Conter Radio

A special Easter Sermon. Collapse has arrived for Scotland's once dominant power clique. But the analysis of events is miles from reality.

The new Scottish Government are estate agents, selling Scotland behind a façade of nation building.

Pete Ramand and James Foley are joined by Jonathon Shafi to discuss the politics and prospects of Scotland's new First Minister: - What does the closeness of the SNP leadership race imply about internal party cohesion? - What will Yousaf's pitch be on independence - can it cut through at the next election? - Yousaf says he is a socialist - but what does this mean, and are there any prospects of pr...

On this week's Sermon, David Jamieson steps back from the SNP leadership fray to investigate the failure of Scottish nationalist ideology to launch. You can support Conter, and get access to exclusive content and events, by becoming a Patron: www.patreon.com/conterscot

Pete Ramand and James Foley are joined by David Jamieson to discuss the SNP meltdown: - How much do we really know about what's happened at the top of the SNP and Scottish Government? - Is SNP decline now assured? What about the continuing weakness of the opposition parties? - Are their any prospects for the socialist left in this mess?

The lies, the cynicism, the intrigue, the contempt - it's all unwinding at the top of Scotland's dominant party. Enablers and courtiers in civil society are fleeing the scene. A reckoning is due.

Cat and David examine erstwhile liberal hero Kate Forbes, indy Da choice Ash Regan and spherical economy minister Lorna Slater. Plus, why SNP HQ need to sort out their membership bagua.

Chris Bambery speaks to Willy Maley, editor of a new book called 'Our Fathers Fought Franco' about the Scots who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War. You can purchase a copy of the book at https://www.luath.co.uk/product/our-fathers-fought-franco

Pete and James present an in-depth survey of the 3 candidates to be our next First Minister: - Why is the debate so low-quality, and how much responsibility does Nicola Sturgeon have for the party culture that produced it? - How did the theology of the Free Church of Scotland become such a feature of the race? - Do any of the candidates represent a way forward for independence?

With voting about to open in the SNP leadership election, the deepest controversy remains a law passed 9 years ago that none of the candidates voted for. Scottish liberalism is incapable of addressing the great questions of our time.

This week's sermon explores the dissipation of the SNP project. No one quite seems to grasp yet how much damage has been done...

We spoke to Leandros Fischer, Assistant Professor for International Studies at Alborg University, about the pro-war left, the geopolitics of Europe and German political tensions over Ukraine. How did the European liberal left learn to see the progressive applications of war, and where is this creed heading?

None of the contenders for Scotland's top political job can match Sturgeon. What's worse, she hollowed the party of the democratic culture and intellectual life necessary for a reset.

Cat Boyd and David Jamieson return not to bury Sturgeon, but to praise her.

In this first of a two part examination of Tom Nairn's life and contribution to radical Scottish thought, Pete Ramand and James Foley talk to his long-time comrade and intellectual interlocuter George Kerevan. In Part 1 - Why did he disdain the traditions of the British left? - How did Nairn use Italian ideas to challenge the British left? - What was his relationship to the great theorists of his...

As MPs cheered and fawned over Zelensky in London, teenagers continued to die in the bloody ditches around Bakhmut. 'Glory' they called it in Westminster Hall. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

The Greens are on the streets protesting against their own policies. How can they weather this absurd contradiction? The answer can be found in their class base.

We spoke to Jay Sutherland, final year student at Strathclyde University and writer on the relationship between identity politics and activism, about student politics on modern Scotland. - How has industrial unrest on campuses changed student politics? - How have campus identarians come into conflict with workers? - What kinds of political operatives will emerge from the modern university?

This week, David Jamieson examines the record of the new Czech President and former Nato military leader Petr Pavel. What does it mean that Europe's transnational apparats are rising to prominence in national politics?

We spoke to academic researcher and writer Anton Jager about the crisis of civil society and the decline of mass politics. Taking as a starting point the seminal study 'Bowling Alone', he explore the decades long unwinding of political, civic and voluntary organisation which explains so much of the volatility of contemporary politics. This is the first part of our discussion: the second part for o...

In this week's sermon, David argues the latest constitutional crisis in Scotland only masks political convergence with Westminster.

Noam Chomsky spoke in a lecture co-sponsored by Conter and the Havens Wright Centre at UW-Madison, on the threats to human civilisation in the 21st century. Can we navigate environmental destruction, a crisis-prone capitalism and renewed militarism to establish an international order worth the name?

We speak to Dr Nick McKerrell, a constitutional law expert, about the Westminster government's use of Section 35 to block Gender Recognition Reform legislation passed at Holyrood. - On what grounds can/have they done this? - Is this an attack on devolution, or is it upholding devolution? - Does Holyrood produce bad legislation? Why is it so subject to legal challenge? - What are the politics behin...

On this week's Sunday Sermon, David speculates that Nicola Sturgeon may be trying to kill-off her own 'de facto referendum' strategy.

This week, David surveys the latest celebrity spats - from Harry vs the Windsors to Greta Thunberg vs Andrew Tait. What do we want from the celebrity deathmatch, and why do we find ourselves such eager spectators?