Alas Vine & Hitchens

On this week’s episode, Sarah wonders if Labour’s plans to change the definition of Islamophobia is actually a threat to free speech? And, in light of Ian Huntley’s death, Peter would like to ask whether the death penalty might be better than unofficial execution by another criminal? And the pair pore over our mailbag to mull over the case for paying MPs more (there’s no accord there), who’s to blame for The Irish Potato Famine? Who would call a military operation 'Epic fury'? And we return to the perennial subject of Peter’s borrowed leather biker jacket.On our reading and watch list this week: ·               Beyond Evil - Inside the Twisted Mind of Ian Huntley – Nathan Yates·               Motorcycle Jackets: A Century of Leather Design – Rin Tanaka·               Escape From New York – Dir: John CarpenterPlease do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’. Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

On this week’s episode, Sarah, and Peter clash over what the future of Iran should be after the extraordinary aerial assault by the US and Israel has plunged the territory in to war. And, on a much lighter note, the pair discuss tribal loyalties in contemporary politics, what do we think of our Australian countries and in motorcycle news (we have some!), why the cost of a motorbike might be boosting the popularity of the e-bike and why Peter should invest in a Honda Valkyrie when he reaches eighty and gets back on a bike.On our reading and watch list this week:  ·      A Hymn to Life: The Secret War with Iran: The 30-year Covert Struggle for Control of a Rogue State Paperback – Ronen Bergman·      Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff·      Easy Rider – Dir: Dennis Hopper Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.  Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking if the horrendous case of Gisele Pelicot is more than just an isolated incident and Peter wants to know why our boys in blue have settled on performative policing. Plus, why has it taken Sarah over a year to realise she’s been wearing her contact lenses in the wrong eyes? The parlous state of children’s fiction in the modern age and why Peter will be getting a motorbike (and leather biker jacket) as soon as he reaches eighty. On our reading and watch list this week:  ·               A Hymn to Life: Shame Has To Change Sides - Gisele Pelicot·               Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell·               The Bonfire Of The Vanities – Tom Wolfe·               Never Trust Dragons – Sheila K. McCullagh Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.  Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular 

On this week’s episode, Peter will be asking when new legislation to curb the plague of e-bikes on our streets will finally come into effect. And Sarah wants to know why parents are opting NOT to vaccinate their children against measles. Plus, how being bullied in school can change you for ever. Football and flag flying, something neither of our presenters can really get behind. The right to bear arms in the UK, or maybe not. And the joys of driving a steam train, sadly, this is not yet Peter’s story.On our reading and watch list this week:  ·               Heathers – Dir: Michael Lehmann·               The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle·               A Brief History Of Crime - Peter Hitchens·               Clueless – Dir: Amy Heckerling Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.  Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular  

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking is the English literature curriculum really being dumbed down or are we simply not reading as a country anymore or simply shifting our allegiance to audiobooks? And Peter, as if to prove otherwise, will be bandying a copy of Lord of the Flies around and poring over the latest BBC adaptation. Plus, why was Stephen Fry stalking Peter at a memorial for his late brother? Why we should eat even if the Queen has done with her meal, royal protocol be damned! Why neither wants a coat of arms, divorce etiquette and why the Suez Crisis reminds Peter of his father getting on his bike.On our reading and watch list this week:  ·               The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster·               Lord Of The Flies – William Golding·               A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess·               The Box Of Delights - John Masefield·               Our Man in Havana – Graham Greene·               Heart Of Darkness – Joseph ConradPlease do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie EastA Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

On this week’s episode Peter will be going back 35 years to a moment in time where he stood and watched the KGB murdering people in Vilnius. And I’ll be asking why did Sarah Ferguson take her children to see Jeffrey Epstein just days after he was released from prison? Plus, we find out the truth about magnetised train tracks (all lies!), why both 1976 and 1979 are vying for the best of all possible years for two of our listeners, the rise of the extreme right wing and the night the Queen wore rhinestone. On our reading and watch list this week:  ·               Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh ·               Eyeless in Gaza – Aldous Huxley·               Hamlet – William Shakespeare·               Short Breaks In Mordor – Peter Hitchens Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.  Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular