The Owen Jones Podcast

A high court judge has ruled Matt Hancock acted unlawfully by not revealing the details of contracts signed during the pandemic. But this is a scandal - uncovered by the work of the Good Law Project - which says so much more: about where £12.5bn worth of public money has gone, about our government, and about British society in 2021. To explain what it all means, we're joined by The Good Law Projec...

According to the Conservative government and their allies, an intolerant "woke" left is crushing free speech in the UK. But it's based on a lie - and the Tories' 'war on woke' and their Orwellian 'free speech champion' is the real threat to free expression. I'm joined by experts exposing this narrative as the deceit it is, including barrister Sam Fowles, Guardian columnist and author Nesrine Malik...

The Nobel Prize-winning Paul Krugman is one of the world's most pre-eminent economists. As the latest edition of his book 'Arguing with Zombies' is published, we talk about how the right gets away with lies, how they're fought, whether Joe Biden will offer the radical economic alternative that is needed, why he didn't support Bernie Sanders - and why US democracy may not survive. Help us take on t...

Rutger Bregman is a famed Dutch historian and writer, whose celebrated books include Utopia for Realists and Humankind. In this interview, we talk about whether the pandemic will change society, on Biden and the Democrats, about ideas like the 4 day week and basic income, the climate emergency, his viral speech at Davos, and how we build a different world. Help us take on the right-wing media here...

Jack Monroe is so many things - an anti-poverty activist, chef extraordinaire, writer, and fighter against injustice. She talks to me about what it's like living through poverty, about the poor being blamed for their conditions, the horror of food poverty, her struggles with the government over feeding hungry children - and how we fight for change. Help us take on the right-wing media here! https:...

Have you noticed you haven't dreamt about the pandemic, or it's barely appeared in your dreams since the crisis began? What the hell is that about? Robert Stickgold - professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of new book 'When Brains Dream' - explains poll findings showing why most people either never or rarely dream about something which has consumed all our lives. What does th...

In this second interview, I speak to Jo Berry - a remarkable woman who befriended Patrick Magee, the IRA volunteer who bombed Brighton in 1984 and killed her father. We speak about what it was like to go through losing her dad in such circumstances, about her emotional journey, about how she went looking for peace and reconciliation in communities torn apart by conflict, about her Building Bridges...

In the first of two interviews, I speak to Patrick Magee, the IRA volunteer who bombed Conservative Party Conference in 1984, whose memoirs 'Where Grieving Begins' has just been published. We talk about how he joined the armed Republican struggle, how he came to bomb Brighton, whether he has regrets, and how he befriended Jo Berry - who I speak to in the second interview - who is the bereaved daug...

From sex and the pandemic to sex positivity, from dating apps to transphobia to incels, I'm joined by 3 brilliant guests: Shon Faye - author of the upcoming The Transgender Issue; Huw Lemmey, writer of author of books such as Chubz: The Demonization of my Working Arse; and Amia Srinivasan, philosopher and author of the upcoming The Right to Sex. Please like, subscribe and help us take on the right...

It's fair to say that me and Piers Morgan disagree on a fair amount, although many lefties used to yelling at him when he's on our TV screens have found themselves retweeting him holding the government to account for its catastrophic handling of the pandemic. We have a long chat about trans rights, "cancel culture", and Google removing an egg from a salad emoji. Help us take on the right-wing medi...

TV presenter Gail Porter is one of the most likeable people I've chatted to, and we speak about a lot - the 90s, fame, and the stigma of mental health. If I was the sort of person who used the phrase "all round good egg" then there would be no more apt application than Gail Porter. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Glenn Greenwald is one of the world's most famous journalists: a Pulitzer Prize winner because of his work on the Edward Snowden revelations, he is a prominent critique of authoritarianism and US foreign policy. We discussed a lot, including our disagreements: Donald Trump and Trumpism, the far right, the military-industrial complex, could the US end up like Hungary, Joe Biden's new administration...

Britain has one of the worst death tolls and economic crises caused by the pandemic on earth - but the Tories have a lead, and the recent polling suggests it's growing. Joining me to discuss why - and what the left's strategy should be - are author Grace Blakeley, cultural theorist Jeremy Gilbert, and pollster Carl Shoben. Help us take on the right-wing media: https://patreon.com/owenjones84 Suppo...

In December, we went to Folkestone, an English coastal town where asylum seekers are crammed into military barracks surrounded by barbed wire, to find the truth about refugees - and about how they are scapegoated for the injustices caused by the powerful. What we found was shocking. Help us take on the right-wing media: https://patreon.com/owenjones84 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/t...

John McDonnell was Shadow Chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, and the driving force of the party's transformative economic agenda. A year after Labour's shattering defeat, I spoke to him just after the suspension of the man who stood to be Labour Prime Minister from his own party; about antisemitism on the left; whether Keir Starmer will keep to his policy promises; the climate emergency; and what les...

A concept developed by 19th century philosopher Friedrich Engels, does social murder describe the avoidable deaths of so many people all over the world in this pandemic? We're joined by the executive editor of the British Medical Journal, Kamran Abbasi, who has written a seminal article, asking if governments are guilty of "social murder"; Camila Asano, the co-author of a study into Brazil's catas...

Who are the anti-lockdown protesters? Despite tens of thousands of British citizens dying of coronavirus, a minority of the population strongly oppose lockdown. In November, I went to find out who they are, what they believe in, why they're angry at people like me - and find out how their views have ripped their friendships apart. I also spoke to journalist Richard Seymour, too, who has written ab...

Peter Oborne is a conservative commentator who used to work for Boris Johnson - but his new book, The Assault on Truth, is a searing and compelling indictment of a Prime Minister who has turned lies and deceit into an art form. We talk about how Johnson has got away with it, about the alt right leanings of the government, the sinister roles of Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings - and Peter Oborne's...

Keir Starmer stood on a platform committing to radical domestic policies associated with the Corbyn era - the so-called 'Ten Pledges' - while promising to turn Labour into an election winning party again. As Britain is ravaged by one of the worst death tolls on earth thanks to the Tories' catastrophic handling of the pandemic - it's time to debate where things stand for Labour at the turn of 2021....

Britain has never come to terms with its imperial past, and with the crimes of Empire rarely discussed, polls show more people are proud of that era than not. But according to a brilliant new book by leading academic Kehinde Andrews - The New Age of Empire - it's even worse than that: colonialism is still alive, and white supremacy is at its very heart. Help us take on the right-wing media here!:...

This is the story of the British Government's catastrophic handling of the coronavirus pandemic - and how tens of thousands of deaths and economic disaster were completely avoidable. Please support us speaking truth to power here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84 ​ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James O'Brien and I disagree on a lot - as you'd expect, I'm a socialist, he's a liberal - but we have a very amicable chat about his disappointment with Keir Starmer, our different views on Jeremy Corbyn, about whether Remainers should have pushed for a soft Brexit rather than betting the house on Remain, about Boris Johnson, the right-wing media and Andrew Neil. Please subscribe and help us take...

What is going on with the EU, vaccines, Article 16 and Northern Ireland? If you're completely baffled, this is the show for you. Joining me is Dr. Siva Thambisetty at LSE, Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice UK, and Esther Lynch at the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Also joining me is Ben Smoke, one of the anti-deportation 'Stansted 15' activists who have just won their appeal. He...

Slavoj Žižek is one of the world's pre-eminent intellectuals. A renowned academic and the author of several bestselling books. We had a lot to talk about: capitalism and the pandemic, whether a revitalised US left can extract concessions from Joe Biden, the threat of the new right, Donald Trump and Trumpism, whether a more successful version of Trump could triumph, the power of social media giants...

The award-winning Gary Younge is one of Britain's most distinguished journalists. We talk about the upheaval in the US, whether Trumpism will live on, what role Black Lives Matter will play - and what hope there is for the left in the UK, too. Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84 ​ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast . Hosted on...