Life of the Party

In this week's episode, Joe offers us insights into Zack Polanski's burgeoning campaign for a seat at the parliamentary table. Meanwhile, Shanice dissects the dynamics within contemporary capitalism's information ecosystems. In the context of the gut-wrenching death of Jason Arday, your hosts ask what struggle and contestation looks like when information is organised within an increasingly powerful, and malign, attention economy. READINGSWING - Worlds Apart: Women Under Immigration LawDSA Program - Workers Deserve More!Amelia Horgan - Lost in Work: Escaping CapitalismTHE LIFE OF THE PARTY CADRENoor, Liam Miller, Neil Rogall, Fraser Amos

Joe and Jonas reflect on their recent trip to France to take part in the annual festival of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s radical left party, La France Insoumise, while Shanice offers some reflections on the enduring challenge presented to socialist strategy by nationalism and the nation-state.READINGSKate Fox - Watching the EnglishSatnam Virdee - Racism, Class and the Racialized OutsiderColson Whitehead - The Nickel Boys

We are on a summer break so this week you are getting a special preview of our brand new spin-off show, After Hours.In our very first episode of After Hours, Jonas, Joe and Shanice breakdown a recent report from the National Centre for Social Research, investigating what it says about the average Reform voter and what makes this emerging radical right coalition tick.

Joe breaks down the Greater Manchester mayoral race and argues that poor candidate selection and even worse political strategy had a significant role to play in the Greens’ bad showing. While Jonas then offers us some thoughts on the contemporary challenges to reaching the Good Life, provoking a deeper conversation on how the internet and the attention economy are harming our collective bonds.READINGSJohn Trickett - The End of Social Democracy⁠Christopher Nolan - The OdysseyJonas Patrick Marvin - The Breaking of the English Working ClassCREDITSHosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.Edited by Marcus Berdaut⁠⁠.Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.ukMusic by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVNAfter Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1TBecome a supporter: ⁠lifeoftheparty.uk⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠.This is an Ampersounds production.

In this week's episode, Jonas takes us through the latest wave of machinations within the Labour Party, arguing that Andy Burnham’s strategy is neither radical nor realistic. Afterwards, Joe asks some fundamental questions of eco socialist strategy, pondering to what extent we could mitigate the climate crisis and what vision of eco socialism is possible on a burning planet.READINGSC.L.R. James - The Black JacobinsErik Olin Wright - How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First CenturyChina Miéville - EmbassytownCREDITSHosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.Edited by Marcus Berdaut for ⁠Ampersounds Productions⁠.Design by Rachel Carr / rachelcarr.co.ukMusic by Benjamin Tissot / 9INTLNTLWTYTDKVNAfter Hours Music by Marcus P / MADSQ4HJPOYFTZ1TBecome a supporter: lifeoftheparty.ukFollow us on Instagram.This is an Ampersounds production.

In this week's episode, Joe raises doubts about the Green Party's choice of candidate in the Manchester mayoralty - spurring wider questions about leadership on the left. After discussing the Green Party's proposals for internal democratic reform, your hosts zoom out to discuss politics' most significant wedge issue: immigration. Shanice opens by critiquing the left's go to arguments, proposing an alternative lens for viewing the critical yet divisive immigration debate.READINGSJoshua Virasami - A World Without Racism: Building Antiracist FuturesThe Productive State - A Framework for Manchesterism Margaret Kennedy - The FeastResonance FM - English StitchPlease subscribe, comment and leave a review!Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.Edited by Marcus Berdaut for Ampersounds Productions.Become a supporter: lifeoftheparty.ukFollow us on Instagram.This is an Ampersounds production.

Shanice opens up the episode probing why the left’s response to the killing of Henry Nowak has been so lukewarm, whilst Joe gives us a deep dive into six months of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoralty, assessing what’s gone well and what challenges might arise for the young democratic socialist politician.Live show:London 3rd July - Get your tickets!ReadingsPatrick Radden Keefe - London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for TruthH. V. Morton - In Search of EnglandAsad Haider - Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of TrumpPlease subscribe, comment and leave a review!Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.Edited by Marcus Berdaut for Ampersounds Productions.Become a supporter: lifeoftheparty.ukFollow us on Instagram.This is an Ampersounds production.

Who is Andy Burnham? What is Manchesterism? Should the Greens be afraid of Labour's so-called soft left? Jonas, Joe and Shanice dissect the state of British politics after the local elections, and ask where next for the Left in a rapidly disintegrating two-party system. This episode was recorded live at Norwich Transformed 2026.Please subscribe, comment and leave a review!Hosted by Shanice McBean, Jonas Marvin and Joe Todd.Edited by Marcus Berdaut for Ampersounds Productions.Become a supporter: lifeoftheparty.ukFollow us on Instagram.This is an Ampersounds production.