The Sceptic

Theodore Dalrymple, on the 25th anniversary of his acclaimed Life at the Bottom, on crime, the underclass and liberal hypocrisy. In Episode 64 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Anthony Daniels. Better known under his pen name, Theodore Dalrymple, the former prison doctor and psychiatrist turned writer and cultural critic has featured in the Spectator, City Journal, the Telegraph and th...

Harrison Pitt on Alaa Abd El-Fattah and British citizenship, Islamism and West Midlands Police and the fightback against anarcho-tyranny. In Episode 63 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Harrison Pitt, Senior Policy Fellow at Restore Britain, Fellow at the New Culture Forum and Contributing Editor at the European Conservative. They discuss the Alaa Abd El-Fattah debacle and why the Egyp...

In this Special Episode of the Sceptic, we bring you highlights from our five most popular episodes of 2025. Deputy Comment Editor at the Telegraph Poppy Coburn on race and the rape gangs; author and comedian Andrew Doyle on Labour's shameful denialism about it; historian David Starkey on the lies of the multiculturalists; and former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell on how to reclaim Englishness from the...

Intellectual historian Dr Carl Trueman on politics, psychology and the ‘modern self’. In this special episode of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell is joined by intellectual historian Dr Carl Trueman, to discuss his book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. Many of the ideas that drive our politics today are strange...

Toby Young on a year of free-speech battles, and Chris Morrison on the OBR’s junk climate science and the attempt to sue Shell over the weather.   In Episode 62 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Toby Young, the Daily Sceptic’s Editor-in-Chief and the Director of the Free Speech Union, to review the many free speech battles that we’ve been fighting this year in Starmer’s two-tier tyrann...

Andrew Orlowski on Britain’s weird utilitarian cult, Jack Rankin MP on the Tories vs the Blob and Ben Pile on green rent-seeking. In Episode 61 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Andrew Orlowski, business and technology columnist at the Telegraph, on Britain’s weird utilitarian cult, the ‘Mansards’, and why they’re everywhere. Jack Rankin, Conservative MP for Windsor, on where the Torie...

Dr David Starkey on the lies of multiculturalism and the Blairite delusion of politics as spin. Plus: Steven Tucker on the Green zealots’ mental health madness. In this special episode of The Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell is joined by Dr David Starkey, the eminent, insightful and acerbic historian, author and broadcaster. They discuss the lies of multiculturalism: the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and t...

Rachel Reeves’s disastrous benefits Budget with John O’Connell of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, and Tilak Doshi on the great COP flop. In Episode 60 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to John O’Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, on Rachel Reeves’s disastrous benefits Budget. And for our premium subscribers, Laurie speaks to Dr Tilak Doshi, the Daily Sceptic’s Energy Editor, on...

Why Shabana Mahmood’s asylum crackdown is not all it’s cracked up to be, and how the Met Office and the BBC push climate alarmism. In Episode 59 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Rob Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, on why Shabana Mahmood’s asylum crackdown is not all it’s cracked up to be. And for our premium subscribers, Laurie speaks to Chris Morrison, t...

Kathryn Porter on just how much Net Zero is costing us, why Ed Miliband’s claims about renewables are so laughable and how the Green Crusade is putting us at risk of blackouts this winter. In the Sceptic this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Kathryn Porter, energy consultant and commentator, for a deep dive on just how much Net Zero is costing us, why Ed Miliband’s claims about renewables are s...

Chris Bayliss on Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv and the rise of Muslim sectarianism in Birmingham and Ben Pile on Bill Gates vs Net Zero and the BBC’s climate misinformation. In Episode 58 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Chris Bayliss, independent consultant and writer, on what the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from this week’s Europa League match against Aston Villa says about m...

A look back on a week of grim migration news, and the horrifying truth about wind turbines. In Episode 57 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to David Shipley, journalist and friend of the show, on a week of grim and horrifying migration news, how accusations of racism enabled the Southport Killer and the media's warped priorities over the grooming gang inquiry. And for our premium subscrib...

How Labour is still failing grooming victims, and the lunacy of the Greens’ wealth tax. In Episode 56 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Adam Wren, campaigner and founder of Open Justice UK, on the chaos in the Government’s grooming gang inquiry. And for our premium subscribers, Matthew Bowles, Senior Policy Researcher at the Prosperity Institute, on why the Greens’ plans for a wealth t...

Bijan Omrani on the Church of England’s woke turn and Britain’s Christian heritage, and Tilak Doshi on climate Lysenkoism. In Episode 55 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Dr Bijan Omrani, who is an Oxford-educated barrister, has taught classics at Eton College, is a research fellow at the University of Exeter as well as a church warden. They discuss what he makes of the first woman Arc...

Alexander Adams on dissident art, the tyranny of the Arts Council England and his new exhibition: Power and Intimacy. In Episode 54 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Alexander Adams, artist and writer and the author of the pamphlet, Abolish the Arts Council and his new book, How to Start a Dissident Art Movement. They discuss the woke tyranny of the contemporary art establishment, why...

Tom Jones on Keir Starmer’s bizarre attempts to smear Reform as racist over its new immigration policy, Andrew Orlowski on the real problem with the Government’s Britcard digital ID scheme and Kathryn Porter on just how much Net Zero is costing us. In Episode 53 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Tom Jones, writer and conservative councillor, on the Labour Party co...

David Goodhart on family policy, anywheres vs somewheres and migration, and Eugyppius on German media craziness and how he evades the woke Stasi. In Episode 52 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: David Goodhart, journalist and founder of Prospect magazine, head of demography at Policy Exchange, author of The Road to Somewhere, Head Hand Heart and most recently, The...

Michael Murphy on Charlie Kirk, free speech and the scourge of “anti-fascism”, and Ben Pile on how the British public are going cold on global warming. In Episode 51 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Michael Murphy, journalist and documentary-maker for outlets including the Telegraph, on what the assassination of Charlie Kirk means for America, the disturbing viol...

Australia’s populist fightback against its immigration disaster, Jess Gill on the Left’s blindspot over Iryna Zarutska and Dr Tilak Doshi on how Net Zero is exacerbating Europe’s fiscal crises.   NB: This week’s interviews were recorded before the horrifying assassination in Utah. RIP Charlie Kirk, an American hero and a fearless advocate for free speech. Our thoughts and prayers are with his fami...

Ed West on the persecution of Graham Linehan, the asylum hotel protests and ‘colour-blind’ casting, and Steven Tucker on veggie authoritarianism. In Episode 49 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Ed West, historian and author of the Wrong Side of History substack, on the persecution of Graham Linehan, the asylum hotel protests, the “flagging” of England and how the...

David Shipley on his prison corruption scandal investigation, Lucy Connolly’s release and the migrant hotel protests and David Turver on the energy price cap rise and Ed Miliband’s false promises. In Episode 48 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: David Shipley, journalist and commentator, on his Sunday Times story about corruption in British prisons, the release of...

Lubna Zaidi, host of Candid with Lubna, on receiving death threats for speaking out about the rape gangs; Charlotte Gill on migrant “Sanctuary Cities”; and Ben Pile’s bizarre debate with a green loon. In Episode 47 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Lubna Zaidi, a British-Pakistani ex-Apprentice star and host of Candid with Lubna, on how she received death threats...

Cancelled climate dissenter Professor Norman Fenton speaks out In this special episode of the Sceptic, Laurie speaks to fearless, peerless climate sceptic Professor Norman Fenton, about his life and times and the professional consequences he has suffered for speaking truth to power about Covid and climate science. Professor Fenton is a mathematician and computer scientist and Emeritus Professor of...

Pension funds are supposed to invest your money wisely so they can provide a return when you retire. So why are so many of them obsessed with controversial political causes like Net Zero? In this special episode of the Sceptic, James Graham, Senior Researcher on Financial Freedoms at the Prosperity Institute, exposes the scourge of Environmental and Social Governance, why your pension fund is cost...

US free-speech activist Preston Byrne on Ofcom’s ill-fated imperialism, J. Sorel on one year of two-tier Keir and Chris Morrison on phoney green jobs. In Episode 46 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Preston Byrne, lawyer and transatlantic free speech activist, on the UK Government’s global censorship empire and why Britain should have a First Amendment. J. Sorel,...