139 | Adam Tooze on Europe

A special extra episode for this week with Adam Tooze, author of Crashed and one of our most popular previous guests. He takes us through the wider political and economic context for Britain's Brexit crisis, from Italy to France to Germany, and beyond to China and the US.  Plus he explains why Brexit is one of the great calamities of his lifetime.

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130 | The Fate of Theresa May

This week David and Helen try to make sense of everything that's going on: not just the Brexit drama, but its links to Macron's fate in France and Merkel's fate in Germany.  How will history see this moment?  Does Theresa May have any cards left to play?  Plus David responds to some of the feedback from last week's episode about votes for children.  Recorded on Weds morning before the result of the confidence vote, with a short update.

126 | Italy vs. Europe

We try to make sense of the big story in European politics this week: not Brexit (not yet!) but the high stakes standoff between the Italian government and the EU. Why has the proposed Italian budget produced this showdown? Who is really pulling the strings? And what does it tell us about the current prospects for populism in Europe? Plus we assess the ups and downs of the Macron project and ask what its fate means for the future of France and of the wider European project. With Helen Thompson, Chris Bickerton and Lucia Rubinelli.

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122 | How Bad Could it Get?

As crunch time approaches, we talk through some worst-case Brexit scenarios: for the government, for the economy, for Remainers, for Europe.  Have the negotiations been a humiliation for Britain?  Is the Tory Party facing an existential crisis?  And what might go wrong if the marchers for a 'people's vote' got their way?  Plus we speculate about what a no-deal Brexit would mean for Britain's service economy.  With Diane Coyle, Helen Thompson and Chris Bickerton.

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120 | Francis Fukuyama

David talks to the author of The End of History about his new book, Identity.  Can 'identity politics' really make sense of everything from populism to #MeToo?  Why are liberal democracies struggling to meet their citizens' desire for recognition?  And what happened to the end of history anyway?  Plus we discuss the Kavanaugh hearings, 'getting to Denmark' and the challenge of an ageing population. 

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118 | Brexit Choices

Back to Brexit: as decision-day approaches we try to work out what might happen next.  Did Labour patch up its differences? Can anyone really start the negotiations again?  And what would it take to get the EU to deviate from its script? Plus we explore some of the ideological roots of Tory opposition to Chequers and we ask what happened to the good old British by-election. With Helen Thompson, Chris Bickerton and Wassem Yaqoob.

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