Share
Daily Politics from the New Statesman
What Simone De Beauvoir knew about loss, by Ali Smith | Audio Long Read
The novelist Ali Smith first came across the work of Simone de Beauvoir in an Inverness bookshop, aged 18 or 19, and was instantly compelled by her “tough, troubling” prose. In this week’s long read, Smith reflects on De Beauvoir’s 1964 memoir A Very Easy Death, a slight, visceral book about her estranged mother’s death. What happens when an existentialist, bound ethically to a thinking life, confronts the end of life and thought? Why does a writer who prides herself on uncompromising truth tell her mother she is not dying of cancer, when she is?
Smith blends the personal and the political in an essay that grapples with De Beauvoir’s power to disturb and provoke, sixty years on.
Written by Ali Smith and read by Anna Leszkiewicz.
This article originally appeared in the 28 July-17 August 2023 New Statesman summer issue. You can read the text version here.
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you might also enjoy Karl Ove Knausgaard: a personal manifesto on the art of fiction.
Listen to all our Audio Long Reads here
https://podfollow.com/audio-long-reads-new-statesman
Download the New Statesman app:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Subscribe to the New Statesman from £1 per week:
https://newstatesman.com/podcastoffer
Sign up to our weekly Saturday Read email
https://saturdayread.substack.com/
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday
More episodes
View all episodes
Thames Water's careless vandalism
31:18|The pollution of Britain’s waterways is well known, but the full extent of the carelessness and vandalism of Britain’s biggest water company, Thames Water, is a catalogue of wrongdoing on an industrial scale.Will Dunn speaks to the MP with the dubious honour of representing the constituency that is worst affected by sewage spills - Liberal Democrat MP, Charlie Maynard.
Trump’s ground options in Iran
31:46|As the war in Iran enters its second month, President Trump has delivered a prime time address promising, simultaneously, that the conflict will be over “very shortly” and that the United States is preparing to hit Iran “extremely hard”.Thousands more US troops have arrived in the region in recent days, including a marine expeditionary unit as the president is reportedly weighing options for a potential ground assault, such as an attempt to seize the Iranian oil export hub on Kharg Island, which Trump has said the US could take “very easily.”But what options does the President actually have and what would be involved in an attempt to forcibly re-open the strait of Hormuz? Katie Stallard is joined by Ruben Stewart, senior fellow for land warfare at the IISS think tank and a former infantry officer and UN peacekeeper.
Has Keir Starmer found his vision?
18:54|Keir Starmer delivered one of his routine updates on the war in Iran in a press conference from Number 10 this morning - but this one was a little meatier than usual.Will Lloyd is joined by Ailbhe Rea to discuss
How green is the Green Party?
30:56|Green Party support is surging after its by-election victory in Gorton and Denton last month.But is Zack Polanski’s party leaving its environmental principles behind? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon to discuss.
Inside Labour’s immigration feud
31:58|As ministers and backbenchers criticise Shabana Mahmood’s immigration plans, is Labour about to water them down? And what is behind the splits over the policy?Anoosh Chakelian and Ailbhe Rea go behind the scenes of Labour’s battle over immigration reform.
“Another chapter in the farce that is HS2” | Will and Anoosh’s weekly round up
37:57|Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone, Kemi Badenoch’s council tax claims and the UAE defence attache, Group Captain Sandy Sandilands. Will Dunn and Anoosh Chakelian round up their stories of the week.
Rory Stewart sees fundamental evil in Trump
01:09:18|Follow The Exchange on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube for more episodes like this.
Ban Instagram? You must be kidding.
23:16|What does the Instagram and YouTube verdict mean for the UK's proposed social media ban?A California jury has found Meta and Google liable in a case that accused them of building intentionally addictive platforms.Here in the UK, the government is consulting on whether to ban children from using social media. Australia and Spain have already implemented similar bans, and France has backed a ban for under-15s.So, are the social media giants facing a reckoning? And should the government intervene in our kids’ social media use?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Hannah Barnes.READ: Parents must also take responsibility for online safety https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/social-media/2026/03/parents-must-also-take-responsibility-for-online-safety
Is Ed Miliband the most powerful person in government?
36:22|Ed Miliband, everyone would agree, is a central part of the Labour government. The ex-Labour leader is a hugely popular figure within the party.Is his power and influence greater than we realise?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Lloyd to discuss.READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/03/a-certain-idea-of-ed-miliband