Quiet Riot

Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith discuss a parliamentary report on disinformation, in the light of news that the BBC has chosen a former Google executive as its new boss. And - as promised - they bring you our research into party membership in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, to supplement QR's midweek deep dive. Finally, can you tell Prank from Frank? Alex and Naomi test each other with far fet...

How would you feel about a medical examination that was designed to make you faint? What about having to instal soundproof doors and blinds, because noise and light can bring on seizures? Welcome to the world of the Long Covid patient – and there are millions of them. Six years since the first Covid lockdown, humans have become relatively blasé about the disease. But it has cast a crippling shadow...

As the US keeps 'negotiating with itself' (Iran's words...) we ask tentatively what impact the ongoing conflict will have on our wallets, purses and digital wealth stores. Plus, a look at new research revealing perhaps too much about the sort of people who are actual *members* of a political party. Spoiier alert: they're outnumbered handsomely by the number of criminals out there, not that there's...

For this bonus episode, award winning journalist, writer and podcaster Will Hayward joins Naomi Smith to break down all you need to know about the forthcoming Senedd elections, as well as his brilliant new book, "Who Cares About Wales?" As well as discussing the current fortunes of Plaid, Reform, Labour, Conservatives, Greens and Lib Dems, you’ll also find out Farage’s thoughts on the “foreign” We...

War? What war? As missiles continue to whizz around the Middle East and the global economy continues to sweat as a result, Trump looks to be planning his exit from that Iranian adventure. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell look at the latest, and wonder if US plans to de-escalate the conflict will be as well thought through as its plans to escalate were in the first place. And, away from the madness...

As the UK and Europe push back on Trump's overseas adventures, Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by MP for Oxford East, Dame Anneliese Dodds, to look at the Iran latest, the Ukraine defence partnership, and the government's pivot towards the EU. Starmer is, for once, in tune with the public mood. Can foreign policy repair his domestic reputation? Plus, we talk overseas aid (or the lack of it...

Brace yourselves for an episode with a particularly adult feel... fret not, it's still Quiet Riot. Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell start with the latest on Mandelson, and the never-ending political fallout from his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Then they turn their gaze to the Government's muddle over pornography – specifically, the row over whether content representing incest por...

As Nigel Farage gets Reform's local election campaign under way, we look at how his existing platoon of local representatives is doing (nb may involve the odd shambles). Plus, Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by Quiet Riot's favourite geopolitics titan, Arthur Snell, to discuss the new geography of climate change – which just happens to be the subject of his brand new book, Elemental (buy i...

Naomi Smith & Alex Andreou take a good look at whether Labour's new immigration and asylum reform proposals make sense - in terms of either policy or politics. And... As Kirsti Noem becomes the first fallen of Trump's Glorious Revolution 2.0, is this a one-off or has a rubicon been crossed? Plus... What are the series you know you MUST binge, but just haven't got round to yet? ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠...

A spring budget statement in the middle of a global meltdown. Can it make sense even a little bit? Well, possibly. Our guest is someone who really can get under the skin of these issues – uber-economist and author Vicky Pryce. Join Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell to find out (possibly) if Trump's Iranian adventure has rendered Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement redundant. And what of the...

Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell peer into the developing situation in Iran and the Middle East and try to glean if there is any longterm strategy or just a throwing of the dice. They also look at the Gorton & Denton by-election result and the reaction to it, to assess what its lessons might be and whether anyone at all is interested in learning them. Also Alex gets quite angry. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠...

Political geeks rejoice – it's a by-election week AND we've got polling god Peter Kellner in da house to talk predictions and implications. Join Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell as they dig through the last-minute 'what ifs' of Gorton & Denton. And they look ahead to the May elections too, ask whether Reform has peaked too soon and try to make sense of a fabulously chaotic political landscape in all...

A royal scandal for the ages ... but how much worse could the Mountbatten-Windsor meltdown get for the Royal Family? Spoiler: very. Join Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell for a particularly heavyweight Sunday School, featuring not just constitutional bedlam but potential chaos in the looming Gorton and Denton by-election. And there's the small matter of Trump, Iran and those pesky US airbases on Brit...

As the real world is sweating over unemployment figures, especially among younger people, Farage unveils a 'shadow cabinet' that is nothing of the sort, and appears to have no solutions. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell dive into the figures, and look at the broader economic outlook too – will lower inflation come to the rescue? ALSO, looking at the government's High Court defeat in th...

Britain is making its strongest pivot yet towards Europe, with a suggested Defence Union that seems to go well beyond defence. Sir Jim Ratcliffe soils himself in public and only sort of apologises to anyone whose nose is "too sensitive". And Nigel Farage, the most flexible worker of all, has a hissy fit about flexible working. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith discuss what needs discussing and ridicule...

What was it really like in THAT meeting between Starmer and his MPs? And what next for the embattled PM? Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by Loughborough MP Jeevun Sandher to get an insider's view of a remarkable few days of politicking. Plus, what makes us British? Pubs? Shared wartime sacrifice? And what if you're a Celt? And there are llamas. Yes, you read that right. ***...

Roll up, roll up for MAGA money ... if you're a bit far right and based in Europe, at least. The US State Dept is planning to fund MAGA-aligned organisations throughout Europe in a ramping up of the culture wars, if new reports are accurate. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell consider what on earth could go wrong with Uncle Sam's deep pockets being emptied into the coffers of far righters in the EU a...

Mandelson has provided a political scandal for the ages but, amid the salacious detail and schadenfreude, what are the implications for Starmer, Labour and Westminster? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell race to keep up with all the developments and also zoom out to look at the other power networks with tentacles spread throughout our political landscape. And they are joined by planet-brained author,...

Kemi Badenoch has frozen out Conservatives to both her political right and left. Which doesn't leave her much to work with when it comes to building support. So, is she stuck in the middle or stuck in a muddle having mocked Tory hot-heads of the right and wise heads of the (relative) left? Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell ask whether the Tory former big guns of Prosper UK are on to something with th...

It's chaos out there, chaos!! Labour lick their Burnham wounds, Braverman defects from the Tories to the 'other' Tories, and a new centre-right movement packed with old-school Conservatives makes its debut. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell try to make sense of it all while staying chipper... no small feat. And they're joined by Arthur Snell – QR favourite and host of our sister podcast...

Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the rumours swirling around Andy Burnham putting himself forward to contest a parliamentary seat, after eight years as Manchester mayor, and game the various outcomes. And they discuss the latest Trump insult to Europe, the new defence strategy - and the first USA/Ukraine/Russia trilateral negotiations that just concluded in Abu Dhabi. PLUS are the Beckhams the...

He came, he saw, he conked out. Trump blew chaotically into Davos, demanded Greenland then carried out a spectacular U-turn. Well, for now at least. Whatever the outcome of this latest round of Trumpian Wheel of Fortune, one thing was very clear: Trump is a man struggling to make sense, even when he's been prepped for the biggest of stages. Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell talk Trump,...

The Robert Jenrick fiasco capped what was a mad week in the crazy world of Westminster. Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell dive in to the cartoonish series of events that culminated in yet another Tory lashing their political career to the Farage mast. And, in a not-entirely-unrelated segment, they also ask whether politics is in fact run on the same principles as cartoon favourite Road Runner. Meep-m...

Nadhim Zahawi?? Is this the moment Reform jumped the shark? Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell ask whether Farage's little project has, in fact, been hopping over Jaws for a while now. And they are joined by Times columnist and former host of the influential Chinese Whispers podcast Cindy Yu to discuss all things Chinese, from trade figures and Taiwan to Trump and that little planning di...

The journey from policy geek to politician is one that a higher-than-usual number of the new intake of Labour MPs have made. Throw in a Punjabi Sikh heritage, growing up in Luton, a doctorate in economics, and a spell in Somaliland, and the result is a picture of a particular kind of "Britishness" that is the kryptonite of right wing parties. Naomi gets to hang out with Jeevun and get his ideas on...