Continuing our series discussing British political dramas of film and TV, host Ciaran is joined by Editors Michael and Sam to discuss House of Cards a 1990 BBC drama centring on the machiavellian rise of Francis Urquhart, the Tory Chief Whip passed over for a promotion to high office after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. We discuss; what does…

Host Sam is joined by editor-in-chief Ciaran to interview Colm Murphy, Deputy Director of the Mile End Institute and Lecturer in British Politics at Queen Mary University of London, about his new book Futures of Socialism 'Modernisation', the Labour party, and the British Left 1973-1997. We talk about the contested meanings of Modernisation, how it…

Host Ciaran is joined by Social Review editor Julia, and freelance trade union journalist Alex Maguire to talk about Sherwood - a BBC drama about two killings in a former mining village in Nottinghamshire. In this episode we cover; the weird Blue Labour politics of one of the killers, how the show deals with the real life elements of the murders it…

Host Ciaran joins Julia and Harry to discuss Roadkill, the 2020 BBC drama starring Hugh Laurie and Helen McCrory. In this episode we examine what the show says about Boris Johnson, the 2019 election, Tory "libertarians", and the genre of TV political thrillers. Guardian review of Roadkill List of films and TV shows that will be covered in future ep…

Ciaran, Harry, and Michael sit down to discuss the BBC 2018 series Bodyguard for a new series for The Social Review covering British political dramas of television and film. In it we'll examine what they say about the politics of their time and today, as well as why the genre has come to be so dominated by the format of police procedurals. In this …

Hosts Sam and Harry speak to freelance industrial relations journalist Alex Maguire about the current state of British trade unionism. Alex talks about, the TUC's upcoming conference, the various upcoming ballots & disputes that will define the autumn & winter, and gives a brief overview of the internal politics of Britain's largest unions. If you'…

Just Sam, Harry and Julia toasting the end of Joris and mulling what and who comes next, as well as how none of us are safe in high crime Britain as Sir Beer Korma continues to walk the streets.

We're joined by Chris Terry (@CJTerry) to digest last week's by-elections and to offer advice to Boris after he tragically lost two more seats to the Progressive Alliance hordes. Some moaning about the state of Labour gets chucked in the mix too. *Alexander Boris D'Pfeiffel Johnson and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day…

New host Sam joins @Harry_Balden, @ciaranmcgurdy, @michaeljbawden and @BallotWorld's @CJTerry to discuss the recent local elections. They talk: Tower Hamlets, Scotland, Wales, Chris gives a run down of how Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems did, and we discuss Keir Starmer's imminent imprisonment! Follow us on twitter Have a question you'd like an…

Join Michael, Julia, Tyron and Ciaran as they review the recent New Labour Documentary 'Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution. In this episode they go over all the various ways the 5-episode doc was essentially rubbish for a variety of reasons. Strong language throughout!

Join Michael, Julia, Tyron and Ciaran as they dissect everyone's favourite Labour Party documentary - The Wilderness Years! In this episode they cover, the beef, how bizarre British politics is and was, as well as what can be learned from the documentary. They also rundown some of the events at Labour Party Conference, strong language throughout!…

Join Michael, Ciaran and Tyron in this week's episode as they sit down to chat the end of the silly season and the upcoming challenges Labour Party conference presents. Some strong language throughout!

This week Michael and Ciaran sit down with Alex Maguire to discuss the recent Unite general secretary election which saw Sharon Graham, once decried as the candidate who would split the left vote, cruise to a shock victory. We talk what this means for Unite going forward, how Steve Turner and Gerard Coyne lost it, what becomes of Howard Beckett, an…

In the second part of this episode, Michael sits down with the former First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the reasons he thinks Welsh Labour continues to win despite changing political weather, what specific lessons can be drawn from his time in office as well as the constitutional future of the UK's Labour…

In the first episode of a new series, Michael sits down with the former First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the reasons he thinks Welsh Labour continues to win despite changing political weather, and what the UK Labour Party can learn from it.

This week Wrenna sits down with Leader of the Manx Labour Party Joney Faragher, to discuss Manx politics and the history of the Labour movement on the Isle of Man in the run-up to the 2021 Manx General Election.

This week Michael sits down with Alex Sobel MP to talk all things Open Labour, what's next for the organisation as a whole as they elect their next National Committee, as well as a bit of a rundown of what's going on right now in UK politics.

Join Michael, Lines, Ciaran and Julia as they answer questions from our listeners on progressive patriotism and the England football team, war on the boomers (what is it good for?) and what policies Labour should prioritise to start sounding more coherent. Some strong language throughout!

Join Julia, Sean, Tyron, Q, and special guest Chris Terry as they go full wonk and take a deep dive into the Boundary Review and what it means for British politics. Some strong language throughout!

Join Michael, Julia and Tyron this week as they sit down to talk England's heart-breaking Euro 2020 defeat, the Copa America and how national teams inform national identity. As well as this they take a look at the changes to Universal Credit and the Triple Lock coming down the track and how they present more problems for the Tories. Some strong lan…

Some strong language in this week's episode as Michael, Ciaran, Julia & Tyron talk the tensions around England unlocking, the tantalising prospect of football coming home and what's next for The Social Review.

Some strong language in this special episode as The Social Review gang rundown their thoughts on the Batley and Spen by-election, how the ground game felt for those knocking doors and how this narrow victory plays into the wider picture for the Labour Party.

Drugs mentioned throughout in this week's episode as Michael sits down with Ant Lehane from Volteface and the Labour Campaign for Drug Policy Reform to chat about the current state of drug policy and what's being done on the ground to reduce harm.

Some strong language and discussion of gambling in this week's episode as the gang take a look at the world of Cryptocurrency; Crypto as a subculture and the environmental damage it's already causing.

Strong language throughout as the gang sit down to discuss what went on during last week's G7 conference and the storm clouds forming on the horizon for the government.

This week the gang sit down to discuss the current dire state of the Labour Leadership and how it makes us all want to become the Joker. Strong language throughout!

This week's episode is one from the podcast vault recorded during our hiatus. Wrenna chats with Andrew Smith from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade about the current state of the arms trade and the United Kingdom's role in it.

Super Thursday wasn't all doom and gloom! Join The Social Review as we sit down with Matthew Hexter from Hiraeth and Megan Thomas from That's Devolved to chat all things Welsh Politics, Mark Drakeford's glorious victory and what the future holds for the Senedd.

Strong language throughout as The Social Review gang look over the weekend from hell for the Labour Leadership, its implications for the Labour Party and UK Politics as a whole.

Join Julia & friends for a bumper episode as they unpick and unpack the upcoming set of Welsh and Scottish Parliament elections as well as the local elections in England. The gang dissects the current state of play in British Politics and what the picture looks like for the Labour Party. Tyron also does his level best to get banned from Wales forev…

We're back! Join The Social Review team for our first episode back off hiatus as Joe interviews Matthew Lawrence and Laurie Laybourn-Langton about their new book Planet on Fire: A Manifesto for the Age of Environmental Breakdown. Together they examine the scope of the challenge facing states when it comes to the prospect of environmental collapse, …

Historian Jon Lawrence (author of 'Me, Me, Me? The Search for Community in Post-War England') sits down with Jasper to discuss his article on 'Vernacular Social Democracy' in the latest issue of Renewal. They dissect what the concept means, the intersection of liberal individualism with communitarianism, how Keir Starmer is doing so far, the weirdn…

We're back! Jasper chats to Peter Mason, National Secretary of the Jewish Labour Movement, to delve into the EHRC's Report on antisemitism within Labour, its long-term history and why left-wing thought is so susceptible to it, the future plans of JLM, and much more.

Joe, Lines and Julia meet to discuss two big new books about Corbyn's Labour Party: 'This Land: The Story of a Movement' by Owen Jones, and 'Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn' by Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire. The team discuss the book's different conclusions, whether it casts new light on Corbyn's Labour or not, the importanc…

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a... you get the gist. Jasper sits down with Christian Parenti, author of 'Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons From a Misunderstood Founder' (Verso, 2020) to discuss the political and economic legacy of the ten-dollar founding father.Was Hamilton really a free-trading capitalist, or a statist radical?How do Hamilto…

Honey, time to break international law! Jasper catches up again with Shadow Minister for International Trade, Bill Esterson, about the government's plan to breach their Withdrawal Agreement, whether Tony Abbott's appointment as trade advisor is just to whip up the culture war, and much more.

Morgan and Pete found a way to connect to the internet, and take a deep dive, helped by Annie Kelly (UK Correspondent, QAnon Anonymous), into the world of the QAnon conspiracy theory. How proliferate is it? How do well-meaning individuals become radicalised? How can they be de-radicalised? And what's the world's first conspiracy theory, and what do…

It's August and, with nothing better to do, Morgan embarks on an epic quest to discover what Modern Monetary Theory is, enlisting the help of trusty companions Megan Corton Scott (fellow-not-knower-of-what-MMT-is), William Sorenson (TSR writer, Labour Tenants), David Klemperer (TSR writer, former Institute for Government researcher) and Shreya Nand…

After a calamitous U-turn on exams, Jasper chats to Andrew Lawrence (Teach First Ambassador, HeadStartNE Co-Founder) and Fabia Crole (Head of Partnerships, Future Frontiers) about their respective work with disadvantaged students, what the algorithm revealed about Ofqual and government policy, the long-term impact on the class of 2020 and much more…

This week, Jasper & Morgan speak to Eve from We Can't Consent to This, which campaigns for legal change in how men who kill and injure women during sex are prosecuted. Eve outlines the modern history of the rough sex defence, the stories of women killed by their partners, and future plans for the group - as well as lessons from running a campaign, …

To discuss the government's new anti-obesity campaign, Jasper talks to TSR writer Liam Stewart about his essay on the measures for the website. They discuss their personal histories with food and weight, the socio-economic complexity of obesity, how bodies are socially judged, the internal tensions on the left between individual and collective resp…

Jasper meets Dr Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite (Lecturer in 20th Century British History at UCL and Co-Editor of Renewal: A Journal for Social Democracy) to chat about how old ideologies and orthodoxies continue to shape the Conservative Party, continued narratives of the undeserving poor, who gets to define what is political and what is not, the i…

Jasper chats to Ana Oppenheim (Labour activist, Momentum NCG member) about Poland's presidential election result: how did the far-right Andrzej Duda win again? What is the state of the left in Polish politics? And is this a sign that global illiberal populism still has some fight left in it? Fill in our listeners' consultation! https://forms.gle/Uq…

Jasper and Morgan talk to Sam Goodman, Senior Political Advisor to Hong Kong Watch, to discuss China's imposition of a National Security Law on the territory - what it means for human rights, how the UK should respond, possible futures, and how much responsibility the rest of the world bears for China's actions.…

Jasper and Wrenna sit down with Cathy Rowland, Headteacher of Dobcroft Infants School (and Wrenna's mum), to discuss life on the ground in schools right now, how the Department of Education has handled the crisis, the long and short-term impacts of school closures, keeping children safe online in lockdown, and much more.…

Jasper meets singer/songwriter Jermain Jackman, and Labour activists Jake Cable and Amen Tesfay, to discuss the 1987 Caucus, a new movement to enhance the representation and power of black men within Labour. They discuss racism in Labour, changing public perceptions of racism, how the Conservative Party may be trying to appeal to black voters, and …

In light of the murder of George Floyd, Jasper speaks to Richie Floyd, an organiser for the Democratic Socialists of America in Florida, to discuss the protests in the USA, abolishing the police, the intersection of racism and capitalism, and much more.Our new theme was composed by Katrina Toner: https://soundcloud.com/user-197477190…

One year on from the launch of The Social Review Podcast, Jasper looks back at the transformations and changes in British politics, what lessons we can learn, and what the future - uncertain as it is - may hold.

Jasper sits down with Robert Verkaik, journalist and author of 'Posh Boys: How the English Public Schools Ruin Britain,' discussing the history of private education, how it could be dissolved and what could replace it. Plus, Jasper chats to Callum O'Dwyer about his journey in suffering from Covid-19.…

Jasper and Morgan sit down with A.M. Gittlitz, author of 'I Want To Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism,' to discuss the life and afterlife of Posadas, UFology, and the history of revolutionary socialism and cosmism. Plus, in a new series on life in lockdown, Jasper chats to Kirsten Kurt-Elli about her work running a food bank and a ba…