The Exchange | Long-form interviews from the New Statesman

Over 1000 of Epstein's victims of sexual abuse and trafficking have now been identified; some have chosen to come forward publicly, and among them there was one voice which was the loudest. Virginia Roberts Giuffre. In 2021, she decided she wanted to tell her own story, in its entirety. Joining forces with the ghostwriter Amy Wallace, she began working on Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse...

Some had dubbed Starmer as "the Trump whisperer", so how has this change in leader come across in the US? Do they even care? Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo, joins us on The Exchange to discuss the view from across the pond and how Britain became a punching bag for the American right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Then social media came along. This is one of the reasons social psychologist Jonathan Haidt believes whole heartedly in the social media ban for under 16s, which has been rolled out in Australia, and will be brought into effect in the UK early next year. But is the ban really working in Australia? Is banning a solution? And is there a way to let young people benefit from the opportunities of the i...

Yesterday morning Keir Starmer resigned as prime minister. Today is the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum. Britain will soon welcome its seventh prime minister in a decade. Are the two events connected? Or is country's instability rooted further back in history? Editor-in-chief Tom McTague joins Oli Dugmore. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Children's laureate, screenwriter, author of Millions , architect of the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, and father of seven, Frank Cottrell-Boyce joins Oli Dugmore to discuss what childhood means in Britain today. Over two years visiting schools, prisons and asylum hotels, he found a country that has quietly stopped looking after its youngest citizens. He talks about the NEETs crisis, furniture po...

Mariana Mazzucato is one of the most influential economists of modern times. An avowed progressive, her ideas impact the lives of millions of people, from the United States to sub-Saharan Africa. She was directly consulted in the creation of Biden’s CHIPS Act, which is worth $280 billion. The World Bank’s Mission 300, is straight out of her book Mission Economy. Oli Dugmore sits down with her...

Are AI companies the new empires? Journalist Karen Hao says the parallels are striking. This disruptive sector  requires vast amounts of land, minerals and water – not to mention data and content from individuals.  Hao interviews subjects ranging from those close to Open AI CEO Sam Altman to workers in the Global South who’ve been traumatised by their jobs in AI content moderation. She joins...

Guy Standing is a British labour economist best known for coining the term "precariat" to describe the growing global class of people living with unstable employment, mounting debt, and chronic insecurity. Standing’s latest book, Human Capital , explores how the education system has been corrupted and privatised. He joins Oli Dugmore to discuss this, as well as how his concept of the “precariat” d...

Charleston Festival is running until May 25. Find out more here . Ten years on from the referendum that redirected the course of British politics, the New Statesman's editor Tom McTague is joined by Caroline Lucas, Anand Menon and Marina Wheeler to consider how we should think about our relationship with Europe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eric Schlosser is one of America’s foremost investigative journalists, writing about everything from the prison system to nuclear weapons, exploring the hidden systems underpinning modern life. 25 years ago, he set out to investigate the economic model behind one of America’s most recognisable industries: a system built on low-paid workers, dangerous conditions and the exploitation of migrant labo...

Rather than a relic of the past, Mary Beard sees the classical world as a powerful tool for understanding the present. It's an idea she has explored in over twenty books on ancient history and numerous documentaries on the BBC and elsewhere, all of which have made her Britain’s best known classicist. She joins culture editor Tanjil Rashid in the studio. - Mary Beard's new book Talking Classics: Th...

In 2011, Ben Lerner stormed onto the scene with his debut novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, a winning blend of low comedy and high art. He has since firmly established himself as one of America’s most acclaimed novelists and is a leading voice in so-called autofiction. Now he returns with his fourth novel, and it may be his most profound yet.    In  Transcription , Lerner turns his...

Anthony Seldon, historian, educator and one of Britain's leading political biographers, has been for a long walk. His new book, The Path of Light, recounts his extraordinary 1300 kilometre passage to Auschwitz. Tracing stories of courage, resistance and moral clarity across a continent once consumed by darkness - it's a journey that speaks not only to the past, but powerfully to the world we're li...

Fatima Bhutto was born into exile - and into one of the most powerful political dynasties in South Asia.   Her life has been shaped by both privilege and profound personal tragedy.   Born in Afghanistan, she spent her early years displaced, after her grandfather, former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was executed under General Zia-ul-Haq’s military regime.   Her childhood was m...

For decades, George Saunders was known for his short stories. In 2013, in a Time Magazine 100 most influential people listing, he was described as “the best short-story writer in English". In 2017, he released his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, a reimagining of President Abraham Lincoln’s grief in the aftermath of his son Willie’s death. It’s a genre-defying piece of literature, narrated by no...

Last week Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister and darling of the European left, turned 65. He celebrated his birthday on stage in London, gathering figures from across the left together. Zack Polanski was there, so was Jeremy Corbyn. Varoufakis' mission? To explore what resistance means today across the left. In this episode of The Exchange Oli Dugmore sits down with Varoufakis to...

Since leaving politics, Rory Stewart has become one of the most influential voices on the matter in Britain. In this episode, the former diplomat and cabinet minister reflects on his upbringing and his unconventional path into politics. He also discusses the Middle East, arguing that Western countries continue to misunderstand the region’s history and dynamics. The conversation then turns to Brita...

When Amia Srinivasan published The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century in 2021, it sparked widespread debate about the politics of desire, consent, and sexual justice. In this episode of The Exchange, the Oxford academic joins Tanjil Rashid to discuss how philosophy can illuminate some of the most contentious questions in contemporary culture: from incels and pornography to whether...

Were the strikes on Iran illegal? What's next for the controversial courts bill? Are Labour leaders aware of the existential crisis within their party?   On this week's episode of The Exchange, we speak with Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy.   To watch more episodes of The Exchange find us on  YouTube . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Pussy Riot's 2012 "Punk Prayer" was a global flashpoint - a defining test of free expression in Putin’s Russia. When co-founding member Masha Alyokhina was arrested, she told her son she would be back the next day. She was gone for two years. In 2022, she fled the motherland, but continues to fight Putin from afar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This winter, Ai Weiwei returned to Beijing after a decade in exile. He found himself airbrushed from public memory. An international icon everywhere else. At home, a ghost. The artist joined Michael Prodger soon after that trip to discuss the cost of personal freedom, in both China and in the West. The Exchange is a new series from the New Statesman. Look out for new interviews every Wednesday. Ho...

In his 30s, Rutger Bregman, the Dutch historian, had what he described as “an early midlife crisis”. After a decade spent as a pundit, commenting on the global state of politics and economics, as well as publishing optimistic titles such as Utopia for Realists and Humankind: A Hopeful History - Bregman felt stuck. Something had to change. And if he wanted to see that change in the world, he needed...

The Exchange: long form, in-depth interviews from the New Statesman. Featuring guests including Salman Rushdie, Ai Weiwei, Masha Alyokhina (Pussy Riot) and more. Hosted by Oli Dugmore and New Statesman journalists. Hit follow in Spotify or Apple Podcasts now. Find full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSfumUEfFlcI6Ikce00MGPSvU5fu-MCWu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...