226 | Doomsday Clock

A special extra episode with Rachel Bronson, president of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, about their decision to move the Doomsday Clock 20 seconds nearer to midnight, closer that it's ever been.  She explains why the world is more dangerous now than even at the height of the Cold War and what are the risks that keep her awake at night.  How close really are we to the end?  Scary but essential listening.  Recorded at the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.

225 | Superforecasting

We talk to David Spiegelhalter, Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, about the science of forecasting.  Who or what are the superforecasters?  How can they help governments make better decisions?  And will intelligent machines ever be able to outdo the humans at seeing into the future?   From Cummings to coronavirus, a conversation about the knowns, unknowns and what lies beyond that.

224 | Super Tuesday Special: Biden's Back!

A special live edition recorded on the morning after Super Tuesday: we try to make sense of where the Democratic race now stands. How did Biden pull it off?  Is there a path back for Sanders?  And what role was Obama playing behind the scenes?  Plus we ask which strategy now makes sense for the general election and whether Trump has got the candidate he wants or the one he fears.  With Helen Thompson and Gary Gerstle, recorded at the McCrum Lecture Theatre in Cambridge.

223 | Blair's Labour and Johnson's Brexit

David and Helen catch up on the state of British politics, from Blair's advice to the Labour party on its 120th birthday to growing divisions in Johnson's Tory party.  Is there really a liberal progressive coalition in Britain?  Can Brexit deliver both free trade and levelling up?  And what does Cummings really want?  Plus we talk
about Helen's lecture on Britain, the EU and geopolitics: (listen here).

222 | Michael Ignatieff on the Future of Democracy

A special live edition recorded in front of an audience in Cambridge: David talks to writer, broadcaster, academic and politician Michael Ignatieff about his personal experiences of democratic politics.  From his bruising time as Liberal party leader in Canada to his recent confrontations with the Orban government in Hungary, from climate change to populism, from Johnson to Trump, we discuss what's happened to
democracy and where he sees the grounds for hope.  A wide-ranging conversation about the good and the bad of contemporary politics.

221 | Macron vs Everyone

We talk to Shahin Vallee, former economics advisor to Emmanuel Macron, about the state of the Macron presidency: from the gilets jaunes to the pensions protests, from dealing with Merkel to facing off with Putin, and from now to the next presidential election in 2022.  Did Macron save the centre of French politics or has he destroyed it?  Can he really be sure he'll beat Le Pen next time?  And what is his plan to rescue the West?  Plus, we discuss what the Griveaux and Mila affairs tell us about the state of French politics.  With Helen Thompson.