The Exchange | Long-form interviews from the New Statesman

Children's laureate, screenwriter, author of Millions, architect of the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, and father of seven, Frank Cottrell-Boyce joins Oli Dugmore to discuss what childhood means in Britain today.Over two years visiting schools, prisons and asylum hotels, he found a country that has quietly stopped looking after its youngest citizens. He talks about the NEETs crisis, furniture poverty, what summer holidays now mean to children who dread them, and why the most radical thing you can do for a child is sit on a sofa and read to them.

Mariana Mazzucato is one of the most influential economists of modern times. An avowed progressive, her ideas impact the lives of millions of people, from the United States to sub-Saharan Africa. She was directly consulted in the creation of Biden’s CHIPS Act, which is worth $280 billion. The World Bank’s Mission 300, is straight out of her book Mission Economy.Oli Dugmore sits down with her to discuss the hope for progressive change in our political and economic systems.The Common Good Economy: A New Compass by Mariana Mazzucato is out now (Allen Lane).

Are AI companies the new empires?Journalist Karen Hao says the parallels are striking. This disruptive sector  requires vast amounts of land, minerals and water – not to mention data and content from individuals. Hao interviews subjects ranging from those close to Open AI CEO Sam Altman to workers in the Global South who’ve been traumatised by their jobs in AI content moderation.She joins Oli Dugmore on The Exchange. 

Guy Standing is a British labour economist best known for coining the term "precariat" to describe the growing global class of people living with unstable employment, mounting debt, and chronic insecurity.Standing’s latest book, Human Capital, explores how the education system has been corrupted and privatised.He joins Oli Dugmore to discuss this, as well as how his concept of the “precariat” differs from Marx’s “proletariat”, and how a bold, progressive politics must flourish to combat the rise of authoritarianism.

Charleston Festival is running until May 25. Find out more here.Ten years on from the referendum that redirected the course of British politics, the New Statesman's editor Tom McTague is joined by Caroline Lucas, Anand Menon and Marina Wheeler to consider how we should think about our relationship with Europe.

Eric Schlosser is one of America’s foremost investigative journalists, writing about everything from the prison system to nuclear weapons, exploring the hidden systems underpinning modern life. 25 years ago, he set out to investigate the economic model behind one of America’s most recognisable industries: a system built on low-paid workers, dangerous conditions and the exploitation of migrant labour.He joins Oli Dugmore to discuss America’s complicated relationship with McDonald's, the rise of fast food as both a cultural symbol and an economic system, and how Britain seeks to replicate this.