Planet Normal

Financier Dame Helena Morrissey dons her spacesuit to join Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan on their latest voyage to Planet Normal. The founder of The 30% Club talks about the pandemic's ambiguous effect on women in the workplace, why staying silent over Brexit wasn't an option, and why we need a "burning of the red tape" to save the economy. Plus, she tells us why you won'...

David Davis MP is Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan's latest passenger as they blast off to Planet Normal. The Tory veteran talks about whether the A-Levels U-turn will be this government's poll tax moment, says don’t need to be “world leading”, we just need to be competent when it comes to coronavirus, and that the Cabinet would have benefitted from more experience in hindsight. Plus, a glimpse b...

Nigel Farage buckles up to join the Telegraph's Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan on their weekly voyage to Planet Normal. Never one to hold back, Mr Farage accuses the French navy of being a taxi service for immigrants, warns the Prime Minister that he's at risk of losing Middle England, and declares the Cabinet a bunch of "kids with rich daddies".  Plus, Liam welcomes Allison back after her...

Broadcaster Iain Dale hops into the passenger seat to join the Telegraph's Liam Halligan and guest co-pilot Kate Hoey on this week's voyage to Planet Normal. Iain tells Liam why he's been known to shame people for rudeness on social media, how he suffers from imposter syndrome, and why he's written a book about listening to the other side of the debate. Plus, Kate and Liam discuss why it's ha...

For the next two weeks former MP Kate Hoey steps into Allison Pearson's space-boots to join Liam Halligan as co-pilot to Planet Normal. Their guest this week is former MEP and director of the Institute of Ideas, Claire Fox, who tells Liam that there is a war on history led from the top, that the BBC is the now the "woke" channel and how she bruises after social media showdowns.  Plus, Ka...

Planet Normal goes back to its roots and speaks to... a normal person. This week it’s brave district nurse and Planet Normal listener, Holly, who tells Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan about the horrors of treatments delayed over the coronavirus crisis: a devastating move she thinks will cause more deaths than the pandemic itself. Plus, she reveals how care homes were “bulli...

Entrepreneur Luke Johnson is Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan's latest guest to blast off to Planet Normal. The man behind Pizza Express and Gail's Bakery tells Allison why the government's only effective lockdown policy has been 'Project Fear', how the High Street will have to get creative to survive, and reveals what other captains of industry are telling him behind closed doors. Plus, Allison...

Trevor Phillips, broadcaster, writer and former chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, is Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan's latest castaway to Planet Normal. The former Labour candidate for London Mayor tells Liam why guilt obscures media coverage of racial issues, how he knows what it's like to be randomly stopped by the police, and why he believes parts of the Labour Party jus...

Shaun Bailey, Conservative candidate for London Mayor, touches down on Planet Normal, alongside Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan. The former Special Advisor to the PM tells Allison why we're in for a "summer of discontent", why Labour hasn't been able to curb London's knife crime crisis and how speaking out against the Left as a black person is seen as an act of bravery. Oh...

Former Governor of the Bank of England, Lord Mervyn King, is the co-pilot on Telegraph columnists Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan's fifth orbiting of Planet Normal. He tells us why he believes no-deal Brexit scaremongering was an attempt to reverse the referendum result, how quantitative easing isn't always the answer, and why politicians should admit to changing their minds. Plus, Allison and L...

Novelist Lionel Shriver buckles up to join Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan for their fourth trip to Planet Normal. She tells us why her political views lose her both friends and awards, and why today’s literature fails to pique her interest. Plus, Allison and Liam weigh in on the footballer who took on the government and won, Marcus Rashford, why the reopening of schools sh...

It's what feels like week number 582 of lockdown, and it's trip number three to Planet Normal. This week, Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan blast off into a lively debate on what they'd like to do to a statue of Gavin Wiliamson and whether theme parks could possibly be safer than schools. Plus renowned oncologist, Professor Karol Sikora weighs in on why he wants the nation to...

In Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan's second trip to Planet Normal, former Head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove tells Allison why he believes the coronavirus started as an accident after it escaped from a Chinese lab, how organised intelligence activities at British universities aren't merely the stuff of spy novels and why he's ticked off with George Osborne.  Telegraph subscribers can listen t...

Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan take their first trip to Planet Normal, a space for shrewd political analysis from a distinctly “down-to-earth” perspective. This week, Allison struggles to defend Dominic Cummings, Liam reveals why the Prime Minister’s most senior advisor once slept on his floor and former Home Secretary, Alan Johnson weighs in on the reopening of schools -...