314 | Adam Curtis

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This week David talks to the celebrated film-maker Adam Curtis about his new series Can't Get You Out of My Head, which tells the history of the rise and fall of individualism. Why do so many people feel so powerless in the age of the empowered individual? How has digital technology turbo-charged our feelings of alienation? And what has all this got to do with behavioural psychology? Plus much more: Nixon, China, Dominic Cummings, complex systems, Max Weber and conspiracy theories.

217 | Trump vs Iran: Is it for Real?

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David and Helen talk to Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor at the Economist, about the fallout from the killing of Soleimani and the future of American power.  Is Trump a madman or is he a realist (or is he neither)?  What sort of threat does Iran pose to American interests in the region and the wider world?  And what has all this got to do with oil and climate change?  Plus, in the week Trump's impeachment trial gets underway, we ask who or what can limit the power of the presidency.

195 | Impeach This!

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We catch up with Gary Gerstle and Helen Thompson about the state of the Trump presidency, from and cover-ups to Syria and Ukraine. We ask what it would take for Republican senators to desert him and what the collateral damage is likely to be for the Democratic presidential candidates. Plus is Hillary really - really?! - back in the game?

146 | Best Political Novels

A break from Brexit this week: we talk to the novelist Richard T. Kelly, author of Crusaders and The Knives, about what makes great political fiction.  We discuss the research needed to make a political novel authentic, how to get inside the head of a politician and we ask whether May or Trump would make good fictional heroes.  Plus we pick some of our favourite political novels, with literary critic Kasia Boddy. 

Don't worry: more Brexit soon!

136 | Talking Politics guide to ... Bretton Woods

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David talks to Helen Thompson about the economic order that was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. What was agreed at Bretton Woods, how did it work, why did it eventually fail, and can any of it be revived?

99 | Trump Abroad

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From the G7 to the Singapore summit, it's Trump's world: we just live in it.  This week we try to get some perspective on these spectacular events.  Is Trump's behaviour really unprecedented for an American president?  What is the point of the G7?  Where is his relationship with Kim heading?  Plus we compare with summits past: Nixon in China, Reagan & Gorbachev, or something new?  With Helen Thompson and Andrew Preston, who gives a Canadian view.  Next week: Grenfell.