The Critic Podcast

And is there a point to counter-factual history? -- This week, Graham Stewart speaks to Katharine Birbalsingh, headmistress of Michaela Community School in Brent, on education and schooling during Coronavirus. Michaela Community School (https://mcsbrent.co.uk/) is a trail-blazing school achieving very high results from its pupils. Also in this podcast, Graham asks Jeremy Black, Emeritus Professor...

And what is oligarch money doing to the art world? -- In this week's Critic podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Imperial Legacies: the British Empire around the world, argues that campaigns across universities to "decolonise the curriculum" are often less about broadening the range of interpretations of the past and more about promoting a radical alternative political agenda. Graham Stewart...

And how much longer can Britain's WWII commemorations endure into the future? -- How much longer should the lockdown go on and is it now causing more problems than it is solving? To discuss the suppositions that got us into the lockdown and whether the government's 5 tests are valid measures to meet before relaxing it, the Critic's political editor Graham Stewart talks to the lockdown sceptic and...

...and is Scottish Labour still relevant for Starmer's Labour party? --- In this week's Critic podcast, our political editor, Graham Stewart asks Professor Jeremy Black why Britain's armed forces are better trusted to deliver procurement than other state bodies (like the Department of Health and Public Health England) and whether Britons have always held the armed forces in such high esteem? Graha...

As working from home becomes the new norm, Natascha Engel (former Labour MP for North East Derbyshire and Deputy Speaker for the House of Commons) discusses with Graham Stewart about the shift to online parliament, and why we should be wary about making this a permanent change. Also, Professor Jeremy Black considers how online learning has effected universities, and what this means for their futur...

In this week's podcast, Graham Stewart discusses with Kapil Komireddi and Toby Young about the origins of the Coronavirus crisis, whether we should be in a lockdown at all, and whether saving vulnerable lives is an economic price worth paying. Kapil Komireddi is the author of internationally acclaimed ‘Malevolent Republic: A short History of the New India’, and Toby Young is the commentator and fo...

This week, Graham Stewart speaks to Emiritus Professor of History at Exeter University, Jeremy Black, about historical reactions to national crises, and David Scullion discusses how Europe’s response to the Coronavirus differs to that of Taiwan with Dr Radomir Tylecote. Dr Tylecote is a fellow at the IEA having studied State interventions in the Chinese Economy for his PhD which included fieldwork...

This week, Graham Stewart spoke to James Orr, lecturer in the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University, about the effects of Coronavirus on the church and where faith fits into our pandemic-stricken society. Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. --- "Modern Jazz Samba" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons...

This week Graham Stewart spoke to our US editor Oliver Wiseman who reports back from a Prepper camp in West Virginia, and the Director of the European Research Group Christopher Howarth explains how MPs are carrying on in a half-empty parliament. Oliver's dispatch from Fortitude Ranch can be found in the upcoming issue of The Critic Magazine https://thecritic.co.uk/were-all-preppers-now/ Right now...

This week author DJ Taylor reveals the many women pursued by the novelist George Orwell and TV Critic Adam LeBor discusses the Channel 4 satire 'The Windsors'. https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/march-2020/brief-encounters-and-romps-in-the-park/ Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. --- "Modern Jazz Samba" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Lic...

This week Richard Waghorne argues for keeping people in the dark when it comes to Coronavirus where it would improve morale, Sarah Ditum, our new Pop Critic talks about how TikTok is influencing the way music is written and Oliver Wiseman gives an update on the US election 2020 Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. --- "Modern Jazz Samba...

Is Parliament's role to be a check on government (as John Bercow believed) or a means of government (as Boris Johnson expects)? In this week's Critic podcast Professor David Starkey distills 750 years of parliamentary history to challenge the notion of a constitutional separation of powers. David's latest article can be found here: https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/march-2020/a-one-sided-view-of-hist...

Steve Baker MP speaks to The Critic about his resignation from chairing the ERG, the group of eurosceptic MPs who toppled a Prime Minister Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. --- "Modern Jazz Samba" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This week Graham spoke to US Editor Oliver Wiseman about Mike Bloomberg's unorthodox attempt to win the Democratic nomination and Joseph Connolly explains why he gives men a dressing down in his latest piece for The Critic. https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/february-2020/filthy-shades-of-grey/ Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. --- "Mode...

This week we spoke to Culture Minister John Whittingdale about the future of the BBC, Writer Alexander Larman about whether the Oscars is going to stay woke, and Graham caught up with Adam Dant for some serious research on a Westminster tavern. Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to https://thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. --- "Modern Jazz Samba" Kevin MacLeod (incompete...

We speak to Peter Lilley about what Boris Johnson can learn from Margaret Thatcher and catch up with Critic writers Hannah Betts and Robert Thicknesse on the enduring power of wearing black. You can read columns by Hannah Betts and Robert Thicknesse in the next issue of The Critic magazine. Right now we're offering 3 months for just £5. Go to https://thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com/ for details. -...