The Social Review

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 ethical parliamentary whipping look like? Why has...

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 came to be thought of synonymously with N...

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 portrays, and how the show covers both the spycop...

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 episodes *This episode was recorded before...

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 episode we discuss: the snoopers charter, orga...

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'd like to read more about trade unio...

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 answered on the podcast? Ask us here

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, and the Labour party gets a brief mention.  Che...

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 Parties.

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 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 language throughout!

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.

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.