Quiet Riot

Alex takes you through some impressions from the first night of Democratic National Convention, and finds it touching and inspiring. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. "Disarray was what was expected. Instead, what happened was absolute array. A party ready for a fight. And all of it enabled by the most dignified, respectful, affectionate, even, passing of the baton." You can stream the DNC h...

Naomi and Alex take you through what to expect from the Democratic National Convention starting tomorrow, discuss Farage's income, declarations of interest and MPs' second jobs, and gossip about the birth of their baby podcast, its mission, and what you can do to help it grow. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “[Farage] has not yet tabled a single written question in the Commons on behalf of...

Naomi Smith takes us deep into the stat tables of the recent YouGov poll and finds some stunning tidbits, about demographic breakdown and how much closer to the EU voters want to go - but also, how far they believe this Labour government has a mandate to go. “Scotland still leads the country with the highest proportion of voters wanting to get back in the club. Back in 2016, Wales voted narrowly t...

Naomi and Alex chat to special guests Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler and former Tory SpAp Salma Shah through the fallout of the riots and how we can carve a way forward. And we go through the Tory Leadership race candidates. Who will it be? And will anyone care? PLUS a very special Wokey Dokey about idiots blowing up their motorbikes and we give our guests a chance to showcase their favourit...

Ukraine's push into Russian territory took plenty by surprise (though probably not western defence chiefs). So what has changed in the war, and what do we know about the F16 jets that have been assigned a role in the conflict? Naomi Smith seeks reassuring words on the war from former diplomat, writer and podcast host Arthur Snell, whose career is an A-to-Z of diplomacy from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe...

Alex has boiled down an INTERMINABLE three hours of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, finally becoming TRUSK, into 20 minutes WITH a few comments. TL;DR - there is none. You really have to listen. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quie...

Alex goes through the week's political events, both here and across the Atlantic, with special guest Zoe Williams. “The Spectator is in a really difficult position. They’re not like the Daily Mail. They cannot turn round and hold the exact opposite point of view to the one they held yesterday, without intellectual consequences. If they wash their hands of Douglas Murray now, they will have to admi...

Why is Northern Ireland the only UK nation other than England where the riots took hold? Alex talks to Belfast MP Claire Hanna, who has seen thuggery in the last few days on her patch, about what factors make Northern Ireland different on this - and what wisdom, from decades of dealing with this sort of violence, actually applies more universally. A thoughtful and illuminating chat. “People have b...

Alex, Naomi, and special guest James O'Brien chat about the riots in England, the people who stoked them and now claim refuse all responsibility, and the toxic influence of social media. And in the second part, we look at Harris's VP pick, Tim Walz, and the remarkable turnaround in the US election. PLUS Wokey Dokey and You Gotta Troll With It. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and o...

Alex - a former regulator by trade - talks through the issues of social media regulation and the ultimate sanction of banning Musk from having history's most destructive midlife crisis at the expense of UK democracy. Please take a minute to subscribe to the podcast, like, review and rate us, and share Quiet Riot pearls on social media because sharing is good, is it not? You can find us on twitter...

Naomi and Alex talk about the Far Right riots up and down the UK, the extent to which they are an omen of worse things to come, or the final spasm of a faction of sore losers, the role disinformation has played, and what Starmer can do. Alex: “The far right have had a pretty bad year. The European election did not go their way in the mega-wave they thought, Modi lost his majority in India, Le Pen...

Naomi Smith chats to Conservative Home's Henry Hill about every aspect of the Tory leadership contest, who are the runners, who are the riders, who doesn't know if they're afoot or horseback, and what is at stake. A free-roaming and illuminating conversation - and a perfect illustration of our mission here at QRHQ, to build understanding. Henry on the length of the contest: “I think Conservatives...

The new buzzword in American politics is Weird, and it seems to be having an effect. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by transatlantic academic, author and podcaster Brian Klaas, Associate Professor of Global Politics at University College London, to talk weird politics, Kamala's crowds and a whole bunch of other fascinating stuff around the US presidential race. There's also a look at what...

Alex Andreou, in conversation with Christina Pagel and Tom Brufatto, teases out the main threads from the Covid Inquiry Module 1 Report and discusses the current wave of Covid sweeping the country and the status of Long Covid. “Our plan was how do we cope with the number of deaths. And they planned, into the 2011 strategy, for over 800,000 people to die over about five months. And nobody ever said...

OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY REACTION. Alex and Naomi with a bumper edition of your favourite weekly feature, looking at the comically insane and the insanely comical reactions to a man with a hole in his tights, a drag race, and Papa Smurf singing. What happened to Christian temperance and forgiveness? It's all pride and wrath these days. "They think it was making fun of The Last Supper – not The La...

A familiar voice returns to join Alex and Naomi – fresh from playing Angela Merkel with the Royal Shakespeare Company, actor, writer and all-round good egg Ingrid Oliver casts a knowing eye over the in-tray of Lisa Nandy, our new Secretary of Culture, Media and Sport. We talk theatre, music, libraries and even TikTok and footie, as the challenges facing Britain's arts and entertainment world join...

Alex with a short personal view, on how the treatment of Biden has set back the cause of trying to ease the stigma of conditions like dementia back by years. The way this was treated, often involved a sort of gratuitous cruelty and vicious glee that did not need to be there, served no purpose. It seemed just a chance to join in with a public humiliation. Please subscribe to the podcast, like, revi...

Goodbye Joe, he gotta go: Joe Biden has finally done what many considered inevitable, and exited the race to be the next US President. In this Quiet Riot special, our hosts Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by long-time Democratic Party donor and political analyst Mark Bergman, to prod the embers of Biden's 2024 campaign. Among the burning questions therein, we ask: Why now? What will the ne...

Alex chats to John Nicolson – now a former SNP MP – reflects on what went wrong for the SNP and how to fix it, as well as a wide range of topics, from the US presidential race to behind-the-scenes insights on the life political. And there's a little regret that he and his SNP colleagues weren't a little more awkward when they descended en masse on Westminster. With candid observations on some of t...

Naomi chats to newly re-elected Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran on the campaign, the stunning success, and what do they mean for the party going forward. Layla Moran on Ed Davey in a wetsuit: “You can’t do that unless you’re very comfortable in your skin. It’s quite exposing, politically and quite literally. He did take a risk, with bubbly Ed, but he pulled it off.” On LDs being the third biggest...

Alex talks to former UK ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, about the attempt on Trump's life, JD Vance as a Vice President pick on the ticket, and the prospects of the Democrats replacing Biden so late in the day. Naomi talks to Layla Moran about the King's Speech, what was in it, what wasn't, and what opposition can do against such a large majority. Add in your regular treats Troll with It an...

Alex chats to award-winning Cardiff-based journalist Will Hayward about Vaughan Gething's resignation and a perfect fifteen-minute explainer of the general election result. A potted summary of the Gething scandal. Who did well and who did poorly? Why is Reform building such a strong base in Wales? What next for a Senedd and a Labour party, both split right down the middle? Subscribe to the podcast...

Alex Andreou talks to author and politics professor Brian Klaas about the attempt on Trump's life - a moment of violence that is as shocking as it was predictable. "The US is a fundamentally broken society... All of the ingredients for political violence are in the US and have been for many years. The reason there hasn't been a high-profile assassination attempt in the US in the last few years is...

Continuing our series of focussed analysis of the general election, Naomi Smith chats to the deputy leader of the Greens, Zack Polanski, about every aspect of the result. What was different in this campaign that resulted in a quadrupling of Green seats? Will the LibDems' success in primarily Tory-facing constituencies leave space for the Greens to challenge the gov't from the left? How does a host...

This week, your stars Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith are joined by a genuine Chevalier, Olivier Morel, to cast a bemused glance at politics over La Manche and, closer to home, ask the big question: is Sir Keir showing signs of happiness? As well as being a partner at law firm Cripps, Olivier chairs the UK chapter of the French Foreign Trade Advisors and is on the board of the French Chamber of Great...