Quiet Riot

Accident stats are terrifying: UK accidental deaths exceed 20,000 a year and accidents (mostly at home) are the most common cause of preventable death among under-40s. And, since 2013, accidental deaths in the UK have risen by 50 per cent. You read that right. What on earth is going on? Wasn't 'Elf 'n' Safety madness' supposed to put a stop to this? Naomi Smith talks to someone who knows more than most about the topic. Dr James Broun is Research Manager for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), where Naomi is a non-exec director. RoSPA is calling for a national accident prevention strategy from the Government, and says joined-up thinking across Govt departments (and a minister for accidents) could save the country a fortune, as well as saving lives. *** YOU CAN SUPPORT US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD ... THANK YOU! *** Show notes Safer Lives, Stronger Nation: Read Rospa's new report, calling for a national accident prevention strategy, here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with regular guest More in Common's Luke Tryl, discuss Lords reform, Kemi Badenoch's start, COP26, and the rise of the (very) long form bro-cast. Plus the return of regular features POLL THE OTHER ONE, WOKEY DOKEY, and GRIN AND SHARE IT. A packed show. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Luke: “When it comes to climate change, Britain is not the US. When we asked recently: Would you like to see the UK move to net zero at the current pace, faster, or slower, 41% said at the current pace, 41% said faster, and only 18% said slower. There’s a real appetite to do this and the public are ahead of politicians in lots of ways.” Naomi: “Political power is never something that should be inherited. We’d never accept a hereditary nurse or a hereditary lawyer. Why would we accept a hereditary legislator?” Naomi: “I am genuinely embarrassed by our second chamber. They are too old, they are too rich, too bloated in number, too male, too white, and they are there far too much through patronage and far too over-representative of the Southeast of England - and, thanks to the bishops, representative of only one sect of one religion which should have no place in policy making.” Alex: “Donald Trump is kind of the grandfather of those manosphere long form shows. If you look at his rallies, that's the format: that unscripted, three-hour, ‘I love the sound of my own voice’, part nonsense, part tangents, but always coming back to the talking points youtube show or podcast.” GRIN AND SHARE IT The Economist: Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, dig into the data underlying the US result, what a Trump term means for Ukraine, the discuss Kemi Badenoch's front bench choices, and the coming elections in Ireland and Germany. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There was something in a YouGov poll that really rang alarm bells. Young men aged 18 to 29, sixty-per-cent of them are thrilled or happy with Trump’s win. That really concerned me. What is it that these young men are seeing and why does it make them feel so happy?” "The coming fight is reason against unreason. The dividing line is not your preference of economic policy or whether you want a big or small state. It is the line that separates easy solutions that appeal to people's ugliest side and reason, science, expertise, and facts." “The West is supporting Ukraine because it is fighting. Ukraine is not fighting because the West is supporting it.” "Mark Francois has been appointed Miniature of Defensiveness- no sorry, I misread that. Minister of Defence." Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, go over the US result, with a special focus on what it means for the UK and Europe, and what leassons we can learn from it. With two extraordinary guests: Former diplomat and UN Deputy Secretary General, Lord Mark Malloch Brown, and former Obama campaign staffer and CEO of 38 Degrees Matthew Mc Gregor. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Mark: “There is, frankly, a class-versus-identity issue. Some latinos, for example, feel that they are entering the middle class and want their vote to be consistent with their life in the suburbs, membership of a country club, and resent Democrats who tend to lump them together by identity and assume that they want certain services or support from the state.” Matthew: “Yes, economic issues were front and centre, but there are other issues in this election. For a lot of Americans, the impact of the roll back of reproductive rights, the fact that women are losing their lives because of it, was not a deal-breaker. And this is going to be an incredibly painful fact for people to absorb.” Mark: “The person who lost this campaign was Joe Biden and those around him, who cynically kept him propped up long after he should have declared himself not a candidate, and prevented the primary process, in the white hot heat of which a candidate is toughened up.” Matthew: “There is a real danger from this result for the UK, that the Labour Party, and progressives more generally, will suffer a crisis of confidence. In the current environment, caution is the riskier option. The gov’t needs to drive forward, probably even more boldly than Reeves set out in the Budget.” Mark: “If Trump goes with these very high tariffs, he is not only going to throw the American economy into deep confusion, in the medium term, he is going to throw the global economy into a chaotic state. And anaemic growth is going to be even more anaemic.” Matthew: “Feelings don’t care about your facts. Keir Starmer said something that really concerned me during the election campaign: ‘I believe in actions, not words.’ If you want to be a successful PM in the year 2024, you need both.” LINKS: You can join the fight with 38 Degrees here. You can join the fight with Best for Britain here. You can join the fight with Hope not Hate here. You can find out about Open Society's work here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Andreou talks to Rose Wang, BlueSky Chief Operations Officer in SanFrancisco - one of two women at the top of this social media startup. about the rollercoaster of the last few months, the coming election, and what is next for the platform. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “It was happening in real time for all of us. I don’t think the team slept for 48 hours, trying to keep the service online, and I am proud to say we had no down time, despite the fact a couple of million Brazilians came on BlueSky over the course of two to three days.” “This election is going to be a moment for our different platforms to show what we care about, what our values are. BlueSky welcomes political debate, unlike Threads which down-ranks political content. We are giving users the tools and authority to make their own decisions, rather than being a partisan platform that elevates one candidate over another, which is what’s happening on X.” “This is exactly the world that we want to prevent. Overnight, X has become a platform with an opinion as to who should win the US presidential election. That’s pretty wild. It’s no longer a public square. It’s now a partisan walled garden. At BlueSky we hope to showcase the technology we need to build more of a democratic republic online.” Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and Naomi discuss Kemi Badenoch's prospects and Rachel Reeves' budget, before an extended therapy session about the coming US Election. With star cameos from Salma Shah and Henry Hill. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Kemi Badenoch has been elected with only a third of MPs and just over a third of the membership behind her. In a party addicted to factional strife, is that enough support - especially for someone who plans to pick fights?" "This was a Brexit Tax Budget. We are paying the price of Brexit, in no small part, through this budget. Brexit contributed to the stagnation of our economy and this budget is trying to rectify some of that. But because of the tightrope Labour is walking on Europe, they aren’t going to come out and say that.” "We need to make psychological space for the possibility of a Kamala Harris victory, for for the possibility of a Trump victory, and for the possibility it might be so close, we are in limbo for ages. It is easier to prepare for all three in the abstract." LINKS: Here is the Cost of Brexit summary from Best for Britain. Here is the breakdown of the process between election and inauguration. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How is the new Labour government perceived in the EU? How much of a 'reset' is realistically achievable? What does the club we just left make of our slow change of heart? What does it want in return? And how much of a priority is our renegotiation in European capitals? Alex spoke to Professor Jacob Öberg for a European perspective on our long journey to rejoining. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “There is a feeling that Labour haven’t really decided what to do and where they want to go with [the UK-EU reset] - particularly in terms of things that the EU would request or require from the UK. Labour has been very hesitant to give any space to that. And in that situation no-one gives in and nothing happens.” “All of these things, if we talk youth mobility, vet agreement, things like these, it is a big complicated negotiation and you need everyone on board - the EU Commission the UK negotiation team, everyone needs to be fully focussed on this. If you do this with your left hand you’re not going to get much done.” “The framing of an alliance - primarily by Thatcher in her later, rather mad period - as something hostile, over there, to which one must go prepared to handbag other leaders in order to not be somehow exploited is one of the most wrong-headed and damaging political narratives of the last few decades.” LINKS: Jacob's brief piece on imporving the TCA is here. Jacob's free book can be downloaded here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, go over every aspect of the Budget, including the undercurrent of misogyny in much of the commentary, with very special guest prominent ecocomist, professor, and former joint head of the Government's Economic Service, Vicky Pryce. As well as Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Vicky: “In reality you can redefine [debt] any way you want, as long as the capital markets believe it is sustainable and you convince them it makes sense. How do you get markets to lend this to you? The good thing is that we are now talking about longer term assessments of what benefits to the economy particular spending might bring.” Alex: “The last few weeks have been a parade of people saying: we need to invest much more in the country, but please not from my money. The chance [the gov’t is] taking is that people won’t mind paying more tax, provided they see an improvement in the public services they use.” Naomi: "Is the Labour gov’t missing a trick by not going further and faster in liberalising our trade relationship with the EU?" Vicky: “Completely and utterly. The cost of bringing in the skilled people we need on complicated, costly visas, the extra bureaucracy, has been calculated by the Home Office to be nearly £40bn. Which is huge. It’s what Reeves just raised in taxes.” LINKS: On how the US avoided a recession in 2023, read here. On how Germany just avoided a recession, read here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Smith chats to journalist Amanda Ferguson about a series of scandals which have rocked politics both north and south of the border. Sinn Féin were widely expected to win the next election. Is that still the case? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** LINKS: You can link to Amanda and find her latest work here. Brief explainer of why many think it will be an early election. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex goes through the week's political events, and looks forward to next week, both here and across the Atlantic, with special guest Zoe Williams. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Zoe: “I don’t want to get lectures from the right of manifesto promises, when the 2019 manifesto was insulting in its lack of detail. I mean what possible impact did ‘levelling up’ have? Does anyone even know what it meant? And yet lectures are what we’re going to get. And I don’t want to roll over to the idea that all politicians are the same - there is no conceivable comparison.” Zoe: “Everything [about the coming Budget] is about ‘don’t expect too much; don’t think we can help’ and that just strikes me as an incredibly sad and dangerous place to start. If you’re swept in on a wind of change and hope and the first thing you say is: ‘abandon hope’.” Alex: “Imagine living there. Imagine being a woman in America right now. Imagine being a muslim woman or a trans woman. This is existential stuff.” Zoe: “I do think there’s a kind of misogynistic groupthink [in polling], which just doesn’t take the things that women take seriously, seriously.” Alex: “What makes [the Republican attack on women’s reproductive rights] doubly frightening is that it doesn’t feel random. It’s strategic. Because if you buy into notions like the Great Replacement Theory, it follows - although rarely articulated - that you need white women to stay home and have lots of babies. And that doesn’t happen with their consent.” LINKS: Vanity Fair interview with Stuart Stevens. ABC report of Musk's contact with Putin. The Bulwark on Washington Post spiking its endorsement of Harris. NPR on the LA Times pulling its endorsement of Harris. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

American polls are pointing to a perilously close result in the looming presidential election but can they be trusted? Naomi Smith talks with Luke Bailey, Head of Digital at inews.co.uk, to find out more about the strengths, weaknesses and sundry foibles of Stateside polling. Discover how corporate group-think may play a role, find out all about Recall Weighting – and gasp as we reveal that even gambling markets are not the reliable indicators many thought. It wouldn't be Quiet Riot without a dollop of positivity though, and Luke does offer some grains of hope to our nervous listeners. Grab them and cherish them, people. Show notes Read more of Luke's insight on US polling here Follow him (and his Herculean profile photo) on Bluesky, where he is @lukebailey.bsky.social As for us, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter (shudder) as @quietriotpod or, best of all, hook up with @quietriotpod.bsky.social on Bluesky, where our Starter Packs will supercharge your introduction to politicos and sundry fine people. If email is your thang, we're at [email protected] and our website is an extremely predictable www.quietriotpod.com Oh, we're a tiny team without the backing of media behemoths, so we will be eternally grateful if you support us in any way on Ko-fi – heartfelt thanks to all who have already chipped in. Quiet Riot, in case you already forgot, is Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell, in Cahoots with SandStone Global. Seeya. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest Salma Shah - a former No.10 advisor under Cameron - explore how mich of the Trump Campaign's complaint against Labour is real and how much is trolling. And then discuss the future of the Tory Party. Or lack thereof. And the most momentous by-election coming up (possibly). As well as Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “It probably is a mountain out of a molehill. But it is a legitimate line of questioning for anyone, especially a journalist in this country, to ask: how much is the Labour party trying to associate itself with the Harris campaign, and is that wise on a diplomatic level?” “It’s not just about Trump or Labour. It’s about the world being more difficult, about the way we perceive Western liberal democracies becoming fractured, the way we think about engagement with other states and politics internationally - all of that is fraying.” “In the same way that previously the left had this identity crisis, the right is having its identity crisis, we’re all having one big identity crisis. Because what we’ve understood as left and right for the last 40 years is no longer true.” “In 2019, Boris Johnson - like him or loathe him - did this amazing thing, where he stretched the Overton Window, beyond its natural conventions. But we always knew that elastic would snap back at some point and it snapped at the last election.” “If Rishi Sunak does step down and that amazing gem-of-a-Tory-seat comes up, there will be a lot of people contesting it, but who wins that selection will be totemic about the future of the Conservatives. Are we looking back or are we looking forward?” CALLS TO ACTION Subscribe to Aaron Rupar's newsletter and his YouTube channel. Donate to Meidas Touch News here. For the Grin And Share It on magic crystals click here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex quizzes special guest, Emmy-award-winning Luke McGee, on how a referendum in a country like Moldova, interconnects with everything from EU immigration policy, to the war in Ukraine, the US election, and a secretive meeting - the first of its kind - between NATO and South Korea. A truly mind-bending episode. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “Ultimately what you’re seeing is - I don’t like using the term “Axis of Evil”, I think “Axis of Autocracies” is the better way to think of it, Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea - what you’re probably seeing is these new alliances, these new dividing lines forming.” “[The US Election] does feel like it’s a coin flip. Both sides now aren’t really campaigning to try and flip voters. What they’re trying to do is get voters who are perhaps uninspired by their campaign, but really hate their opponent to bother and turn out to vote.” LINKS: Luke in Prospect Magazine: To help itself, Europe must do more for Ukraine. Luke in The New Statesman: Ursula von der Leyen has lost the Europhiles. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex have their weekly debrief, talking through the Budget rumours, the Tory leadership election, and then a bit of a deep dive into US Election polling. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. LINKS: Chaminda Jayanetti piece on Bloomberg: Tories Are Lost Because Their Ideology Failed. Electoral Calculus Starmer v Badenoch/Jenrick MRP poll. Five Thirty Eight's rating of US pollsters. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's easy to bash our railways – oh, how easy it is. But why does the system struggle and what could be done to make things better? Naomi Smith is joined on this Quiet Riot journey by author, podcaster and (perhaps accidental) campaigner, Gareth Dennis. He also happens to be a railway engineer and transport policy specialist. Gareth's new book is out on November 12th and its title should give you a clue about this expert's views on the iron road: How The Railways Will Fix The Future. From the disaster that is Euston to the embarrassment that is HS2, via the glory of rail companies that once provided a health care model for the NHS, we look at the specific reasons Britain's rail network has been creaking for so long. And, being Quiet Riot, we also buy a day return for the Rail Solutions Express, to find out what could be done to make Britain's railways fit for purpose. By the way, some of the recording quality on this episode is to podcasts what the British Rail sandwich was to culinary excellence – apologies to you Riotous audiophiles. Show links Pre-order that fascinating Gareth Dennis book which transports readers to railways around the world, and argues that the iron roads are a critical tool for humanity to survive and thrive. If you like your train chat digitally, Gareth hosts the #Railnatter podcast on all the usual platforms, and he loiters on Bluesky (yay!) with easy-to-spot handle @garethdennis.bsky.social Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest award-winning journalist Tristan Kirk from the Evening Standard, discuss the latest economic figures, budget rumours, and the parlous state of our justice system. Another thing for the new gov't to fix - and urgently. Followed by a discussion of the outrageous practice of Single Justice Procedure - where anyone can end up with a criminal conviction after a magistrate looks at a case for 45 seconds, behind closed doors, with no scrutiny or reasoning. Plus an early Christmassy Wokey Dokey and a brilliantly touching Grin And Share It. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “The court system has been effectively obliterated by years, if not decades, of being cut back and cut back, whereas health has been looked after as best it can. Justice is of equal importance to society and yet has been the first stop for cutbacks.” “You’ve got a system set up so things happen incredibly quickly. And we’ve now got an enormous bank of evidence that mistakes are being made. People are being wrongly prosecuted, people are being wrongly convicted, not enough consideration, no transparency. It’s a conveyor belt.” “Every single case I talk about is someone in a vulnerable position, a difficult period of their life, if not the worst period of their life and then they have a criminal conviction heaped on top of them. And I think there is a lack of understanding as to just how devastating that can be.” CALLS TO ACTION For Tristan's petition on SJPs click here. For the Magistrates Association recommendations click here. For the Appeal charity click here. For the Transform Justice organisation click here. For Joshua's piece on fee-paying schools click here. For the consultation on the VAT exemption click here. For the Grin And Share It on turtles click here. For Anglesey Sea Zoo click here. For Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium click here. UPDATE 17-Oct-2024: Tristan's latest piece is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, up all night once more, looking for sanity inside the most ridiculous non-story so far. Has the British media lost its collective mind. It would seem emphatically "yes". If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When illness makes life unbearable, should we be permitted – and helped – to end our time in this place on our own terms? The topic of assisted dying is back in the political spotlight thanks to a Private Member's Bill from Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater. It's a difficult topic for many to discuss, encompassing morality, freedom and, often, religion. In this Quiet Riot special, Naomi Smith takes a nuanced look at the issues with Andrew Copson, CEO of Humanists UK. Andrew is in favour of assisted dying but puts both sides of the argument. Some form of assisted dying is allowed in 31 countries but the law here has not been changed in six decades, although it is now under discussion in both Westminster and Holyrood. Call to action To find out more about the Humanist movement, visit https://humanists.uk/ and, for details on their campaigning on the issue of assisted dying, click here. And for an interview with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, setting out the counterargument, click here. Assisted suicide is illegal under the terms of the Suicide Act (1961) and is punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment. Trying to kill yourself is not a criminal act. The BBC summarises the main issues here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex try to reach for some sort of balanced view of the first 100 days of Labour - away from the constant media MELTDOWN IN DOWNING STREET ridiculous coverage - and set out what needs to happen in the next 100 to turn things around. In any case, is the American "100 Days" measure at all useful in a British context? If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “They’ve got five years ahead of them and a big majority, but they’re still acting so gingerly. It’s as if they’re still carrying ‘The Ming Vase’. Put the f**king vase down. The vase is done now.” LINKS: Download the Discord app here. For The Reunion episode on 100 Days of Blair's first term click here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks to Layla Moran, the first British MP of Palestinian descent, to mark a year since not just the 7th of October - that day of horror for Israel - but the many days of horror that followed for the people of Palestine. It turns out to be, unlikely as it might seem, a quite uplifting conversation. “History is still writing itself. There is still an opportunity for there to have been a positive outcome, from an absolutely tragic and horrific beginning.” “This is not just about Israel and Palestine. This is about how nation states across the entire world - at a time of climate crises, migration crises, economic crises, huge inequalities - work together. There is only one mechanism, however flawed, and that is the UN. This is a time to bolster institutions - not undermine them.” “I hope there will be brave new leaders, both within Israel and Palestine. And our job, here, is to help raise those voices, to support them, to show that there are those willing to think differently, and they are valued in the international community.” “People say: ‘Pick a side. Are you on the side of Israel or are you on the side of Palestine?’ I’m on the side of a two-state solution and international law. If you are against that, then you are on the side of continued violence. Those are the sides: peace or not. It’s actually quite simple.” If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Hosted by Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou, and produced by Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest Laura Hood from The Conversation, discuss the latest shock elimination in the Tory Reality Soap Opera, Laura's new documentary Know Your Place, about the changing relationship between class and politics, and Labour's stuttering much-announced, but slow-moving, EU reset. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Alex: “The net result is that there is now not going to be a conversation as to what direction the Conservative Party moves towards. There’s just going to be two different flavours of ultra-hard right to choose from.” Laura: “What is the [class] status, for example, of people who work in the gig economy? They are earning some of the lowest wages in our economy. But they are ostensibly self-employed, their own masters. In fact, the algorithm is their boss.” Laura: “2019 was not a ‘class’ election. We see it as the working class voter flocking to Boris Johnson, but something far more complicated Naomi: “We desperately need older voices to champion a UK-EU Youth Mobility Scheme. The typical response I get is: ‘What about me? Everyone should have freedom of movement.’ Please be an ally on this and advocate the case for younger people.” CALLS TO ACTION Subscribe here to The Conversation's newsletter. You can find Laura's podcast Know Your Place here. Dan Evans' A Nation of Shopkeepers is here. Russia's new Escape The Woke visa scheme is here. Grin And Share It good news story on Hempophilia treatments. Join Best for Britain with a tree-planting donation here. Guardian letters on Youth Mobility Schemes are here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi, Alex, And Kenny try to understand why everyone is losing their mind over the Chagos Archipelago deal, talk local election results and why they may be a problem for Labour, and present an alternative biography of Boris Johnson. One in which he doesn't get to gloss over the catastrophe that was his administration. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. BOOKS: Sayeeda Warsi's Muslims Don't Matter. Musa Okwonga's One of Them. Alison Dupernex's Knitting for Absolute Beginners. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here is the full - AND VERY FRANK - conversation between Alex Andreou and More In Common's chief Luke Tryl on all four Conservative leadership hopefuls. And if you think “why should I care?” - this is why: our entire political system, for good or ill, is adversarial in nature. The quality of the opposition to the government shapes policy. Ideas that have had their tyres properly kicked, will always be better ideas. Luke: "What we hear from our focus groups is that Kemi is refreshing." Alex: "So is an enema." Luke: "You're being mean." Want some more? You can track us down on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod, or hop over to Bluesky for our starter pack action. If email is your thang, our address is [email protected]. And we even have a website, www.quietriotpod.com. We make all our content available free to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. But we depend on those who can afford to support us with a few pounds doing so. You can do so on Ko-Fi by clicking HERE. Oh, we are Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. But you knew that. x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An absolutely jam-packed episode on the Tory leadership contest and the US Election VP debate. Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell are joined by Guardian quill-wielder Zoe Williams, US omni-expert Brian Klaas, and More In Common gros fromage Luke Tryl to dig out the genuinely interesting stuff from these debates (and there is plenty of genuinely interesting stuff). We craft two political silk purses from a couple of sow's ears. We're also knitting – see how seamlessly we stitch such disparate subjects together? On both sides of the Pond, important debates; on both sides of the Pond, vaguely competent performances but not so much excitement. But what can we glean from the US Vice-Presidential clash, if it can be described as a clash, and what are the takeaways from the Tory leadership speeches in Birmingham? Brian Klaas: “What is striking about [the VP debate] is what it tells you about the campaigns’ goals. Normally, when a campaign thinks it’s down in a race, they come out swinging… But both campaigns think they’re in a safe position, which is very odd, because one of them is wrong and we don’t know which one.” Brian Klaas: “A lot of professional political analysts misunderstand the public, because they think the public views politics in the same way they do. Which is that you win arguments by having better facts and making appeals to policy. A lot of politics is impressionistic. Zoe Williams: “Kemi Badenoch’s pitch is: I’m going to be as unpleasant as I can possibly be and then deny I said it. That is extraordinary. There are huge swathes of the political class in which, to deny outright that you said a thing, which you did say, is disbarring. She’s singing to a different hymn book.” Zoe Williams: “Jenrick is not that clever, that’s the problem. He does wrong-foot himself constantly. A huge amount of his most controversial output is accidental.” Luke Tryl: "Our research shows that Reform voters might actually be the hardest group for the Conservatives to win back. Only one-in-ten would even consider voting Conservative again during this parliament. Calls to Action Check out More In Common and their fantastic work to build a more inclusive world. Grin and Share It: What happened when Denver treated migrants with respect ? Good things, that's what. Subscribe to Brian Klaas' fascinating Substack, The Garden of Forking Paths. Consistently great writing on consistently captivating topics. Want some more? You can track us down on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod, or hop over to Bluesky for our starter pack action. If email is your thang, our address is [email protected]. And we even have a website, www.quietriotpod.com. Amazing. We run a tight ship at Quiet Riot so, IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, WE'D BE EXTREMELY HAPPY. Click HERE for easy instructions and potential rewards. Yes, REWARDS. We'll stop with the shouty uppercase letters now, sorry for any upset :-) Oh, we are Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with SandStone Global. But you knew that. x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex stays up all night to bring you the quickest, freshest, and most sleepless, reaction to the VP debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. The answer of who won will surprise you. A special thank you to everyone who has helped Quiet Riot smash through the 500,000 downloads milestone (smilestone?) in just four short months. If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can Britain begin to undo the damage to our freedom of movement that Brexit inflicted? Well, we could start with a positive outcome from this week's Brussels meeting between PM Keir Starmer and EC President Ursula von der Leyen. Naomi Smith bangs the drum for musicians, studies the situation for students and ... well, you get the idea. Post-Brexit travel restrictions have been a pain for all and a disaster for many, including those trying to come into Britain as well as those of us trying to slip out of these punch-drunk islands. Naomi's impassioned plea to the PM is backed by some beefy statistics from her team at Best for Britain – in short, Starmer could do everyone, himself included, a huge favour by starting to dismantle some of those travel barriers that have been thrown up so carelessly in recent years. Might even be that rarest of beasts, a vote winner. Call to action Find the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants HERE and give them your backing! A special thank you to everyone who has helped Quiet Riot smash through the 500,000 downloads milestone (smilestone?) in just four short months. If you want more, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex discuss Baroness Warsi's resignation as a Tory peer and whether that Party is now lost to islamophobia. Plus, why does right wing politics find climate action so difficult. All this, and a BOMBSHELL revelation from Naomi about her undeclared relationship with Lord Waheed Alli. (Also, you must listen to the end. Trust us.) If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. CALLS TO ACTION Best for Britain's tree-planting donation is here. Baroness Warsi's apology to the LGBT+ community. Baroness Warsi's full interview with James O'Brien. Alex's 2014 piece on the floods. MET Office's rain research. is here. Compernicus's heatwave research is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi downloads ALL THE GOSSIP from Labour Party Conference - and juicy it is too - before Alex chats to guest, former Middle East diplomat Arthur Snell, about the situation in Lebanon, Ukraine, and the first UN General Assembly for David Lammy and Keir Starmer as Foreign Secretary and PM respectively. Plus a hilarious WOKEY DOKEY and brand new feature GRIN AND SHARE IT. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Naomi: “I have never seen so much EU representation at a Labour conference. They were there in force. They see [Labour] as people they can do business with, for the first time in a long time. Officials from Brussels, member state reps, the EU delegation to the UK - they were present, happy… the level of excitement about what the EU and UK are going to do, was palpable.” Alex: “The last time we experienced a leader winning an election, then going into No 10, without having already been in situ as PM, several ministers already at departments, and experienced staff ready to shuffle around, was 2010. It’s a steep learning curve. There will be a certain amount of finding their feet. The metric that matters is: is this a government that learns from its mistakes? And that is not a judgment anyone can make yet.” Arthur: “Netanyahu needs another war. He looks at the Gaza situation and, ultimately, a ceasefire and return of the hostages might be getting closer. The Israeli public want the hostages back above anything else. If they get back to anything close to politics as normal in Israel, then attention turns to him.” Arthur: “What Zelenskyy is trying to do, as best he can - and of course his options are quite limited - he is trying to Trump-proof western support that he is getting, build some guarantees into it and certain elements of long-term commitment.” CALLS TO ACTION Best for Britain's tree-planting donation is here. Arthur's podcast Behind The Lines is here. Ukraine Smart Medical Aid is here. UNICEF's Emergency Lebanon Fund is here. Grin And Share It good news story from Barcelona is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod or use our Starter Pack on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex goes on a (very calm and reasoned) MEGA RANT about the mass hysteria over a Labour peer giving a make-over to the top team for the election campaign. You don't expect to have the book thrown at you, when you do everything strictly by that book. "We have a comically unserious top tier of political journalists. Most of them have spent the last fourteen years, in a scandal-rich environment, with their volume permanently on 11, where they filled all the air time and column inches they wanted with anonymous briefing, court intrigue, screengrabs of WhatsApp groups, and very little actual journalism." "Starmer’s cardinal sin is that he is not Corbyn. He is someone who has dirtied himself by winning power. Nothing will ever placate the left of the Labour party." "The right wing is using this confected outrage as a tool to reframe their own rule-breaking and venality of the last decade, through false equivalence. This is especially so for Johnson fans - both individuals and newspapers. There is a huge effort to whitewash BoJo’s failure hanging on this peg." Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) We make all of our content universally available for free. But we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monica Harding is the hard-working Lib Dem who scared Dominic Raab (remember him?) clean out of the Esher and Walton constituency, and has just been rewarded with an International Development brief in Ed Davey's top team. In our latest Quiet Riot Mini, Naomi Smith gets Monica's take on the Lib Dem conference and on life as a new MP. If you want to hear more about how she took in a new dawn for the country with her family, or how she dodged asbestos in Westminster, then listen in for 25 minutes of insight and laughter from someone who has done plenty of hard miles in politics before being elected. We make all of our content universally available for free but we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. This Thursday, our Ko-fi family will get the chance to take part in a Quiet Riot editorial meeting with Naomi, Alex and maybe even producer Kenny, so do head on over and sign up :-) Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex zoom in on the Reform UK Party Conference and consider whether it is possible for Nigel Farage to professionalise the party and rid it of bigots - as he says he wants to do - and whether that makes it more or less dangerous to the health of our body politic. Plus a whistle-stop tour of other news, including the allegations agains Al Fayed and Harrods and the extraordinary scandal engulfing the Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina. Plus - how to pack for a party conference! [TW rape and sexual assault.] We make all of our content universally available for free. But we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Alex: “It’s very hard to think there won’t be a clash between those very big male egos at the centre of Reform UK. You have Richard Tice, ploughing in all the money, while getting none of the spotlight, Nigel Farage who has this overwhelming air of I-know-best, and then you have Lee Anderson - a recalcitrant blabbermouth who refuses to be reined in. At some point those big alphas will do bloody battle.” Naomi: “I sense that the mood is not going to be as jubilant as one would expect it to be, given it will be the first Labour Conference, post their landslide election win.” Naomi: “I hate packing for party conferences. And I am someone who likes packing.” Naomi's Guardian piece on the Canadian Reform Party's hostile takeover of the Conservatives, can be read here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A FUN mini edition of Poll The Other One, in which Naomi digs into the cross tabs and break points of a frivolous aspect of a very serious piece of polling: How does your favourite takeaway correlate with your age, location, party preference, and even newspaper of choice? Which are the only constituencies where 'chicken shop' is Top 3? What is a Sun reader's fave takeaway? And why will so few of us admit to loving a kebab? A perfect 10-minute listen. We make all of our content universally available for free. But we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. You can find the MUNCH MAPPER HERE. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recorded live at the Radio Academy Festival 2024, Alex and Naomi, along with special guest, comedian and impressionist, Rory Bremner discuss #frockgate and Starmer's generally falling popularity and problem image, a second attempt against Trump's life and his lies, as well as a guide to Party Conferences. Plus regular features You Gotta Troll With It and Wokey Dokey. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. If you do so now, you can be part of the supporter editorial meeting next Thursday 26 September. CALL TO ACTION The government's consultation on visa conditions is here. The full list of consultations can be found here - they are sortable by subject area. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for the third Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex talk through the weeks news, including the NHS report, winter fuel payments, the OBR report into national debt and immigration. And they speak to special guest, former UK-US ambassador Sir Kim Darroch on the latest Russian threats over Ukraine and the US Election. WHAT A PACKED SHOW! If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Sir Kim Darroch on Trump's plan to end the war in Ukraine: "It's a ludicrous thing to say. He's giving away any leverage on Putin by preemptively announcing he will stop weapon supplies to Ukraine. That's a negotiating mistake. What Trump is actually proposing is a deal in which Ukraine allows Russia to win. That looks to me like a huge defeat for the West. It's ending the war by, effectively, forcing Ukraine to surrender." Naomi: “Is the Winter Fuel Allowance a moment like tuition fees were for the Lib Dems - something from which they will not recover? I don’t think so, for one key reason: With that u-turn, the Liberal Democrats hurt their own core voters. Well-off older people are not voting Labour.” Alex: “The country with the highest immigration is America. Which also happens to be the richest country. Those two things are related. There is something very particular to the energy migrants bring to a country. If you're looking for people with what you call get-up-and-go, you can’t do better than those who actually got up and went.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scottish politics klaxon! This bonus episode is a real treat for Quiet Rioters, featuring the insight and wisdom of Strathclyde University politics professor Sir John Curtice. Sir John, Britain's best-known polling expert, is a regular fixture on TV and radio (for those of you who still watch telly...) and no election night is complete until he has cast his eyes over the political landscape. Naomi and Sir John look at the state of Scottish politics, the challenges for the big parties, the skip fire that is the Scottish Tory leadership race and examine the differences between politics north and south of the Border ... you may be surprised about how different things are (and are not). For an even bigger fix of Sir John, check out his podcast Trendy, with former Downing St adviser Rachel Wolf. And for an extra hit of Quiet Riot, find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Our THIRD Starter Pack can be found here. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with SandStone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and Naomi, along with wonderful guests Alexis Conran and Simon Radford, discuss the fallout from Trump's "They're Eating The Dogs" humiliation by Kamala Harris. Followed by a discussion of why is regualtion of the gambling industry so lax, considering the lives gambling addiction destroys. Plus the return of Arlene On Me. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Simon: “There’s probably been three occasions in the last few decades where a debate has been decisive. Some people point to the Nixon-Kennedy debate, where Nixon won on Radio but Kennedy won on TV. Reagan cleaned Carter’s clock and it went from being a tight race to a landslide for Reagan. And then Trump versus Biden, which knocked the latter out of the race entirely.” Alexis: “We’re getting up to just under 500 suicides a year, which are thought to be related to gambling. I don’t know why we can’t force the industry to be a bit more responsible. You can’t watch sport without being prompted to gamble. You go to a PG film and there will be a gambling advert before it.” Alexis: “I think we need to make gambling a health issue. Just under half a billion quid from the NHS goes to helping problem gamblers. If we take it our of DCMS - why is it there? - and make it a Wes Streeting problem, you might see more action.” CALLS TO ACTION Information on the Gambling White Paper can be found here. Anthony O'Shaughnessy's "cougary" TikTok is here. Alexis Conran's documentary on gambling addiction is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex gives his sleepless review of the Harris-Trump debate - complete with the best (and worst) clips and renders his verdict. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. "So, DID SHE LOOK LIKE A PRESIDENT? I’m not sure. We associate so much of what makes a leader with masculinity - and often toxic masculinity. She didn’t look like a President because no President has ever looked like her. Did she look Presidential? She looked calm, centred, optimistic, and in control. Is that what people consider Presidential? By Jove, I hope so." Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex review the week's news, including the Grenfell report, Green Party conference, Tory leadership contest, Russia's election interference, Johnson's annoying columns, and Starmer's visit to Ireland. They're then joined by Cripps partner, chair of UK French Foreign Trade Advisors and Chevalier, Olivier Morel, to talk through the shock appointment of Michel Barnier as french PM. If you can afford to help, you can back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “Barnier is probably the only person who could manage it… His first speech was non committal, but he at least said he would speak to everyone, which is the right stance. And through his experience of Brexit, Britain was not the hardest task - keeping 27 countries on board for that long process is an extraordinary feat.” “Everyone is looking at 2027, the next presidential election, which is the big one. It’s a poisoned chalice to be in government right now. You and others regard this [left] grouping as one. But as soon as they are confronted by the reality of voting on this issue or that, I can see them fracturing very easily.” That French polling can be found here. You can watch the Private Member's Bill ballot here - they were chosen by Tory MP Nusrat Ghani. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Electoral changes are a-coming in Wales, but that's not the only challenge facing politicians in Cymru. It's a country of contrasts, from the rugged scars of the Valleys and the beauty of Bannau Brycheiniog to the urban bustle of Cardiff and Swansea, and the bookish haven of Hay-on-Wye. Naomi Smith is joined by journalist Will Hayward for a timely stock-take of political life in a part of the country that we Quiet Rioters love, and a look at the contrasting fortunes and, indeed, difficulties looming for its political leaders. Find Will on X, if you still loiter in that odd place, @WillHayCardiff ... read his work on @WalesOnline ... and subscribe to his popular newsletter here. As for us, well, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO, IT MAKES SUCH A FABULOUS DIFFERENCE. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with SandStone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with the LSE's Professor Paul Dolan, and More in Common's Luke Tryl, make their way through the news - including the Grenfell report, changes in how schools are assessed, and the Tory leadership race. And then we talk happiness. What is it? Why do we feel less of it? And how can we get happier in a polarised world. An illuminating and uplifting conversation. HELP US KEEP MAKING THIS PODCAST: CLick here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Paul Dolan: “It’s much easier, much of the time, to hold someone else responsible for how you think the world is than it is to do anything about it yourself. The path of least resistance is blame.” Luke Tryl: “One of the bigger drivers [of online abuse] is the desire for in-group approval that social media gives you. It’s not just that you don’t see the impact you are having on the people you’re targeting. You also get lots of validation from the in-group.” CALLS TO ACTION Grenfell United can be found here. Paul Dolan's books and other projects can be found here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pollsters got the result and party shares broadly right - the one significant error across the board was an overestimation of the size of Labour's vote. Why? Naomi looks at the data trickling through - some of it EXCLUSIVE and yet UNPUBLISHED - to glean why. Part of the answer seems to be a misrepresentation of Muslim voters and the more-prominent-then-usual presence of "late switchers" away from Labour. A perfect 10-minute listen. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. More in Common's detailed blog and data is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and special guest, journalist Annette Dittert in Berlin, go behind the dramatic headlines to discuss what yesterday's victory of the far-right extreme party Alternative für Deutschland in the Federal election in the obscure region of Thuringia actually means. What are the implications for national German and European politics and especially the war in Ukraine? A deeply insightful discussion, which morphs into a broader conversation about why formerly communist states may be more susceptible to far-right messaging. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “In 1932 Hitler had his first electoral breakthrough in Thuringia. And in a way it is highly symbolic that this happens again in Thuringia. On the other side Thuringia and Saxony together do not even form 8% of the German population. So, what has happened there yesterday is in not representative of the whole of Germany, although it will radiate far and have huge implications.” “It’s misleading to describe Wagenknecht as far left. She insidiously merges far right and far left topics and tropes, only to create a whole new toxic brew-up. Far from being a bulwark against the AfD she has turned out to be a resentment machine that has paved the way for more right-wing thinking, by routinely normalising anti-democratic narratives.” “Many of the younger generation in these states, they feel left behind. AfD has managed to be massively successful on TikTok, which is used by younger Germans. And the mainstream parties did not clock that fast enough. Nowhere else in Germany have far right organisations been allowed to be so much at the centre of society.” “The underlying subtext of this election is that East Germans - and this is something you will find across the rest of Germany - are hugely dissatisfied with the current coalition gov’t, which is basically dysfunctional. If you set aside the AfD’s victory, what actually happened is that these three parties hardly got any votes.” “It’s important to emphasise, this is East Germany, it has to do with very specific factors and although hugely influential, it is not representative. But it is a dangerous ‘first’ and what matters now is how this will affect the national conversation - especially the Christian Conservatives who are in danger of learning the wrong lessons and pandering further to the right.” “We, Germans, don’t really do ‘early elections’ unless absolutely necessary. However, if the next East German election in Branderburg in three weeks time is as awful for the Social Democrats and if - and this is a possibility - they come in below the 5% threshold that is the minimum in order to be part of Parliament, within the SPD, Scholz’s future will be heavily discussed.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi (SHE'S BACK! YAY!) and Alex try to look behind a wall of very mixed signals from Labour on the EU. Is there a sophisticated strategy in play? Or a tug of war between the economically obvious and the politically toxic? And is it a cowardly betrayal of Remain, as the Guardian asserts – or a dastardly reversal of Brexit as the Express believes? IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “There’s no such thing as ‘Rejoin’. There’s not some fast-track, ‘We made a mistake! Do-over! Do-over! There is just ‘Join’ and it takes years at the best of times. It takes time.” “There is a lot not to like about the CPTPP. But it was negotiated, the ink has dried, it’s going to happen… We are beggars, not choosers, when it comes to trade deals. And to turn our nose up at those we can do, while resetting our relationship with Europe, would be churlish and at odds with the govt’s message on growth.” Join Best for Britain here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex review the latest Alien interquel from the London IMAX - and talk about the politics of the franchise, more generally. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “Aliens was made a few months before Wall Street. And you really can see that anxiety: Is capitalism now too rampant? Almost forty years later, that creeping fear, that suspicion, that large corporations will take over our lives, has been confirmed.” “The film has a very, very young cast… And it hits the nail on the head, when you think of how little stake young people have today. Young people coming to the franchise will identify with being screwed, with the goalposts moving, with not being able to save.” “Alien is probably the best Haunted Spaceship film. And Aliens, I would say, is the best sci-fi action horror. ”And if they’re not, then listeners should write in with their suggestions. So any interquel is going against quite an impossible bar.” Full trailer for ALIEN: ROMULUS. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, Kenny and guest TIME Magazine's Yasmeen Serhan, discuss Keir Starmer's moRose Garden speech, whether the difficulties were predicted or are additional, whether the rhetoric is expectation management or augurs Austerity 2.0. Palestinian-American, Yasmeen Serhan then leads a hugely illuminating conversation on the US Election and why so many Arab-Americans remain Uncommitted to Kamala Harris. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “It was a dull speech. Starmer promised change… but he also promised that politics would take up less space in our lives. So, I guess, what he’s endeavouring to do is bring about this change in as non-dramatic a way as possible.” “For the first time I question the balance of the top team. Now that they’re in government, I look around that top team and I think: who is the risk-taker there? I see a lot of risk-averse people. But if the situation is as dire as they describe, they need someone who will take a few risks.” “Democrats and people who are supportive of Harris/Walz need to get it out of their heads that they can threaten voters by saying ‘my opponent is insane’. That is not a good get-out-the-vote strategy. You can’t fit that on a bumper sticker.” “As a Palestinian-American, speaking to other Palestinian-Americans, this is such an emotional issue. You can’t tell them they must vote for a ticket that may just continue what we’ve been seeing. You can’t ask them to sign off on a policy that may kill their family members.” CALLS TO ACTION Yasmeen's writing can be found here. The Labour Conference list of exhibitors is here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An enriching and uplifting conversation with Professor Harvey Whitehouse, chair of social anthropology and professorial fellow of Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. We come equipped with three deeply ingrained biases: tribalism, religiosity, and conformity. How do we overcome them? By working with them, says Whitehouse in his new book: INHERITANCE. Nothing is off the table, as Alex challenged Harvey to put the recent racist riots, the MAGA movement, Brexit - even Swifties - through the prism of those biases. If we had conceived of the Professor's thesis ourselves, it could not fit better with this podcast's mission. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. To buy Harvey Whitehouse's stunning book, INHERITANCE: THE EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS OF THE MODERN WORLD click here. “The trouble is, right now, we are living in a world where technology is advancing at such a pace, we don’t have time to adapt our past lessons to fit with the kinds of problems we are facing currently. ” “A lot of those features that I call religion, which include a tendency to anthropomorphise things, to see agency in everything, to believe in supernatural forces - these things are massively exploited by electronic media in a huge variety of ways, commercially exploited to a degree a lot of us are not fully aware of.” On Swifties: “What we need and what is very rare are what we call ‘barrier-crossing leaders’- that is to say leaders who work across groups and across tribes and bring them together. And when we talk about that younger demographic who are relatively open to being persuaded, there is an opportunity for leaders to actually lead.” “There are universal rules of a moral kind that we all agree upon. All human beings, everywhere, agree that certain principles of cooperation are morally good. But if you are on the left or on the right, you emphasise different components of that repertoire.” “Actually what I’d really like to see is a coming-together of the perspectives of left and right, instead of this polarisation that is increasingly taking grip of societies around the world. What we need is for left and right to listen to each other a bit more closely.” “The salience of global citizenship needs to come to the fore, when we’re thinking of things like tackling climate change, or pandemic risk, or whatever it is that faces the world as a whole. And we need to follow through on that, and sustain it, and build the institutions that give expression to it.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex talks through every aspect of BlueSky, from its genesis to how it may look familiar but is a completely different model of social media, to what is coming in the short and medium future, with its Chief of Operations in the San Francisco head office, Rose Wang. Hidden features, hints on curating your feed, tips on etiquette ... it's all here. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “We are experiencing on social media a lot more media than social. And what we hear from many people is: I don’t see my friends in my timeline anymore, or on my feed anymore. Even content creators, they’re posting to the algorithm now. There’s no true connection with an audience, because they don’t own that relationship - the platforms do.” “BlueSky looks like twitter – on the surface – but it’s like comparing TV in the 1950s with Netflix today. A small group of people deciding what you get to see on two feeds – much like the TV channels in the 50s. On BlueSky we’ve built the foundation for anyone to build a feed.” "We have seen a couple hundred thousand people in the UK migrate to BlueSky in the last few weeks. This Brexit has been fun to watch." "It's a new party. And at this party, you can be yourself." Our THIRD Starter Pack to accompany this Special can be found here. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and special guest Brian Klaas, with their 30-minute review of the entire Democratic National Convention - complete with the best clips. Can the Democrats maintain this momentum? Can Trump find anything that will stick - or will he turn on Vance? What next before the first Harris vs Trump debate in September? TW Testimony of rape survivor. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. “A lot of Democrats feel like it’s 2008 again, when Obama made his ascendancy - it was a watershed moment with incredibly high enthusiasm level, and it feels like we’re in that sort of space. Around April only [a third] of Democrats were fired up about the election. Just before the convention it was 81%.” “What really angers the right about Walz is that he is exactly what a lot of the Republican elites pretend to be - the rural party, working class, what they call ‘Real Americans’. But all of them live in DC in penthouses, and have huge stock portfolios, and are millionaires.” “It was a marked contrast from the when-they-go-low-we-go-high rhetoric of the Obama presidency. It was saying: You know what? We’re not going to let them set the terms. It’s a different kind of Democratic Party, that is saying: we will push back. And the Harris slogan ‘When We Fight, We Win’ is an indication of that.” “Trump’s strategy, which we can discern is to get from 42% to 47%. Kamala Harris is trying to get to 52%. In other words, she’s trying to win over people who don’t naturally vote for her.“ US Election aggregate polling at Five Thirty Eight. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is there a glimmer of light at the end of the (Channel) tunnel for young Britons wanting to travel more freely in Europe? This week's headlines hinting at a Youth Mobility Scheme suggest there may well be, and polling tells us that even old Brexity types aren't against helping Generation Z win back some of the European travel freedoms that us oldies took for granted before You Know What happened. Naomi Smith reads the runes and finds a policy that could help young people and be broadly popular too – with Europe as well as the UK. And she explains why her team at Best For Britain is backing a reciprocal EU-UK Youth Mobility Scheme, one of 114 recommendations published by the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission last year. Thanks as ever for listening – find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell, in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi and Alex, with guest Sir Vince Cable, discuss the lack of policy flesh on the meat of an American election that seems all about vibes. Meanwhile, the new Labour government seem willing to devise an industrial policy - but it will take more than words. Rachel Reeves bought into BIDENOMICS - but with Biden gone, and Harris more mercurial, is that still a thing? Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. Vince on Kamala Harris: "She will have to say something on fundamental questions that will shape this election… The British election is a good example of the problem with a Ming-Vase approach. You get into government and the moment you do anything remotely controversial, people go bananas, because you’ve built up no buy in. There’s a certain parallel with what’s happening across the pond.” Vince on Lords reform and the abolition of life peerages and phasing out of peers on the basis of age: “It’s a rather weak response to a big problem, which is that we have a Second House which is bloated, massively undemocratic, and - frankly - corrupt, because of the large number of people who have bought their places.” Vince on Brexit: “The fact is that this is an enormous hole. I think there is a collective sense now that we made a mistake, but there is also a resignation that nothing can be done about it. And somehow or other those two things can’t continue.” Ckick here for Vincent's last book. US Election aggregate polling at Five Thirty Eight. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at [email protected]. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. Click here for a second Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices