Talkback with Petrie Hosken

Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison following his conviction of raping a fan and sexually assaulting 3 other women between 2004 and 2009, during the peak of his entertainment career. As the judge handed him the sentence, he called him a predatory figure who showed an arrogant disregard for his victims. Previously, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said there’s evidence that w...

The sweeping Democratic gains in the US midterms have rippled across British politics, raising hopes in Westminster for renewed transatlantic stability and economic alignment. Reacting to the results, Prime Minister Andy Burnham described Donald Trump’s defeat as a pivotal opportunity "to focus on resolving the Iran war and easing the cost of living”. Are people getting fed up of extremes? Is...

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has dropped plans to make migrant care workers already in the UK wait 15 years for permanent settlement. Addressing the Commons, Mahmood confirmed that care staff earning at least £25,000 who arrived before May 2025 can still secure indefinite leave to remain after five years. The wait for other low-income workers has also been reduced from 15 to 10 years. The conces...

Chancellor John Healey unveiled his first Autumn Budget with a pledge to give British households and businesses “breathing space” amid mounting global cost pressures. Headline measures focus heavily on everyday expenses: gas standing charges to be phased out next year, import tariffs are scrapped on over 100 goods, fuel duty to remain frozen, and the national living wage to rise by 3.9%, among oth...

Tom Cruise's latest film Digger marks a major departure from his familiar action blockbusters. Playing a corrupt oil tycoon who triggers an environmental catastrophe, Cruise traded signature stunts for prosthetics and dark satire. However, reception has been brutal: despite praise for his daring artistic swing, it bombed at the box office, polarized critics and is tracking to be one of the cos...

When Valdo Calocane was sent to a high-security hospital for the 2023 Nottingham attacks, the public expected a sentence behind locked doors. What few realized was that he remained eligible for taxpayer-funded benefits. Because the court detained him under the Mental Health Act rather than sending him to prison, welfare regulations classified him as an NHS patient, not an inmate. He may now be eli...

Violent youth clashes have rocked Europe, with curfews imposed across France following widespread arrests, and Italy approving emergency anti-riot measures after unrest in Bologna and Milan. The disorder began with students protesting over school conditions, but have since escalated to take in a broader range of concerns. Petrie is asking you; do you think the youth of the UK are going to follow s...

Petrie picks up the final threads from the story of a man jumping into a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and asks you if holding animals like this in captivity is asking for trouble? It's also been announced that the tiger will not be euthanised, but do you agree with that decision? Former Director of Comms for The Conservative Party, Amy Fisher, gives her thoughts before you get to...

Addicts claiming disability benefits are paid lump sums worth thousands of pounds that they immediately spend on alcohol and drugs, experts say. Almost 18,000 people are claiming Pip with substance or alcohol abuse as their main disabling condition, meaning it is the most debilitating of potentially a number of health issues. Last year, the government spent an estimated £128m on Pip payments for p...

The U.S. Army has scheduled the execution by firing squad of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan for the 3rd of December. US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, announced that the first public execution in the U.S. since 1936 will be live-streamed, although President Donald Trump told reporters he had personally approved the online feed, but had yet to “make a determination on whether to allow it”. Lawma...

In a case that has shocked the world, death row inmate Christa Pike is now conscious and speaking at a hospital after surviving Tennessee's failed execution attempt. Pike’s is the only person in modern U.S. history known to have survived a complete execution attempt after receiving two full doses of lethal injection drugs. Her legal team described her survival as "medically unprecedented&...

Britain’s political landscape has seen sharp drama as the Conservative Party Conference convened in Birmingham, while the Green Party was plunged into crisis. At the Tory conference, leaders pitched "The Right Way" platform, with Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith pledging broad tax cuts and sweeping deregulation to drive economic growth. Meanwhile, Green Party Leader Zack Polanski faces...

Andy Burnham has said it’s “possible” Labour’s next election manifesto could include an in-out referendum on re-joining the EU in his strongest signal yet of his intentions to repair the damage of Brexit. The prime minister also said that securing closer ties to the EU “isn’t about leaping to a referendum”, but, if public opinion was “pointing towards” backing re-entry, he could commit to holding...

Addressing the Labour Party Conference, PM Andy Burnham pledged a decisive break with "politics as usual," warning that standard political approaches have left the country trailing. In a wide-ranging speech focused on systemic reform, Burnham framed housing as a basic necessity rather than a purely speculative market. He also tackled one of the third rails of British politics by signalli...

With Labour conference underway, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a key foreign policy reset, banning imports from illegal settlements, while Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled legal refugee routes for Afghan women, girls, and displaced Palestinians. Have you lost your compassion over immigration? Petrie gets the feelings of Author and Journalist, Andrew Hosken, before finding out if y...

According to a Carers UK report, more than 1,500 Britons quit their jobs every day to care for sick, elderly, or disabled loved ones. Seven years ago. There are 11 million unpaid carers in the UK now, costing the economy an estimated £37 billion annually, and experts warn that businesses are bleeding valuable skills. Would you give up work to care for a loved one? Have you already done so? Directo...

The small village of Piddington is set to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers. In response, residents held a symbolic referendum on whether it should remain part of the UK. Between putting asylum seekers in hotels and housing them in military barracks, Petrie is asking you, what has to be done to satisfy you when it comes to housing migrants? She gets your opinions after first hearing from Politi...

A historic summit in Cardiff has taken place where nationalist leaders from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland declared that Westminster’s time is coming to an end. Marking the first time all three nations simultaneously feature nationalist leadership, signing a joint Memorandum of Understanding. Calling the meeting a pivotal moment, they asserted their right to self-determination and urge...

New analysis reveals an alarming 36% rise in the number of children and young people attending Emergency Departments in England with mental health concerns, with the sharpest and fastest increase of 62% in children between 6 and 9.  Should we be punishing parents when their children display antisocial behaviour? How would you go about doing that? Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Professor, Den...

A significant reduction in UK border crossing has been recorded this summer. Reports are that small-boat crossings have dropped to a six-year summer low, with total arrivals down 43% from the previous year.  With crossings down, why aren't we more happy with the numbers? Researcher from More in Common, Miles Jones, discusses these new figures before we find out you feelings migration. Hosted...

How do you stay healthy during a heatwave? Do carbohydrates and sugar make you look older? Just what are postbiotics? Petrie talks through all these, and any other health and wellbeing questions that you have with Nutritionist and Broadcaster, Monica Price. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

British energy consumers have paid over £1 billion this year to turn off wind turbines when power lines cannot handle the electricity. The electricity grid cannot move all the power from where it is being generated to where it is needed because of a lack of proper cables and, as a result, wind farms in places like Scotland are regularly turned off, while gas plants close to demand centres in the s...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has unveiled a controversial criminal justice proposal to deport foreign offenders and rent overseas prison capacity in nations including El Salvador, Kosovo, and the Baltic states. The party claims the move, alongside temporary Nightingale facilities, would free up over 10K spaces to end Labour’s early release scheme. However, Labour dismissed the plan as a...

Do you have problems with wrinkles? Sagging jowls? Pigmentation and sun damage? If you have a problem with these or anything else caused by ageing, Petrie finds out the answers. Skincare Expert, Lesley Reynolds, who is also the co-founder of Harley Street Clinic, and Co-Host of the Next In Line Podcast, Sophie Cooper, give some professional tips on anti-ageing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

The High Court has cleared the way for a landmark clinical trial on puberty blockers, rejecting a legal challenge from campaigners who argued that safeguards were inadequate. Run by King’s College London, the Pathways trial will recruit over 220 gender-questioning children aged 11 to 16 to evaluate the drugs' safety and risks.  Do you think this is ethically or morally wrong? Petrie spea...