The Prospect Interview

This month, Vitali Vitaliev recalls love and magic in Kyiv, Sheila Hancock embraces the word “valour,” Alice Garnett celebrates deep friendships, and Alice Goodman wonders—what if the teenagers are actually alright?

This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Canadian historian Quinn Slobodian.The rise of the populist right is often framed as a backlash against neoliberalism—a revolt by those “left behind” by globalisation. But in his new book Hayek’s Bastards, Quinn argues the opposite: that movements like Maga are not a reaction to neoliberalism, but its latest iteration.Tracing the intellectual lineage of today’s far right, he characterises it as a “new fusionism” between three ideological pillars: racialised beliefs in genetically hardwired human nature, hard money, and hard borders.Quinn answers: who are “Hayek’s bastards”? Are the right better at engaging with ideas than the left? And what does Trump really believe?Hayek’s Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right is available here.Prospect podcasts are also available on our YouTube channel (@prospect_magazine)

This week, poet and nature writer Robert Macfarlane joins Prospect’s Ellen Halliday and Imaan Irfan to explore the ideas in his new book Is a River Alive? They each share what ‘their rivers are’ and the waterbodies they feel most connected to.Robert discusses his travels to Ecuador, India and the Canadian wilderness: places that rivers are being defended from threat, and where our relationship with the natural world is being reimagined. He talks about writing a song with a cloud forest (and the legal battle to have it recognised as a co-writer) and the power of storytelling. He discusses challenges, policy and progress in the UK: is there hope for our rivers? And how do we save them?Plus, stay until the end to listen to “The Song of the Cedars” by Robert Macfarlane, Cosmo Sheldrake, Giuliana Furci and César Rodríguez-Garavito, in collaboration with the Los Cedros Cloud Forest.Robert’s book ‘Is a River Alive’ (2025) is published by Penguin

Has the United States become an autocracy? As Donald Trump marks his 100th day in office, Ellen and Alona are joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar of authoritarianism and author of Strongmen: from Mussolini to the present (2020). She also writes a Substack called “Lucid” which focuses on autocracy.Ruth analyses the Trump administration’s rapid shift towards authoritarianism. She talks about Trump’s personality cult, how strongmen portray machismo and the potential for a female strongman figure. She also discusses how autocrats use corruption, violence and propaganda to stay in power, and how ICE roundups echo the past, resembling a “secret police force”.Ruth answers: can the Democrats can learn anything from Trump? What’s the best way to challenge an illiberal president? And how does this end?Plus, Ellen and Alona discuss their bookshelves for this week's “banger or dud”.

Could a populist right-wing party take power in the UK? And if one did, what would it do?This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Prospect’s contributing editor Philip Collins who analyses Reform UK’s strategy for the local elections taking place in parts of England next week. With Labour, the Tories and Reform neck-and-neck in the polls, will these be the most consequential local elections in decades? What will the biggest story be?As a former No. 10 speechwriter, Phil also analyses the current cabinet’s different communication styles and whether there is anything Labour can learn from Reform—or do they need to set themselves apart? Phil discusses the right-wing alliances on the horizon and shares a sneak peek into his reporting for the next issue of Prospect into the populist right’s plans.Plus, after the long weekend, Ellen and Alona discuss a four-day working week: ‘banger’ or ‘dud’?

This week on the Prospect Podcast, philosopher and public intellectual Slavoj Žižek joins Ellen and Alona.Slavoj discusses fatherhood and Netflix’s Adolescence, as awareness grows around young male radicalisation via the “manosphere”. He also talks about feminism and his criticisms of #MeToo.Plus, with the release of his latest book, in which he argues that the left has hit its “zero point”, is there any hope for its recovery? He draws a through line from the left-wingers of 1968 to the politics and personality of Elon Musk—and gives his analysis on Starmer’s Labour as a "moderate, centre-right party" wrestling with the populist right. Slavoj suggests: does the left need a Trump figure?Slavoj’s latest book, Zero Point, is out now (Bloomsbury, £9.99 paperback)

This month on Prospect Lives: Vitali Vitaliev hits 60 and gets slammed with funeral ads, while Sarah Collins finds unexpected wisdom at the nail salon. Alice Garnett wonders how to plan for the future on a burning planet, while Alice Goodman wrestles with whether you can—or should—pray for someone like Putin.

This week, writer and human rights lawyer Philippe Sands joins Ellen and Alona to discuss the ‘age of impunity'. Are international systems crumbling, or will they stand the test of time?Philippe reflects on the process of writing his most recent book 38 Londres Street, and the relationship between storytelling and the law. He also discusses representing Palestine at the ICJ and his thoughts on the utility of genocide as a legal term. And with the arrests and deportations in the US, Philippe discusses the state of human rights under Trump, and what might be next for the country.Philippe’s book ‘38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia’ is out now.To read more on this topic from our website, head to prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/international-law

Historian and broadcaster David Olusoga joins Ellen and Alona to discuss political attacks on American history, the challenges facing academia in the UK—and how future generations will view England’s colonial history.Our newsfeeds are dominated by towering figures like Trump and Elon Musk—but does the “great man” theory still hold? Is history really made by millions of ordinary people? How will historians look back at this moment?And with UK universities under pressure, he discusses why the humanities are still vital.Plus, Ellen and Alona discuss whether the clocks going forward is a “banger” or a “dud”.‘A Journey through Time’ with David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell can be streamed here.