future of prisons and justice. Plus, of course, 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW FURTHER READING: Resolution Foundation's publications on the proposed welfare reforms can be found here. Institute for Fiscal Studies reaction to the proposed welfare reforms can be found here. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Respond to the government's Pathways to Work consultation. Find out more about the Prison Reform Trust's work. GRIN AND SHARE IT Sign language terms for climate change: the story; and the videos. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a looming election, a troublesome neighbour and a former Bank of England Governor as unelected PM, Canada is living through excruciatingly interesting times. We thought it was time to cuddle up to our Canuck cousins, and so Naomi Smith is joined for this special episode by Canadian journalist Graham Lanktree. Graham is Politico's UK trade specialist, and an ideal guide to the ins and outs of Canadian politics. How do Canadians feel about Mark Carney, a leader who has not been elected as an MP? Talking of unelected figures, what about their views on the Royal Family? As Trump bulldozes his way across the political landscape, will Canada try to disentangle its trade relations with the US, and cozy up to the EU? And How might Trump's second state visit to the UK affect UK-Canada diplomatic relations ? Get all this and more in our brilliant bite-sized guide to Canada! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Show notes: Sign up for a fee demo of politico pro HERE And don't forget to listen to the mythical and marvellous new hit podcast from the Quiet Riot stable: ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here:APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451fAMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podysseyOVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9QPOCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbdYouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podysseySUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW!Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on the Labour govt's incoherent welfare reforms, and Musk's destruction of his own companies. PLUS Germany goes shopping! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “A lack of an ideological basis is leading Labour to some very poor choices. When you’re cutting international aid, you are cutting it for the most vulnerable people in the world. When you are cutting PIP, you are cutting it for the most disadvantaged people in the UK.” “I would say to Starmer, simply, this: If you’ve ended up pissing off someone like me, you are in trouble with this. It is time to change course. This is crossing a line.” ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! LINKS: Sing the 38Degrees petition against welfare cuts. Find out about the Tesla Takedown campaign. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest, veteran journalist, straight-talker, and German sage, Annette Dittert, to discuss the latest in UK and European politics and the effect of instability from across the Atlantic. Plus, of course, 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Support the work of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust here. Fund an armoured ambulance for Ukraine medics - more information here. GRIN AND SHARE IT Breaking in her new high heels ON HIS SHIN. And the delicious video is here. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

'Tis the season of St Patrick and so Naomi Smith is joined by Irish politics specialist Professor Mary C Murphy, to see whether Ireland's political glass is half empty or half full. Questions are there many... Ireland is one of three neutral EU countries but is that sustainable in the age of Trump and Putin? How do young people on the island differ politically from their parents? Could there be a border poll and why would it be fraught with risk? And should the Taoiseach be raising a glass to his St Patrick's Day visit to the White House, or drowning his sorrows? Mary is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Irish Institute at Boston College in Massachusetts. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** (and thank you!) Our Quiet Riot bookshop supports independent book sellers and features lots of the books we feature on the show. Find Professor Murphy's thorough study on post-Brexit Northern Ireland here. If you haven't kicked your X habit, join us on Bluesky and we'll help you follow other amazing people via our three Starter Packs. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and producer Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY launches on the 15th of March and can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/gt7a4-3460bc/Alex-Andreou%27s-Podyssey-Podcast YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on the astounding implosion within Reform UK and signs of reversal of policies and freezing out of Musk by Trump. PLUS will changes on how GDP is calculated help or hinder Reeves? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Parliaments with a higher number of female leaders are more likely to be more equal, achieve higher economic growth and experience lower levels of corruption.” “Have Reform peaked too soon? Timing is everything. By doing well in some polls, people have started to treat them more seriously, to question them about policy, to look at people beyond Farage. And there is nothing there.” “Trump fails to understand much beyond ‘you've got this and I want it, why won’t you take a deal?’ In his head they are all not being rational, because he fails to realise that a peace treaty is not a business deal. This isn't a challenge on The Apprentice.” “DOGE’s entire power depends on its being able to impose itself on other departments. So, when Trump tells Musk: well, you can advise, but the State Secretaries will decide, is not just a demotion. It's a humiliation.” ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! LINKS: For International Women's Day, visit 50-50 Parliament. Nine-minute fact check on Farage about Putin is here. Wales special is here. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan about the mysterious - and increasingly influential figure - the owner of GB News, Unherd, and The Spectator, Paul Marshall. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Peter's substack Democracy for Sale. It's free and you should subscribe. Peter's LRB profile of Paul Marshall. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured - including Peter Goghegan's - can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY launches on the 15th of March and can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest More in Common's Luke Tryl to discuss the latest from Washington and how it is making life very difficult for right wing politicians in the UK, including Nigel Farage, suffering rejection-by-association. PLUS We take a deep dive into 'Blue Labour'. Is it genuine? Is it attractive? Is it coherent? Why is Steve Bannon and the Trump regime so interested in it? And of course 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW “Trump is such a gifted communicator that he constructs his own reality. The one bit he can’t control, the one part of reality he cannot alter, is how much people’s weekly supermarket bill is, or what they pay at the gas pump. And it might be his undoing.” “The notion of a European army used to be the Brexiteers’ bogeyman. And now more people believe there should be such a combined European defence force than not. In fact, support for it has doubled since 2020. So, Trump has definitely had a cohesive effect.” “There is a danger at the moment of confusing the very online Reform supporters on X with wider Reform. Actually, if you look at the shift that’s allowed them to grow eight-nine points since the election, they’re more moderate, more female, and don’t approve of Trump or Musk.” “The working class is not some homogenous block of post-liberal anti-woke Trumpists, just like not every progressive lives in leafy North London, supports Arsenal, and studied law at a Russell Group University. I reject this kind of identity politics.” “[Blue Labour] seems to me a sort of pretend salt-of-the-earth authenticity and radicalism, while actually just appropriating small-c conservative politics of division. Women and ethnic or sexual minorities are pretty absent from their cynically drawn picture of class.” “On immigration, the median voter balances three things: compassion, control, and competence. And politicians confuse that with ‘people don’t want any immigration’. It’s just not true.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Find out more about 1 Team 1 Fight and donate to them. Find out more about joining The Fabian Society. Help the charity Marie Curie with their Great Daffodil Appeal. GRIN AND SHARE IT A new test for pancreatic cancer: https://bigthink.com/health/pancreatic-cancer-screen/  DNA discoveries about pancreatic cancer: https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/15/scientists-make-dna-discovery-that-could-help-find-pancreatic-cancer-cure  Latest study results: https://www.mskcc.org/news/can-mrna-vaccines-fight-pancreatic-cancer-msk-clinical-researchers-are-trying-find-out  Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith is joined by award-winning journalist - and QR regular - Will Hayward for a timely stock-take of political life in a part of the country that we Quiet Rioters love, and a look at the Welsh budget (you will never believe how it got through), how farming complaints are different to the rest of the UK, a very inventive youth mobility scheme, and how Reform UK are using Wales - with Lee Anderson saying the quiet bit out loud. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/podcast/9e98d690-d812-013d-ea22-0affdfd67dbd YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW LINKS: Find Will Hayward's substack here, his podcast here, and his YouTube channel here. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith with a short debrief at the end of a historic day, on which Starmer has brought Europe (and friends) together, to make a stand for Ukraine. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY can be found here: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-andreous-podyssey/id1798575126 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3HjkOyOKTF4YT5Goy?si=e7a86b762431451f AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/8c996062-ef8d-42e4-9d80-5b407cb6e2e2/alex-andreou's-podyssey OVERCAST: https://overcast.fm/+ABN4Gd7AP9Q POCKET CASTS: Coming Soon YouTube Music: Coming Soon Or you can add it to any app, using the RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW NOW “This sort of strength avoids conflict. And I think that Europe, through its peace-dividend and end-of-history years, maybe this is a lesson that it had began to un-learn.” “We mustn't burn bridges with the USA. Because we have so many eggs in the American basket. But what the UK and Europe has to start to do, is to start moving our eggs out of that f***ing basket - and quickly.” CALL TO ACTION: Here is how to find out more about 1 Team 1 Fight and donate to them. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on the gangsters who have taken over the White House. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** NAOMI: "It's not so much that the world has changed as that the world has finally realized how much the world had already changed. For those for whom the penny hadn't already dropped, it's dropped now. And my overriding feeling is just this renewed anger about the decision to leave the EU." ALEX: "Deliberation is not evidence of equivocation. Speed does not always result in constancy. Declamation does not equal leadership. Calmness is not a form of appeasement." NAOMI: "I’m very encouraged by the UK demonstrating more leadership on this issue, putting its money where its mouth is, and I hope it will inspire other European leaders to do likewise, especially those not yet even meeting the NATO threshold of spending 2% of GDP on defence. Looking at you Meloni…" ALEX: "The only thing that matters now, is for the political will to exist, to disentangle our continent from a now unreliable and dangerous partner, and for the time to be gained to do that safely. We will bite the inside of our cheek and smile and say 'yes dear', while preparing our escape." CALL TO ACTION: Here is how to find out more about 1 Team 1 Fight and donate to them. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest LBC host James O'Brien to discuss Starmer's trip to Washington. What is the best he could come back with? And was raising defence at the expense of aid worth it? And of course 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “The idea that history was over, because the Cold War was over, the Berlin Wall had come down, and liberal democracy had prevailed over the extremes of fascism or communism, was irresistible in 1989. So, this isn’t just about Ukraine. It’s about recognising we’re returning to an unsafe world.”  “This defence spending announcement is a signal, an in-principle decision, that we are entering an era where hard power matters more than soft power. It is difficult to disagree with that assessment of the world right now.” “The bottom line is: the world changed last week in ways that nobody could have foreseen. And Starmer has done the thing that Starmer is quite good at - when the facts have changed he’s changed his mind.” “Badenoch channels the worst of Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss. It’s 50% Mordaunt shouting ‘stand and fight and stand and stand and fight and stand’ and 50% Truss going ‘we’ve got 10 and 1/2 minutes to save Western civilisation.” “The problem is many of the benefits of soft power are intangible - you can’t easily put a dollar value on a population not being displaced or someone not becoming radicalised. But it feels instinctively like it must be cheaper than hard power.” “Yes, using a logical train, in light of everything Trump has said and done, NATO is over. But using logical trains, when it comes to Trump is pointless. So until someone makes a compelling case of why it is in Trump’s personal interest, even NATO is subject to his caprice.” “It’s so hard to look at everything not through a lens of normality bias. I’ve caught myself so often, lately, thinking: this can’t be as bad as it looks, because I am biased towards believing that the danger cannot be as great as it appears.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Click to find out more about Help for Heroes. An old - but still extremely useful - Charity Commission guide on choosing the right charity to support. Grin and Share It on the CBI report about Britain's Green Economy. James's encounter with Charlie, the farmer. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and special guest, London bureau chief for the ARD, the multi-award winning journalist, Annette Dittert with an analysis of Sunday's German federal election results. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “NATO may have died - in the sense that, if the Article 5 commitment is not longer believable, if it is not something you can bank on, we may already be at a point when we need to start looking at something else, which looks a bit like NATO but doesn’t involve the US.” “Of all the weapons Ukraine uses, 55% are produced in Ukraine, 25% come from Europe and 20% from the US. The difficulty arises because a lot of that 20% from the US is made up of high-end air defence that is hard to replace. But it’s not impossible.”  "The German election is proof of concept for what Musk's interference can achieve. European leaders need to get their s**t together and decide what they're going to do about his influence, because otherwise he's just going to pick them off one by one." "Any other records held by any other company would be accessible given the right court order. Even for confidential or privileged stuff, there are exceptions in cases of national security. So why should electronic data get a free pass where no other held records would?" LINKS: Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and special guest, former diplomat and security analyst, Arthur Snell talk about the end of NATO as we know it, today's German federal election, and Apple's tussle with UK gov't over encryption. A packed episode! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “NATO may have died - in the sense that, if the Article 5 commitment is not longer believable, if it is not something you can bank on, we may already be at a point when we need to start looking at something else, which looks a bit like NATO but doesn’t involve the US.” “Of all the weapons Ukraine uses, 55% are produced in Ukraine, 25% come from Europe and 20% from the US. The difficulty arises because a lot of that 20% from the US is made up of high-end air defence that is hard to replace. But it’s not impossible.”  "The German election is proof of concept for what Musk's interference can achieve. European leaders need to get their s**t together and decide what they're going to do about his influence, because otherwise he's just going to pick them off one by one." "Any other records held by any other company would be accessible given the right court order. Even for confidential or privileged stuff, there are exceptions in cases of national security. So why should electronic data get a free pass where no other held records would?" LINKS: Arthur Snell's Behind The Lines episode with Mike Martin. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Extended 40min version of Alex Andreou and Salma Shah (filling in for Naomi) talking to Emmy-award-winning journalist specialising on NATO, Luke McGee, discussion on whether the USA is still our ally and what the future of NATO is. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There is a logical inconsistency to America demanding that Europe commit more to the NATO project, at the moment it also says: we’re not particularly committed to it.”  “I don’t think it’s one man, behind a desk in the White House that will control the fate of NATO. We have to have some confidence in our institutions and the many thousands of people that contribute to them.” “Along with support for Ukraine, ‘the special relationship’ seems to be breaking apart with it. Because Russia is a much more pertinent threat to us than it is to America. And it feels like they just want it off their desks.”  “The late Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador to the US, used to say ‘the special relationship’ never existed. I think that’s probably true. American interest in Europe has always been somewhat overstated.” “For the last 20 years, whenever the idea of a European army was floated, the main objector was NATO and countries who saw it as foundational, like the UK or the US, because they saw it as a threat to NATO centrality as a defence force. Now they turn around and say ‘why don’t you have your own European army?’ after blocking it for decades.” “Are we now in a situation where America is Russia’s bitch? I don’t think that is the case. But it’s clear there are people around Trump who have absolutely swallowed Kremlin talking points and get their information from weird accounts on X. That’s very dangerous.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: You can find out more about the PAME Arctic Cleanup Project here. You can find out more about Ukraine Medical Aid here. You can find out more about the Ukraine Freedom Fund here. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Salma Shah (filling in for Naomi) welcome guest Emmy-award-winning journalist specialising in NATO, Luke McGee, to discuss whether - and I cannot believe I am about to type this - the USA is still our ally or "Putin's Bitch". Plus - Who is out to get Rachel Reeves? We sort truth from gossip and explore why there is already dysfunction in such a young administration with such a secure majority. And of course 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Along with support for Ukraine, ‘the special relationship’ seems to be breaking apart with it. Because Russia is a much more pertinent threat to us than it is to America. And it feels like they just want it off their desks.”  “The late Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador to the US, used to say ‘the special relationship’ never existed. I think that’s probably true. American interest in Europe has always been somewhat overstated.” “For the last 20 years, whenever the idea of a European army was floated, the main objector was NATO and countries who saw it as foundational, like the UK or the US, because they saw it as a threat to NATO centrality as a defence force. Now they turn around and say ‘why don’t you have your own European army?’ after blocking it for decades.” “Are we now in a situation where America is Russia’s bitch? I don’t think that is the case. But it’s clear there are people around Trump who have absolutely swallowed Kremlin talking points and get their information from weird accounts on X. That’s very dangerous.” “I think the talk of the reshuffle is just talk at the moment… But perhaps one of the questions Rachel Reeves should be asking herself is whether she needs a reshuffle in her own team. Does she have the right skills in her advisors?“ CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: You can find out more about the PAME Arctic Cleanup Project here. You can find out more about Ukraine Medical Aid here. You can find out more about the Ukraine Freedom Fund here. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on Trump and Musk's assault on federal government - and how it might just turn against them. A detailed report by Frontier Economics AND a megapoll by YouGov, commissioned by Best for Britain, outline stunning growth opportunities - if Starmer goes for the right UK-EU reset. The public is fully behind the idea. Plus, as Reform UK continues to gaslight the country about Brexit and ride high in the polls, there may be a giant chink in their armour. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** "Pete Hegseth sat down at the poker table with his cards facing his opponents. The damage is done. You can't walk that back. You can't ask the other poker players to unsee the cards you just showed them." “The latest Trump tariff package accumulates his grievances with the rest of the world, whether they are real or imagined. It could mean anything, or othing. It's impossible to process until we understand what he means - and nobody can do that, because Trump doesn't understand it.” “The Trump tariffs executive order is a nothing. It is an invitation to leaders from around the world to come and kiss his ass. This is the Fisher-Price version of a Presidency. They give him buttons to push and levers to pull that are attached to nothing.”  “Reform UK hasn't got any experience of actual government or much on-the-ground resources. The Conservatives can offer decades of experience and local associations, but need Reform's popularity. The sweet spot is there. That's where a deal might be done.” LINKS: Byline piece with background on Together and its links to other campaigns is here. Christina Pagel's substack on the signs of authoritarianism and how the Trump WH tracks. Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to special guest FT science editor, Michael Peel, about his book "What Everyone Knows About Britain, Except The British". Nostalgia is the disease from which our dysfunctional politics flows. How can we change course? And what could modern Britain be in the future, if it stopped longing for the past? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There are probably two types of voter, those who vote emotionally and those who vote emotionally but don't admit that they do.”  “The way Brexit was campaigned for illustrated a wider problem in politics today, which was a reluctance to talk about trade-offs and downsides. It’s possible to make a coherent argument for Brexit, which is also honest. But that was never the offer. The offer was: there are no downsides, this is all going to be great, you just need to sign on the dotted line. That was why it was corrosive.” “What is really needed is a moment of political clarity, to say: our politics is based on this nostalgic idea that we can go back to the days of Western industrial and political dominance. Those days are gone. Whether you consider that state desirable or not, it was a unique moment in time that is never coming back.” “It is revealing, in discussions of the Thatcher era, how little North Sea Oil is mentioned. If Britain had done what the Norwegians and other countries did, the wealth fund would be worth hundreds of billions of pounds. ”  You can buy Michael Peel's book here https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/what-everyone-knows-about-britain-except-the-british-michael-peel/7598496?aid=15177&ean=9781800962088& Our bookshop which includes many of the books we have discussed or featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome special guest founder of Scientists for EU and chair of European Movement UK, Mike Galsworthy to discuss whether it is better to unite pro-European forces behind one mission or let them be a lively, symbiotic ecosystem. Plus a deepdive into the UK's science and technology strategy. Join the US in deregulating? Or join Europe and actively drain science capacity from it? And of course 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “As a campaigning organisation, you have to go to where people are - the spaces that they occupy, the informational areas that they’re in, and in person. You have to meet them where they are both physically and in terms of opinion, whether ministers or voters.” “What we are talking about is not a political party winning, but rather how do you move all of UK society in the same direction. At each and every level [rejoining the EU] has to be made relevant to each and every community - personally, regionally, demographically.” “The gov’t knows where the public is. The polling has been very clear for some time. The single most influential group that needs to step up right now is business - every size, every industry, every location. They need to step and push gov’t towards EU alignment during this critical period in the run up to the [Starmer - von der Leyen] summit.”  “There is a real opportunity right now, given the way Trump is behaving, for a ‘brain drain’ from the States and diversion of talent that would usually flow to the States, especially from Global South countries worried about the racism and the barriers to funding. The UK and Europe should get together to move on this.” “With the falling apart of USAID, the soft power opportunity there, through science and health security, is huge. This is where both the UK and the EU are strong and trusted.” “Population decline is an existential threat to mature Western economies and soon they will find that they are actually in competition for immigration. The first such country to realise this, will reap huge benefits.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Click here to ask your MP to read Best for Britain's Growth Report. Sign up for European Movement here. Support the Open Rights Group here. Grin and Share It about funding underprivileged musicians by selling a stradivarius here. Ida Haendel playing Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.77 on a rare stradivarius. Full interview with Sir John Curtice on Rejoin prospects for the i here. Mike's Byline Networks is here. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, and Kenny. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith talk through the week's news, with a focus on Trump and Musk's assault on federal government - and how it might just turn against them. A detailed report by Frontier Economics AND a megapoll by YouGov, commissioned by Best for Britain, outline stunning growth opportunities - if Starmer goes for the right UK-EU reset. The public is fully behind the idea. Plus, as Reform UK continues to gaslight the country about Brexit and ride high in the polls, there may be a giant chink in their armour. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “What we’re seeing is an overall strategy of moving so fast and doing so much that the judicial system, the Democratic Party, any media still inclined to scrutinise the Presidency, they simply don’t have time to react to all of it.” “USAID has a tiny budget. $40bn in the context of a $7 Trillion annual federal budget is nothing. It gets Trump and Musk nowhere near the trillions they said they would save. It is performative, chosen precisely because of the ripple effect in so many sensitive areas.” “If the UK pursues deep alignment on goods with the EU, you're looking at between 1-1.5% GDP growth. So clawing back about a third of what the OBR says we've lost as a result of Brexit. If you do deep alignment on goods and services, it's between 1.7 to 2.2%. Clawing back more than half of what we will have lost. The cost of inaction is that we continue to atrophy and we recover none of that loss growth.”  “When you do UK-EU deep alignment, on goods in particular, you get the greatest spread of growth outside of London. It disproportionately impacts non-South-East. West Midlands and the North get the biggest boost. Why? Well, that's where what industry we do still have tends to be located and they have been the most negatively impacted [by Brexit].” “All this ‘shock and awe’ from Trump and Musk can feel overwhelming. But forced to defend all of this will stretch them thin. We have to be considered and strategic. Once the challenges start coming, it is them who will have to prioritise what to defend and what to junk. So take a breath and hold the line.” CALLS TO ACTION AND LINKS: You can see the full BfB/Frontier report on UK-EU growth here. David Frum's article for the Atlantic is here. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith (fresh from Brussels) welcome special guest Rachel Shabi to discuss her new book on antisemitism, Trump's proposed cash + ethnic cleansing deal, Starmer trying to make himself invisible, while negotiating with Europe, and the general fever dream we seem to be living through. Plus a stunning audio letter from Arthur Snell in Israel. And of course 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “The only way to stand up to Trump is collectively and the UK finds itself outside that large European collective bloc. It is particularly unfortunate and how the Labour gov’t can square that, I don’t know, but they have to find a way.” “Trump is looking for people to punish, but also for a country to reward, to show the others what happens. And his rhetoric about Starmer is different than any other European leader. So, maybe the UK is weirdly manoeuvring itself into a sweet Goldilocks deal.” “When you’re talking to Europe, while showing this much ankle to the US in general and in particular Trump, I think your ability to progress negotiations with the EU will be highly constrained.”  “I don’t think there’s any point in second-guessing a chaos-merchant, who likes to throw chaotic statements into the public space, precisely for the purpose of sowing chaos. And I don’t think there’s any point in treating [Trump’s Gaza comments] as some strategic move.” “The realities of antisemitism are messy. The conversations we need to have are messy. It takes time and the building of trust that means not automatically assuming bad faith. The problem is we are trying to have those conversations in the midst of a political and media environment that is obnoxious and divisive.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: You can buy Rachel Shabi's 'Off White' here. You can buy Chris McGreal's 'American Overdose' here. Our bookshop featuring many of the books we have featured can be found at uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot You can see the full results of the BfB polling on prioritising Europe here. You can find the Medical Aid for Palestinians charity here. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell discuss Trump's vile comments on the Washington air disaster and his economically illiterate view of tariffs. Also, the atmosphere in Germany, with three weeks to the election, could not be more febrile. Plus 'Grin And Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Is there any evidence that people with, to quote Trump, ‘severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities’ can become air-traffic controllers? Or is it more likely that they just end President of the US?” “The right-leaning Tax Foundation in the US found tariffs levied by Trump during his first term, were paid by US businesses and their customers. Goldman Sachs projects there will be a 0.1% effect on inflation for every additional 1% of tariffs.” “Merz was cruising to victory, but he got greedy. He broke convention, riled up Angela Merkel, and split the CDU. And what did he achieve? He’s basically given people an argument to vote AfD.”  CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Join Best for Britain's list to get the big news coming in the next couple of weeks. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith with special guest migration, policy one-woman army, Zoe Gardner ask what happened to the sunlit uplands, the magical cake, the oven ready pie - and all the other things we were promised in 2016. Also, a frank discussion about Britain's true immigration problem: that numbers are dropping off a cliff. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and a Dramatic Reading of Daniel Hannan. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “The arguments for Brexit were masking something much more sinister and deeper in the ideology of those who were advocating for it.” “The same people are now saying let’s leave the ECHR. It will never be enough. There will always be another thing, another right that we as citizens can give up, to pursue this agenda of wiping out the diversity of our country.” “PEM is the right direction but it’s not a game-changer. We have a rare opportunity for a limited conversation about what we need from the EU and we need to prioritise full beneficial alignment.”  “People who are secure about their identity don't tend to worry about foreigners. Brexit triggered an identity crisis. English nationalists had to redefine theirs, to cohere. For decades, being against the EU had acted as a proxy. The moment that was removed, their identity fell apart.” “There is a massive performative element [to Trump’s deportations]. So much of our politics is done in the media that image is everything. Those deportations were taking place under the Biden administration, but it is Trump who has released the imagery.” “There is no reasonable Right, any more. It doesn’t exist. Don’t kid yourselves. We should not be compromising. We have repeatedly thought we can compromise with these people who hate us and split the difference and we can’t.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Sign the petition to provide better routes for undocumented migrants to regularise their status. Join Best for Britain's list to get the big news coming in the next couple of weeks. Subscribe to Zoe Gardner's YouTube channel. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex welcomes special guest, former diplomat Arthur Snell to discuss the future of NATO, Ukraine, Gaza, Syria - and whether The West, capitalised as one entity, may be coming to the end of the unity of purpose which has sustained it since the 40s. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Arthur's Behind the Lines is here. Conclusive video evidence that Trump is definitely the same height and weight as Gavin Newsom can be found here. ______________________ “Trump picks these crazy appointments, partly to rile sensible mainstream people, but it’s partly because then they’re totally loyal to him, since they have no standing of their own, to be at these jobs.” “NATO and European security are in a fundamental crisis now. Because the whole idea was that North America took a view that European security is integral to their own. That idea is collapsing at the moment.” “Putin is in a rather advantageous position. He can carry on fighting - let’s say for another thirty days - grab a few more towns and strategic ground, then announce that he is ready to come to the negotiating table. What Trump is doing, is to say: you carry on as long as you need to and when you’re done, there’s a deal here for you.”  “I’ve noticed people in the West, generally, and here in the UK starting to blame Ukraine and suggest that really the problem is they didn’t mobilise enough troops. If we look at the casualties they’ve suffered, I think that is a cynical and, frankly, cowardly position.” “The ceasefire [in Gaza] needed two things to happen in America. It needed the tireless work of the Biden administration to negotiate, but it also needed the threat of someone like Trump willing to do crazy things.” _______________________ Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. _______________________ This is a paid advertisement by BetterHelp: Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/QUIETRIOT and get on your way to being your best self. _______________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith with special guest USA Politics Guru, Dr. Brian Klaas, look at the flurry of executive orders and try to sort the wheat from the chaff. And how should Europe respond? Which fights are not worth fighting and where the red lines should be drawn. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin and Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Donald Trump simultaneously says we should execute drug dealers and pardoned the largest drug market creator in human history. And so he is creating one of the hallmarks of authoritarian rule, which is a tier of justice that says: if you’re my friend, if you’re an ally, the rules don’t apply.” “The Republican Party, when it goes on to legislation, it’s in trouble. The stuff that they’re proposing, with the exception of immigration, some of the domestic policy proposals they have are toxic.” “The economy is the one area where the political laws of gravity could apply. You cannot tell people that their grocery bill has gone down when it hasn’t. But the motivated reasoning of ‘now Trump is back, everything is good’ - that will get him through for quite a while.”  “Musk could have the world’s best information service at his fingertips. Information is the crucial part of good decision-making in life and he could have the single best private intelligence agency in the world. And instead he’s getting his news from idiot zealots on X.” “There’s going to be things that the Trump administration is able to do internationally, by throwing around American power, which is formidable. The question is whether that is a good strategy over the long run. You can get people to do things because they’re afraid of you, but there’s a view that, long term, this erodes American power.” “If [as a European gov’t] you pull your punches all the time, you’re going to end up with the worst of every world: you’re going to end up undercutting your own dignity and power on the international stage, and you’re not going to get Trump to change.” GRIN AND SHARE IT Read - and watch video - about equal marriage being legalised in Thailand. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Brian's article on how volunteering makes one a supercitizen. Kick your X habit, finally, by using one of three Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Packs. With one click, it will hook you up with, among many good accounts, Alex, Naomi, Kenny, and Brian. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join us for some group therapy! Naomi and Alex welcome back 38Degrees CEO and former Obama campaign staffer Matthew McGregor with some first impressions of Trump's low-energy inauguration speech, his high-energy overflow speech, Melania's get-away-from-me-energy hat and Musk's chemically-enhanced-energy salute. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** "So much of it was about him. So much of it was about how he's the best and how he's suffered and how he's the victim. Contrast that with 'ask not what your country can do for you'. It was an extraordinarily self-centered inauguration speech." "Once he was in the other room, he gave the speech he really wanted to. He wanted to talk about January the 6th. He wanted to open up old wounds. He will never ever let go of the injustice that he perceives happened to him back in 2020.” "We should be outraged. We should stay angry. And we should be up for resisting what Donald Trump is going to try to do to America. But there's no point in pretending that he is a novice, an idiot, someone who is deranged. He knows what he's doing." “John McCain said it's always darkest just before it goes completely black. I'm glad to be, experiencing the pain, with you both, in a group therapy setting.” CALLS TO ACTION To find out more about (and donate if in the US) to Planned Parenthood click here. To find out more about and help Bloody Good Period click here. To find out more about and help Level Up click here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex look at the week's news, focussing on Starmer's visit to Poland and Donald Tusk's dream of a "Breturn". Also, the markets have made a remarkable recovery and the media, obsessed with gilt rates until last week, appear not to have noticed - it's almost like there's an agenda there. Plus, TikTok "goes dark" in the US, but has Trump changed his mind? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Tusk is successful where the Remain campaign was not. He makes the emotional appeal. He goes for hearts instead of minds. It’s not a coincidence that he is also the person reversing the trend for ever-further-right governments in former Eastern Bloc countries, by bringing together a broad coalition. He is pointing the way on a lot of this stuff.” “Both the UK and the EU need to capitalise on current circumstances and bake in some stuff that is hard to reverse. They don’t know with whom they will be negotiating next time. I think Donald Tusk gets that and has gone out there and shown Starmer some pretty difficult-to-squirm-away-from love.” Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alice Jolly taught at Oxford for 16 years ... until she had the temerity to complain about her pay. Sacked from a job she loved, she took the university to court over her employment rights and won a famous victory. But what are the broader lessons for the world of academia? In this Quiet Riot special, Naomi Smith talks with Alice, an award-winning writer and academic, about a sector that contributes £265billion to the economy yet where a deeply disturbing number of universities are running at a loss. Are neo-liberal managers destroying the heart of Britain's higher education sector by prioritising areas such as property development over teaching? ‘When it is very difficult I remind myself that we are fighting for the future of higher education ... it is the basis of our civilisation’ 'I loved Oxford University and the dream of that world’  ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Find out more about the University and College Union Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with SandStone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith with special guest Guardian columnist Zoe Williams assess Labour's first 200 days in power, in pretty frank, no-holds-barred conversation. And, as the Trump cabinet confirmation hearing stun Capitol Hill, the gang engage is some preemptive group therapy on how to survive the next four years of Trump. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin and Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There is a real problem with Keir’s cabinet and Keir’s government… He will not let anyone go out and build their own brand, persona, ideas - anything. He won’t let anyone go out and be the person they want to be. And so when you get a situation like Reeves at the mercy of bond markets nobody looks at her and thinks: she’s got this.” “Debt markets are a beauty pageant and you don’t want to be the ugliest contestant. What is happening now is not at all like Truss, because at that point everyone else’s bond markets were relatively calm and ours was the only one shooting up. That is a very different situation.” “What is this government’s growth theory? I don’t know. Every government has one - it might be bullshit, but they have it. This one’s seems to be a Jack-And-The-Beanstalk theory: ‘I will take my desire for growth to the market and buy a bean and then let’s see what happens.’”  GRIN AND SHARE IT You can read about the amazing advance in battery technology here. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Zoe's piece about quitting Facebook. The petition calling for an independent evaluation of the Cass Review. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex look at the week's news, focussing on the market turmoil and pressure on Reeves, Trump's felony conviction, and Farage under increasing pressure from his own members for - WAIT FOR IT! - being too moderate. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Trump did this before his 2017 inauguration. He is manipulating markets. Causing a volatile period with negative movement. He threatens lots of stuff. He then gets sworn in and tones it down. Everything resets and he comes out and claims: Look at Wall Street. Even in my first week everything is going gangbusters.” "An enormous number of [Reform voters] are aspirationally wealthy, golf-playing, what I would call 'red corduroy trouser guy'. They do not like the working classness of a man like Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. They don't want him invading their club. And I think that's true of Farage.” “The government needs to pursue a policy of dynamic beneficial alignment with the EU. Most of us do not work for a large corporation that can box and cox around regulatory changes in our largest trading market. Lots of SMEd and sole traders just can't do it.” “There are unilateral things that gov’t could be doing right now to boost the economy and the reason it’s not is because it’s chicken. They are letting the perceived political price, of being seen to get closer to the EU, dictate policy choice. It is a discredit to them. These lost months, you ain’t getting them back.” Reform UK trying to introduce a bill - the video is here. CALL TO ACTION: Tell your MP to attend the debate on Youth Mobility. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to top economist Vicky Pryce, to get to the bottom of what is behind market volatility and high gov't borrowing rates, how much of it is inherited, how much of it international, how much down to the gov't, what can be done to fix it, and why it isn't being done. Much of it not as you might expect. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England missed a trick. The confidence of central banks was impacted quite badly when they were seen to be too slow in moving rates up, so now they’re being a little bit too cautious about moving rates down.” “There is a serious issue. Right now in most countries there’s fiscal retrenchment [gov’t measures to reduce debt]. With tight monetary policy too, you’re almost stuck with low growth.” USEFUL READING Vicky Pryce's blog on inflation is here. The FT's round-up of analyst views is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith with special guest Dame Emily Thornberry try to decipher the incoherent tweets of Musk, the incoherent strategy of Badenoch, and the incoherent ramblings of Trump. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin and Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** "The idea that they can just play political games on the bodies of these girls, whose lives would have been turned upside down by what happened, to have it all raked over again and again for petty point scoring. The stakes for the victims are very high.” “The next few years is going to be all about realignment on the right. Who's going to eat whom? In our current system there's only really space for two big political parties.” “I don't really know what's happened to the leadership of the Tory Party. They have so profoundly lost their way.” "The one thing we should take very seriously about Donald Trump is that he is completely unpredictable. It's like the whole table has been thrown over and we're picking up the pieces trying to see how to put it back together." "The way forward is essentially to work out what are his interests and how to align what's in our interest with it. On Ukraine, Trump doesn't want to be seen as a loser. He wants to win the Nobel Peace prize. We can be there saying, here is a way to do that, just sign your name and have your photo taken." GRIN AND SHARE IT You can read the story of Bear, the hero dog, on the BBC website. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Find out how to write to your MP here. Details of how to contribute to the Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry on Soft Power. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex give their instant reaction to the rapidly spiralling Musk breakdown, Starmer's strong response, the Tory Party's weak response - and Justin Trudeau's resignation. "One thing that UK gov't could do straight away, is to move all of its departments and ministries off X. What are they still doing there? What are official gov't accounts still doing on X, while the PM is saying that it is now a site dedicated to disinformation?" ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Stephen Bush's FT article on calls for an inquiry into grooming gangs. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the words of Jon Snow, "winter is coming". Naomi and Alex look at the cold winds blowing in from the East, as Ukraine cuts Europe off its Putin habit, from the West, as Musk goes too far right even for Farage's taste, and from the South, where Suella Braverman can be found admiring the Italy-Turkey border. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Statista's monthly figures on boat crossings. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex chats to eminent scenario planner, futurologist, and best-selling author Richard Watson about whether there is any point predicting anything in such a volatile environment and finds that scenario planning is not a passive pursuit but about shaping the future. A wide-ranging, illuminating, and inspirational conversation. Stay tuned to the end for a goodies giveaway! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “I’m not trying to be right about things. I’m trying to help people be less wrong. What I’m trying to do is get people to think and my experience is that most people are putting out fires dealing with quarterly results, annual results, four- or five-year election cycles. There are very few people thinking a generation ahead.” “The thing that’s problematic at the moment for a lot of people running organisations is not so much the speed of things, the volatility, or the unexpected events, but the sheer amount of information. I can’t pay attention to everything, so to what do I pay attention? How do I pick?” “The one trend organisations should be paying more attention to than anything else is societal ageing and declining fertility. Related to that is ‘the war for talent’. You have a shrinking workforce and moving into a more protectionist era. The fight to attract and retain talent will intensify.”  “People tend to think of the future in binary terms. That something new will happen that will kill something that’s been around for a while. But the future is ‘and’ not ‘or’. Look at Ukraine, you have First World War trenches on one level, but also drones and satellites.” “I think the future has always been open and we should spend more time thinking what we want it to be, rather than only what it will be.” Richard Watson's books can be found here. Richard Watson's bookshelf can be found here. Richard Watson & Lavie Tidhar's children's book can be found here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod. On Bluesky click here for our Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, Naomi, and Kenny discuss the most important trends of 2024 and what they might augur for 2025. PLUS their most out-there predictions! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Alex: “The reaction to progress is not an attempt to stand still, to remain the same, but an active attempt to reverse progress. Progress is not some axiomatic force that will do its thing without our shoulder to the wheel.” Naomi: “Big Tech enjoying access will continue and end up crossing every conflict of interest boundary. It’s not going to be about kickbacks or corruption. What we will see is the capture of whole sectors of the economy by Big Tech.” Kenny: “The power play between Trump, Musk, and Putin is going to be fascinating to watch in 2025. The world’s three most powerful narcissists feeding off one-another.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod. On Bluesky click here for our Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Attention polling geeks, politics geeks and students of the world ... what can Taylor Swift tell us about the world of politics? How about Beyoncé? And, sticking with a pop theme, how about Waterloo? Naomi Smith returns with the second part of her festive Poll The Other One special, this time with Focaldata chief research officer James Kanagasooriam who, as well as being heroically knowledgeable about all things polling, also coined the phrase Red Wall. Yes, *that* Red Wall. This episode is absolutely chocka with fascinating insights and, as a bonus, it will equip you to drop the following phrases into your political discourse: race depolarisation; zero-sum thinking; culture-nomics. If that's too geeky-sounding, there's also stuff about Waterloo Station's liberal clientele, the Democrats' religious vacuum and Keir Starmer's sandcastle. I know, the sandcastle has hooked you. ‘Across the West, no political parties seem to do what they say on the tin.’ 'Zero-sum thinking was a really interesting trend that came out of this year … if I do well, you do badly.‘ ‘It’s a very powerful tool, optimism.’ ‘The Lib Dem vote just follows a trainline out of London.’ ‘Politicians now know, irrespective of their ideology, that at the end of their four or five years they have to have grown the economy.’ Show Notes Subscribe to James's splendid Substack, The Political Whiteboard Check out Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated, a recent paper co-authored by Works In Progress founder Ben Southwood Want more Quiet Riot? Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Bluesky starter pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com . ***If you can afford to, please sponsor us at ko-fi.com/quietriotpod ... it means a lot to us :-) *** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

LOBBY JOURNALISTS DO BATTLE FOR THE QUIZ CHAMPION CROWN. Quizmaster Naomi grills The Guardian's Zoe Williams, The Times' Caroline Wheeler, Politics Home's Adam Payne, Conservative Home's Henry Hill, and award-winning Welsh politics guru, Will Hayward. And they also share their political moment of the year. Which one will triumph and who will disgrace themselves? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome two very special guests - their best friends Nigel Smith and Nigella Lawson. Recorded with a special live audience of many of our previous guests, in this PART II we look forward to 2025, take questions from the audience, and - of course - talk all about FOOD!!! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “If you hurry the cooking of an onion, all is lost.” “I would win Ready, Steady, Cook. I would be very good at that.” “I don’t like gadgets that lock you out of the cooking process.” “Whenever there is a new fashionable ingredient, I tend to feel sorry about the old ones. So, I pivot to carrots.”  “Channelling Alex’s radical optimism, where are you all going to find joy in the next year? Wherever we bloody well can!" "Joy is in the small things. The way the light falls in through a curtain. Or having a vodka-martini so cold it hurts. Or the perfectly constructed sentence in a book you’re reading. I don’t know you can start worrying about where it should best come from.”  “The connections we build with people is the thing we really build our lives from. It starts with the personal. That’s how we make a better future.” “The small unexpected kindnesses give me joy, because they give me hope, that there is something underneath all the darkness, and we just have to find a way to mine it.”  CALLS TO ACTION: The charity Praxis can be found here. Food decorations from Sous Chef. Nigella's recipe for Fig and Olive Chutney. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod. For Bluesky click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and Naomi talk to a pantheon of special guests to dissect the week's news. Arthur Snell on the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas Market and a new breed of self-radicalised individual who fits no profile. Ian Dunt on the latest peers elevated to the Lords. Zoe Williams on the backlash over gov't denying compensation to WASPI women. Peter Geoghegan on the first cracks appearing in the Trump/Musk bromance and dark money. A special episode to end the year. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Arthur: “A classic example of self-radicalisation. People in a very isolated way online can be drawn into a very personal version of a dangerous ideology. You can end up with people with very bizarre uniquely generated private views.” Arthur: “Whilst it’s a slightly bewildering case, it’s a fairly neat illustration of the way that radicalisation has become a profound danger and that you don’t have to have pale skin and ‘Aryan’ looks to be radicalised into far-right ideology.” Peter: “Labour’s failure [to proactively regulate money in politics] has put them in this position and they still don’t have a strategy. When the Musk story broke, they briefed that they might cap donations, now that they may do something by 2026, or that they may limit the amount a company can give. This is very piecemeal, very reactive and not being led from the front.” Peter: “We have seen time and again how unlimited donations, dirty money and dark money in British politics, has warped the political agenda. Musk unintentionally is illuminating this, shining a great big light onto it. And the public care about this. That’s the most compelling reason to act, rather than party political ramifications.” Zoe: “A lot of these plans, like the winter fuel payment withdrawal, are not well formulated. I’m not sure that a blanket ‘no’ to the WASPI women is the right thing to do. At the same time, this government is being treated atrociously by the commentariat. Conservative gov’ts, and the coalition before them, introduced waves of extreme hardship and barely a peep was made about it.” Zoe: “I don’t think anything [Labour] do would be enough to restore trust in democracy…  We went from austerity, which was often just performative cruelty, into the fecklessness of Brexit, and then into a pandemic that was defined by corruption. I worry that that did taint the reputation of politics so profoundly, I don’t see how you turn it around.” Ian: “We cannot have PM after PM just come in and just cram the place with their cronies… and see the numbers just expand and expand. Even for those of us who are defenders of the Lords, it makes our job impossible, because you cannot support this stuff, you cannot defend the way they are behaving.” Ian: “Starmer is the most consistently underestimated politician in my lifetime. People cannot stop looking at him and going ‘he’s so boring’, ‘he’s got no ideas’, ‘he’s bad at politics’, ‘he’s got no connection to the public’. There’s loads to criticise him on, but some of the stuff he’s doing is huge. When you look at planning, labour practices, local gov't, net zero, criminal justice - in 15 years, we will look back on this period as engine room policy change.” Ian: “Having a surging Farage - which will be the story of next year, because that is what the press wants the story to be - is poison for the national conversation and will pull us further to the right. But electorally, the basic boring answer is still the correct one: a surging Reform just divides the right.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Peter's substack Democracy for Sale. It's free and you should subscribe. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod. On Bluesky click here for our Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Hallmark has pumped out over 800 of these original movies - and I use the term original very loosely. Its countdown to Xmas generates over a third of its entire revenue during this one month.  But where do these films have their roots? Are they a new phenomenon or just the modern version of Pride & Prejudice? Are they an anti-capitalist subversion teaching that work and materialism do not equal happiness? Or a MAGA misogynist festival that seeks to humiliate women who have the temerity to seek a life, education, or career outside their home town?  Alex compares notes with film critic Linda Marric, to get to the bottom of their enduring, and - given their quality - pretty surprising popularity.  GOOD FESTIVE PICKS The Holiday *batteries not included The Family Man When Harry Met Sally... SO BAD THEY ARE GOOD FESTIVE PICKS Harvest Love A Law for Christmas 'Tis The Season to Be Merry Christmas at the Holly Hotel Sister Swap - City Edition Sister Swap - Country Edition Hallmark's daring interracial effort: Something from Tiffany's Hallmark's first gay starring couple: The Holiday Sitter Hallmark's does Hannukah: Love, Lights, Hannukah! Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome two very special guests - their best friends Nigel Smith and Nigella Lawson - to look back at a momentous year, the moments that have depressed, delighted, and surprised them, the people they have admired and the telly they have binged. As well as an incredible six months of Quiet Riot. Recorded with a special live audience of many of our previous guests! Plus the 'Wokiest Dokiest' of 2024. PART II is out on Christmas Eve and is all about FOOD!!! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “If you're in the outrage business, you've got to take the opportunities where they arise.” “European countries seem to be moving in the direction of having three power blocks of roughly equal share basically that can't agree on anything, a kind of universal gridlock.” “What happened to Giséle Pelicot does explain why women are quite justifiably anxious about moving around in the world. Yes, you could argue: it's an aberration, this isn't happening in every house. But nevertheless, it is clearly eminently doable for a great number of men.” “Only 10% of people under 27 put English mustard in a ham sandwich. And that does make me worry.” “I love cheese, but I really draw the line at Tiramisu Wensleydale or an Espresso Martini Wensleydale, can I say? Science has gone too far.” CALL TO ACTION: You can donate to Duchenne UK here. You can register for the cycle run here, to raise money for Duchenne UK. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi is joined by a Quiet Riot regular, More in Common's Luke Tryl, to discuss polling trends of 2024, what pollsters got right, what they got wrong, the horseshoe theory, the differences between online and telephone polls, why blending focus groups with polling helps improve predictions and what are the indications for next year. Fill yer boots, as they say. PLUS the insight you have all been waiting for: what is the most popular Xmas movie respectively for Tory, Labour and Reform voters? Spoiler – The Muppet Christmas Carol is notable by its absence. "Polling should always be an art-informed science." "The volatility of voters is unprecedented." "No one is immune from radicalisation." Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi and Alex look at yet another two horrible consequences of Brexit - the grift that keeps on taking - in the rather esoteric GPSR that seems to have caught both government and business unaware, as well as the labour shortages that may scupper gov't plans to build 1.5m homes. Plus, Laura Kuenssberg gets an award and Steven Bartlett explains his views on medicine. Have we sacrificed accuracy in the service of balance? Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to former diplomat and host of the Behind The Lines podcast, Arthur Snell, to try and construct some order out of the recent chaos in Syria. Who are the good guys? What does this mean for Israel? How exposed is Iran? Is it an opportunity for the Kurds to carve out a state? What is Türkiye's agenda? How does this impact Russia and Putin in both practical and reputational terms? What is next for Assad? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Who can rebuild a country, after a devastating civil war, while also rebuilding its society? That expertise might not exist. But it seems that, if people feel that they have ownership and that they’re not being manipulated by outside forces, there’s a higher chance of this thing going better.” “If you look at how HTS ruled in Idlib - which became a considerable mini-state, because a lot of Syrians were displaced there, so it ended up with 4.5m people living there - it was a dictatorship, but not in the business of chemical weapons or cleansing, and more recently they have allowed other minorities to practice their faith and have a measure of rights.” “I think we have to accept that the different bits of Syria that are under different groups’ control, are very unlikely to want now suddenly to be under the control of Damascus again - particularly the Kurds who have a pretty organised setup in the Northeast. So, one would hope that the pragmatism we’ve seen so far from HTS and Julani, that has seen him go on this journey from full-blooded islamist to something a bit more open-minded, might extend to saying: Syria doesn’t work very well as a centralised state and actually you need a measure of federalism and particularism.” “What happens when people go back home and someone else is living in their house? What happens to teenagers of fourteen and fifteen years of age who have never been to Syria? They were born in refugee camps and that is all they know. How do all those returning integrate back ‘home’?” "It is a reminder that Russia doesn't always win. It's an important psychological point for all those who, rightly, fear Russian encroachment, that Russia doesn't always get its way and can be overextended, like everyone else." BEHIND THE LINES PODCAST The latest episode of Arthur's podcast is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and special guest investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan discuss the huge amounts of money that is currently flowing into our politics, the ways in which it is corrupting our democracy, and what we can do about it. And in Part II, the very narrow path left to the Labour government, because of a lack of money. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin and Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** "In 2023 two-thirds of all the money raised in British politics came from 19 people, who all gave over a million… Reform are continuing this trend and going even further. Candy is talking about raising £40m in total. These are huge sums in the context of British politics.” “They get incredible bang for their buck these [Tufton Street] think tanks. According to the IEA’s accounts last year, they got over 4,500 media hits the previous year. Which is unbelievable - they’re on radio, TV, or print something like twelve times a day.” “People don’t like the influence money has on our politics. And this is, I think, something that Labour haven’t fully grasped. People don’t think of ‘Tory Sleaze’. They just think of sleaze.” GRIN AND SHARE IT Piece on teaching a very old dog new tricks, is here. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Peter's substack Democracy for Sale. Answer the short survey on donations here. Best for Britain's donation tree drive. Government consultation on Right to Buy. This is the cynical BBC article about folders. You can complain about the BBC's coverage here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex disseminate Starmer's big "this is not a reset" speech. Naomi talks about the importance of a better EU deal and a new initiative for getting there, with Labour MP Andrew Lewin. Finally, Melania is flogging $90 ornaments and Donald has a new fragrance out for Christmas - which really gives new meaning to eau de toilet. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “I wonder whether the civil service got into the habit of resisting ideas from gov’t, because of the extraordinary churn. If you’re in the housing bit, and you’ve had 18 ministers, you learn to play for time, because you think ‘meh, they’ll be a different guy with a different plan in six weeks’. Maybe what we’re seeing is that muscle memory of those last 14 years.” “I desperately want Labour to turn things around. They have to. The stakes are too high. I want to see the xenophobic, toxic, English nationalism of Farage and his cabal defeated and roundly. I don’t want Trumpism in Britain.” Lewin: “This parliament will be defined by our success, or not, in growing the economy and raising living standards. It is very clear to me that we, as a Labour gov’t, have to look at every lever we can pull, to deliver on that mission of growing the economy, including significantly improving our relationship with the EU.” Lewin: “I don’t think many people consider themselves ‘leavers’ or ‘remainers’ any more. They look at an economy that’s been flatlining for a decade and want to look at every practical step to get things growing and moving again.” CALL TO ACTION Write to your MP, to ask them to prioritise a closer relationship to the EU, using this tool. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks to our resident France expert, Olivier Morel, about the political deadlock in France, how and why we got here and whether Macron can survive it. An informative and completely accessible conversation. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Macron has become a lighting rod. He seems to trigger extreme reactions and opprobrium from all sorts of quarters. The loathing he attracts is quite extraordinary.” “With both Berlin and Paris being so self-involved and consumed with domestic politics, and lacking the authority to make their voices heard, the European Commission may be sensing an opportunity to take over the governing of Europe.” “Marine Le Pen is facing a court case which could result in her being barred from running… There is also speculation that she is concerned about her young protégé, Bardella, being rather too popular for her liking, plus her Dad is reportedly not well. All this creates an environment where she is trying to force the tempo.” Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex welcome comedian and author Henry Morris, to discuss the common threads behind the chaos that seems to be bursting through, pretty much everywhere in the world right now. And we also get a view from rural Wales of the resignation of the Welsh Tory leader and how Labour's farming tax reforms have gone down. Plus Wokey Dokey and Grin and Share It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Alex: "Is there a case FOR a Trump White House? Might having a mercurial psychotic in charge of the world’s largest military make some lower-rank psychotics with regional ambitions wind their neck in?" Henry: “Labour have been in charge for a very long time in Wales. It is a ripe environment to throw your vote at a party who promises to change everything. Someone I was talking to the other day said: ‘Farage will f**k things up Henry. As in, that’s what we need.”   Naomi: "With just 18 months to go until the next Senedd elections, Reform UK are sniffing around for gains, and latest polling by YouGov predicts an unprecedented and genuine three-way tie in current vote intention between Plaid Cymru, Labour and Reform UK." Henry: “As someone who went to Wales not knowing any farmers, but knowing a lot about biodiversity collapse and climate change, I was less sympathetic to them than I am now, when I’m surrounded by them and they’r my friends and they’re all really nice. In the inheritance debate, I saw lots of people in London suddenly become experts on farming and not really getting what the protests were about, which was not just the tax but all these other things putting pressure on farmers.” GRIN AND SHARE IT Piece on bumble bee conservation success in the Scotsman here. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: For Henry's immense Tories; A Tragedy click here. For International Rescue's Gaza appeal click here. To download Mal Pope and Carolyn Harris's single click here; to vote for it click here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks to TIME Magazine's correspondent and QR regular Yasmeen Serhan, about Biden pardoning his son, Trump's latest picks, their impact on geopolitics - especially Gaza, and what went wrong with the election. A gorgeous free-roaming chat. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “It’s our election, but it’s everyone’s spectacle. I get the privilege of voting in it, but we are all affected - just in different ways.” “Democrats would do well to have a bit of introspection, and say: ‘we clearly didn’t reach these swathes of people that, a couple of elections ago, we thought were our demographic destiny to carry.’ They didn’t. Maybe they should start figuring out why.” “Fundamentally, you have to earn people’s votes. You can’t just explain to them how they don’t really have a choice. That’s just going to turn people away. The more likely outcome isn’t that they concede the point. It’s that they stay at home.”  Yasmeen Serhan's substack newsletter (mainly for her mum): Foreign Correspondence. FT round-up of Trump's pick for FBI boss: Kash Patel faces rocky path to US Senate approval Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex talk through a very busy week (as much of it as they can). They reflect on the assisted dying debate and vote, discuss Louise Haigh's resignation and Heidi Alexander's promotion, Zelensky's offer (and challenge) to NATO, and the likely outcome of the general election in the Republic of Ireland. With a special and very familiar guest. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi: “Attendance was stellar - unheard of, for a Friday. And the vast majority of arguments in both directions were made in an incredibly respectful way. And it’s just made me feel that I want more of this. Why aren't more issues decided on a free vote?” Alex: “A lot of the anxiety [around assisted dying] has to do with cultural, rather than legislative failings: how we treat older people, how we treat illness, how we treat incapacity, how we treat disability, how we value or devalue life. Those things require a cultural shift.” Naomi: “Going for politicians over very minor indiscretions, is going to put people off wanting to become parliamentarians. There is a case to be made for high standards. But if you are a left-leaning, progressive person, thinking of going into politics, the standard expected of you is so much higher.”  Hugo Rifkind: My mother’s MS has shaped my view on assisted dying Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex welcome author, columnist, and the ARD's London correspondent, Annette Dittert, to discuss the petition demanding another election, Kemi Badenoch's - now, weekly - strategic mistake, and Musk's obsession with the UK government. After which we take a dive into Angela Merkel's book, the upcoming German elections, and what the likely result might mean for Ukraine. Plus a very Wicked Wokey Dokey and Grin and Share It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Annette: “I think Musk wants to bring down the EU and, more generally, the rule of law of liberal democracy, because it stands in the way of his tech-bro thinking. He’s particularly focussed on Britain at the moment, because they have Farage as their way in.” Alex: “Part of the strategic mistake of Badenoch calling for an election now is that it hands the advantage to Farage. In five years MAYBE people will have forgotten some of the stuff that went on under the Conservatives. In five months, they haven’t. If you put the choice back in front of them, they’ll try Option C. It is infuriatingly obvious.” Annette: “Angela Merkel, who just published her book in Germany, was giving numerous interviews and was asked: What happened with this coalition? And she just looked at the interviewer and said: ‘Well. Men.’” Naomi: “What do thousands of people in Ongar, Clacton, Richmond, Cambodia, Laos, Kazakhstan, Chad, Venezuela, and even nine people in the Antarctic and five in Vatican City share with the world’s richest man? That’s right - none of them understand how elections work.”  Annette: “There is a huge anxiety in Germany already [about Russia]. It feels completely different when you’re in Berlin or Warsaw to when you’re in London. It’s irrational, of course, but when I am in London, I feel a little further away.”   GRIN AND SHARE IT A video of the new Renfrew Bridge! CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Sign the petition to hold a referendum on Proportional Representation.  Latest news from the European Network Against Racism. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the July election, a victorious Labour saw its red wall support slump to the lowest level in at least 40 years. Polling guru Peter Kellner joins Naomi Smith to discuss why, and to dive into his critique of Labour's 'red wall Brexit fallacy'. He also explains why Labour desperately needs to get on the front foot when it comes to relations with Europe, and poses the question: does Rachel Reeves have the courage to do something popular? As if that's not enough, there's insight on the farming row, Trump and immigration. Buckle up! Show notes Read Peter's superb Substack here Get your Bluesky Quiet Riot starter pack here and, if you prefer the olden ways, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Our website lurks over at www.quietriotpod.com Oh, please consider sponsoring us at KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD ... thank you, it means a lot. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex talk through developments in Ukraine and Gaza, and what they might mean for our security. And they also discuss the continuing fallout from the farmland inheritance tax changes - and the Liberal Democrats' revealing position on the issue. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi: "There is a vacuum. Scholz and Macron are in peril. The Democrats are licking their wounds in the States. And there is an opportunity for a leader who believes in the rule of law and liberal democracy, to strengthen international institutions and to show boldness and courage." Alex: "The arguments against inheritance tax are all 'blue skies, and rolling hills, and stewards of the land'. I feel emotionally manipulated. And I think this shtick may wear very, very thin, very, very quickly. Eventually, you have to find a better argument than singing 'Jerusalem' over and over again." Jonathan Freedland: Benjamin Netanyahu is a wanted man – and he has only himself to blame Naomi Smith: Opportunity in misery: how Starmer can respond to Trump’s US victory Clive Lewis's Bsky thread on missing Labour narrative Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex welcome former UK Ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, whose dismissal Trump demanded in 2020, to the studio to talk through what's in store from a Trump second term. We also take a look at the farming protests and try a novel approach: to reach a balanced view based on the evidence. Plus regular features Grin And Share it and Troll With It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Kim: “Gary Cohn, who was Trump’s economic adviser in the White House [in 2017], tells the story of how, when crazy ideas came up from some of the real ideologue Trump supporters, on tariffs and things like that, he would get tipped off by a friend in the outer office, go in and steal them and bury them in the deepest cupboard.” Kim: “If agencies receive instructions which they believe are mad or damaging to US security, they will resist. Trump had huge rows with the CIA and FBI in his first term. I think that pattern will continue, especially with Tulsi Gabbard in charge.” Kim: “[The new UK-US Ambassador] will need to be ready for the 5AM twitter-storm. He will wake up reach for his phone and post anything that has caught his eye and there is no filter. It’s pure Trump. There’s nobody sitting there at five in the morning saying, Mr President you shouldn’t do that.” Naomi: “Farmers have many reasons to feel angry and let down. Brexit has hurt them: lost EU subsidies, difficulty in hiring seasonal workers, the extra cost of importing goods or importing seed, chemicals, and other things they need, but also trade deals which put them at a competitive disadvantage.”  Alex: “We have become addicted to very cheap, low quality food. Good food costs money to produce. So, there is truth to the farmers’ core complaint which is that, on the whole, as a country, we don’t appreciate their work and the thing they produce sufficiently.”   Alex: “Farage has cost farmers more money through Brexit than any inheritance tax. Now he’s cosplaying in tweed from head to toe, marching alongside them. Tractors came to Whitehall in March, to protest the trade deals Badenoch signed. Now she’s making speeches and being applauded. How can I take them seriously? Where are their principles?” GRIN AND SHARE IT Reporting on the wider effects of Sadiq Khan's free school meals policy in the Mirror. LINKS: Tortoise Media's Peer Review. The Poke's collection of responses to the 'woke sandwiches' story. Dan Neidle's view of the inheritance tax changes for farms. Richard Murphy's view of the inheritance tax changes for farms. An archived version of the Together website (so you don't have to part with your data). Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks to special guest trade epxert David Henig about Trump's threatened tariff war - how likely is it, what would it mean for the world economy, and in which direction the UK should move to be best protected. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Most trade is not in finished products, but in components. This is really important in thinking about the effect of possible tariffs. At least 50% of US imports are things that will in turn form part of a finished American product or help to make it.” “Trump’s plan for tariffs is good news if you’re a lobbyist working in DC, because everyone is going to be seeking exemptions for their inputs or tariffs on their rivals. This will become quite a bonanza in that way.” “Look at the figures. 50% of our trade, broadly, is with the EU. The UK cannot afford to ignore that. But then again 15-20% of our trade is with the US. Again, we cannot ignore that. So, we have to duck and weave, but we have to do so within a very straightforward principle: Geography matters. That makes Europe more important than the US.”   “The UK needs a little bit of honesty, to say: If you put up barriers with your neighbours, you will suffer a little economically. Similarly, that we’re not going to have an all-singing-all-dancing trade deal with the US. Also, that the actions we are taking at the moment to improve the deal with the EU will not transform the UK economy. Then we can have an honest discussion.” “Global Britain has failed. If the project of the last few Conservative administrations was to replace trade lost from the EU with trade around the world, that hasn’t happened. In fact trade is down both with the EU and with the rest of the world.” Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, wth special guest Arthur Snell, assess what Trump's picks reveal about his intentions for the next four years and how they might affect global security challenges, including in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Taiwan. Oh, and it seems it's okay for the media to talk about the Brexit damage now. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Find Arthur's "Behind The Lines" here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Accident stats are terrifying: UK accidental deaths exceed 20,000 a year and accidents (mostly at home) are the most common cause of preventable death among under-40s. And, since 2013, accidental deaths in the UK have risen by 50 per cent. You read that right. What on earth is going on? Wasn't 'Elf 'n' Safety madness' supposed to put a stop to this? Naomi Smith talks to someone who knows more than most about the topic. Dr James Broun is Research Manager for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), where Naomi is a non-exec director. RoSPA is calling for a national accident prevention strategy from the Government, and says joined-up thinking across Govt departments (and a minister for accidents) could save the country a fortune, as well as saving lives. *** YOU CAN SUPPORT US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD ... THANK YOU! *** Show notes Safer Lives, Stronger Nation: Read Rospa's new report, calling for a national accident prevention strategy, here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with regular guest More in Common's Luke Tryl, discuss Lords reform, Kemi Badenoch's start, COP26, and the rise of the (very) long form bro-cast. Plus the return of regular features POLL THE OTHER ONE, WOKEY DOKEY, and GRIN AND SHARE IT. A packed show. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Luke: “When it comes to climate change, Britain is not the US. When we asked recently: Would you like to see the UK move to net zero at the current pace, faster, or slower, 41% said at the current pace, 41% said faster, and only 18% said slower. There’s a real appetite to do this and the public are ahead of politicians in lots of ways.” Naomi: “Political power is never something that should be inherited. We’d never accept a hereditary nurse or a hereditary lawyer. Why would we accept a hereditary legislator?” Naomi: “I am genuinely embarrassed by our second chamber. They are too old, they are too rich, too bloated in number, too male, too white, and they are there far too much through patronage and far too over-representative of the Southeast of England - and, thanks to the bishops, representative of only one sect of one religion which should have no place in policy making.”   Alex: “Donald Trump is kind of the grandfather of those manosphere long form shows. If you look at his rallies, that's the format: that unscripted, three-hour, ‘I love the sound of my own voice’, part nonsense, part tangents, but always coming back to the talking points youtube show or podcast.” GRIN AND SHARE IT The Economist: Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, dig into the data underlying the US result, what a Trump term means for Ukraine, the discuss Kemi Badenoch's front bench choices, and the coming elections in Ireland and Germany. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There was something in a YouGov poll that really rang alarm bells. Young men aged 18 to 29, sixty-per-cent of them are thrilled or happy with Trump’s win. That really concerned me. What is it that these young men are seeing and why does it make them feel so happy?” "The coming fight is reason against unreason. The dividing line is not your preference of economic policy or whether you want a big or small state. It is the line that separates easy solutions that appeal to people's ugliest side and reason, science, expertise, and facts." “The West is supporting Ukraine because it is fighting. Ukraine is not fighting because the West is supporting it.” "Mark Francois has been appointed Miniature of Defensiveness- no sorry, I misread that. Minister of Defence." Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, go over the US result, with a special focus on what it means for the UK and Europe, and what leassons we can learn from it. With two extraordinary guests: Former diplomat and UN Deputy Secretary General, Lord Mark Malloch Brown, and former Obama campaign staffer and CEO of 38 Degrees Matthew Mc Gregor. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Mark: “There is, frankly, a class-versus-identity issue. Some latinos, for example, feel that they are entering the middle class and want their vote to be consistent with their life in the suburbs, membership of a country club, and resent Democrats who tend to lump them together by identity and assume that they want certain services or support from the state.” Matthew: “Yes, economic issues were front and centre, but there are other issues in this election. For a lot of Americans, the impact of the roll back of reproductive rights, the fact that women are losing their lives because of it, was not a deal-breaker. And this is going to be an incredibly painful fact for people to absorb.”   Mark: “The person who lost this campaign was Joe Biden and those around him, who cynically kept him propped up long after he should have declared himself not a candidate, and prevented the primary process, in the white hot heat of which a candidate is toughened up.” Matthew: “There is a real danger from this result for the UK, that the Labour Party, and progressives more generally, will suffer a crisis of confidence. In the current environment, caution is the riskier option. The gov’t needs to drive forward, probably even more boldly than Reeves set out in the Budget.” Mark: “If Trump goes with these very high tariffs, he is not only going to throw the American economy into deep confusion, in the medium term, he is going to throw the global economy into a chaotic state. And anaemic growth is going to be even more anaemic.” Matthew: “Feelings don’t care about your facts. Keir Starmer said something that really concerned me during the election campaign: ‘I believe in actions, not words.’ If you want to be a successful PM in the year 2024, you need both.” LINKS: You can join the fight with 38 Degrees here. You can join the fight with Best for Britain here. You can join the fight with Hope not Hate here. You can find out about Open Society's work here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to Rose Wang, BlueSky Chief Operations Officer in SanFrancisco - one of two women at the top of this social media startup. about the rollercoaster of the last few months, the coming election, and what is next for the platform. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “It was happening in real time for all of us. I don’t think the team slept for 48 hours, trying to keep the service online, and I am proud to say we had no down time, despite the fact a couple of million Brazilians came on BlueSky over the course of two to three days.” “This election is going to be a moment for our different platforms to show what we care about, what our values are. BlueSky welcomes political debate, unlike Threads which down-ranks political content. We are giving users the tools and authority to make their own decisions, rather than being a partisan platform that elevates one candidate over another, which is what’s happening on X.” “This is exactly the world that we want to prevent. Overnight, X has become a platform with an opinion as to who should win the US presidential election. That’s pretty wild. It’s no longer a public square. It’s now a partisan walled garden. At BlueSky we hope to showcase the technology we need to build more of a democratic republic online.” Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and Naomi discuss Kemi Badenoch's prospects and Rachel Reeves' budget, before an extended therapy session about the coming US Election. With star cameos from Salma Shah and Henry Hill. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Kemi Badenoch has been elected with only a third of MPs and just over a third of the membership behind her. In a party addicted to factional strife, is that enough support - especially for someone who plans to pick fights?" "This was a Brexit Tax Budget. We are paying the price of Brexit, in no small part, through this budget. Brexit contributed to the stagnation of our economy and this budget is trying to rectify some of that. But because of the tightrope Labour is walking on Europe, they aren’t going to come out and say that.” "We need to make psychological space for the possibility of a Kamala Harris victory, for for the possibility of a Trump victory, and for the possibility it might be so close, we are in limbo for ages. It is easier to prepare for all three in the abstract." LINKS: Here is the Cost of Brexit summary from Best for Britain. Here is the breakdown of the process between election and inauguration. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How is the new Labour government perceived in the EU? How much of a 'reset' is realistically achievable? What does the club we just left make of our slow change of heart? What does it want in return? And how much of a priority is our renegotiation in European capitals?   Alex spoke to Professor Jacob Öberg for a European perspective on our long journey to rejoining. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There is a feeling that Labour haven’t really decided what to do and where they want to go with [the UK-EU reset] - particularly in terms of things that the EU would request or require from the UK. Labour has been very hesitant to give any space to that. And in that situation no-one gives in and nothing happens.” “All of these things, if we talk youth mobility, vet agreement, things like these, it is a big complicated negotiation and you need everyone on board - the EU Commission the UK negotiation team, everyone needs to be fully focussed on this. If you do this with your left hand you’re not going to get much done.” “The framing of an alliance - primarily by Thatcher in her later, rather mad period - as something hostile, over there, to which one must go prepared to handbag other leaders in order to not be somehow exploited is one of the most wrong-headed and damaging political narratives of the last few decades.” LINKS: Jacob's brief piece on imporving the TCA is here. Jacob's free book can be downloaded here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, go over every aspect of the Budget, including the undercurrent of misogyny in much of the commentary, with very special guest prominent ecocomist, professor, and former joint head of the Government's Economic Service, Vicky Pryce. As well as Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Vicky: “In reality you can redefine [debt] any way you want, as long as the capital markets believe it is sustainable and you convince them it makes sense. How do you get markets to lend this to you? The good thing is that we are now talking about longer term assessments of what benefits to the economy particular spending might bring.”  Alex: “The last few weeks have been a parade of people saying: we need to invest much more in the country, but please not from my money. The chance [the gov’t is] taking is that people won’t mind paying more tax, provided they see an improvement in the public services they use.” Naomi: "Is the Labour gov’t missing a trick by not going further and faster in liberalising our trade relationship with the EU?" Vicky: “Completely and utterly. The cost of bringing in the skilled people we need on complicated, costly visas, the extra bureaucracy, has been calculated by the Home Office to be nearly £40bn. Which is huge. It’s what Reeves just raised in taxes.” LINKS: On how the US avoided a recession in 2023, read here. On how Germany just avoided a recession, read here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith chats to journalist Amanda Ferguson about a series of scandals which have rocked politics both north and south of the border. Sinn Féin were widely expected to win the next election. Is that still the case? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** LINKS: You can link to Amanda and find her latest work here. Brief explainer of why many think it will be an early election. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex goes through the week's political events, and looks forward to next week, both here and across the Atlantic, with special guest Zoe Williams. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Zoe: “I don’t want to get lectures from the right of manifesto promises, when the 2019 manifesto was insulting in its lack of detail. I mean what possible impact did ‘levelling up’ have? Does anyone even know what it meant? And yet lectures are what we’re going to get. And I don’t want to roll over to the idea that all politicians are the same - there is no conceivable comparison.”   Zoe: “Everything [about the coming Budget] is about ‘don’t expect too much; don’t think we can help’ and that just strikes me as an incredibly sad and dangerous place to start. If you’re swept in on a wind of change and hope and the first thing you say is: ‘abandon hope’.” Alex: “Imagine living there. Imagine being a woman in America right now. Imagine being a muslim woman or a trans woman. This is existential stuff.” Zoe: “I do think there’s a kind of misogynistic groupthink [in polling], which just doesn’t take the things that women take seriously, seriously.” Alex: “What makes [the Republican attack on women’s reproductive rights] doubly frightening is that it doesn’t feel random. It’s strategic. Because if you buy into notions like the Great Replacement Theory, it follows - although rarely articulated - that you need white women to stay home and have lots of babies. And that doesn’t happen with their consent.” LINKS: Vanity Fair interview with Stuart Stevens. ABC report of Musk's contact with Putin. The Bulwark on Washington Post spiking its endorsement of Harris. NPR on the LA Times pulling its endorsement of Harris. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

American polls are pointing to a perilously close result in the looming presidential election but can they be trusted? Naomi Smith talks with Luke Bailey, Head of Digital at inews.co.uk, to find out more about the strengths, weaknesses and sundry foibles of Stateside polling. Discover how corporate group-think may play a role, find out all about Recall Weighting – and gasp as we reveal that even gambling markets are not the reliable indicators many thought. It wouldn't be Quiet Riot without a dollop of positivity though, and Luke does offer some grains of hope to our nervous listeners. Grab them and cherish them, people. Show notes Read more of Luke's insight on US polling here Follow him (and his Herculean profile photo) on Bluesky, where he is @lukebailey.bsky.social As for us, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter (shudder) as @quietriotpod or, best of all, hook up with @quietriotpod.bsky.social on Bluesky, where our Starter Packs will supercharge your introduction to politicos and sundry fine people. If email is your thang, we're at quietriotpod@gmail.com and our website is an extremely predictable www.quietriotpod.com Oh, we're a tiny team without the backing of media behemoths, so we will be eternally grateful if you support us in any way on Ko-fi – heartfelt thanks to all who have already chipped in. Quiet Riot, in case you already forgot, is Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell, in Cahoots with SandStone Global. Seeya. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest Salma Shah - a former No.10 advisor under Cameron - explore how mich of the Trump Campaign's complaint against Labour is real and how much is trolling. And then discuss the future of the Tory Party. Or lack thereof. And the most momentous by-election coming up (possibly). As well as Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “It probably is a mountain out of a molehill. But it is a legitimate line of questioning for anyone, especially a journalist in this country, to ask: how much is the Labour party trying to associate itself with the Harris campaign, and is that wise on a diplomatic level?” “It’s not just about Trump or Labour. It’s about the world being more difficult, about the way we perceive Western liberal democracies becoming fractured, the way we think about engagement with other states and politics internationally - all of that is fraying.”   “In the same way that previously the left had this identity crisis, the right is having its identity crisis, we’re all having one big identity crisis. Because what we’ve understood as left and right for the last 40 years is no longer true.” “In 2019, Boris Johnson - like him or loathe him - did this amazing thing, where he stretched the Overton Window, beyond its natural conventions. But we always knew that elastic would snap back at some point and it snapped at the last election.” “If Rishi Sunak does step down and that amazing gem-of-a-Tory-seat comes up, there will be a lot of people contesting it, but who wins that selection will be totemic about the future of the Conservatives. Are we looking back or are we looking forward?” CALLS TO ACTION Subscribe to Aaron Rupar's newsletter and his YouTube channel. Donate to Meidas Touch News here. For the Grin And Share It on magic crystals click here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex quizzes special guest, Emmy-award-winning Luke McGee, on how a referendum in a country like Moldova, interconnects with everything from EU immigration policy, to the war in Ukraine, the US election, and a secretive meeting - the first of its kind - between NATO and South Korea. A truly mind-bending episode. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “Ultimately what you’re seeing is - I don’t like using the term “Axis of Evil”, I think “Axis of Autocracies” is the better way to think of it, Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea - what you’re probably seeing is these new alliances, these new dividing lines forming.” “[The US Election] does feel like it’s a coin flip. Both sides now aren’t really campaigning to try and flip voters. What they’re trying to do is get voters who are perhaps uninspired by their campaign, but really hate their opponent to bother and turn out to vote.”   LINKS: Luke in Prospect Magazine: To help itself, Europe must do more for Ukraine. Luke in The New Statesman: Ursula von der Leyen has lost the Europhiles. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex have their weekly debrief, talking through the Budget rumours, the Tory leadership election, and then a bit of a deep dive into US Election polling. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. LINKS: Chaminda Jayanetti piece on Bloomberg: Tories Are Lost Because Their Ideology Failed. Electoral Calculus Starmer v Badenoch/Jenrick MRP poll. Five Thirty Eight's rating of US pollsters. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's easy to bash our railways – oh, how easy it is. But why does the system struggle and what could be done to make things better? Naomi Smith is joined on this Quiet Riot journey by author, podcaster and (perhaps accidental) campaigner, Gareth Dennis. He also happens to be a railway engineer and transport policy specialist. Gareth's new book is out on November 12th and its title should give you a clue about this expert's views on the iron road: How The Railways Will Fix The Future. From the disaster that is Euston to the embarrassment that is HS2, via the glory of rail companies that once provided a health care model for the NHS, we look at the specific reasons Britain's rail network has been creaking for so long. And, being Quiet Riot, we also buy a day return for the Rail Solutions Express, to find out what could be done to make Britain's railways fit for purpose. By the way, some of the recording quality on this episode is to podcasts what the British Rail sandwich was to culinary excellence – apologies to you Riotous audiophiles. Show links Pre-order that fascinating Gareth Dennis book which transports readers to railways around the world, and argues that the iron roads are a critical tool for humanity to survive and thrive. If you like your train chat digitally, Gareth hosts the #Railnatter podcast on all the usual platforms, and he loiters on Bluesky (yay!) with easy-to-spot handle @garethdennis.bsky.social Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest award-winning journalist Tristan Kirk from the Evening Standard, discuss the latest economic figures, budget rumours, and the parlous state of our justice system. Another thing for the new gov't to fix - and urgently. Followed by a discussion of the outrageous practice of Single Justice Procedure - where anyone can end up with a criminal conviction after a magistrate looks at a case for 45 seconds, behind closed doors, with no scrutiny or reasoning. Plus an early Christmassy Wokey Dokey and a brilliantly touching Grin And Share It. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “The court system has been effectively obliterated by years, if not decades, of being cut back and cut back, whereas health has been looked after as best it can. Justice is of equal importance to society and yet has been the first stop for cutbacks.” “You’ve got a system set up so things happen incredibly quickly. And we’ve now got an enormous bank of evidence that mistakes are being made. People are being wrongly prosecuted, people are being wrongly convicted, not enough consideration, no transparency. It’s a conveyor belt.”   “Every single case I talk about is someone in a vulnerable position, a difficult period of their life, if not the worst period of their life and then they have a criminal conviction heaped on top of them. And I think there is a lack of understanding as to just how devastating that can be.” CALLS TO ACTION For Tristan's petition on SJPs click here. For the Magistrates Association recommendations click here. For the Appeal charity click here. For the Transform Justice organisation click here. For Joshua's piece on fee-paying schools click here. For the consultation on the VAT exemption click here. For the Grin And Share It on turtles click here. For Anglesey Sea Zoo click here. For Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium click here. UPDATE 17-Oct-2024: Tristan's latest piece is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, up all night once more, looking for sanity inside the most ridiculous non-story so far. Has the British media lost its collective mind. It would seem emphatically "yes". If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When illness makes life unbearable, should we be permitted – and helped – to end our time in this place on our own terms? The topic of assisted dying is back in the political spotlight thanks to a Private Member's Bill from Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater. It's a difficult topic for many to discuss, encompassing morality, freedom and, often, religion. In this Quiet Riot special, Naomi Smith takes a nuanced look at the issues with Andrew Copson, CEO of Humanists UK. Andrew is in favour of assisted dying but puts both sides of the argument. Some form of assisted dying is allowed in 31 countries but the law here has not been changed in six decades, although it is now under discussion in both Westminster and Holyrood. Call to action To find out more about the Humanist movement, visit https://humanists.uk/ and, for details on their campaigning on the issue of assisted dying, click here. And for an interview with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, setting out the counterargument, click here. Assisted suicide is illegal under the terms of the Suicide Act (1961) and is punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment. Trying to kill yourself is not a criminal act. The BBC summarises the main issues here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex try to reach for some sort of balanced view of the first 100 days of Labour - away from the constant media MELTDOWN IN DOWNING STREET ridiculous coverage - and set out what needs to happen in the next 100 to turn things around. In any case, is the American "100 Days" measure at all useful in a British context? If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “They’ve got five years ahead of them and a big majority, but they’re still acting so gingerly. It’s as if they’re still carrying ‘The Ming Vase’. Put the f**king vase down. The vase is done now.” LINKS: Download the Discord app here. For The Reunion episode on 100 Days of Blair's first term click here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks to Layla Moran, the first British MP of Palestinian descent, to mark a year since not just the 7th of October - that day of horror for Israel - but the many days of horror that followed for the people of Palestine. It turns out to be, unlikely as it might seem, a quite uplifting conversation. “History is still writing itself. There is still an opportunity for there to have been a positive outcome, from an absolutely tragic and horrific beginning.” “This is not just about Israel and Palestine. This is about how nation states across the entire world - at a time of climate crises, migration crises, economic crises, huge inequalities - work together. There is only one mechanism, however flawed, and that is the UN. This is a time to bolster institutions - not undermine them.”   “I hope there will be brave new leaders, both within Israel and Palestine. And our job, here, is to help raise those voices, to support them, to show that there are those willing to think differently, and they are valued in the international community.” “People say: ‘Pick a side. Are you on the side of Israel or are you on the side of Palestine?’ I’m on the side of a two-state solution and international law. If you are against that, then you are on the side of continued violence. Those are the sides: peace or not. It’s actually quite simple.” If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Hosted by Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou, and produced by Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest Laura Hood from The Conversation, discuss the latest shock elimination in the Tory Reality Soap Opera, Laura's new documentary Know Your Place, about the changing relationship between class and politics, and Labour's stuttering much-announced, but slow-moving, EU reset. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Alex: “The net result is that there is now not going to be a conversation as to what direction the Conservative Party moves towards. There’s just going to be two different flavours of ultra-hard right to choose from.” Laura: “What is the [class] status, for example, of people who work in the gig economy? They are earning some of the lowest wages in our economy. But they are ostensibly self-employed, their own masters. In fact, the algorithm is their boss.” Laura: “2019 was not a ‘class’ election. We see it as the working class voter flocking to Boris Johnson, but something far more complicated   Naomi: “We desperately need older voices to champion a UK-EU Youth Mobility Scheme. The typical response I get is: ‘What about me? Everyone should have freedom of movement.’ Please be an ally on this and advocate the case for younger people.” CALLS TO ACTION Subscribe here to The Conversation's newsletter. You can find Laura's podcast Know Your Place here. Dan Evans' A Nation of Shopkeepers is here. Russia's new Escape The Woke visa scheme is here. Grin And Share It good news story on Hempophilia treatments. Join Best for Britain with a tree-planting donation here. Guardian letters on Youth Mobility Schemes are here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi, Alex, And Kenny try to understand why everyone is losing their mind over the Chagos Archipelago deal, talk local election results and why they may be a problem for Labour, and present an alternative biography of Boris Johnson. One in which he doesn't get to gloss over the catastrophe that was his administration. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. BOOKS: Sayeeda Warsi's Muslims Don't Matter. Musa Okwonga's One of Them. Alison Dupernex's Knitting for Absolute Beginners. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here is the full - AND VERY FRANK - conversation between Alex Andreou and More In Common's chief Luke Tryl on all four Conservative leadership hopefuls. And if you think “why should I care?” - this is why: our entire political system, for good or ill, is adversarial in nature. The quality of the opposition to the government shapes policy. Ideas that have had their tyres properly kicked, will always be better ideas.  Luke: "What we hear from our focus groups is that Kemi is refreshing." Alex: "So is an enema." Luke: "You're being mean." Want some more? You can track us down on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod, or hop over to Bluesky for our starter pack action. If email is your thang, our address is quietriotpod@gmail.com. And we even have a website, www.quietriotpod.com. We make all our content available free to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. But we depend on those who can afford to support us with a few pounds doing so. You can do so on Ko-Fi by clicking HERE. Oh, we are Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. But you knew that. x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An absolutely jam-packed episode on the Tory leadership contest and the US Election VP debate. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by Guardian quill-wielder Zoe Williams, US omni-expert Brian Klaas, and More In Common gros fromage Luke Tryl to dig out the genuinely interesting stuff from these debates (and there is plenty of genuinely interesting stuff). We craft two political silk purses from a couple of sow's ears. We're also knitting – see how seamlessly we stitch such disparate subjects together? On both sides of the Pond, important debates; on both sides of the Pond, vaguely competent performances but not so much excitement. But what can we glean from the US Vice-Presidential clash, if it can be described as a clash, and what are the takeaways from the Tory leadership speeches in Birmingham? Brian Klaas: “What is striking about [the VP debate] is what it tells you about the campaigns’ goals. Normally, when a campaign thinks it’s down in a race, they come out swinging… But both campaigns think they’re in a safe position, which is very odd, because one of them is wrong and we don’t know which one.” Brian Klaas: “A lot of professional political analysts misunderstand the public, because they think the public views politics in the same way they do. Which is that you win arguments by having better facts and making appeals to policy. A lot of politics is impressionistic.  Zoe Williams: “Kemi Badenoch’s pitch is: I’m going to be as unpleasant as I can possibly be and then deny I said it. That is extraordinary. There are huge swathes of the political class in which, to deny outright that you said a thing, which you did say, is disbarring. She’s singing to a different hymn book.” Zoe Williams: “Jenrick is not that clever, that’s the problem. He does wrong-foot himself constantly. A huge amount of his most controversial output is accidental.”  Luke Tryl: "Our research shows that Reform voters might actually be the hardest group for the Conservatives to win back. Only one-in-ten would even consider voting Conservative again during this parliament. Calls to Action Check out More In Common and their fantastic work to build a more inclusive world. Grin and Share It: What happened when Denver treated migrants with respect ? Good things, that's what. Subscribe to Brian Klaas' fascinating Substack, The Garden of Forking Paths. Consistently great writing on consistently captivating topics. Want some more? You can track us down on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod, or hop over to Bluesky for our starter pack action. If email is your thang, our address is quietriotpod@gmail.com. And we even have a website, www.quietriotpod.com. Amazing. We run a tight ship at Quiet Riot so, IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, WE'D BE EXTREMELY HAPPY. Click HERE for easy instructions and potential rewards. Yes, REWARDS. We'll stop with the shouty uppercase letters now, sorry for any upset :-) Oh, we are Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. But you knew that. x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex stays up all night to bring you the quickest, freshest, and most sleepless, reaction to the VP debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. The answer of who won will surprise you. A special thank you to everyone who has helped Quiet Riot smash through the 500,000 downloads milestone (smilestone?) in just four short months. If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can Britain begin to undo the damage to our freedom of movement that Brexit inflicted? Well, we could start with a positive outcome from this week's Brussels meeting between PM Keir Starmer and EC President Ursula von der Leyen. Naomi Smith bangs the drum for musicians, studies the situation for students and ... well, you get the idea. Post-Brexit travel restrictions have been a pain for all and a disaster for many, including those trying to come into Britain as well as those of us trying to slip out of these punch-drunk islands. Naomi's impassioned plea to the PM is backed by some beefy statistics from her team at Best for Britain – in short, Starmer could do everyone, himself included, a huge favour by starting to dismantle some of those travel barriers that have been thrown up so carelessly in recent years. Might even be that rarest of beasts, a vote winner. Call to action Find the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants HERE and give them your backing! A special thank you to everyone who has helped Quiet Riot smash through the 500,000 downloads milestone (smilestone?) in just four short months. If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex discuss Baroness Warsi's resignation as a Tory peer and whether that Party is now lost to islamophobia. Plus, why does right wing politics find climate action so difficult. All this, and a BOMBSHELL revelation from Naomi about her undeclared relationship with Lord Waheed Alli. (Also, you must listen to the end. Trust us.) If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. CALLS TO ACTION Best for Britain's tree-planting donation is here. Baroness Warsi's apology to the LGBT+ community. Baroness Warsi's full interview with James O'Brien. Alex's 2014 piece on the floods. MET Office's rain research. is here. Compernicus's heatwave research is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi downloads ALL THE GOSSIP from Labour Party Conference - and juicy it is too - before Alex chats to guest, former Middle East diplomat Arthur Snell, about the situation in Lebanon, Ukraine, and the first UN General Assembly for David Lammy and Keir Starmer as Foreign Secretary and PM respectively. Plus a hilarious WOKEY DOKEY and brand new feature GRIN AND SHARE IT. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Naomi: “I have never seen so much EU representation at a Labour conference. They were there in force. They see [Labour] as people they can do business with, for the first time in a long time. Officials from Brussels, member state reps, the EU delegation to the UK - they were present, happy… the level of excitement about what the EU and UK are going to do, was palpable.” Alex: “The last time we experienced a leader winning an election, then going into No 10, without having already been in situ as PM, several ministers already at departments, and experienced staff ready to shuffle around, was 2010. It’s a steep learning curve. There will be a certain amount of finding their feet. The metric that matters is: is this a government that learns from its mistakes? And that is not a judgment anyone can make yet.” Arthur: “Netanyahu needs another war. He looks at the Gaza situation and, ultimately, a ceasefire and return of the hostages might be getting closer. The Israeli public want the hostages back above anything else. If they get back to anything close to politics as normal in Israel, then attention turns to him.”  Arthur: “What Zelenskyy is trying to do, as best he can - and of course his options are quite limited - he is trying to Trump-proof western support that he is getting, build some guarantees into it and certain elements of long-term commitment.” CALLS TO ACTION Best for Britain's tree-planting donation is here. Arthur's podcast Behind The Lines is here. Ukraine Smart Medical Aid is here. UNICEF's Emergency Lebanon Fund is here. Grin And Share It good news story from Barcelona is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex goes on a (very calm and reasoned) MEGA RANT about the mass hysteria over a Labour peer giving a make-over to the top team for the election campaign. You don't expect to have the book thrown at you, when you do everything strictly by that book. "We have a comically unserious top tier of political journalists. Most of them have spent the last fourteen years, in a scandal-rich environment, with their volume permanently on 11, where they filled all the air time and column inches they wanted with anonymous briefing, court intrigue, screengrabs of WhatsApp groups, and very little actual journalism." "Starmer’s cardinal sin is that he is not Corbyn. He is someone who has dirtied himself by winning power. Nothing will ever placate the left of the Labour party." "The right wing is using this confected outrage as a tool to reframe their own rule-breaking and venality of the last decade, through false equivalence. This is especially so for Johnson fans - both individuals and newspapers. There is a huge effort to whitewash BoJo’s failure hanging on this peg."  Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) We make all of our content universally available for free. But we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monica Harding is the hard-working Lib Dem who scared Dominic Raab (remember him?) clean out of the Esher and Walton constituency, and has just been rewarded with an International Development brief in Ed Davey's top team. In our latest Quiet Riot Mini, Naomi Smith gets Monica's take on the Lib Dem conference and on life as a new MP. If you want to hear more about how she took in a new dawn for the country with her family, or how she dodged asbestos in Westminster, then listen in for 25 minutes of insight and laughter from someone who has done plenty of hard miles in politics before being elected. We make all of our content universally available for free but we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. This Thursday, our Ko-fi family will get the chance to take part in a Quiet Riot editorial meeting with Naomi, Alex and maybe even producer Kenny, so do head on over and sign up :-) Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex zoom in on the Reform UK Party Conference and consider whether it is possible for Nigel Farage to professionalise the party and rid it of bigots - as he says he wants to do - and whether that makes it more or less dangerous to the health of our body politic. Plus a whistle-stop tour of other news, including the allegations agains Al Fayed and Harrods and the extraordinary scandal engulfing the Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina. Plus - how to pack for a party conference! [TW rape and sexual assault.] We make all of our content universally available for free. But we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Alex: “It’s very hard to think there won’t be a clash between those very big male egos at the centre of Reform UK. You have Richard Tice, ploughing in all the money, while getting none of the spotlight, Nigel Farage who has this overwhelming air of I-know-best, and then you have Lee Anderson - a recalcitrant blabbermouth who refuses to be reined in. At some point those big alphas will do bloody battle.” Naomi: “I sense that the mood is not going to be as jubilant as one would expect it to be, given it will be the first Labour Conference, post their landslide election win.” Naomi: “I hate packing for party conferences. And I am someone who likes packing.” Naomi's Guardian piece on the Canadian Reform Party's hostile takeover of the Conservatives, can be read here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A FUN mini edition of Poll The Other One, in which Naomi digs into the cross tabs and break points of a frivolous aspect of a very serious piece of polling: How does your favourite takeaway correlate with your age, location, party preference, and even newspaper of choice? Which are the only constituencies where 'chicken shop' is Top 3? What is a Sun reader's fave takeaway? And why will so few of us admit to loving a kebab? A perfect 10-minute listen. We make all of our content universally available for free. But we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. You can find the MUNCH MAPPER HERE. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recorded live at the Radio Academy Festival 2024, Alex and Naomi, along with special guest, comedian and impressionist, Rory Bremner discuss #frockgate and Starmer's generally falling popularity and problem image, a second attempt against Trump's life and his lies, as well as a guide to Party Conferences. Plus regular features You Gotta Troll With It and Wokey Dokey. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. If you do so now, you can be part of the supporter editorial meeting next Thursday 26 September. CALL TO ACTION The government's consultation on visa conditions is here. The full list of consultations can be found here - they are sortable by subject area. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for the third Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex talk through the weeks news, including the NHS report, winter fuel payments, the OBR report into national debt and immigration. And they speak to special guest, former UK-US ambassador Sir Kim Darroch on the latest Russian threats over Ukraine and the US Election. WHAT A PACKED SHOW! If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Sir Kim Darroch on Trump's plan to end the war in Ukraine: "It's a ludicrous thing to say. He's giving away any leverage on Putin by preemptively announcing he will stop weapon supplies to Ukraine. That's a negotiating mistake. What Trump is actually proposing is a deal in which Ukraine allows Russia to win. That looks to me like a huge defeat for the West. It's ending the war by, effectively, forcing Ukraine to surrender." Naomi: “Is the Winter Fuel Allowance a moment like tuition fees were for the Lib Dems - something from which they will not recover? I don’t think so, for one key reason: With that u-turn, the Liberal Democrats hurt their own core voters. Well-off older people are not voting Labour.” Alex: “The country with the highest immigration is America. Which also happens to be the richest country. Those two things are related. There is something very particular to the energy migrants bring to a country. If you're looking for people with what you call get-up-and-go, you can’t do better than those who actually got up and went.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scottish politics klaxon! This bonus episode is a real treat for Quiet Rioters, featuring the insight and wisdom of Strathclyde University politics professor Sir John Curtice. Sir John, Britain's best-known polling expert, is a regular fixture on TV and radio (for those of you who still watch telly...) and no election night is complete until he has cast his eyes over the political landscape. Naomi and Sir John look at the state of Scottish politics, the challenges for the big parties, the skip fire that is the Scottish Tory leadership race and examine the differences between politics north and south of the Border ... you may be surprised about how different things are (and are not). For an even bigger fix of Sir John, check out his podcast Trendy, with former Downing St adviser Rachel Wolf. And for an extra hit of Quiet Riot, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Our THIRD Starter Pack can be found here. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with SandStone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and Naomi, along with wonderful guests Alexis Conran and Simon Radford, discuss the fallout from Trump's "They're Eating The Dogs" humiliation by Kamala Harris. Followed by a discussion of why is regualtion of the gambling industry so lax, considering the lives gambling addiction destroys. Plus the return of Arlene On Me. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Simon: “There’s probably been three occasions in the last few decades where a debate has been decisive. Some people point to the Nixon-Kennedy debate, where Nixon won on Radio but Kennedy won on TV. Reagan cleaned Carter’s clock and it went from being a tight race to a landslide for Reagan. And then Trump versus Biden, which knocked the latter out of the race entirely.” Alexis: “We’re getting up to just under 500 suicides a year, which are thought to be related to gambling. I don’t know why we can’t force the industry to be a bit more responsible. You can’t watch sport without being prompted to gamble. You go to a PG film and there will be a gambling advert before it.” Alexis: “I think we need to make gambling a health issue. Just under half a billion quid from the NHS goes to helping problem gamblers. If we take it our of DCMS - why is it there? - and make it a Wes Streeting problem, you might see more action.” CALLS TO ACTION Information on the Gambling White Paper can be found here. Anthony O'Shaughnessy's "cougary" TikTok is here. Alexis Conran's documentary on gambling addiction is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex gives his sleepless review of the Harris-Trump debate - complete with the best (and worst) clips and renders his verdict. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. "So, DID SHE LOOK LIKE A PRESIDENT? I’m not sure. We associate so much of what makes a leader with masculinity - and often toxic masculinity. She didn’t look like a President because no President has ever looked like her. Did she look Presidential? She looked calm, centred, optimistic, and in control. Is that what people consider Presidential? By Jove, I hope so." Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex review the week's news, including the Grenfell report, Green Party conference, Tory leadership contest, Russia's election interference, Johnson's annoying columns, and Starmer's visit to Ireland. They're then joined by Cripps partner, chair of UK French Foreign Trade Advisors and Chevalier, Olivier Morel, to talk through the shock appointment of Michel Barnier as french PM. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “Barnier is probably the only person who could manage it… His first speech was non committal, but he at least said he would speak to everyone, which is the right stance. And through his experience of Brexit, Britain was not the hardest task - keeping 27 countries on board for that long process is an extraordinary feat.” “Everyone is looking at 2027, the next presidential election, which is the big one. It’s a poisoned chalice to be in government right now. You and others regard this [left] grouping as one. But as soon as they are confronted by the reality of voting on this issue or that, I can see them fracturing very easily.” That French polling can be found here. You can watch the Private Member's Bill ballot here - they were chosen by Tory MP Nusrat Ghani. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Electoral changes are a-coming in Wales, but that's not the only challenge facing politicians in Cymru. It's a country of contrasts, from the rugged scars of the Valleys and the beauty of Bannau Brycheiniog to the urban bustle of Cardiff and Swansea, and the bookish haven of Hay-on-Wye. Naomi Smith is joined by journalist Will Hayward for a timely stock-take of political life in a part of the country that we Quiet Rioters love, and a look at the contrasting fortunes and, indeed, difficulties looming for its political leaders. Find Will on X, if you still loiter in that odd place, @WillHayCardiff ... read his work on @WalesOnline ... and subscribe to his popular newsletter here. As for us, well, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO, IT MAKES SUCH A FABULOUS DIFFERENCE. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with SandStone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with the LSE's Professor Paul Dolan, and More in Common's Luke Tryl, make their way through the news - including the Grenfell report, changes in how schools are assessed, and the Tory leadership race. And then we talk happiness. What is it? Why do we feel less of it? And how can we get happier in a polarised world. An illuminating and uplifting conversation. HELP US KEEP MAKING THIS PODCAST: CLick here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Paul Dolan: “It’s much easier, much of the time, to hold someone else responsible for how you think the world is than it is to do anything about it yourself. The path of least resistance is blame.” Luke Tryl: “One of the bigger drivers [of online abuse] is the desire for in-group approval that social media gives you. It’s not just that you don’t see the impact you are having on the people you’re targeting. You also get lots of validation from the in-group.” CALLS TO ACTION Grenfell United can be found here. Paul Dolan's books and other projects can be found here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pollsters got the result and party shares broadly right - the one significant error across the board was an overestimation of the size of Labour's vote. Why? Naomi looks at the data trickling through - some of it EXCLUSIVE and yet UNPUBLISHED - to glean why. Part of the answer seems to be a misrepresentation of Muslim voters and the more-prominent-then-usual presence of "late switchers" away from Labour. A perfect 10-minute listen. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. More in Common's detailed blog and data is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and special guest, journalist Annette Dittert in Berlin, go behind the dramatic headlines to discuss what yesterday's victory of the far-right extreme party Alternative für Deutschland in the Federal election in the obscure region of Thuringia actually means. What are the implications for national German and European politics and especially the war in Ukraine? A deeply insightful discussion, which morphs into a broader conversation about why formerly communist states may be more susceptible to far-right messaging. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “In 1932 Hitler had his first electoral breakthrough in Thuringia. And in a way it is highly symbolic that this happens again in Thuringia. On the other side Thuringia and Saxony together do not even form 8% of the German population. So, what has happened there yesterday is in not representative of the whole of Germany, although it will radiate far and have huge implications.” “It’s misleading to describe Wagenknecht as far left. She insidiously merges far right and far left topics and tropes, only to create a whole new toxic brew-up. Far from being a bulwark against the AfD she has turned out to be a resentment machine that has paved the way for more right-wing thinking, by routinely normalising anti-democratic narratives.” “Many of the younger generation in these states, they feel left behind. AfD has managed to be massively successful on TikTok, which is used by younger Germans. And the mainstream parties did not clock that fast enough. Nowhere else in Germany have far right organisations been allowed to be so much at the centre of society.” “The underlying subtext of this election is that East Germans - and this is something you will find across the rest of Germany - are hugely dissatisfied with the current coalition gov’t, which is basically dysfunctional. If you set aside the AfD’s victory, what actually happened is that these three parties hardly got any votes.” “It’s important to emphasise, this is East Germany, it has to do with very specific factors and although hugely influential, it is not representative. But it is a dangerous ‘first’ and what matters now is how this will affect the national conversation - especially the Christian Conservatives who are in danger of learning the wrong lessons and pandering further to the right.” “We, Germans, don’t really do ‘early elections’ unless absolutely necessary. However, if the next East German election in Branderburg in three weeks time is as awful for the Social Democrats and if - and this is a possibility - they come in below the 5% threshold that is the minimum in order to be part of Parliament, within the SPD, Scholz’s future will be heavily discussed.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi (SHE'S BACK! YAY!) and Alex try to look behind a wall of very mixed signals from Labour on the EU. Is there a sophisticated strategy in play? Or a tug of war between the economically obvious and the politically toxic? And is it a cowardly betrayal of Remain, as the Guardian asserts – or a dastardly reversal of Brexit as the Express believes? IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “There’s no such thing as ‘Rejoin’. There’s not some fast-track, ‘We made a mistake! Do-over! Do-over! There is just ‘Join’ and it takes years at the best of times. It takes time.” “There is a lot not to like about the CPTPP. But it was negotiated, the ink has dried, it’s going to happen… We are beggars, not choosers, when it comes to trade deals. And to turn our nose up at those we can do, while resetting our relationship with Europe, would be churlish and at odds with the govt’s message on growth.” Join Best for Britain here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex review the latest Alien interquel from the London IMAX - and talk about the politics of the franchise, more generally. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “Aliens was made a few months before Wall Street. And you really can see that anxiety: Is capitalism now too rampant? Almost forty years later, that creeping fear, that suspicion, that large corporations will take over our lives, has been confirmed.” “The film has a very, very young cast… And it hits the nail on the head, when you think of how little stake young people have today. Young people coming to the franchise will identify with being screwed, with the goalposts moving, with not being able to save.” “Alien is probably the best Haunted Spaceship film. And Aliens, I would say, is the best sci-fi action horror. ”And if they’re not, then listeners should write in with their suggestions. So any interquel is going against quite an impossible bar.” Full trailer for ALIEN: ROMULUS. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, Kenny and guest TIME Magazine's Yasmeen Serhan, discuss Keir Starmer's moRose Garden speech, whether the difficulties were predicted or are additional, whether the rhetoric is expectation management or augurs Austerity 2.0. Palestinian-American, Yasmeen Serhan then leads a hugely illuminating conversation on the US Election and why so many Arab-Americans remain Uncommitted to Kamala Harris. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “It was a dull speech. Starmer promised change… but he also promised that politics would take up less space in our lives. So, I guess, what he’s endeavouring to do is bring about this change in as non-dramatic a way as possible.” “For the first time I question the balance of the top team. Now that they’re in government, I look around that top team and I think: who is the risk-taker there? I see a lot of risk-averse people. But if the situation is as dire as they describe, they need someone who will take a few risks.” “Democrats and people who are supportive of Harris/Walz need to get it out of their heads that they can threaten voters by saying ‘my opponent is insane’. That is not a good get-out-the-vote strategy. You can’t fit that on a bumper sticker.” “As a Palestinian-American, speaking to other Palestinian-Americans, this is such an emotional issue. You can’t tell them they must vote for a ticket that may just continue what we’ve been seeing. You can’t ask them to sign off on a policy that may kill their family members.” CALLS TO ACTION Yasmeen's writing can be found here. The Labour Conference list of exhibitors is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An enriching and uplifting conversation with Professor Harvey Whitehouse, chair of social anthropology and professorial fellow of Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. We come equipped with three deeply ingrained biases: tribalism, religiosity, and conformity. How do we overcome them? By working with them, says Whitehouse in his new book: INHERITANCE. Nothing is off the table, as Alex challenged Harvey to put the recent racist riots, the MAGA movement, Brexit - even Swifties - through the prism of those biases. If we had conceived of the Professor's thesis ourselves, it could not fit better with this podcast's mission. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. To buy Harvey Whitehouse's stunning book, INHERITANCE: THE EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS OF THE MODERN WORLD click here. “The trouble is, right now, we are living in a world where technology is advancing at such a pace, we don’t have time to adapt our past lessons to fit with the kinds of problems we are facing currently. ” “A lot of those features that I call religion, which include a tendency to anthropomorphise things, to see agency in everything, to believe in supernatural forces - these things are massively exploited by electronic media in a huge variety of ways, commercially exploited to a degree a lot of us are not fully aware of.” On Swifties: “What we need and what is very rare are what we call ‘barrier-crossing leaders’- that is to say leaders who work across groups and across tribes and bring them together. And when we talk about that younger demographic who are relatively open to being persuaded, there is an opportunity for leaders to actually lead.” “There are universal rules of a moral kind that we all agree upon. All human beings, everywhere, agree that certain principles of cooperation are morally good. But if you are on the left or on the right, you emphasise different components of that repertoire.” “Actually what I’d really like to see is a coming-together of the perspectives of left and right, instead of this polarisation that is increasingly taking grip of societies around the world. What we need is for left and right to listen to each other a bit more closely.” “The salience of global citizenship needs to come to the fore, when we’re thinking of things like tackling climate change, or pandemic risk, or whatever it is that faces the world as a whole. And we need to follow through on that, and sustain it, and build the institutions that give expression to it.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks through every aspect of BlueSky, from its genesis to how it may look familiar but is a completely different model of social media, to what is coming in the short and medium future, with its Chief of Operations in the San Francisco head office, Rose Wang. Hidden features, hints on curating your feed, tips on etiquette ... it's all here. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “We are experiencing on social media a lot more media than social. And what we hear from many people is: I don’t see my friends in my timeline anymore, or on my feed anymore. Even content creators, they’re posting to the algorithm now. There’s no true connection with an audience, because they don’t own that relationship - the platforms do.” “BlueSky looks like twitter – on the surface – but it’s like comparing TV in the 1950s with Netflix today. A small group of people deciding what you get to see on two feeds – much like the TV channels in the 50s. On BlueSky we’ve built the foundation for anyone to build a feed.” "We have seen a couple hundred thousand people in the UK migrate to BlueSky in the last few weeks. This Brexit has been fun to watch." "It's a new party. And at this party, you can be yourself." Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and special guest Brian Klaas, with their 30-minute review of the entire Democratic National Convention - complete with the best clips. Can the Democrats maintain this momentum? Can Trump find anything that will stick - or will he turn on Vance? What next before the first Harris vs Trump debate in September? TW Testimony of rape survivor. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “A lot of Democrats feel like it’s 2008 again, when Obama made his ascendancy - it was a watershed moment with incredibly high enthusiasm level, and it feels like we’re in that sort of space. Around April only [a third] of Democrats were fired up about the election. Just before the convention it was 81%.” “What really angers the right about Walz is that he is exactly what a lot of the Republican elites pretend to be - the rural party, working class, what they call ‘Real Americans’. But all of them live in DC in penthouses, and have huge stock portfolios, and are millionaires.” “It was a marked contrast from the when-they-go-low-we-go-high rhetoric of the Obama presidency. It was saying: You know what? We’re not going to let them set the terms. It’s a different kind of Democratic Party, that is saying: we will push back. And the Harris slogan ‘When We Fight, We Win’ is an indication of that.” “Trump’s strategy, which we can discern is to get from 42% to 47%. Kamala Harris is trying to get to 52%. In other words, she’s trying to win over people who don’t naturally vote for her.“ US Election aggregate polling at Five Thirty Eight. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is there a glimmer of light at the end of the (Channel) tunnel for young Britons wanting to travel more freely in Europe? This week's headlines hinting at a Youth Mobility Scheme suggest there may well be, and polling tells us that even old Brexity types aren't against helping Generation Z win back some of the European travel freedoms that us oldies took for granted before You Know What happened. Naomi Smith reads the runes and finds a policy that could help young people and be broadly popular too – with Europe as well as the UK. And she explains why her team at Best For Britain is backing a reciprocal EU-UK Youth Mobility Scheme, one of 114 recommendations published by the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission last year. Thanks as ever for listening – find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest Sir Vince Cable, discuss the lack of policy flesh on the meat of an American election that seems all about vibes. Meanwhile, the new Labour government seem willing to devise an industrial policy - but it will take more than words. Rachel Reeves bought into BIDENOMICS - but with Biden gone, and Harris more mercurial, is that still a thing? Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Vince on Kamala Harris: "She will have to say something on fundamental questions that will shape this election… The British election is a good example of the problem with a Ming-Vase approach. You get into government and the moment you do anything remotely controversial, people go bananas, because you’ve built up no buy in. There’s a certain parallel with what’s happening across the pond.” Vince on Lords reform and the abolition of life peerages and phasing out of peers on the basis of age: “It’s a rather weak response to a big problem, which is that we have a Second House which is bloated, massively undemocratic, and - frankly - corrupt, because of the large number of people who have bought their places.” Vince on Brexit: “The fact is that this is an enormous hole. I think there is a collective sense now that we made a mistake, but there is also a resignation that nothing can be done about it. And somehow or other those two things can’t continue.” Ckick here for Vincent's last book. US Election aggregate polling at Five Thirty Eight. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex takes you through some impressions from the first night of Democratic National Convention, and finds it touching and inspiring. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. "Disarray was what was expected. Instead, what happened was absolute array. A party ready for a fight. And all of it enabled by the most dignified, respectful, affectionate, even, passing of the baton." You can stream the DNC here. US Election aggregate polling at Five Thirty Eight. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex take you through what to expect from the Democratic National Convention starting tomorrow, discuss Farage's income, declarations of interest and MPs' second jobs, and gossip about the birth of their baby podcast, its mission, and what you can do to help it grow. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “[Farage] has not yet tabled a single written question in the Commons on behalf of the people of Clacton. We don’t know if he’s holding regular advice surgeries. How often is he even in that constituency? And when you tot up all of the time that he himself has estimated he spends on extra-Parliamentary work, it’s nine full working days a month. So, at best he is a part-time MP.” “This notion that, by declaring something, the conflict of interest goes away is a nonsense. The system of declarations is not there to resolve conflicts but to identify them. It doesn’t matter if there’s no actual impropriety. There has to be the appearance of absolutely no impropriety.”  You can stream the DNC here. US Election aggregate polling at Five Thirty Eight. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith takes us deep into the stat tables of the recent YouGov poll and finds some stunning tidbits, about demographic breakdown and how much closer to the EU voters want to go - but also, how far they believe this Labour government has a mandate to go. “Scotland still leads the country with the highest proportion of voters wanting to get back in the club. Back in 2016, Wales voted narrowly to Leave the EU, but now favours joining the EU by 57% to 25% - almost the same numbers as a very pro-EU London.” “For every percentage point increase of imports and exports as a share of GDP, there is 0.3-0.7% increase in productivity and growth. A closer relationship with the EU is a no-brainer. The voters want it and the economy needs it.” Full Trade & Business Commission recommendations for a closer relationship are HERE. Campaigning organisation Best for Britain is HERE. Full YouGov poll is HERE. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex chat to special guests Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler and former Tory SpAp Salma Shah through the fallout of the riots and how we can carve a way forward. And we go through the Tory Leadership race candidates. Who will it be? And will anyone care? PLUS a very special Wokey Dokey about idiots blowing up their motorbikes and we give our guests a chance to showcase their favourite not-a-fans in You Gotta Troll With It. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) CALLS TO ACTION Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here to buy the Hate Has No Home Here poster. Click here for the WWF's Greek Wildfires appeal. Click here for Dawn Butler's 21 Days to Go. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ukraine's push into Russian territory took plenty by surprise (though probably not western defence chiefs). So what has changed in the war, and what do we know about the F16 jets that have been assigned a role in the conflict? Naomi Smith seeks reassuring words on the war from former diplomat, writer and podcast host Arthur Snell, whose career is an A-to-Z of diplomacy from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. But you'll have to judge yourself if his insights are reassuring... And, for this Quiet Riot Bonus episode on foreign affairs, we also look to Northern Syria, where Islamic State has been making headlines again. Subscribed to our show? Thank you! If not, you know what to do... Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (Yes, we are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Quiet Riot is brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. Call to action Check out Arthur Snell's fantastic podcast on foreign affairs, Behind The Lines ... and feel free to subscribe too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex has boiled down an INTERMINABLE three hours of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, finally becoming TRUSK, into 20 minutes WITH a few comments. TL;DR - there is none. You really have to listen. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex goes through the week's political events, both here and across the Atlantic, with special guest Zoe Williams. “The Spectator is in a really difficult position. They’re not like the Daily Mail. They cannot turn round and hold the exact opposite point of view to the one they held yesterday, without intellectual consequences. If they wash their hands of Douglas Murray now, they will have to admit they’ve been promulgating race hate for as long as they’ve been publishing him.” “Musk is testing his own strength and he’s testing the strength of twitter and he’s testing his own convening power - how many people can he get in his online army. But the reason it doesn’t ring true or make any real sense and Starmer seems nonplussed by it, is that the attacks don’t relate to the politician or the man. It’s a sort of symbolic act.” On which of the Tory leadership candidates has impressed Zoe most: “To be honest, I’m really, really revelling - like it’s a warm bath - in the experience of not giving a shit about the Conservative Party.” On the US Election: “It’s not groundswell support that matters. It’s Stans. It’s superfans. If you can see someone developing superfans, there’s something going on that you need to pay attention to.” On the Harris/Walz campaign: “For the first time in years I am just loving watching a political process. I’ve got almost no anxiety. Everyone is saying ‘watch the polls, watch the polls’, but I’m thinking ‘this is just not happening for Trump.”  Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why is Northern Ireland the only UK nation other than England where the riots took hold? Alex talks to Belfast MP Claire Hanna, who has seen thuggery in the last few days on her patch, about what factors make Northern Ireland different on this - and what wisdom, from decades of dealing with this sort of violence, actually applies more universally. A thoughtful and illuminating chat. “People have been consuming the same media landscape, the same messaging that dehumanises immigrants from the top, and there is here - there’s no other way to put it - a ready-made pool of recreational rioters.” “South Belfast has the second highest concentration of asylum seekers in hotels, due to the catastrophic failure of the Home Office to efficiently process people’s applications. But the community, in the main, has really, really tried to wrap itself around them.” “I spoke to somebody two days ago who said they were sitting in their house with the lights off, the other night. And it really shocked me to my core that that was happening in 2024. Because the violence seems so random.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here to buy the Hate Has No Home Here poster. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, Naomi, and special guest James O'Brien chat about the riots in England, the people who stoked them and now claim refuse all responsibility, and the toxic influence of social media. And in the second part, we look at Harris's VP pick, Tim Walz, and the remarkable turnaround in the US election. PLUS Wokey Dokey and You Gotta Troll With It. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here to buy the Hate Has No Home Here poster. Click here to find out more about C-Span. Click here for James O'Brien's podcast. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex - a former regulator by trade - talks through the issues of social media regulation and the ultimate sanction of banning Musk from having history's most destructive midlife crisis at the expense of UK democracy. Please take a minute to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot pearls on social media because sharing is good, is it not? You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. It really helps! You can find Hope Not Hate here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex talk about the Far Right riots up and down the UK, the extent to which they are an omen of worse things to come, or the final spasm of a faction of sore losers, the role disinformation has played, and what Starmer can do. Alex: “The far right have had a pretty bad year. The European election did not go their way in the mega-wave they thought, Modi lost his majority in India, Le Pen came third in France, Starmer won a landslide here, and now it looks as if Trump might even be in danger. It’s not a good moment for them and something about this feels like their final tantrum by the checkout.” Naomi: “The far right are always with us. They never go away. It is a fact of life. They have peaks in their activity and while this has been nowhere near as bad as it could be, you have to have constant and ever vigilance around those that seek to divide us.” Please take a minute to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot pearls on social media because sharing is good, is it not? You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. It really helps! You can find Hope Not Hate here. You can find Kick It Out here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith chats to Conservative Home's Henry Hill about every aspect of the Tory leadership contest, who are the runners, who are the riders, who doesn't know if they're afoot or horseback, and what is at stake. A free-roaming and illuminating conversation - and a perfect illustration of our mission here at QRHQ, to build understanding. Henry on the length of the contest: “I think Conservatives may regret not having a new leader and shadow cabinet in place for [the budget]. And then, just three days after their new leader is announced, we’re going to have the US Presidential election. And that’s going to be like a news nuke.” On Jeremy Hunt staying on as Shadow Chancellor: “[Jeremy Hunt] just lost the election. I don’t think he is a credible message-carrier with the voters for criticising Rachel Reeves’ agenda.” On morale in the party: “The thing I think a lot of Tories don’t quite realise yet is how hard life in opposition is. Because a huge share of Tory MPs have entered Parliament at or since the 2010 election.” On what the task of the next leader is: “Both sides of the current conservative classic division are out of date. One of them is stuck in 1975. The other one, the sort of self-consciously modernising one, is stuck in 2005, when Cameron became leader. Neither of them seems to be oriented towards the problems of 2025.” Please take a minute to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot pearls on social media because sharing is good, is it not? You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. It really helps! You can find Henry's Conservative Home pieces here. And his substack musings here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new buzzword in American politics is Weird, and it seems to be having an effect. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by transatlantic academic, author and podcaster Brian Klaas, Associate Professor of Global Politics at University College London, to talk weird politics, Kamala's crowds and a whole bunch of other fascinating stuff around the US presidential race. There's also a look at what happened when Rachel Reeves and Jeremy Hunt squared up in the Commons for their first post-election tussle, and we ask whether the changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance are going to prove chilling for the Chancellor. And don't miss our amazing new features – we've got two of the critters, one of them cultured, the other somewhat less so. Confused? You'll have to listen in... Do please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot pearls on social media because sharing is good, is it not? You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Love you guys x CALL TO ACTION The Lincoln Project Republican Voters Against Trump How just 80,000 voters in three states made Trump president How to contact your MP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, in conversation with Christina Pagel and Tom Brufatto, teases out the main threads from the Covid Inquiry Module 1 Report and discusses the current wave of Covid sweeping the country and the status of Long Covid. “Our plan was how do we cope with the number of deaths. And they planned, into the 2011 strategy, for over 800,000 people to die over about five months. And nobody ever said: that seems like a lot.” ~Christina Pagel “Having delivered Brexit, they certainly felt they had something to prove. And it was often in a direction which was not conducive to responsible government." ~Tom Brufatto “There aren’t any real treatments for Long Covid yet. People have lost interest in Covid. It may be understandable, but it’s not really forgivable when you still have hundreds of thousands of people really, really sick.” ~Christina Pagel “During the General Election campaign Covid was barely mentioned. It is probably the biggest trauma this country went through during the last government and it barely came up.” ~Alex Andreou Subscribe, follow, rate, and review us. And take two minutes to say something nice about us on social media, tagging in @quietriotpod - you can also email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com With Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith. Produced by Kenny Campbell in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Calls to Action: Long Covid Charities LONG COVID KIDS LONG COVID SUPPORT LONG COVID SOS ME/CFS All-Party Parliamentary Group Covid Inquiry - Module 1 Report covid19.public-inquiry.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY REACTION. Alex and Naomi with a bumper edition of your favourite weekly feature, looking at the comically insane and the insanely comical reactions to a man with a hole in his tights, a drag race, and Papa Smurf singing. What happened to Christian temperance and forgiveness? It's all pride and wrath these days. "They think it was making fun of The Last Supper – not The Last Supper as a concept, but The Last Supper as a famous fresco, painted by gay atheist, who painted himself into the image as Jesus." -"Kamala Harris does have children. She just hasn't given birth to any." -"As has no President of the United States before her. Not a single one of them has given birth." Subscribe, follow, rate, and review us. And take two minutes to say something nice about us on social media, tagging in @quietriotpod – you can also email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com Produced by Kenny Campbell in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A familiar voice returns to join Alex and Naomi – fresh from playing Angela Merkel with the Royal Shakespeare Company, actor, writer and all-round good egg Ingrid Oliver casts a knowing eye over the in-tray of Lisa Nandy, our new Secretary of Culture, Media and Sport. We talk theatre, music, libraries and even TikTok and footie, as the challenges facing Britain's arts and entertainment world join the queue for help from a new Government. And, talking of entertainers, how could we not chat about Kamala Harris, whose combination of talent and joie de vivre has catapulted her into contention as the next US President. Helping us read the Harris runes is Patrick Flynn, data journalist with Focaldata and owner of at least one cool Kamala T-shirt. What other podcast brings you this sort of devotion to detail? Plus we've got favourite features including Poll The Other One and (cue that Hillbilly Elegy soundtrack) Wokey Dokey. We literally don't have room for any more goodies :-) If you wouldn't mind, please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot wisdom on social media because sharing is good, ok? You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. CALL TO ACTION Find a theatre near you here Need some inspiration for your next gig? Try this It's summer and there are free sports agogo... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex with a short personal view, on how the treatment of Biden has set back the cause of trying to ease the stigma of conditions like dementia back by years. The way this was treated, often involved a sort of gratuitous cruelty and vicious glee that did not need to be there, served no purpose. It seemed just a chance to join in with a public humiliation. Please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot gems on social media. You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Thank you all for your support :-) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Goodbye Joe, he gotta go: Joe Biden has finally done what many considered inevitable, and exited the race to be the next US President. In this Quiet Riot special, our hosts Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by long-time Democratic Party donor and political analyst Mark Bergman, to prod the embers of Biden's 2024 campaign. Among the burning questions therein, we ask: Why now? What will the new Democrat offering be? Will Biden's departure help unite the Democrats or open up a new internal battlefront? And could we see an all-woman Democratic ticket go up against the Republican hombres? The 2024 presidential race is fired up to be a classic – let our cooler heads be your guide. Also, please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot gems on social media. You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Thank you all for your support :-) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex chats to John Nicolson – now a former SNP MP – reflects on what went wrong for the SNP and how to fix it, as well as a wide range of topics, from the US presidential race to behind-the-scenes insights on the life political. And there's a little regret that he and his SNP colleagues weren't a little more awkward when they descended en masse on Westminster. With candid observations on some of those with whom he has shared the political stage – and eyebrow-raising revelations about his close call on the operating table – this is a must-listen for all fans of planet politics, not just those from north of the Border. "It's a bit like bereavement, when you lose. The worst time is the morning. You wake up and you feel unhappy and you can't quite remember why, and then you go: no, that's why. It's very sad." "The truth is, people vote for parties. And there was an electoral wave, which individual candidates, such as myself, found impossible to resist." "I was very outspoken on trans rights. I'm not in favour of Scottish independence because I want to go out there and wave the Saltire. I'm not a flag fetishist. I support it because of the kind of society we can build... Scotland, on a whole number of metrics, is now amongst the most liberal countries in Europe." "My grandma left school at 12. I went to university and ended up getting a scholarship to Harvard. It transformed my life, free university education." "We've got to have a mature discussion about how Scotland leaves the UK, if we want to. If there is no mechanism to leave, and we're told we can never have a referendum, well, it's not a voluntary union." "The Tories are a funny lot. I grew up with Clause 28 and all that ghastliness. And then, when I was elected, I looked across to the Tory benches... I mean, it was like a night out in Soho." "Obviously if that was my choice, I'd vote for Biden. But if Biden wants to do something for his nation now, I think he should stand aside. I hope vanity does not prevent him." "I have no time for people who say: they're all the same, they're all liars. They really aren't. There's good people in all the parties. And there are honest, well-intentioned people in all the parties. Engage. Don't be lazy." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi chats to newly re-elected Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran on the campaign, the stunning success, and what do they mean for the party going forward. Layla Moran on Ed Davey in a wetsuit: “You can’t do that unless you’re very comfortable in your skin. It’s quite exposing, politically and quite literally. He did take a risk, with bubbly Ed, but he pulled it off.” On LDs being the third biggest party in Parliament again: “One thing I’ve noticed: all of us are worrying much more about our shoes, because we actually sit on the front bench.” On being in opposition to Labour: “I have spent the last seven years in opposition, with all of those friends of mine, who are now ministers. I sidled up to a couple of them and said: 'so can we do this thing now?' or 'can we get this campaign over the line?'.” Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. G'awn, do it now while you listen. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks to former UK ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, about the attempt on Trump's life, JD Vance as a Vice President pick on the ticket, and the prospects of the Democrats replacing Biden so late in the day. Naomi talks to Layla Moran about the King's Speech, what was in it, what wasn't, and what opposition can do against such a large majority. Add in your regular treats Troll with It and The Week in 60 Seconds, and you've got an hour of the finest political insight and fun. "I think there is no way now, whatever happens in the next 100 days, that Biden can win this, if he remains the candidate. It's a question of how bad the loss will be." Sir Kim Darroch "Pence was a counsel of caution to Trump, he held Trump back. Vance looks to me like a man who wants to outdo his boss and mentor. I'm not sure that doubling up on outrageous rhetoric will be good for them in the end." Sir Kim Darroch "The only conceivable deal that could be done is one where Ukraine surrenders all the terrotiry that Russia currently holds, permanently. So, what that Trump proposition would do, is deliver defeat for the West." Sir Kim Darroch "I actually got into the Lords - I don't always do it, but this timne it felt special - and they start talking about getting rid of hereditary peers, and a few of us MPs locked eyes and went: AWKWARD." Layla Moran "Both Hamas and Netanyahu are blockers to peace. Neither wants a two-state solution. How can you, on the one hand, claim to want a two-state solution, and on the other hand not hold the perpetrators of atrocities to account, via the International Court mechanism that can determine what has happened?" Layla Moran Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot nuggets on social media. We will love you even more for it. You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Heck, do all three, you only live once. CALL TO ACTION Find your MEP here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex chats to award-winning Cardiff-based journalist Will Hayward about Vaughan Gething's resignation and a perfect fifteen-minute explainer of the general election result. A potted summary of the Gething scandal. Who did well and who did poorly? Why is Reform building such a strong base in Wales? What next for a Senedd and a Labour party, both split right down the middle? Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. G'awn, do it now while you listen. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to author and politics professor Brian Klaas about the attempt on Trump's life - a moment of violence that is as shocking as it was predictable. "The US is a fundamentally broken society... All of the ingredients for political violence are in the US and have been for many years. The reason there hasn't been a high-profile assassination attempt in the US in the last few years is dumb luck. And the luck just run out." "It is clearly the case that there are extremists in both parties. There are definitely extremists in the Democratic party as well as the Republican party. The difference is that the extremists in the Republican party are in charge." "It is simultaneously true that all political violence in a democracy is abhorrent, unacceptable, and needs to be denounced unequivocally. It is also true that Donald Trump and his political movement pose a serious and unprecedented risk to American democracy. And the former should not stop us from pointing out the latter." "Anyone who tells you they know how it's going to turn out is not telling the truth." Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Continuing our series of focussed analysis of the general election, Naomi Smith chats to the deputy leader of the Greens, Zack Polanski, about every aspect of the result. What was different in this campaign that resulted in a quadrupling of Green seats? Will the LibDems' success in primarily Tory-facing constituencies leave space for the Greens to challenge the gov't from the left? How does a hostile media shape the narrative? What next for the Green Party? PLUS: The case for Proportional Representation. ALSO: The environmental case for veganism. AND A SCOOP: Why is Stella Creasy's Walthamstow constituency in Zack's sights? Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, your stars Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by a genuine Chevalier, Olivier Morel, to cast a bemused glance at politics over La Manche and, closer to home, ask the big question: is Sir Keir showing signs of happiness? As well as being a partner at law firm Cripps, Olivier chairs the UK chapter of the French Foreign Trade Advisors and is on the board of the French Chamber of Great Britain. Who better to help us make sense of a tumultuous week of democratic shenanigans on both sides of the Channel. Naomi also takes a look at the first post-election polling to give us an idea of how happy Brits are to have Labour hordes taking control of Westminster. Add in your regular treats Wokey Dokey and The Week in 60 Seconds, and you've got an hour of the finest political entertainment and insight. C'est magnifique, as they say in the chic brasseries around Quiet Riot HQ. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot nuggets on social media. We will love you even more for it. You can find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Heck, do all three, you only live once. CALLS TO ACTION Support Best for Britain ... or HOPE not hate ... or 38 Degrees ... or the3million ... or The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants ... or Labour Movement for Europe ... or Liberal Democrats in Europe Find out more about Erasmus+ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a General Election treat, Alex and Naomi dish up an all-you-can-eat special with guest chefs Rory Bremner and Zoe Williams. What other show brings you a menu featuring lashings of Starmer, Johnson, Trump and Glastonbury? With a side order of William Hague and some Gordon Brown sauce? We snack on memorable elections of the past, nibble on some tasty predictions for the present and wonder whether the future holds Angel Delight or Dread And Splutter Pudding. And, for those who prefer to snack, our regular features include Wokey Dokey and Troll With It. Fill your plates at our Riotous political buffet then, if you haven't already, get out and do that voting thing. With your political appetite sated, feel free to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and give your social media followers a taste of what we offer. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Thank you friends :-) Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. CALLS TO ACTION Get your own unique General Election Digital Bingo card, featuring a random selection of high-profile political targets. First to complete a line can shout HOUSE (of Commons has-been) Make your vote count: Tactical voting advice for every constituency And don't be a polling booth BoJo: please, please REMEMBER YOUR PHOTO ID Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi chats to journalist - and Norn' Iron political encyclopaedia - Amanda Ferguson who provides the perfect twenty-minute explainer of the election result. Where does each party stand politically and in relation to the constitutional question? Who did well and who did poorly? Who are the new MPs? What was the NI's Portillo moment? What do the parties there think of Starmer and the new Labour gov't? Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith, and Ian Dunt do a deep dive into every aspect of the election result and what has followed it. And while you're listening, why not subscribe to or follow the podcast, rate us, and give your social media followers a prod to listen. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex right the world's wrongs, in the wee small hours of the morning. We decided that, basically, Nick Clegg is to blame for everything - among several other people, who are also to blame for everything. Also, that, at a time the country needed a broadsheet editorial, Sunak provided a listicle. Also, that conservatism in deep doo-doo. Also that Starmer will probably be a bitter disappointment, unless he is not. And Alex utters the world's most depressing sentence: "The next Conservative leader will be chosen by the same selectorate that looked at Truss and thought she was a good idea." Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Alex Andreou is flying solo in the studio while Naomi Smith checks in from the campaign trail – from lots of campaign trails, in fact. Joining Alex are special guests Luke Tryl, Executive Director of More in Common UK, and Yasmeen Serhan, Time's politics and policy specialist for Europe and the Middle East. As the clock ticks down to the General Election in Blighty, we prowl around the polling and pick our way gingerly through the latest electoral detritus. Then we cast our gaze over the Atlantic and are left rubbing our eyes in utter disbelief. Of course, there is a selection of your favourite features – Wokey Dokey is back, and there's a huge Poll With It. As we gird our loins for the final few days of the General Election, please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share the love on social media – it really keeps us going, in so many ways. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Thank you buddies :-) Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. CALLS TO ACTION Can Brits donate to US political parties? The rules are pretty clear What happens if two parties tie for second place in the General Election? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith have a wee-hours chat, analysing the last head-to-head Starmer v Sunak debate. Because we love you and like giving you unexpected nice prezzies. Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith chat to the CEO of 38 Degrees, Matthew McGregor, fresh from focus groups in Rishi Sunak's own constituency and talk through the last few days, including the latest in the Tory betting scandal, Farage's interview, the BBCQT Leaders' Special, and Kuenssberg's interrogation of the trans issue, in another Sunday special. Here is 38 Degree's election hub: home.38degrees.org.uk/election-hub-2024/ And here is Matthew's write up of those focus groups: home.38degrees.org.uk/2024/06/22/what-rishi-sunaks-own-constituents-think/ Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Go on, pretty please. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou fact-checks Nigel Farage's claim that he is some sort of oracle that - alone, among politicians - saw the war in Ukraine coming, that he made his complimentary comments on Putin before the annexation of Crimea. All he found was a history of shilling for Russia. Please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share the love on social media – it makes such a difference. In fact do it now, while you're listening, go on! Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by special guests Henry Morris – he of Secret Tory fame and now unleashing a Shakespearean take on the Downing St rabble – and Jim Blagden, Associate Director at More In Common. There's a recap of the General Election so far – just 14 days to go people – and we ask if there's a parallel universe in which Rishi Sunak is leading his party to something other than an abject, miserable meltdown. And we gift you a tantalising taste of Henry's new book, The Tories: A Tragedy. Be amazed at Henry's tribute to Shakespeare, be amused by his acerbic take on the Truss tragedy, and be agog as Alex goes full thesp for a few overwhelming moments. Verily, 'tis a spectacle for the ages that will bring tears to your ears. Plus your favourite features, including The News In Sixty Seconds and the ever-so-slightly-abusive Troll With It. Please subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share the love on social media – it makes such a difference. In fact do it now, while you're listening, go on! Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Thank you friends :-) Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. CALLS TO ACTION Pre-order Henry's glorious new book here The Le Monde map showing results per commune Window posters, window posters, get yer must-display window posters here: https://www.getvoting.org/window-posters-for-labour-seats/ https://www.getvoting.org/window-posters-for-liberal-democrat-seats/ https://www.getvoting.org/window-posters-for-green-seats/ https://www.getvoting.org/window-posters-for-plaid-cymru-seats/ https://www.getvoting.org/window-posters-for-snp-seats/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith bring you another Sunday special, this time with a focus on tactical voting, and a look at tactical tomfoolery too. Best for Britain – that's Naomi's team – has its latest MRP behemoth here: https://www.bestforbritain.org/june_2024_mrp You can also find it on the front of The Sunday Times, because it's quite an eye-opener Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Go on, pretty please. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Quiet Riot is produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and special guest, investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan discuss the Conservative manifesto and why everyone is treating it like a business document, rather than a work of fiction. They also look at the fall-out from Sunak's catastrophic D-Day decision. And in Part II they splash around in the murky waters of Conservative Party funding and its links with think tanks, looking EXCLUSIVELY at Peter Geoghegan's latest investigation. Plus, a SANE round-up of the European Parliament results. Subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. It will only take minutes of your time, but can make a huge difference to our fledgling project. Do it now, while you're listening. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. CALLS TO ACTION Voting tool kit, key dates, links, polling, tactical advice - MRP MEGAPOLL DROPS MONDAY! www.getvoting.org Peter Geoghegan's substack: democracyforsale.substack.com/ Facts. Analysis. Laughs. Action. That's how we roll. Produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sunak is meant to have "won" the debate on Tuesday. So why has every Tory spokesperson had to spend the last two days defending him? Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined on their new politics podcast by old friend Behind The Lines' Arthur Snell to talk through the debate fallout - and Farage's return. And in Part II we focus on foreign policy. How will Trump's felony conviction affect the US election? We talk EXCLUSIVELY to former UK ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, whose sacking Trump demanded. Arthur Snell takes us through developments in Ukraine and Gaza. And we ponder why foreign policy - including repairing the Brexit damage has been entirely absent from the campaign. All this and regular features Wokey Dokey, The Week's Politics in 60 Seconds (we fail miserably), and Poll The Other One, in which we dive into three huge MRP polls. Sir Kim Darroch on the Trump guilty verdicts: "I was actually on the M3 driving home when the news came through and I almost drove myself off the road." Subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. It will only take minutes of your time, but can make a huge difference to our fledgling project. Do it now, while you're listening. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Facts. Analysis. Laughs. Action. That's how we roll. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS Send your question for the BBC debates here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq55qk7k847o Seven-party debate: Friday 7 June Scotland Election 2024 Leaders' Special: Tuesday 11 June Question Time Leaders' Special: Thursday 20 June Wales Leaders' Debate live: Friday 21 June Northern Ireland Leaders' Debate: Thursday 27 June Starmer/Sunak head-to-head: Wednesday 26 June Apply to be part of the Grimsby audience for the Sky News debate here: news.sky.com/story/be-in-the-audience-for-our-general-election-leaders-event-13145102 Arthur's podcast Behind The Lines: shows.acast.com/behind-the-lines-with-arthur-snell Ukraine medical aid: smartmedicalaid.org/ Ukraine Freedom Fund: ukrfreedomfund.org/ World Central Kitchen: donate.wck.org Médecins Sans Frontières: https://msf.org.uk/ Voting tool kit, key dates, links, polling, tactical advice: www.getvoting.org Produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith's on their new politics podcast do a little mop-up session to talk through how the second week of the election campaign has gone, explain the polls, look at the Abbott affair in retrospect and predict what will emerge next week. Produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. "We hope to reach a community of listeners who want to take action - that crosses party lines. Because we think the fight that is coming - to push back the hate of populism, to say sharp elbows and stepping on minorities is not the only future - will require bridges to be built, all the way from left to right." Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. LINKS Naomi's piece in the Guardian: It matters that the Tories love Nigel Farage again Best for Britain's Scandalous Spending Tracker https://www.bestforbritain.org/scandalous_spending_tracker Politico's EU election poll of polls https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/european-parliament-election/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a start it has been to the general election campaign! Glorious gaffes and kneejerk policies galore. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined on their new politics podcast by old friends economist Miatta Fahnbulleh who is standing for Labour in Peckahm and the inimitable Ian Dunt (guess what the rating of this episode is – go on, guess) to pick over the wreckage. And in Part II we talk economic policy. Can a safety-first approach stimulate Britain out of stagnation? Plus, we talk about that Diane Abbott mess. All this and regular features Wokey Dokey, The Week's Politics in 60 Seconds (we ALMOST make it this week), and new You Gotta Troll With It. Subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. It will only take minutes of your time, but can make a huge difference to our fledgling project. Do it now, while you're listening. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. "We hope to reach a community of listeners who want to take action - that crosses party lines. Because we think the fight that is coming - to push back the hate of populism, to say sharp elbows and stepping on minorities is not the only future - will require bridges to be built, all the way from left to right." Facts. Analysis. Laughs. Action. That's how we roll. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS Send your questions to ITV for the Starmer-Sunak debate: eu.castitreach.com/ag/itvelection/debate2024/welcome.html Find out if you can join a union at your work: www.tuc.org.uk/joinunion Find out of your sector is covered by a trade association: www.taforum.org/member-directory/ Voting tool kit, key dates, links, polling, tactical advice: www.getvoting.org Produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith's on their new politics podcast do a little mop-up session to talk through how the first few days of the election campaign have gone for Sunak and his latest proposal to reintroduce compulsory national service. Produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. "We hope to reach a community of listeners who want to take action - that crosses party lines. Because we think the fight that is coming - to push back the hate of populism, to say sharp elbows and stepping on minorities is not the only future - will require bridges to be built, all the way from left to right." Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS Voting tool kit, key dates, links, polling, tactical advice: www.getvoting.org Youth vote registering drive: www.giveanx.org Polling on national service explained in "Yes, Prime Minister": https://youtu.be/ahgjEjJkZks?si=C_bBbN09Gc6RSDw0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sunak's statement, finally calling a general election in the pouring rain, landed (badly) as we recorded our very first episode. Coincidence? Well, yes, obviously. But what an auspicious start for Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith's new politics podcast. Produced by Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Our first guest is the brilliant More In Common's Luke Tryl. "We hope to reach a community of listeners who want to take action - that crosses party lines. Because we think the fight that is coming - to push back the hate of populism, to say sharp elbows and stepping on minorities is not the only future - will require bridges to be built, all the way from left to right." Subscribe to the podcast, like us, rate us, and share the joyous news on social media. Ideas, feedback, comments, guest or topic suggestions? Find us on twitter @quietriotpod, email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com, or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS Voting tool kit, key dates, links, polling, tactical advice: www.getvoting.org Government consultation on Sex, Relationship, & Health Education review: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A little bonus from our internal pilot recorded a few weeks ago. One of the regular features you can expect. Subscribe now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Announcing the return of Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith in their new podcast Quiet Riot – for those who like their politics with more passion and less shouting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith announce their new politics podcast, Quiet Riot – promising more passion, less shouting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices