Marci Shore is a Yale historian of Eastern Europe, a scholar of 20th‑century totalitarianism, and, in her own words, “an early panicker”.

We trace her journey from the archive to the front line of political alarm: her Titanic feeling the morning after the 2016 election, and the “epistemological advantages” of studying fascism. We talk about the fantasy of America versus its reality, and whether this is the end of the affair with Europe.

We unpack the new techniques of power, the shameless lack of concealment, and what history tells us about the moment we’re living through—why denial is the West’s most dangerous luxury, and whether there is still time to act.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

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

David Aaronovitch is, in many people’s minds, the classic Hampstead political commentator: half‑Jewish, wholly metropolitan, former long‑time Times columnist and the calmly forensic voice of Radio 4’s The Briefing Room. From the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Henry Ford’s obsessions to today’s influencer‑economy cranks who monetise paranoia online, David traces what really motivates conspiracy theories, how they’ve evolved – and where simple denial shades into something darker.

From there, we wander through the new right‑wing networks and their culture‑war franchises: Matt Goodwin’s controversial picture of who ‘the elite’ really are, Viktor Orbán’s well-funded internationals, Nigel Farage’s theological policy guru and the grand narratives about ‘the war on Western civilisation’, migration, ULEZ, cyclists, feminism, low birth rates and Israel–Palestine that all add grist to the Culture Wars mill.

Along the way we touch on BBC cuts – whether David will keep his job - and whether the Corporation is still worth fighting for. And why, in 2026 it’s hard work being reasonable.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

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

Professor Danny Dorling, Oxford social geographer and professional spoiler of comfortable assumptions about Britain. He explains how geography began as imperial management and maps the link between empire and inequality that still shapes Britain’s place at the top of Europe’s inequality league table.

Danny shows how we went from our most equal moment in the 60’s and 70’s to today’s extremes, why the first faint signs of rising equality feel bad, and how the right feeds off the fear that inequality breeds. We talk “wealth creators”, British exceptionalism in private schooling, and how the elite consensus on climate change was broken.

Was it really Red Wall voters wot won the Brexit vote? Danny tells the true social‑geography story of Leave and how the media stigmatised the result.

We then ask why the “nice” left keeps failing to capitalise on its winning story – from the ‘dead cat’ tactic versus the long hard slog, to how Trump has changed trolling and warped the ecology of think tanks.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

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