Scot Goes Popcast

William Duguid is a Twitter legend, the benevolent dictator of Yes Perth City, and an all-round good egg. I spoke to him about the current state of the pro-independence New Media in Scotland, the SNP-Green deal, the prospects of the London government annexing Helensburgh after independence, and the new Demographics of Independence paper from Common Weal. For the home of the Popcast, please visit h...

A few months ago I spoke to Yvonne Ridley about her experiences as a prisoner of the Taliban in 2001. I caught up with her again today to hear her thoughts on the Taliban's extraordinary return to power in Afghanistan, and her take on how mass demonstrations and people power are the most promising ways of winning independence for Scotland.

Maggie McNeill is a semi-retired escort, and author of the popular blog The Honest Courtesan. Here she discusses her opposition to the so-called Nordic Model on prostitution law, which criminalises the clients of sex workers. She explains why it would be a bad thing to eradicate prostitution, even if it were possible, and why the New Zealand model of full decriminalisation would be a better exampl...

A short preview of the Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Rotterdam, with a reminder that the recent Panelbase poll commissioned by Scot Goes Pop found that 60% of the public want to be represented at the contest by a Scottish entry, not a UK entry.

Some very quick thoughts about the first day of results from the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. For the home of the Popcast, please visit: scotgoespop.blogspot.com

Chris McEleny is the Alba Party's lead candidate in the West Scotland region for Thursday's crucial Scottish Parliament election. Before joining Alba, he was leader of the SNP group on Inverclyde Council, and was twice a candidate for SNP depute leader. I spoke to him about various campaign issues, and also about the findings from the new Scot Goes Pop / Panelbase poll suggesting that most of the...

Alex Salmond is the leader of the newly-formed Alba Party. He was also leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) between 1990 and 2000, and again between 2004 and 2014. He was First Minister of Scotland between 2007 and 2014, and was effectively leader of the Yes campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. After the Alba Party launch he spoke to me about his exclusion from the first T...

Len Pennie, aka Miss PunnyPennie, is the social media sensation behind the Scots Language Word of the Day videos. Hear her explain why Scots is definitely a legitimate language in its own right, how teachers have been using her videos to teach Scots in schools, why she doesn't think Scots should become a fully standardised language like Gaelic, and what she thinks the status of the language will b...

Ellen Höfer is the creative director of EU Citizens for an Independent Scotland. Hear her views on Yes returning to the lead in the latest opinion poll, on the possibility of EU citizens being deported from Scotland if they don't sign up for the settled status scheme, on some prisoners being granted the vote, on the possibility of a post-election coalition between the SNP and the Greens, and on wh...

Denise Findlay is a former member of the SNP's Conduct Committee, and is widely credited as one of the tactical masterminds behind the 'quiet revolution' at the SNP conference last November, when many of the old guard on the NEC were ousted. Hear her views on the new Survation independence poll, Nicola Sturgeon's evidence to the Salmond inquiry, and the SNP's controversial new definition of transp...

Dr Tim Rideout is a newly elected member of the SNP's Policy Development Committee and the head of the Scottish Currency Group. He's a leading critic of the Sustainable Growth Commission's recommendations, and thinks Scotland should move to a new currency as soon as practicable after Independence Day. In this conversation you can hear his views on the six tests the Commission says would have to be...

Dr Yvonne Ridley talks about her experience as a prisoner of the Taliban and as a Respect parliamentary candidate. She also shares her memories of the 2014 independence referendum, and gives her thoughts on the sacking of Joanna Cherry.