With only her second novel The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai won the 2006 Booker Prize, the leading literary prize in the global Anglosphere, becoming - at the time - the youngest person ever to do so. She was thirty-five. Then: silence. 19 years of it, before another novel emerged - this year. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. It, too, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Will Desai win it again?
Is Welsh Labour dead? Harry Clarke-Ezzidio reports from Caerphilly, speaking to Rhun ap Iorwerth, Huw Irranca-Davies, Llyr Powell, and Dan Evans.
After 14 attempts, Lindsay Whittle has won the Caerphilly seat in South Wales for Plaid Cymru. Reform came in second with over a third of the vote, and Labour trailed in third with 11%. A devastating loss for the party. Harry Clarke-Ezzidio is joined by Ben Walker in Caerphilly Leisure Centre.
Donald Trump's planned summit with Vladimir Putin is cancelled. Here's why. -- Less than a week after Donald Trump offered to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the proposed summit has already fallen apart. Officially, "there's no need" for the two presidents to meet, since their respective foreign ministers are conducting conversations. But what's really behind the cancellation? And what on earth is Donald Trump up to in Venezuela? Seven extra-judicial attacks on civilian boats, dozens dead without trial, and now massing troops and weaponry in the Caribbean. Is this really about "narco-terrorism", or is something more sinister afoot? Katie Stallard and Freddie Hayward discuss Trump's foreign policy on the New Statesman podcast.
James Schneider, the former director of strategic communications for Jeremy Corbyn, was involved in the founding of Your Party earlier this year. He has since stepped back from the project. In this episode he joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss the growing gap on the left of UK politics and who could fill it.
Andrew had already stepped down as a working royal, after that disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, but he’s now gone a step further and agreed to relinquish the “title or the honours which have been conferred upon” him. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Lloyd and Rachel Cunliffe to discuss what these latest decisions, announced on the eve of the publication of Virginia Roberts Guiffre's posthumous memoir, mean for the Royal Family.
A century on from the her birth, Tanjil Rashid sits down with the Iron Lady's official biographer, Charles Moore.
For over 30 years, John Gray has written for the New Statesman on everything from Artificial Intelligence to Friedrich Nietzsche. He joins deputy editor Will Lloyd to discuss the state of the nation.
Andrew Marr joins Rachel Cunliffe to discuss his column in this week's magazine, Tax the old. They also discuss the latest developments in the China spy case.
"All I've done all my life is deals. The greatest deals just sort of happen…” President Trump announced at a celebratory peace-deal signing attended by dozens of nations in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week. But who were the powers behind Trump? Behind this deal? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward who has written this week’s cover story The Emperor: How Trump and his British Courtiers secured the Gaza deal
Did Keir Starmer's government quash an espionage case to curry favour with China? -- There's fury in Westminster over the case of two alleged China spies which collapsed last month. Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of deliberately quashing the prosecution to appease China, blaming National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell. The government denies this, and Keir Starmer has said Powell has his "full support". So what really happened? And why does China matter so much to the UK government? Oli Dugmore is joined by George Eaton and Katie Stallard.
All 20 remaining, living hostages have returned to Israel after 2 years in captivity, following the October the 7th Hamas attacks. The remains of the 28 deceased hostages are yet to be returned. Meanwhile, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza today. To discuss this historic day in the Middle East and how it came to be, Oli Dugmore is joined by Katie Stallard and Freddie Hayward. Later in the episode Ethan Croft and Rachel Cunliffe look at the question of the UK’s involvement in this peace process.
Is Labour reading from the Reform handbook? And what is the government doing to address rising child poverty? Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. Got a question? Ask us here!
Almost 10 years ago the Calais 'Jungle' was demolished by the French authorities, structures were burned to the ground and the migrants were forced to flee, once again. Small-boats crossings are on the rise, and for those waiting for their chance, a new 'Jungle' has become home. Oli Dugmore is joined by Miles Ellingham and Jack Jeffrey who reported this week's cover story The truth about the small-boats crisis from northern France.
Andrew Marr joins Tom McTague to discuss the ascension of Shabana Mahmood, and the Blairites haunting Keir Starmer's government.
You might have missed it, many people did, but this week the Conservatives met for their annual party conference in Manchester. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Ethan Croft, who's just stepped out of the conference hall listening to Badenoch's speech, and later in the episode by Will Dunn - who's been watching the whole affair on GB News.
Is the Green Party Britain’s only viable left wing party? Amid other proposals, their conference voted to abolish landlords at the weekend. Meanwhile Labour is tweaking the surveying process for house buying, and the Tories say they’ll cut benefits to subsidise first time buyers. Oli Dugmore is joined by Luke O'Reilly and Megan Kenyon.
Two years ago, on October the 7th, 2023, Hamas militants committed a series of atrocities in southern Israel. 1,195 people were killed in the attacks. 251 people were taken hostage by Hamas, 47 remain in captivity. Some alive, some dead. Since then, war has ravaged the Gaza Strip and, in the form of escalating settler violence, spread to the West Bank. Israel has inflicted famine on Gazans. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in the conflict, a third of them children. And this war has rippled far beyond Palestine, Israel and the Middle East, affecting communities and politics around the world. In Britain, protesters have filled the streets, and questions are asked about why our government has supported Israel with weaponry and intelligence used in the Gaza strip. Last Friday, on Yom Kippur, the Jewish calendar’s most holy day, two worshippers were stabbed to death outside a synagogue in Manchester. Tanjil Rashid is joined by Rachel Cunliffe. Read: Under bombardment in Gaza City; What it’s like to be Jewish in Britain now; The world has abandoned the hostages; How Israel warped the West
And what do Labour really want from digital ID cards? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions.
Yesterday morning, on Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - worshippers were attacked outside a synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Two Jewish men were killed, three remain in hospital and the attacker, now known as Jihad Al-Shamie - a British citizen of Syrian descent - was shot dead at the scene by police. It was soon declared a terrorist incident. In close proximity to the October 7th anniversary, Jewish communities across the country have been shaken. Oli Dugmore is joined down the line by Ethan Croft.