Welcome to Peter York’s Culture Wars House Party. This episode, I’m joined by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown—journalist, author, and broadcaster. Her journey from Uganda to Oxford, and into journalism in her 30s, has shaped one of the most distinctive and provocative voices in British media.

We explore why Yasmin says she’s moved further to the left over time, and how she sees the media playing a “double game”—deplatforming some voices while elevating others. She lifts the lid on what she calls “hive mind” journalism and explains why debate is narrowing, not widening.

Yes, Yasmin once wrote weekly for Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail—really. Now she’s calling out the BBC for weaponising “so-called impartiality,” questioning its coverage of Gaza, and defending her tweet: “Israel is a terrorist state.”

We dive into identity politics, and how the trans debate has become a moral litmus test: “If you’re on their side, you’re good and acceptable. If not, you’re dangerously woke—and apparently a threat to the nation.”

She also takes aim at the modern Conservative Party—now run, she says, by “ideologues” and “thugs”—and their sudden embrace of Ugandan Asians: “You didn’t love us—now you do, because so many of us are rich, and they fund you.”

And finally, does Yasmin’s wardrobe bring down the tone?

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

@peteryork.bsky.social

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Welcome to Peter York's Culture Wars House Party. In this episode, I’m joined by Dylan Jones—a defining figure in British media. He spent over two decades editing GQ and later ran the London Evening Standard, helping shape the national conversation around style, politics, and culture.

From ‘literally no experience, and couldn’t actually write very well’, we trace Dylan’s journey from art school maverick to media powerhouse. Expect career advice—why “we’re not looking for people with great ideas”—and sharp anecdotes: why he hired Alastair Campbell and Piers Morgan, threw Russell Brand out of his own awards ceremony, and photographed Melania Trump “like an evil Bond girl, scantily clad with lots of hardware.”

In a world of partisan noise, how does Dylan stay “slightly removed” from culture wars? And how is culture evolving now that “a lot of the big players in those worlds removed themselves”? What’s filled the vacuum? And is New York too parochial?

Plus: is the suede loafer from Jermyn Street under threat from a chisel-toe slip-on creeping in from another part of the capital?

“I went up to him afterwards, before I led him to the door, and said: ‘This is a pact. We're doing something for you. You do something for us. In what part of our agreement is it a good idea to slag off our sponsor?’”

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

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

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

Welcome to Peter York's Culture Wars House Party. In this seventh episode, I'm joined by Iain Dale—the prolific broadcaster, author, and political commentator. A fixture of the British media landscape, he currently hosts LBC’s evening show and was briefly a possible Conservative Party candidate in 2024.

We explore Iain's journey from party insider to media provocateur, his mission to rebuild the Conservative Party, the rise of social conservatism, and the decline of big tent politics.

We also delve into the influence of American culture on British politics—what it means to be “five years downstream” from the US—the state of public discourse, and Iain’s reflections on the culture wars, from anti-Semitism to trans rights.

Plus: what it’s like interviewing Donald Trump, working with Michael Ashcroft, and what Iain really thinks of Sir Paul Marshall. Does media ownership and regulation matter?

And we'll discover whether Iain Dale ever has a mooch on his high street.

“I'm really worried about the state of the so-called culture wars. I used to resist even using that term, because I thought the more you use it, the more you almost encourage them to continue, but you can't get away from it now. There are people on one side and people on another side, and never the twain shall meet.”

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

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

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