The Prospect Interview

In this week’s episode of the Prospect podcast, Emily Lawford quizzes Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, on the gambling scandal, election culture wars and who, out of all the candidates, has had the best campaign so far.  After the break—is Britain ready to for Putin? Ellen Halliday speaks with Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the defence and security think tank Rusi about the nuclear threat, and what the next government might do to ensure a secure future.

Assistant editor Emily Lawford introduces Prospect’s election panel—the ultimate group chat of politics nerds from across the spectrum. One of the team, former Number 10 speechwriter Phil Collins, joins to give his take on the Tory manifesto and much more. After, Ellen unpacks the crisis in universities with professor of academic history Glen O’Hara, who explains why they are in such trouble and what it means for students.

As the election campaign whirrs on—media circus in tow—Prospect’s senior editor Alona Ferber is joined by Guardian columnist and author Rafael Behr to look beyond the Westminster bubble and ask: what does the Punch-and-Judy nature of our politics mean for the country, and our democracy?

On today’s podcast, Ellen Halliday is joined by legendary British pollster Peter Kellner to discuss Sunak’s soggy start and Labour’s “no mistakes” tactics. And calling in from Cape Town, Peter Fabricius, a leading political journalist for the Daily Maverick, explains why the ruling ANC could lose its majority for the first time since 1994—and what the outcome could mean for the South Africa in the world.Read Kellner's column and Fabricius’s feature here.

As a series of encampments have sprung up at universities around the world, what do the Gaza protests tell us about freedom of speech at these often-embattled institutions? Author and Cambridge professor Priyamvada Gopal joins Ellen Halliday to dive beyond the headlines on this divisive story. Read Priymavada's piece here.

This month, our writers are mulling over questions of identity: Sheila regrets her lifelong habit of judging people by appearances while sex-worker and author Tilly Lawless considers the solidarity that exists between sex-workers and trans-women. OCD sufferer Sarah Collins feels destabilised by her recent birthday, while Anglican Priest Alice Goodman is forced into a new role by her health: that of a hospital patient. 

The United States has been ravaged by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and a few months ago, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that a similar disaster might be coming for Europe. Is he right? Freelance journalist Ella Glover joins Prospect’s deputy editor Ellen Halliday to discuss who is really at risk from nitazenes—a category of synthetic opioids linked to an increasing numbers of deaths in Britain—and how prepared the UK is to protect them.

The local elections went very badly for the Tories and pretty well for Labour—but what can the results really tell us about the upcoming general election? Prospect columnist and pollster Peter Kellner joins deputy editor Ellen Halliday to explain why Sunak is overselling the odds of a hung parliament, why Sadiq Khan underperformed in London and why Reform could still be the Conservatives’ biggest headache. Read Peter’s latest column here.