Quiet Riot

LOBBY JOURNALISTS DO BATTLE FOR THE QUIZ CHAMPION CROWN. Quizmaster Naomi grills The Guardian's Zoe Williams, The Times' Caroline Wheeler, Politics Home's Adam Payne, Conservative Home's Henry Hill, and award-winning Welsh politics guru, Will Hayward. And they also share their political moment of the year. Which one will triumph and who will disgrace themselves? ***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. ***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 and Naomi Smith welcome two very special guests - their best friends Nigel Smith and Nigella Lawson. Recorded with a special live audience of many of our previous guests, in this PART II we look forward to 2025, take questions from the audience, and - of course - talk all about FOOD!!! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “If you hurry the cooking of an onion, all is lost.” “I would win Ready, Steady, Cook. I would be very good at that.” “I don’t like gadgets that lock you out of the cooking process.” “Whenever there is a new fashionable ingredient, I tend to feel sorry about the old ones. So, I pivot to carrots.” “Channelling Alex’s radical optimism, where are you all going to find joy in the next year? Wherever we bloody well can!" "Joy is in the small things. The way the light falls in through a curtain. Or having a vodka-martini so cold it hurts. Or the perfectly constructed sentence in a book you’re reading. I don’t know you can start worrying about where it should best come from.” “The connections we build with people is the thing we really build our lives from. It starts with the personal. That’s how we make a better future.” “The small unexpected kindnesses give me joy, because they give me hope, that there is something underneath all the darkness, and we just have to find a way to mine it.” CALLS TO ACTION: The charity Praxis can be found here. Food decorations from Sous Chef. Nigella's recipe for Fig and Olive Chutney. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod. For 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 and Naomi talk to a pantheon of special guests to dissect the week's news. Arthur Snell on the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas Market and a new breed of self-radicalised individual who fits no profile. Ian Dunt on the latest peers elevated to the Lords. Zoe Williams on the backlash over gov't denying compensation to WASPI women. Peter Geoghegan on the first cracks appearing in the Trump/Musk bromance and dark money. A special episode to end the year. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Arthur: “A classic example of self-radicalisation. People in a very isolated way online can be drawn into a very personal version of a dangerous ideology. You can end up with people with very bizarre uniquely generated private views.” Arthur: “Whilst it’s a slightly bewildering case, it’s a fairly neat illustration of the way that radicalisation has become a profound danger and that you don’t have to have pale skin and ‘Aryan’ looks to be radicalised into far-right ideology.” Peter: “Labour’s failure [to proactively regulate money in politics] has put them in this position and they still don’t have a strategy. When the Musk story broke, they briefed that they might cap donations, now that they may do something by 2026, or that they may limit the amount a company can give. This is very piecemeal, very reactive and not being led from the front.” Peter: “We have seen time and again how unlimited donations, dirty money and dark money in British politics, has warped the political agenda. Musk unintentionally is illuminating this, shining a great big light onto it. And the public care about this. That’s the most compelling reason to act, rather than party political ramifications.” Zoe: “A lot of these plans, like the winter fuel payment withdrawal, are not well formulated. I’m not sure that a blanket ‘no’ to the WASPI women is the right thing to do. At the same time, this government is being treated atrociously by the commentariat. Conservative gov’ts, and the coalition before them, introduced waves of extreme hardship and barely a peep was made about it.” Zoe: “I don’t think anything [Labour] do would be enough to restore trust in democracy… We went from austerity, which was often just performative cruelty, into the fecklessness of Brexit, and then into a pandemic that was defined by corruption. I worry that that did taint the reputation of politics so profoundly, I don’t see how you turn it around.” Ian: “We cannot have PM after PM just come in and just cram the place with their cronies… and see the numbers just expand and expand. Even for those of us who are defenders of the Lords, it makes our job impossible, because you cannot support this stuff, you cannot defend the way they are behaving.” Ian: “Starmer is the most consistently underestimated politician in my lifetime. People cannot stop looking at him and going ‘he’s so boring’, ‘he’s got no ideas’, ‘he’s bad at politics’, ‘he’s got no connection to the public’. There’s loads to criticise him on, but some of the stuff he’s doing is huge. When you look at planning, labour practices, local gov't, net zero, criminal justice - in 15 years, we will look back on this period as engine room policy change.” Ian: “Having a surging Farage - which will be the story of next year, because that is what the press wants the story to be - is poison for the national conversation and will pull us further to the right. But electorally, the basic boring answer is still the correct one: a surging Reform just divides the right.” CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Peter's substack Democracy for Sale. It's free and you should subscribe. Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod. On Bluesky click here for our 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

***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Hallmark has pumped out over 800 of these original movies - and I use the term original very loosely. Its countdown to Xmas generates over a third of its entire revenue during this one month. But where do these films have their roots? Are they a new phenomenon or just the modern version of Pride & Prejudice? Are they an anti-capitalist subversion teaching that work and materialism do not equal happiness? Or a MAGA misogynist festival that seeks to humiliate women who have the temerity to seek a life, education, or career outside their home town? Alex compares notes with film critic Linda Marric, to get to the bottom of their enduring, and - given their quality - pretty surprising popularity. GOOD FESTIVE PICKS The Holiday *batteries not included The Family Man When Harry Met Sally... SO BAD THEY ARE GOOD FESTIVE PICKS Harvest Love A Law for Christmas 'Tis The Season to Be Merry Christmas at the Holly Hotel Sister Swap - City Edition Sister Swap - Country Edition Hallmark's daring interracial effort: Something from Tiffany's Hallmark's first gay starring couple: The Holiday Sitter Hallmark's does Hannukah: Love, Lights, Hannukah! 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 and Naomi Smith welcome two very special guests - their best friends Nigel Smith and Nigella Lawson - to look back at a momentous year, the moments that have depressed, delighted, and surprised them, the people they have admired and the telly they have binged. As well as an incredible six months of Quiet Riot. Recorded with a special live audience of many of our previous guests! Plus the 'Wokiest Dokiest' of 2024. PART II is out on Christmas Eve and is all about FOOD!!! ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “If you're in the outrage business, you've got to take the opportunities where they arise.” “European countries seem to be moving in the direction of having three power blocks of roughly equal share basically that can't agree on anything, a kind of universal gridlock.” “What happened to Giséle Pelicot does explain why women are quite justifiably anxious about moving around in the world. Yes, you could argue: it's an aberration, this isn't happening in every house. But nevertheless, it is clearly eminently doable for a great number of men.” “Only 10% of people under 27 put English mustard in a ham sandwich. And that does make me worry.” “I love cheese, but I really draw the line at Tiramisu Wensleydale or an Espresso Martini Wensleydale, can I say? Science has gone too far.” CALL TO ACTION: You can donate to Duchenne UK here. You can register for the cycle run here, to raise money for Duchenne UK. 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

***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi is joined by a Quiet Riot regular, More in Common's Luke Tryl, to discuss polling trends of 2024, what pollsters got right, what they got wrong, the horseshoe theory, the differences between online and telephone polls, why blending focus groups with polling helps improve predictions and what are the indications for next year. Fill yer boots, as they say. PLUS the insight you have all been waiting for: what is the most popular Xmas movie respectively for Tory, Labour and Reform voters? Spoiler – The Muppet Christmas Carol is notable by its absence. "Polling should always be an art-informed science." "The volatility of voters is unprecedented." "No one is immune from radicalisation." 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

***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi and Alex look at yet another two horrible consequences of Brexit - the grift that keeps on taking - in the rather esoteric GPSR that seems to have caught both government and business unaware, as well as the labour shortages that may scupper gov't plans to build 1.5m homes. Plus, Laura Kuenssberg gets an award and Steven Bartlett explains his views on medicine. Have we sacrificed accuracy in the service of balance? 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 former diplomat and host of the Behind The Lines podcast, Arthur Snell, to try and construct some order out of the recent chaos in Syria. Who are the good guys? What does this mean for Israel? How exposed is Iran? Is it an opportunity for the Kurds to carve out a state? What is Türkiye's agenda? How does this impact Russia and Putin in both practical and reputational terms? What is next for Assad? ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Who can rebuild a country, after a devastating civil war, while also rebuilding its society? That expertise might not exist. But it seems that, if people feel that they have ownership and that they’re not being manipulated by outside forces, there’s a higher chance of this thing going better.” “If you look at how HTS ruled in Idlib - which became a considerable mini-state, because a lot of Syrians were displaced there, so it ended up with 4.5m people living there - it was a dictatorship, but not in the business of chemical weapons or cleansing, and more recently they have allowed other minorities to practice their faith and have a measure of rights.” “I think we have to accept that the different bits of Syria that are under different groups’ control, are very unlikely to want now suddenly to be under the control of Damascus again - particularly the Kurds who have a pretty organised setup in the Northeast. So, one would hope that the pragmatism we’ve seen so far from HTS and Julani, that has seen him go on this journey from full-blooded islamist to something a bit more open-minded, might extend to saying: Syria doesn’t work very well as a centralised state and actually you need a measure of federalism and particularism.” “What happens when people go back home and someone else is living in their house? What happens to teenagers of fourteen and fifteen years of age who have never been to Syria? They were born in refugee camps and that is all they know. How do all those returning integrate back ‘home’?” "It is a reminder that Russia doesn't always win. It's an important psychological point for all those who, rightly, fear Russian encroachment, that Russia doesn't always get its way and can be overextended, like everyone else." BEHIND THE LINES PODCAST The latest episode of Arthur's podcast is 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

Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and special guest investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan discuss the huge amounts of money that is currently flowing into our politics, the ways in which it is corrupting our democracy, and what we can do about it. And in Part II, the very narrow path left to the Labour government, because of a lack of money. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin and Share It'. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** "In 2023 two-thirds of all the money raised in British politics came from 19 people, who all gave over a million… Reform are continuing this trend and going even further. Candy is talking about raising £40m in total. These are huge sums in the context of British politics.” “They get incredible bang for their buck these [Tufton Street] think tanks. According to the IEA’s accounts last year, they got over 4,500 media hits the previous year. Which is unbelievable - they’re on radio, TV, or print something like twelve times a day.” “People don’t like the influence money has on our politics. And this is, I think, something that Labour haven’t fully grasped. People don’t think of ‘Tory Sleaze’. They just think of sleaze.” GRIN AND SHARE IT Piece on teaching a very old dog new tricks, is here. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Peter's substack Democracy for Sale. Answer the short survey on donations here. Best for Britain's donation tree drive. Government consultation on Right to Buy. This is the cynical BBC article about folders. You can complain about the BBC's coverage 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 disseminate Starmer's big "this is not a reset" speech. Naomi talks about the importance of a better EU deal and a new initiative for getting there, with Labour MP Andrew Lewin. Finally, Melania is flogging $90 ornaments and Donald has a new fragrance out for Christmas - which really gives new meaning to eau de toilet. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “I wonder whether the civil service got into the habit of resisting ideas from gov’t, because of the extraordinary churn. If you’re in the housing bit, and you’ve had 18 ministers, you learn to play for time, because you think ‘meh, they’ll be a different guy with a different plan in six weeks’. Maybe what we’re seeing is that muscle memory of those last 14 years.” “I desperately want Labour to turn things around. They have to. The stakes are too high. I want to see the xenophobic, toxic, English nationalism of Farage and his cabal defeated and roundly. I don’t want Trumpism in Britain.” Lewin: “This parliament will be defined by our success, or not, in growing the economy and raising living standards. It is very clear to me that we, as a Labour gov’t, have to look at every lever we can pull, to deliver on that mission of growing the economy, including significantly improving our relationship with the EU.” Lewin: “I don’t think many people consider themselves ‘leavers’ or ‘remainers’ any more. They look at an economy that’s been flatlining for a decade and want to look at every practical step to get things growing and moving again.” CALL TO ACTION Write to your MP, to ask them to prioritise a closer relationship to the EU, using this tool. 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 talks to our resident France expert, Olivier Morel, about the political deadlock in France, how and why we got here and whether Macron can survive it. An informative and completely accessible conversation. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Macron has become a lighting rod. He seems to trigger extreme reactions and opprobrium from all sorts of quarters. The loathing he attracts is quite extraordinary.” “With both Berlin and Paris being so self-involved and consumed with domestic politics, and lacking the authority to make their voices heard, the European Commission may be sensing an opportunity to take over the governing of Europe.” “Marine Le Pen is facing a court case which could result in her being barred from running… There is also speculation that she is concerned about her young protégé, Bardella, being rather too popular for her liking, plus her Dad is reportedly not well. All this creates an environment where she is trying to force the tempo.” 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 welcome comedian and author Henry Morris, to discuss the common threads behind the chaos that seems to be bursting through, pretty much everywhere in the world right now. And we also get a view from rural Wales of the resignation of the Welsh Tory leader and how Labour's farming tax reforms have gone down. Plus Wokey Dokey and Grin and Share It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Alex: "Is there a case FOR a Trump White House? Might having a mercurial psychotic in charge of the world’s largest military make some lower-rank psychotics with regional ambitions wind their neck in?" Henry: “Labour have been in charge for a very long time in Wales. It is a ripe environment to throw your vote at a party who promises to change everything. Someone I was talking to the other day said: ‘Farage will f**k things up Henry. As in, that’s what we need.” Naomi: "With just 18 months to go until the next Senedd elections, Reform UK are sniffing around for gains, and latest polling by YouGov predicts an unprecedented and genuine three-way tie in current vote intention between Plaid Cymru, Labour and Reform UK." Henry: “As someone who went to Wales not knowing any farmers, but knowing a lot about biodiversity collapse and climate change, I was less sympathetic to them than I am now, when I’m surrounded by them and they’r my friends and they’re all really nice. In the inheritance debate, I saw lots of people in London suddenly become experts on farming and not really getting what the protests were about, which was not just the tax but all these other things putting pressure on farmers.” GRIN AND SHARE IT Piece on bumble bee conservation success in the Scotsman here. CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: For Henry's immense Tories; A Tragedy click here. For International Rescue's Gaza appeal click here. To download Mal Pope and Carolyn Harris's single click here; to vote for it click 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

Alex talks to TIME Magazine's correspondent and QR regular Yasmeen Serhan, about Biden pardoning his son, Trump's latest picks, their impact on geopolitics - especially Gaza, and what went wrong with the election. A gorgeous free-roaming chat. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “It’s our election, but it’s everyone’s spectacle. I get the privilege of voting in it, but we are all affected - just in different ways.” “Democrats would do well to have a bit of introspection, and say: ‘we clearly didn’t reach these swathes of people that, a couple of elections ago, we thought were our demographic destiny to carry.’ They didn’t. Maybe they should start figuring out why.” “Fundamentally, you have to earn people’s votes. You can’t just explain to them how they don’t really have a choice. That’s just going to turn people away. The more likely outcome isn’t that they concede the point. It’s that they stay at home.” Yasmeen Serhan's substack newsletter (mainly for her mum): Foreign Correspondence. FT round-up of Trump's pick for FBI boss: Kash Patel faces rocky path to US Senate approval 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 talk through a very busy week (as much of it as they can). They reflect on the assisted dying debate and vote, discuss Louise Haigh's resignation and Heidi Alexander's promotion, Zelensky's offer (and challenge) to NATO, and the likely outcome of the general election in the Republic of Ireland. With a special and very familiar guest. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi: “Attendance was stellar - unheard of, for a Friday. And the vast majority of arguments in both directions were made in an incredibly respectful way. And it’s just made me feel that I want more of this. Why aren't more issues decided on a free vote?” Alex: “A lot of the anxiety [around assisted dying] has to do with cultural, rather than legislative failings: how we treat older people, how we treat illness, how we treat incapacity, how we treat disability, how we value or devalue life. Those things require a cultural shift.” Naomi: “Going for politicians over very minor indiscretions, is going to put people off wanting to become parliamentarians. There is a case to be made for high standards. But if you are a left-leaning, progressive person, thinking of going into politics, the standard expected of you is so much higher.” Hugo Rifkind: My mother’s MS has shaped my view on assisted dying 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 welcome author, columnist, and the ARD's London correspondent, Annette Dittert, to discuss the petition demanding another election, Kemi Badenoch's - now, weekly - strategic mistake, and Musk's obsession with the UK government. After which we take a dive into Angela Merkel's book, the upcoming German elections, and what the likely result might mean for Ukraine. Plus a very Wicked Wokey Dokey and Grin and Share It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Annette: “I think Musk wants to bring down the EU and, more generally, the rule of law of liberal democracy, because it stands in the way of his tech-bro thinking. He’s particularly focussed on Britain at the moment, because they have Farage as their way in.” Alex: “Part of the strategic mistake of Badenoch calling for an election now is that it hands the advantage to Farage. In five years MAYBE people will have forgotten some of the stuff that went on under the Conservatives. In five months, they haven’t. If you put the choice back in front of them, they’ll try Option C. It is infuriatingly obvious.” Annette: “Angela Merkel, who just published her book in Germany, was giving numerous interviews and was asked: What happened with this coalition? And she just looked at the interviewer and said: ‘Well. Men.’” Naomi: “What do thousands of people in Ongar, Clacton, Richmond, Cambodia, Laos, Kazakhstan, Chad, Venezuela, and even nine people in the Antarctic and five in Vatican City share with the world’s richest man? That’s right - none of them understand how elections work.” Annette: “There is a huge anxiety in Germany already [about Russia]. It feels completely different when you’re in Berlin or Warsaw to when you’re in London. It’s irrational, of course, but when I am in London, I feel a little further away.” GRIN AND SHARE IT A video of the new Renfrew Bridge! CALLS TO ACTION LINKS: Sign the petition to hold a referendum on Proportional Representation. Latest news from the European Network Against Racism. 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

In the July election, a victorious Labour saw its red wall support slump to the lowest level in at least 40 years. Polling guru Peter Kellner joins Naomi Smith to discuss why, and to dive into his critique of Labour's 'red wall Brexit fallacy'. He also explains why Labour desperately needs to get on the front foot when it comes to relations with Europe, and poses the question: does Rachel Reeves have the courage to do something popular? As if that's not enough, there's insight on the farming row, Trump and immigration. Buckle up! Show notes Read Peter's superb Substack here Get your Bluesky Quiet Riot starter pack here and, if you prefer the olden ways, email us at [email protected]. Our website lurks over at www.quietriotpod.com Oh, please consider sponsoring us at KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD ... thank you, it means a lot. 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 developments in Ukraine and Gaza, and what they might mean for our security. And they also discuss the continuing fallout from the farmland inheritance tax changes - and the Liberal Democrats' revealing position on the issue. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Naomi: "There is a vacuum. Scholz and Macron are in peril. The Democrats are licking their wounds in the States. And there is an opportunity for a leader who believes in the rule of law and liberal democracy, to strengthen international institutions and to show boldness and courage." Alex: "The arguments against inheritance tax are all 'blue skies, and rolling hills, and stewards of the land'. I feel emotionally manipulated. And I think this shtick may wear very, very thin, very, very quickly. Eventually, you have to find a better argument than singing 'Jerusalem' over and over again." Jonathan Freedland: Benjamin Netanyahu is a wanted man – and he has only himself to blame Naomi Smith: Opportunity in misery: how Starmer can respond to Trump’s US victory Clive Lewis's Bsky thread on missing Labour narrative 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 welcome former UK Ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, whose dismissal Trump demanded in 2020, to the studio to talk through what's in store from a Trump second term. We also take a look at the farming protests and try a novel approach: to reach a balanced view based on the evidence. Plus regular features Grin And Share it and Troll With It. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Kim: “Gary Cohn, who was Trump’s economic adviser in the White House [in 2017], tells the story of how, when crazy ideas came up from some of the real ideologue Trump supporters, on tariffs and things like that, he would get tipped off by a friend in the outer office, go in and steal them and bury them in the deepest cupboard.” Kim: “If agencies receive instructions which they believe are mad or damaging to US security, they will resist. Trump had huge rows with the CIA and FBI in his first term. I think that pattern will continue, especially with Tulsi Gabbard in charge.” Kim: “[The new UK-US Ambassador] will need to be ready for the 5AM twitter-storm. He will wake up reach for his phone and post anything that has caught his eye and there is no filter. It’s pure Trump. There’s nobody sitting there at five in the morning saying, Mr President you shouldn’t do that.” Naomi: “Farmers have many reasons to feel angry and let down. Brexit has hurt them: lost EU subsidies, difficulty in hiring seasonal workers, the extra cost of importing goods or importing seed, chemicals, and other things they need, but also trade deals which put them at a competitive disadvantage.” Alex: “We have become addicted to very cheap, low quality food. Good food costs money to produce. So, there is truth to the farmers’ core complaint which is that, on the whole, as a country, we don’t appreciate their work and the thing they produce sufficiently.” Alex: “Farage has cost farmers more money through Brexit than any inheritance tax. Now he’s cosplaying in tweed from head to toe, marching alongside them. Tractors came to Whitehall in March, to protest the trade deals Badenoch signed. Now she’s making speeches and being applauded. How can I take them seriously? Where are their principles?” GRIN AND SHARE IT Reporting on the wider effects of Sadiq Khan's free school meals policy in the Mirror. LINKS: Tortoise Media's Peer Review. The Poke's collection of responses to the 'woke sandwiches' story. Dan Neidle's view of the inheritance tax changes for farms. Richard Murphy's view of the inheritance tax changes for farms. An archived version of the Together website (so you don't have to part with your data). 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 talks to special guest trade epxert David Henig about Trump's threatened tariff war - how likely is it, what would it mean for the world economy, and in which direction the UK should move to be best protected. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** “Most trade is not in finished products, but in components. This is really important in thinking about the effect of possible tariffs. At least 50% of US imports are things that will in turn form part of a finished American product or help to make it.” “Trump’s plan for tariffs is good news if you’re a lobbyist working in DC, because everyone is going to be seeking exemptions for their inputs or tariffs on their rivals. This will become quite a bonanza in that way.” “Look at the figures. 50% of our trade, broadly, is with the EU. The UK cannot afford to ignore that. But then again 15-20% of our trade is with the US. Again, we cannot ignore that. So, we have to duck and weave, but we have to do so within a very straightforward principle: Geography matters. That makes Europe more important than the US.” “The UK needs a little bit of honesty, to say: If you put up barriers with your neighbours, you will suffer a little economically. Similarly, that we’re not going to have an all-singing-all-dancing trade deal with the US. Also, that the actions we are taking at the moment to improve the deal with the EU will not transform the UK economy. Then we can have an honest discussion.” “Global Britain has failed. If the project of the last few Conservative administrations was to replace trade lost from the EU with trade around the world, that hasn’t happened. In fact trade is down both with the EU and with the rest of the world.” 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, wth special guest Arthur Snell, assess what Trump's picks reveal about his intentions for the next four years and how they might affect global security challenges, including in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Taiwan. Oh, and it seems it's okay for the media to talk about the Brexit damage now. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Find Arthur's "Behind The Lines" 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

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