267 | Twilight of Democracy

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David talks to the writer Anne Applebaum about her highly personal new book, which charts the last twenty years of broken friendships and democratic failure.  We start in Poland with the story of what happened to the high hopes for Polish democracy, including what we've learned from this week's presidential election.  But we also take in Trump and Brexit, Hungary and Spain. What explains the prevalence of conspiracy theories in contemporary politics? Why are so many conservatives drawn to the politics of despair?  Is history really circular?  And is democracy doomed?

254 | Burma's Hidden History

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In this extra episode David talks to Thant Myint-U about the fraught recent history of Burma (Myanmar) and asks what it can teach us about twenty-first century politics.  Why did the West have so many illusions about Aung San Suu Kyi?  Can democracy really rescue the country?  What model of development might work in the age of Covid and climate change?  A wide-ranging conversation about the forces shaping our world.

253 | Britain Wrestles with its Past

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We talk with the writer and political commentator Fintan O'Toole about how British politics can and should deal with its imperial past in the age of Brexit.  From battles over statues to fights over nationalism we explore whether history has become the new democratic divide.  Why does Churchill loom so large over our politics?  Can Labour reclaim the mantle of patriotism?  Will the Union survive the history wars?  Plus we ask whether there has been a generational shift in attitudes to race and identity.  With Helen Thompson.

251 | Police State USA

We talk to Adom Getachew, Jasson Perez and Gary Gerstle about the politics of protest and the politics of policing in America.  What does 'Defund the Police' mean in practice?  Is the current crisis likely to empower or curtail the surveillance state?  How are the current protests different from ones we've seen in the past?  And where Minneapolis leads, will the world follow?  Plus we talk about the implications of the protests for the November elections.

249 | Matt Forde

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David talks to comedian and host of the Political Party podcast Matt Forde about his lockdown experiences and about his life with the Labour party: before, during and after the Corbyn years.  Plus we discuss the ways in which political allegiances are (and aren't) like supporting a football team.

248 | Facts vs Opinions

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David and Helen talk with Jonathan Shainin, Head of Opinion at the Guardian newspaper, about the challenges of political journalism in a deeply polarised age.  Is it possible to hold the line between news and comment?  Are the arguments about Covid a rerun of Brexit?  What can scientists and historians add to political analysis?  Plus we discuss how American journalism has changed the way it talks about race and
violence and what that means for the current moment.