145 | Green New Deal?

This week we talk about another side of capitalism: the innovation economy.  Can capitalism deal with climate change?  How much depends on the role of the state?  And who will pay?  We compare the Green New Deal to FDR's original version: does history show us how to get this done?  With Bill Janeway, author of Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy, Diane Coyle and Helen Thompson.  Plus: David and Helen catch up with the latest comings and goings in British politics: are the two main parties starting to break apart?  More - much more - next week.

142 | Back to Brussels

An extra episode as David and Helen try to work out where we've got to with Brexit after this week's votes in the Commons.  Can Tory unity hold?  Can EU unity hold?  Something's got to give - but what?  And when?

141 | The Problem with Political Leaders

This week marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most influential lectures ever given on politics: Max Weber's 'Politics as a Vocation', first delivered in Munich on 28 January 1919.  David and Helen talk with Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff, about some of its lessons for the age of Brexit.  Where have all the good leaders gone?  Is the party system to blame?  Are we suffering from an excess of conviction or a lack of conviction?  And who will be responsible if we see a return to violence?  Recorded before a live audience at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

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138 | What Now?

After the crushing defeat for Theresa May's deal in the Commons, we try to work out where we go from here.  How and when can Article 50 be extended?  What would it mean for parliament to take control of the process?  Do we need another general election?  Can this government survive?  It's all connected and we search for the path through the maze.  With Helen Thompson, Chris Bickerton and Kenneth Armstrong.

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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.

117 | Moneyland

We talk to Oliver Bullough about his acclaimed new book Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How to Take it Back.  Where is Moneyland?  How did London become its capital?  And will Brexit, or a Corbyn government, or another financial crash change how it operates?  A conversation about tax havens, money-laundering, the politics of corruption and the corruption of politics.  With Jason Sharman, author of The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management, and Helen Thompson.

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