Quiet Riot

As Nigel Farage gets Reform's local election campaign under way, we look at how his existing platoon of local representatives is doing (nb may involve the odd shambles). Plus, Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by Quiet Riot's favourite geopolitics titan, Arthur Snell, to discuss the new geography of climate change – which just happens to be the subject of his brand new book, Elemental (buy i...

Naomi Smith & Alex Andreou take a good look at whether Labour's new immigration and asylum reform proposals make sense - in terms of either policy or politics. And... As Kirsti Noem becomes the first fallen of Trump's Glorious Revolution 2.0, is this a one-off or has a rubicon been crossed? Plus... What are the series you know you MUST binge, but just haven't got round to yet? ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠...

A spring budget statement in the middle of a global meltdown. Can it make sense even a little bit? Well, possibly. Our guest is someone who really can get under the skin of these issues – uber-economist and author Vicky Pryce. Join Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell to find out (possibly) if Trump's Iranian adventure has rendered Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement redundant. And what of the...

Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell peer into the developing situation in Iran and the Middle East and try to glean if there is any longterm strategy or just a throwing of the dice. They also look at the Gorton & Denton by-election result and the reaction to it, to assess what its lessons might be and whether anyone at all is interested in learning them. Also Alex gets quite angry. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠...

Political geeks rejoice – it's a by-election week AND we've got polling god Peter Kellner in da house to talk predictions and implications. Join Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell as they dig through the last-minute 'what ifs' of Gorton & Denton. And they look ahead to the May elections too, ask whether Reform has peaked too soon and try to make sense of a fabulously chaotic political landscape in all...

A royal scandal for the ages ... but how much worse could the Mountbatten-Windsor meltdown get for the Royal Family? Spoiler: very. Join Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell for a particularly heavyweight Sunday School, featuring not just constitutional bedlam but potential chaos in the looming Gorton and Denton by-election. And there's the small matter of Trump, Iran and those pesky US airbases on Brit...

As the real world is sweating over unemployment figures, especially among younger people, Farage unveils a 'shadow cabinet' that is nothing of the sort, and appears to have no solutions. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell dive into the figures, and look at the broader economic outlook too – will lower inflation come to the rescue? ALSO, looking at the government's High Court defeat in th...

Britain is making its strongest pivot yet towards Europe, with a suggested Defence Union that seems to go well beyond defence. Sir Jim Ratcliffe soils himself in public and only sort of apologises to anyone whose nose is "too sensitive". And Nigel Farage, the most flexible worker of all, has a hissy fit about flexible working. Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith discuss what needs discussing and ridicule...

What was it really like in THAT meeting between Starmer and his MPs? And what next for the embattled PM? Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by Loughborough MP Jeevun Sandher to get an insider's view of a remarkable few days of politicking. Plus, what makes us British? Pubs? Shared wartime sacrifice? And what if you're a Celt? And there are llamas. Yes, you read that right. ***...

Roll up, roll up for MAGA money ... if you're a bit far right and based in Europe, at least. The US State Dept is planning to fund MAGA-aligned organisations throughout Europe in a ramping up of the culture wars, if new reports are accurate. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell consider what on earth could go wrong with Uncle Sam's deep pockets being emptied into the coffers of far righters in the EU a...

Mandelson has provided a political scandal for the ages but, amid the salacious detail and schadenfreude, what are the implications for Starmer, Labour and Westminster? Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell race to keep up with all the developments and also zoom out to look at the other power networks with tentacles spread throughout our political landscape. And they are joined by planet-brained author,...

Kemi Badenoch has frozen out Conservatives to both her political right and left. Which doesn't leave her much to work with when it comes to building support. So, is she stuck in the middle or stuck in a muddle having mocked Tory hot-heads of the right and wise heads of the (relative) left? Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell ask whether the Tory former big guns of Prosper UK are on to something with th...

It's chaos out there, chaos!! Labour lick their Burnham wounds, Braverman defects from the Tories to the 'other' Tories, and a new centre-right movement packed with old-school Conservatives makes its debut. Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell try to make sense of it all while staying chipper... no small feat. And they're joined by Arthur Snell – QR favourite and host of our sister podcast...

Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the rumours swirling around Andy Burnham putting himself forward to contest a parliamentary seat, after eight years as Manchester mayor, and game the various outcomes. And they discuss the latest Trump insult to Europe, the new defence strategy - and the first USA/Ukraine/Russia trilateral negotiations that just concluded in Abu Dhabi. PLUS are the Beckhams the...

He came, he saw, he conked out. Trump blew chaotically into Davos, demanded Greenland then carried out a spectacular U-turn. Well, for now at least. Whatever the outcome of this latest round of Trumpian Wheel of Fortune, one thing was very clear: Trump is a man struggling to make sense, even when he's been prepped for the biggest of stages. Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell talk Trump,...

The Robert Jenrick fiasco capped what was a mad week in the crazy world of Westminster. Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell dive in to the cartoonish series of events that culminated in yet another Tory lashing their political career to the Farage mast. And, in a not-entirely-unrelated segment, they also ask whether politics is in fact run on the same principles as cartoon favourite Road Runner. Meep-m...

Nadhim Zahawi?? Is this the moment Reform jumped the shark? Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell ask whether Farage's little project has, in fact, been hopping over Jaws for a while now. And they are joined by Times columnist and former host of the influential Chinese Whispers podcast Cindy Yu to discuss all things Chinese, from trade figures and Taiwan to Trump and that little planning di...

The journey from policy geek to politician is one that a higher-than-usual number of the new intake of Labour MPs have made. Throw in a Punjabi Sikh heritage, growing up in Luton, a doctorate in economics, and a spell in Somaliland, and the result is a picture of a particular kind of "Britishness" that is the kryptonite of right wing parties. Naomi gets to hang out with Jeevun and get his ideas on...

To her friends and colleagues, she was Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, prize-winning poet and guitarist. To the Trump administration, she was a 'domestic terrorist'. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the aftermath of the killing and ask what we are to make of the age of ICE. There is a lot to digest. And they discuss the latest X outrage, with Grok creating abusive images of w...

NOW what's he done, and why? Trump, the self-appointed King of Chaos, is ramping up that chaos, kidnapping foreign leaders, hijacking oil tankers, reiterating his threats to move in on Greenland and more besides. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by the redoubtable Arthur Snell – Quiet Riot regular, former diplomat, author and, of course, host of the excellent Behind The Lines podcast – to t...

Buckle up as we break out our crystal ball to make a few tentative predictions for the year ahead. Joining Naomi and Alex is Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation (also former boss of Oxfam GB, the youngest boss of the Royal Commonwealth Society and author of civic action bible Power to the People ... phew!). As it's Quiet Riot, expect a healthy dose of optimism ami...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And we kick off 2026 with an uplifting 40minutes that is short on politics and big ... very big ... on Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It. These are the most popular features on Quiet Riot so we thought we'd pull together a bumper episode featuring only Wokeys and GASIs. Marvel at the very Welsh response to last year's flag-flying epidemic; cheer for the beavers that couldn't be rel...

What's this? More holiday helpings of our James O'Brien special? You'd better believe it. And, as well as looking over our shoulders as 2025 disappears beneath the horizon, we're also asking what one thing we'd each change that would have made the world a (hopefeully) better place. Plus the usual Quiet Riot mixture of chat and chortles to help you through the twilight of the holiday season. Also ....

Ding-dong! It's time for our festive specials and this year we've got broadcaster extraordinaire James O'Brien with us to help prod the soggy sprout that's been 2025 ... and to peek in the oven to see how 2026 is cooking up. Who's had a bad year, a mad year, a (dare we ask) fab year? Buckle up for bants, insight and the usual helping of Quiet Riot laughter. And this is only part 1 of the show! Lis...

Turns out Epstein was a keen black rectangle collector. Either than or the DoJ is trying to rewrite history. Or at least redact history. ALSO - The Westminster Lobby is in a tizzy over losing their special access to No.10, but is this about less transparency or more? PLUS - Some hilarious panto-related political polling from our friends at More in Common. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou pick over the...