The Prospect Podcast

Avni Doshi’s Booker Prize-shortlisted debut novel, Burnt Sugar , follows an artist in Pune, India, whose mother suddenly gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The revelation unravels difficult family histories, uncovering the secrets binding mother and daughter. Avni joins the Prospect Interview to discuss writing the novel—and why it took seven years—and what it’s been like living through the...

Film director Sarah Gavron and writer Theresa Ikoko join this week’s Prospect Interview to discuss their new film, Rocks , a celebratory ode to teenage life in today’s London. Rocks follows the story of a teenage girl—nicknamed Rocks—and the fast friendships she develops at her school. The film was made under quite unusual circumstances: casting was done across schools in London, involving nearly...

The pandemic has shattered economies all over the globe. What can be done about it? Historian Adam Tooze joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the Covid-19 economic crisis. He discusses how the impending recession compares to past crises, what policies ought to be taken, and whether we are really seeing the end of neoliberalism.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

In 1990, when he was just nine years old, Prospect’s Sameer Rahim joined his parents and sister on a holiday to Iraq. What was first a family trip quickly turned into an international diplomatic fiasco. As Saddam Hussein was then facing international condemnation for the Kuwait War, Sameer and his family were taken as so-called “human-shield hostages”: Britons kept within Iraq as bargaining chips....

They’ve taken over our cinemas screens (when cinemas were still open)—but where did the superheroes who now dominate our screens come from? Writer and Spectator literary editor Sam Leith joins the Prospect Interview to discuss the history of Marvel Comics and its legendary creative leader, Stan Lee. Lee’s creations—which include Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Black Panther—aren’t just cr...

Previously confined to the fringes, discussion of white identity has reached a fever pitch in the mainstream in the past few years. In the current issue of Prospect , out now on newsstands, Sarah Churchwell and Kenan Malik reflect on the history of white identity across both sides of the Atlantic. They join this week’s Prospect Interview to talk about Anglo-Saxonism, the rise of the “white working...

Why do some countries succeed in confronting their pasts, and others fail? Authors Ivan Krastev and Leonard Bernardo join the Prospect Interview this week to discuss a question on many people’s minds this summer: how do nations come to terms with the historical crimes they’ve committed? Ivan and Leonard write an essay on the (unsuccessful) Russian case in this month’s issue of Prospect , in which...

One of the most influential statesmen of the 20th century has since been forgotten by history. Why is that? Andrew Adonis joins the Prospect Interview to discuss the life and work of Ernest Bevin, 20th century trade union leader and former Minister of Labour and Foreign Secretary. Bevin, who Adonis calls “Labour’s Churchill” has much to teach the Labour Party about where it goes today.  You c...

Frances Cha had been a journalist based in Seoul for several years, reporting on the culture and trends in South Korea’s megacity for CNN. Then, she decided to explore all she learned in fiction, writing her novel If I Had Your Face . Her debut explores the lives of four women living in Seoul, and takes a forensic look at the many challenges faced by millennials living in the ever-changing city to...

It’s that time of year again. Today, Prospect releases its annual list of top 50 thinkers for our times. The editorial team talks through what it was like making the list, and how they went about finding the intellectuals, artists, scientists and writers who have come to define our time.  You can read the list of top 50 thinkers, and vote for your own favourite (plus tell us who we missed) he...

What’s behind the disproportionate number of Covid-19 ethnic minority deaths? Science writer Angela Saini—most recently author of Superior: The Return of Race Science —joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the intersection between medicine and race, and why she’s surprised that even the respectable scientific community has fallen so easily into pseudo-science. You can read Angela’s essay on t...

Feminism may be becoming increasingly mainstream, but it’s undeniable that women continue to do the lion’s share of housework and child-rearing at home. Historian Emma Lundin joins the Prospect Interview to talk about modern motherhood today, and reflects on the obstacles preventing gender equality, now enshrined in law in theory , from becoming the norm in reality . You can read Emma’s essay on w...

American political commentator and Atlantic senior editor David Frum joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the presidency of Donald Trump, whose potential legacy he writes about in his new book, Trumpocalypse : Restoring American democracy . Frum talks to editor Tom Clark about his journey from George W. Bush speechwriter to one of the most high-profile conservative critics of the late...

CBD oils, meditation apps, and memory foam mattresses—our obsession with getting the perfect night’s sleep is stronger than ever. But is the drive to get more shut-eye actually making us more exhausted? Journalist Barbara Speed wrote an essay for Prospect going behind the global sleep industry, and unpacks the false science and misguided assumptions that are stopping us from getting the proper res...

Biographer and academic Ray Monk joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the life and work of GE Moore, a once-great Cambridge philosopher who has since disappeared from history. Why was it that Moore was so revered at his time, drawing admiration from the likes of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell? And why is it that since then, he’s been largely forgotten? You can read Ray Monk’...

Academic and author of This is Shakespeare Emma Smith joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the bard’s much gossiped about life under the plague. While many of us may have come across reminders that Shakespeare spun out King Lear while under lockdown centuries ago, Emma says that there’s another plague-era play of his that shows another side of historic London life—the comic, and unapo...

Dutch historian and commentator Rutger Bregman joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss his new book, Humankind: A Hopeful History . It’s a book with an optimistic thesis at its heart: that people are—despite all the doom-mongering, disasters, and political conflicts that rage on in our headlines—at their core, decent and well-intentioned. Arts and Books editor Sameer Rahim talks to Rutge...

Philosopher Clare Carlisle joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the 19th century novelist George Eliot. Celebrated as the author of Middlemarch and Silas Marner , Eliot was also an enthusiastic philosopher who notably translated the first English translation of Baruch Spinoza’s Ethics . Clare talks to arts and books editor Sameer Rahim about George Eliot’s philosophy, the novelist’s fondness...

In this week’s special edition of the Prospect Interview, we share exclusive audio from our first ever webinar for subscribers, held last Friday. In it, our most recent contributors—Oxford historian Margaret MacMillan; professor of global economic governance Ngaire Woods, and Harvard economist Dani Rodrik share their thoughts on what a post-Covid world will look like. These distinguished academics...

As the world slows down, many of us are thinking—what comes next? Oxford geographer Danny Dorling joins the Prospect Interview to discuss what a world after growth might look like. His latest book, Slowdown: The end of the great acceleration–and why it’s good for the planet, the economy, and our lives was written long before Covid-19 forced much of the world to stop, but many of his reflections on...

Infectious disease expert Adam Kucharski didn’t know that the world was going to be overtaken by a virus when he wrote his new book, The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread – and Why They Stop . But today, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine professor has a schedule filled with meetings about the progression of Covid-19—and how best to curb it. Arts and books editor Sameer Rahim...

Human rights lawyer and award-winning author Philippe Sands joins the Prospect Interview to talk about his new book, The Ratline: Love, Lies, and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive . The author of bestselling history memoir East West Street discusses his new book, which traces the real-life disappearance of a Nazi leader and his wife. He talks to deputy editor Steve Bloomfield about what drew...

Writer Thomas Chatterton Williams joins the Prospect Interview this week to talk about his curious approach to race in America. His new memoir, Self Portrait in Black and White , explores his own background as a mixed-race child of a black father and white mother growing up in New Jersey. He talks to our Arts and Books editor Sameer Rahim about why he sometimes calls himself “ex-Black”, how he fee...

Novelist Colum McCann joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss his new bestseller, Apeirogon , a fictional story based on the real-life friendship between an Israeli and a Palestinian. He talks to our Arts and Books editor about how he went about researching the novel, learning from the Northern Ireland peace process, and why, in spite of everything, he still has hope. Colum McCann’s Apei...

Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman joins the Prospect podcast to talk about what he calls “zombie economics”: the right-wing free market economic orthodoxy that he believes persists past its sell-by date. He also reflects on America’s 2020 election, whether he misjudged Obama, and if he has faith in the future of economics. Paul Krugman’s Arguing with Zombies:...