UnHerd Radio

Freddie Sayers speaks to Matthew Crawford, a motorcycle mechanic turned philosopher with a unique perspective on the current moment. Instead of talking in terms of partisan politics, he talks in terms of lived experience and what a good life feels like. I’ve been a fan since his first book, and was delighted to have this wide-ranging conversation about risk, autonomy and and the new politics. In such a divided time, his is one of the few voices that could appeal equally to a Californian surfer dude and a midwestern religious conservative. That’s why it’s so important. Have a watch.

Freddie Sayers talks to New York Times columnist Ross Douthat about his new book The Decadent Society, the religious aspect of antiracism protests, Obama and Trump, and whether lockdowns are a symptom of — or cure for — the decadent West. Hold on to your hats, we hit some big topics in this half hour! Hope you enjoy.

Host Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Douglas Alexander, chair of Unicef UK and former Labour Party cabinet minister, and Sunder Katwala, Director of British Future think tank, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Douglas discussed the importance of belonging and place, while Sunder asked why so few people are talking about the fate of the British in the EU post-Brexit.

Host Ayesha Hazarika is joined by comedian Matt Forde, and journalist Gavin Haynes, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Matt highlighted the voluntary ban on betting ads during sporting events, while Gavin talked about the ongoing disintegration of UKIP. The panel also discussed their heroes and villains of the week.

Subscribe to make sure you don't miss UnHerd's new podcast series featuring columnist Giles Fraser in which he talks to distinguished guests about how their beliefs shape who they are. The first three episodes are out now. Search for 'UnHerd Confessions' to subscribe.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Novara Media Editor Ash Sarkar, and Paul Embery, trade union official and UnHerd columnist, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Ash brought up the EU potentially fining Italy for setting an illegal budget, while Paul wanted to talk about the London Ambulance Service considering whether to tell its call handlers to avoid calling people 'Sir' or 'Madam' to cause offence. The panel also discussed their hero of the week, Clement Attlee, while Ayesha asked whether people with different political opinions are villains, after John McDonnell gave an interview saying he couldn't be friends with Conservatives.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by journalist Julie Bindel, and Trevor Phillips, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Julie raised the case of a transgender woman in Canada who has filed human rights complaints against 16 beauticians for refusing to perform a Brazilian wax service. Trevor wanted to talk about the Ministry of Defence missing its recruitment targets by a third. The panel also discuss their hero of the week, Sammy Woodhouse, and villain, Anthony Ekundayo Lennon.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Will Tanner, former advisor to Theresa May, and Resolution Foundation Director Torsten Bell, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Will talked about the government's Loneliness Strategy that launched on Monday, that revealed 22% of UK adults considered themselves lonely, and 3.8 million over-65s consider the TV their main form of company. Torsten raised the question of why none of us are talking about the budget, which is next Monday. The panel also discuss their heroes of the week, Andrew Norfolk and Tessa Jowell, and villains, Angela Rayner and Anjem Choudary.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Melissa Benn, campaigner and author of Life Lessons: The Case for a National Education Service, and journalist James Bloodworth, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. James highlighted Amazon's pay-rise for its warehouse workers, while Melissa raised the case of the Italian village of Riace, whose mayor has been defying Italy's hardline Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini. The panel also discuss their hero of the week, Monica Lewinsky, and villains, millennials.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Jamie Susskind, author of Future Politics, and social entrepreneur Zehra Zaidi, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Jamie highlighted the use of algorithms by local government in predicting child abuse, and and Zehra raised the silence of Muslim nations on China's treatment of its Muslim Uighur population.

Neil MacGregor’s Living with the Gods was an award-winning Radio 4 series, and has now been made into a book of the same title. To bring things full circle, I sat down with him to turn the written word back into the spoken one; we talked about the relationship between art and religion, how religion is a more a way of creating meaning than explaining the universe, and what MacGregor liked to look at in the British Museum when the doors were closed and he was on his own with the keys. After a Calvinist upbringing, where objects are often thought to be a threat to religious faith, MacGregor has come to be the foremost expositor of the rich cultural material produced by religious belief. In our conversation, he ranged widely: from the Cyrus Cylinder to the 40,000 year old Lion Man to the Mummies of Peru, to the decorative pointer, the Yad, with which Plymouth Jews used to read the Torah. It was a real joy to chat with him. Here is the podcast.

In this week's podcast, Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Jamie Bartlett, author of The People Vs Tech, The Dark Net and Radicals, and Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland, to discuss stories they think are under-reported by the mainstream media. Jamie highlights how social media is making us all adopt a fascist style of politics, and Oliver looks at the history of offshoring and how London became an enabler of global corruption. The panel nominate Serena Williams as their hero of the week, and Jacob Rees Mogg and the European Research Group as their villains. Listen here to find out why.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Gavin Haynes, Editor at Large for Vice, and Carl Miller, author of the new book The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab, to discuss their under-reported stories of the week. Carl raises the issue of the changing nature of crime as it moves online, and Gavin highlights the myth of white genocide in South Africa and asks how it became a talking point of the far right, all the way up to the White House. The panel also discuss their hero, the anonymous writer of the New York Times op-ed, and villain, the Labour Party.

In this week’s podcast, Charlotte Pickles is joined by Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, to discuss the role the tax system may be playing in people's loss of faith in capitalism. Why do we treat unearned income more generously that earned income? How does the bank CEO get to pay a lower rate of tax than the branch manager? And is the tax system incentivising poor business behaviour?

In this week’s podcast, Charlotte Pickles is joined by journalist James Ball and UnHerd’s Peter Franklin, to discuss James’ new book Bluffocracy. As self-confessed members of the so-called bluffocracy, the panellists ask: is Britain really governed by an elite bunch of bluffers, and if so, what is the cost?

In this week’s podcast, Charlotte Pickles is joined by political scientist Matthew Goodwin and Times columnist David Aaronovitch, to discuss the political categorisation “Open versus Closed”. Is it a useful way of capturing the political realignment we are witnessing, or does it simply reinforce division? The podcast discussion follows the recent UnHerd series on the subject.

The future of the family by UnHerd

In this week's podcast, Ayesha Hazarika is joined by science writer and author, Tom Chivers, and political journalist Jane Merrick, to discuss under-reported stories from across the week. Tom highlights the subject of his recent piece for UnHerd: the risk posed by AI becoming competent. Jane raises the issue of sugar and asks, are we worrying about it too much? The panel also discuss their hero of the week, Margret Hodge MP and their villain, Julian Smith MP.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by UnHerd columnist and author, James Bloodworth, and Polly Mackenzie, Director of Demos think tank. This week, the panel discuss UnHerd's latest audio documentary, presented by James Bloodworth: 'How dead-end jobs killed small-town pride'. The documentary looks at the old industrial town of Rugeley and explores what can be done to help Rugeley and similar forgotten towns. The panel also discuss their heroes of the week, the Thai cave rescue team and their villain, Boris Johnson.

Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Sunder Katwala, Director of British Future, and Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublica, to discuss the week's under–reported stories. Sunder highlights the diversity of the England World Cup squad and what it says about modern England. Phillip raises the issue of class in Britain and how it is still the biggest barrier to social mobility. The panel also discuss, their hero of the week, Gareth Southgate, and their villain, Russian assassins.