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Alas Vine & Hitchens

Alas Vine & Hitchens

By: Daily Mail
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What's the Big Idea? Finally, Sarah Vine (once memorably described as being ‘like and loathed in equal measure, divisive, but never indecisive’) and Peter Hitchens (a man whose writing a critic was called to compare to a Guardsman’s boot: ‘as highly polished and potentially lethal’) meet once a week to look at the world and mutter, alas… Acclaimed columnist and journalist Sarah Vine and best-selling author and broadcaster Peter Hitchens discuss and dissect social, economic, and pop cultural flotsam and jetsam that have risen out of the dark waters of that week’s news.


Taking one big idea each episode and pulling it apart with élan, imagine Vine and Hitchens respective columns brought to life and then skewered, scoffed at, debated, and given the full weight of Vine and Hitchens impenetrable gaze. Though an accord might not always be reached, it’s the journey that matters.


Whether it’s the tech bros gone rogue – Meta tearing up its own rule book on fact checking, Musk attempting to influence governmental policy, or the knotty subject on society’s ever-increasing reliance on anti-depressants to treat what might just be the modern malaise and not depression at all. Or, evil, nature or nurture? Does evil actually exist or is it an idea that hangs over us, or do we just sometime embody it and the actions themselves are evil, not the individual? All this and more are to be pored over, one towering topic each week discussed with humour, insight, and real understanding.


To get in touch email alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on WhatsApp - on 07796 657512 start your message with the word 'alas'


Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

Producer: Phillip Wilding

Editor: Chelsey Moore

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

Executive Producer: Jamie East


A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daily Mail
Politics & Government
Episodes
  • The Covid Legacy and Now Is Not The Time
    Oct 22 2025

    On this week’s episode, Peter is rejoicing in the news that the clocks revert to true time on Sunday, whatever that might mean, and Sarah is asking why the hell we closed down schools during the Covid 19 pandemic and what long-term damage it’s done to our kids.


    Plus, why does Sarah think politics in its current form is beyond saving, and why her dad had many, many accents. While Peter wonders if we’re seeing the monarchy’s endgame.


    On our reading and watch list this week:


    · P.G. Wodehouse – Big Money

    · Peter Hitchens – Now Is Not The Time

    · Edmund Burke – The Evils Of Revolution


    Please do get in touch, email: alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.



    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Philip Wilding

    Editor: Philip Wilding

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • The End of Prince Andrew and What Did Thatcher Ever Do for Us?
    Oct 15 2025

    On this week’s episode, on what would have been Margaret Thatcher’s hundredth birthday, Peter and Sarah tussle over the former PM’s legacy, charisma and what she did or did not do for this country. Elsewhere, Sarah asks why should King Charles solve the problem that is Prince Andrew when the King’s brother should admit he’s a liability and retire from the public eye?


    Plus, where do our hosts like to holiday (Peter is not a beach bum for those who were curious)? What was Peter doing with the paparazzi staring at Princess Di? And why we should think long and hard about the repeal of the Corn Laws.


    On our reading and watch list this week:


    · Donna Leon – Death at La Fenice

    · Don’t Look Now – Director: Nicolas Roeg

    · Robert Browning – A Toccata of Galuppi’s

    · Not for Turning, and Everything She Wants - Charles Moore


    Please do get in touch, email: alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.



    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Philip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • Singing Bob Dylan on a Steep Hill and Health & Safety Gone Mad
    Oct 8 2025

    On this week’s episode, Peter and Sarah ask why parks shit down at the first sign of inclement weather? Why do under twenty-five-year-olds feel the need to rail against something, but not bother to read up on it first (we’ve all been there)? Elsewhere, Peter recalls chasing a bicycle thief while hitting him about the head with a bag of dirty laundry. Not to be outdone, Sarah admits to punching her brother in the face with her car keys, which should teach them both something about bringing up politics at a restaurant table.


    On our reading and watch list this week:


    · Anshel Pfeffer - Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu

    · E.H. Gombrich - A Little History of the World

    · Roy Strong – The Story Of Britain

    · Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall - Our Island Story: A History of Britain for Boys and Girls from the Romans to Queen Victoria


    Please do get in touch, email: alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.



    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Philip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    39 mins
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