The spiked podcast

What does the Gorton and Denton by-election spell for the future of British politics? Top pollster James Johnson – co-founder of JL Partners – spoke to spiked’s Georgina Mumford to pore over the results. Labour is crumbling in its heartlands. The Greens are riding sectarian grievance to victory. Reform has been humbled in Greater Manchester, but remains strong across the country. The old politics is gone and it isn’t coming back. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rakib Ehsan, Tom Slater and Georgina Mumford discuss the Greens’ by-election victory, the disintegration of Labour, the rise of Islamic sectarianism and whether the Reform revolt is stalling.  Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/valdo-calocane-the-baftas-and-the-poison-of-wokeness/ Brendan O’Neill’s new spiked book, ‘Vibe Shift: The Revolt Against Wokeness, Greenism and Technocracy’ is out now. Get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vibe-Shift-Wokeness-Greenism-Technocracy/dp/106871932X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sanae Takaichi is hailed by supporters as Japan’s ‘rockstar’ prime minister and derided by critics as a far-right ultra-nationalist. What everyone agrees is that her recent landslide snap-election victory is a revolutionary moment in Japanese politics. Here, Philip Patrick – journalist and lecturer at Tokyo’s Sophia University – talks to spiked’s Georgina Mumford about Takaichi’s radical plans for immigration and the economy, her hawkishness towards China, and what Western leaders might learn from her stunning electoral success. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joanna Williams, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the plot to kill Manchester’s Jews and Keir Starmer's war on democracy Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We need to talk about immigration, says novelist Lionel Shriver. Mass migration is fundamentally changing our societies and fuelling a monumental political backlash, yet is still near impossible to discuss openly and frankly. Here, she sits down with spiked’s Fraser Myers to talk about her new novel, A Better Life, which explores America’s migrant crisis through the lives of a New York family who come to regret opening their home to an unvetted stranger. Lionel and Fraser also discuss the left’s warping of language to excuse illegal migration, the decadence and decline of Western society, and how she managed to get her book published in our censorious climate. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aberdeen is at the coalface of Britain’s Net Zero catastrophe. Around 400 workers in the North Sea oil and gas sector are being laid off every fortnight. The dismantling of one of Scotland’s leading industries has come at a staggering social and economic cost. And yet, Ed Miliband, Britain’s eco-zealous energy secretary, is turning a blind eye to the devastation around him. Here, Nick Tyrone – author of Cliff Edge and researcher at the Jobs Foundation – warns that without an immediate and drastic change of course, oil and gas workers will become the coal miners of the 21st century, condemned to joblessness, poverty and welfare dependency. Industry in Aberdeen, he fears, will be left broken beyond repair by Miliband’s green diktats. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pedro Sánchez’s Spain has become a testing ground for all the worst woke ideas. His ‘progressive’ coalition has embraced trans ideology and gender self-identification. It is planning to grant legal residency to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants. Meanwhile, two fatal train crashes in short succession point to the government’s corruption, nepotism and negligence. Yet criticising these failings could soon get a lot more difficult, as ministers are mulling a total ban on X, Elon Musk’s free-speech platform, as part of a crackdown on dissenting speech. Here, Barcelona-based journalist Maria Reglero warns that freedom and democracy are on the line. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Dolan, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on the small-boats crime wave, Keir Starmer’s stay of execution and the witch-hunting of Jim Ratcliffe. Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-and-the-drag-queen/ Sign up today for your £1-a-month trial with Shopify and start selling today: https://shopify.co.uk/spiked  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Xi Jinping has just carried out the most significant purge of China’s military in decades. Top general Zhang Youxia, alongside other leading figures and formerly close allies, have been arrested, accused of treason and corruption. Is this a sign of Xi’s strength and his iron grip on power and his party? Or is it a sign of weakness, paranoia and growing internal dissent? Here, Cindy Yu – columnist and contributing editor at The Times and The Sunday Times – talks to spiked’s Fraser Myers about what Xi might be thinking. Plus, they discuss the threat to Taiwan, the trade war with Trump, and how Britain should navigate China’s rise.  Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Albie Amankona, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on the fallout from the Epstein Files, the Iran apologists in Britain and Spain’s insane new migration policy. Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/is-the-english-countryside-too-white/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EXCLUSIVE JANUARY OFFER: Get unlimited access to spiked for just £1 a month for the next three months: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Reem Ibrahim, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on the smears, scandals and sectarianism surrounding the Manchester by-election. Plus, the clownishness of Andy Burnham and Suella Braverman’s defection. Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/whats-the-point-of-the-tory-wets/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EXCLUSIVE JANUARY OFFER: Get unlimited access to spiked for just £1 a month for the next three months: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Jacob Reynolds, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on Trump’s sabre-rattling, Starmer’s surrender of the Chagos Islands and China’s spy HQ in London. Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/the-mad-sad-world-of-the-groypers/ EVENT: spiked is partnering with the Free Speech Union for ‘In Defence of Trial by Jury’, a live discussion on Thursday 29 January in London. spiked supporters and Free Speech Union members can get discounted tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/freespeechunion/2002087  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EXCLUSIVE JANUARY OFFER: Get unlimited access to spiked for just £1 a month for the next three months: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Keir Starmer’s ‘Brexit reset’ may be his worst negotiation yet. The UK is set to pay exorbitant amounts to the EU, hand over control of vital industries, and receive some nasty surprises in return. Here, Bruno Waterfield – Brussels correspondent at The Times – explains why Starmer’s sellout to Brussels could lead to higher food and energy prices, and to the stifling of innovation and industry. He warns that Britain will pay a heavy price for so casually surrendering its sovereignty.  EVENT: spiked is partnering with the Free Speech Union for ‘In Defence of Trial by Jury’, a live discussion on Thursday 29 January in London. spiked supporters and Free Speech Union members can get discounted tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/freespeechunion/2002087  Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EXCLUSIVE JANUARY OFFER: Get unlimited access to spiked for just £1 a month for the next three months: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Brendan O’Neill, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on the death of the Tories, the brutality of Iran’s ayatollahs and Starmer’s totalitarian war on X Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/is-eva-vlaardingerbroek-a-threat-to-the-uk/ EVENT: spiked is partnering with the Free Speech Union for ‘In Defence of Trial by Jury’, a live discussion on Thursday 29 January in London. spiked supporters and Free Speech Union members can get discounted tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/freespeechunion/2002087  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Claire Fox, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on the perils of the ‘Don-roe doctrine’, Iran’s struggle for freedom and the police lies about Maccabi Tel Aviv. Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/why-everyone-hates-keir-starmer/ Become a spiked supporter to access all of spiked’s exclusive content, and get unlimited, ad-free reading and other perks: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Sign up today for your £1-a-month trial with Shopify and start selling today: https://shopify.co.uk/spiked  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Lenore Skenazy let her nine-year-old use the New York Subway on his own, she was dubbed ‘America’s Worst Mom’. In our age of safetyism, children are expected to be supervised, monitored and coddled at all times – not left alone to explore the outside world. No generation has ever been so sheltered. And nor has any generation felt so anxious and depressed. Here, Lenore Skenazy – president of Let Grow – makes the case for free-range parenting, for letting kids have some independence from their parents, and toning down the panic over ‘stranger danger’. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*As a Christmas treat, we have removed the paywall for this episode of spiked podcast: unlocked, our exclusive podcast for spiked supporters.*  Simon Evans, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers discuss Britain's broken borders, the revolutionary rise of Reform, the revenge of the millennial left, and why woke refuses to die. Want a signed copy of Vibe Shift, the brilliant new book by Brendan O’Neill? Donate £50 or more to our Christmas appeal and we’ll pop one in the post: https://www.spiked-online.com/xmas/ Become a spiked supporter to watch every episode of spiked podcast: unlocked:  https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want a signed copy of Vibe Shift, the brilliant new book by Brendan O’Neill? Donate £50 or more – or £30 or more, if you’re a spiked supporter – to our Christmas appeal and we’ll pop one in the post: https://www.spiked-online.com/xmas/  Simon Evans, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers discuss the Bondi Beach attack and the scourge of Islamist anti-Semitism, and the battle for free speech after the murder of Charlie Kirk. Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/2025-the-year-of-the-vibe-shift/ Become a spiked supporter to access all of spiked’s exclusive content, and get unlimited, ad-free reading and other perks: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ella Whelan, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers on how our broken borders threaten women and girls, Sandie Peggie’s fight for single-sex spaces and Jamie Michael’s never-ending persecution. Want a signed copy of Vibe Shift, the brilliant new book by Brendan O’Neill? Donate £50 or more – or £30 or more, if you’re a spiked supporter – to our Christmas appeal and we’ll pop one in the post: https://www.spiked-online.com/xmas/  Watch the second half of the discussion on spiked podcast: unlocked – our weekly bonus podcast, exclusively for spiked supporters – here: LINK Become a spiked supporter to access all of spiked’s exclusive content, and get unlimited, ad-free reading and other perks: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘The police have imbibed the activist worldview’ | Ex-officer Paul Birch  Arrests in Britain for social-media posts have soared by 58 per cent since 2019. Meanwhile, actual crimes like burglary or assault are only rarely pursued or solved. Here, Paul Birch – former Metropolitan Police officer and counter-terrorism specialist – explains why the police became so obsessed with tackling so-called thoughtcrime. Social-justice activism, he says, is now fully institutionalised, warping police priorities and ensuring a two-tier approach to justice. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked:https://www.spiked-online.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices