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.

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.

217 | Trump vs Iran: Is it for Real?

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.

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.

96 | Iran, Israel, Korea, the World

This week we try to make sense of what's happening to the international order, from the end of the Iran deal to the on-again-off-again US-North Korean summit to opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.  Can Europe carve out a separate foreign policy from the Trump administration?  Is regime change still the name of the game?  And what has it all got to do with the price of oil?  Plus we ask if anything is left of Obama's legacy and why it was so easy to undo.  With Helen Thompson, Aaron Rapport and Chris Bickerton.