Larchmont Productions

Politics on the Couch

News EN ↓ 55 episodes

Rafael Behr examines how our minds respond to politics and how politicians mess with our minds. In each episode an expert from the world of politics, psychology, history or philosophy joins Raf on our 'couch' to discuss what's driving our political thought and behaviour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author

Larchmont Productions

Episodes

We can log out but can we ever leave? Helen Lewis talks about the trouble with Twitter 17.06.2020 31:28

This week Rafael Behr and Helen Lewis discuss social media's corrosive effect on politics and public discourse, and how we can all respond. Helen Lewis is a staff writer at the Atlantic, was deputy editor at the New Statesman, presents BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour, and is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's News Quiz. She's written a book about the history of feminism, is ambivalent towards Twi...

Trust in the Time of Coronavirus 08.06.2020 49:34

This week, Rafael Behr talks to Bobby Duffy from The Policy Institute at King's College London about trust in the government during the Coronavirus pandemic and how our identities and cognitive biases affect who we trust in politics. Topics discussed in order 1-4 Fall-out from Dominic Cummings;Public health messaging during lock-down;Stats coronavirus tests it says it’s been carrying out;Bobby Duf...

Has Cummings cut through - in all the wrong ways? 27.05.2020 23:24

In this bonus edition Rafael Behr takes a break from his lock-down holiday to ask - what is 'political cut-through' and why Dominic Cummings appears to have cut so deep into the national conversation? In the midst of a pandemic, has a political mover renowned for capturing the mood of nation misjudged it this time? NB This episode was recorded on the morning of 26 May before any post-conference op...

How does it feel ? In conversation with Parliament's only politician and psychotherapist 07.05.2020 47:22

This week Rafael Behr talks to The Lord John Alderdice about his incredible life as a politician, psychiatrist and psychotherapist. They discuss how his formative years living in Northern Ireland influenced his decision to train as a psychiatrist and then psychotherapist; how this then informed his whole approach to politics and his political philosophy; and how it also helped him as a key negotia...

How pandemics affect our political brain 11.04.2020 41:13

This week our host Rafael Behr is in conversation with Dr Leor Zmigrod about how cognitive science can help us understand how political identities are formed, and how people's ideological affiliations might affect how they respond to a national crisis. If you want to delve further into the topic Reader-friendly essays Zmigrod, L. (2019). The partisan brain: cognitive study suggests people on the l...