The Econoclasts

Tom McTague reflects on the election campaign, from Rishi in the rain to Boris Johnson's appearance as a last-ditch substitute, and his journey across Britain, from Uist to Kent, to discover what's really going on... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helen and Tom turn to Joe Biden's catastrophic performance at the recent election debate. Will the Democrats really force out Biden, and if so what will that mean for the United States? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom travels deep into the Tory heartlands, where the Liberal Democrats are threatening the infamous Blue Wall. Is there a wipeout on the horizon in the Tory's own backyard? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen explore the extraordinary situation developing in France, sparked by Emmanuel Macron's dramatic decision to call snap parliamentary elections. What is happening in France, and what does it mean for Europe? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode, Tom travels to the Outer Hebrides, Scotland's wild western edge, where one of the most interesting hustings of this election is taking place. Then we head to Glasgow, to find out whether the Indy dream is still alive after a catalogue of spectacular SNP failures... Join us on the road! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom and Helen turn to the situation north of the border, and explore what the last decade of Scottish elections reveal about British politics more widely... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Tom's pursuit of Farage's rebel army, he heads into London to explore the left's breakaway factions. From Chingford, to Stoke Newington, via Corbyn's stronghold in North Islington, Tom finds out what challenges might lie ahead for Keir Starmer... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen react to the shock European election results, and Macron's sudden snap election....is Europe on the brink? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the first episode of a new mini-series from These Times, Tom McTague is on the search for Nigel Farage's rebel army. Reporting from the ground in Great Yarmouth, Tom speaks to the people who are going to shape the election.... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen return to the desperate situation in Gaza, following Joe Biden's peace proposal on Friday. Where has this peace proposal come from? Why is it being made now? And what does it mean? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Helen and Tom dissect Rishi Sunak's shock snap election, and explore why we are seeing such swings in UK opinion between general elections... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Joe Biden announced a new 100 percent tariff on the import of Chinese electric cars, Tom and Helen explore whether the United States can stop China's industrial ascendancy through the energy transition... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen explore whether Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves can create a mode of governance for for the new geopolitical world economy... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode Tom and Helen explore the power of the US dollar, and why in a more multipolar, economic and political world, it remains king... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode sponsored by Revolut, Tom and Helen talk about the geopolitics of the city of London, before Tom chats to MP Bim Afolami and CEO of Revolut, Francesca Carlesi about the future of the city... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Rishi Sunak announced that Britain will increase its defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2030, Tom and Helen explore the history of Britain's defence, and whether it will be able to align what it can spend on defence with a changing geopolitical world... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen turn to the border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana, and explore what it means for the rest of the world... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom and Helen turn to the crisis unfolding between Iran and Israel, and explore the likelihood of US intervention after they were forced to take direct military action in defence of Israel for the first time in their history... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Houthi ship attacks to the spectre of Iranian aggression, the Middle East seems set to become the next front for violent conflict. Could the turbulent history of the region tell us something about what its future holds? Join These Times’ Tom McTague and Helen Thompson for the first live recording of their hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the dust settles in Moscow, Tom and Helen ask from where did Isis come, and why are they still here... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen chat to demographer Paul Morland about the geopolitics and economics of demography, and why population matters... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen turn to Turkey, the country at the crossroads of global geopolitics, and ask why it is so important to the future of the 21st Century...Please join us at the UnHerd Club on 8th April for our first live event "War and Peace in the Middle East", where Tom and Helen are diving deeper into the geopolitics of the Middle-East... Don't miss it! Tickets belowhttps://club.unherd.com/event/these-times-live/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After their extensive analysis into the economic binds of France and Germany, Tom and Helen explore why the geopolitical world has become so much harder for Western Europe to navigate over the last decade... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Tom and Helen turn to France's divisive leader, Emmanuel Macron, and explore whether there is any strategic substance behind the grand speeches, declarations and interventions....Elsewhere at UnHerd, we have launched our new Spring Sale which gives subscribers unlimited access to our articles, subscriber-only app, and ability to join the conversation in the comment section, and that’s all for just £4.99 per year, and for all our UK listeners you can get your first month free. Just visit the link belowhttps://unherd.com/spring-sale/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode Tom and Helen explore what has happened to the British economy over the past 20 years, and why is it becoming increasingly difficult for it to adjust to the new economic and geopolitical world.... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Tom and Helen turn to Germany, and ask why it was last year's worst performing major economy, and what those difficulties reveal about the present economic and geopolitical world... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom Mctague and Helen Thompson look back at Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and explore why it has been so difficult for the United States and the European Union to protect Ukraine's independence... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of Putin's fast and loose interview with Tucker Carlson, Tom and Helen turn to the history of Ukrainian independence, and ask what it means for the future of Ukraine, Europe and NATO... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of recent US/UK led bombings of Iraq and Syria, Tom McTague and Helen Thompson ask why America continues to embroil itself in the Iraq quagmire, and whether further escalation lies on the horizon... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen turn to the current border crisis unfolding in Texas, and explore how a set of global and domestic crises, from the drug cartels in Mexico, to the situation in Ukraine, might play into Trump's hands come the end of the year... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen talk to Ali Ansari, director of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University, about the history of Iranian power - from the 1979 Islamic revolution, to the most recent exchange of airstrikes with Pakistan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the new anti-Chinese President elected in Taiwan, Tom and Helen turn to the most important body of water in the world: the Western Pacific, and explore what's at stake there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Helen and Tom explore the geopolitical history of the Red Sea, from the erection of the Suez Canal, to the waring Houthi Rebels patrolling the waters, and what it all tells us about where power lies in the world today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom McTague and HelenH Helen Thompson look back at the major events that took place in 2023, from Ukraine's stalled counter-offensive and the Israel Hamas War, and ask what they mean for the year ahead... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this Christmas Special, Tom and Helen discuss two of their all time favourite novels that share the same themes of empire, nationalism and loss - Joseph Roth's The Radetzky March (1932) and Giuseppe Tommasi, The Lampedusa's The Leopard (1958). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Tom and Helen sit down with Hans Kundnani to discuss the domestic politics of European countries and the reshaping of Europe's collective future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom and Helen sit down with Shashank Joshi to ask why supporting Ukraine has been so politically difficult in many Western countries, and what are the consequences for Ukraine, the EU, NATO, and the geopolitical conflicts around the Middle East? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As world leaders meet in Dubai for COP 28, Tom and Helen turn to one of the most important political issues of our age - Net Zero, and ask where Europe's ambition to be the first carbon dioxide free continent comes from, and whether it can succeed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom McTague and Helen Thompson dissect the sorry state of Britain's economy with policy-expert Torsten Bell - and ask whether darker days do indeed lie ahead, or whether there's still cause for hope... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the day that David Cameron is sworn into the House of Lords, Tom and Helen explore the history of his foreign policy, and look ahead at what kind of Foreign Secretary he might make... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Tom and Helen sit down to discuss the next U.S election and what's at stake for Israel, Ukraine, and the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Tom and Helen discuss the history of Britain's relationship with the Israel-Palestine question; from Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, to Starmer's recent opposition to calls for ceasefire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Tom and Helen chat to the The Economist's defence editor, Shashank Joshi, about the logistical challenges of a ground-war, what Israel seek to gain by invading Gaza, and the dangers that lie ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Tom and Helen explore the long and fraught history of Iranian-Israeli relations, and ask how Israel vs Iran became the most dangerous prospect in the Middle-East Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode Tom and Helen discuss the history of Israel and the geopolitical fault-lines running through the Middle East Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Tom travels to Liverpool to meet on of the city's favourite sons: Jamie Carragher. They talk about Liverpool's sectarian past, Brexit, Keir Starmer and the phenomenon of secret Tory footballers... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Tom and Helen explore Labour's uneasy relationship with the Europe question - and the potential challenges it poses for Keir Starmer going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the Conservative Conference currently taking place in Manchester, Tom and Helen discuss the upcoming challenges facing the Prime Minister. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In another Q&A episode, Tom and Helen turn to your questions on Brexit and Britain's relationship with the wider European Community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helen and Tom chat to one of the world's great geopolitical thinkers, Pippa Malmgren, about how the big player's on the world stage are jostling for position in earth's northernmost point. Does the race for the Arctic represent a new cold war? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.