Thinking Class

Sebastian Milbank is the Executive Editor of The Critic magazine, and a journalist, writer and academic with a special interest in political theology.In this episode, Sebastian and I talk about why the changing media landscape is due to dissident energy, why liberalism has a dark side, why the concept of freedom itself is about more than just free choice, how the liberty won in the French Revolution continues to have an impact today, why the centre right has been losing so much over the years and the left has been winning, why Britain's governance and infrastructure is suffering grave issues, what self-governance is, why it's important, and whether we can get it back in a world obsessed with central government and outsourcing responsibility, and the necessity for modern Britain to rediscover its history and culture, and why leaders are failing because they have fallen into the habit of following.Enjoy the show class mates.

Helen Pluckrose is a political and cultural writer and commentator, addressing current affairs from a liberal humanist perspective. Her particular focus is Critical Social Justice (woke) scholarship and activism. Helen took part in the Grievance Studies Affair (along with Peter Bogossian and James Lindsay) which submitted shoddy, ridiculous and ideologically biased papers to academic journals known for publishing Critical Social Justice scholarship. In 2020, she co-authored Cynical Theories with James Lindsay, which traced the evolution of postmodern thought into Critical Social Justice scholarship. In that same year, she co-founded Counterweight, an organization for helping individuals push back at authoritarian Critical Social Justice policies and training programs at their place of work, university or child's school. Helen continues to work with individuals and organizations to resist ideological capture. Helen really just wants you to value evidence-based epistemology and consistently liberal principles.Helen and I talk about why critical theories are too narrow a way to see the world, why they have lead to the authoritarianism we see today, what prospect we see of a freer world, why some say liberalism is dead and why those who value liberalism must practice it if it is to survive, if conservatism and liberalism can live side by side, and why leaders of public and private institutions should be guided by gentle reform over revolution.What this conversation brought out for me is why even in these fractious, polarised times, where it is easy to find yourself self-censoring or being censored and that there are many who wish to censor their opponents, that we should be careful not to fall into tribalism.Enjoy the show class mates.Show notes- Cynical Theories - Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay- The World of Yesterday - Stefan Zweig- The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism - John Gray

Dr. Paul Morland is an author and broadcaster who writes and speaks about population and the big demographic trends across the world, both contemporary and historic.Described as the 'UK's leading demographer' and 'one of the world's pre-eminent demographers', Paul has written three books: ‘Tomorrow’s People’, ‘The Human Tide’ and ‘Demographic Engineering’ and his work has been translated into nine languages. He has written for and been interviewed in many of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines including the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Toronto Globe and Mail, Der Spiegel and the Jerusalem Post. He has broadcast on many outlets including BBC Radio 4. In this episode, Paul and I talk about the reasons behind population decline, why demographic models are so trustworthy when others aren't, whether immigration policies can make a difference in the face of huge movements of people, the nature of diasporas and the potential for integration, the ability of societies to maintain themselves with crashing birthrates, the impact of religion and culture on birthrates, and whether government policy or differing personal priorities are best-placed to lead to a demographic renaissance.Enjoy the show class mates.Show notesTomorrow's People: The Future of Humanity In Ten Numbers

Elisabeth Braw is a columnist at Foreign Policy, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and the author of "Goodbye Globalization. In this episode, Elisabeth and I talk about what globalisation is and why we are saying goodbye to it as we know it, why we should trade with countries similar in values, the different approaches taken across the West in dealing with the end of globalisation, why ESG is having a negative impact on the defense sector and Western countries' ability to defend themselves, and why the West's liberalism blinded it to other countries' cultures and priorities.Enjoy the show, class mates. 

Momus Najmi is writer, commentator, and podcaster. Host of The World of Momus podcast and author of the Substack 'The World of Momus'. Momus has made appearances on broadcast media such as GB News and on podcasts such as New Culture, British Thought Leaders, and many more. In this episode, Momus and I talk about his experience of leaving Islam, why he chose to England and Britain as the place he wished to call home, the tension between British culture and Islam, and the impact of mass immigration on culture.Show notesWorld of Momus - SubstackMomus Najmi - X

Ian Williams is an author and award-winning journalist who has reported from across the world. He covered business and technology for the Sunday Times before moving to television. He was a foreign correspondent, first for Channel 4 News in Moscow and Asia, and then for NBC news, based in Bangkok and Beijing. Ian has travelled and reported from across China and has also covered conflicts across the Balkans, the Middle East, and Ukraine. In this episode, Ian Williams and I talk about the political class’s response to China in recent decades, what Britain and the western world should be concerned about, the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on academia in Britain, China’s capability for innovation, the future of its Belt & Road Initiative, and why China’s rise is not as inevitable as it seems.Show notes- How China bought Cambridge - The Spectator- Britain finally wakes up to China's influence operations - The Spectator

Lionel Shriver is an author of 8 books, including, 'We Need To Talk About Kevin', which won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005 and a journalist, with a fortnightly column in The Spectator and a contributor to The Times. In this episode, Lionel and I talk about mass immigration to Britain and the subsequent demographic transformation, why populism is thriving even without political representation, the role complacency plays in a country's future, cultural decline and the prospect of renewal, and the fragility of order.Show notesI'm leaving Britain - and I feel guilty

Paul Embery is a firefighter, trade union activist, writer and broadcaster. Paul has been a member of the Labour party since 1994 and active in the wider labour movement for most of his adult life. He has served on the executive council of the Fire Brigades Union and as the national organiser of Trade Unionists Against the EU.Paul has written extensively about working-class politics and culture, including for UnHerd, The Huffington Post, The Spectator, Spiked and Compact. His first book is Despised: why the modern Left loathes the working class, which was published in 2020.In this episode, we talk about why the modern left loathes the working class, the real-world impact of mass migration on British towns, political schism that has grown between the British political class and the majority of the electorate, the future of the Labour Party, why the British left consistently lacks patriotism in comparison to its European counterparts, and how the political class could reform itself.Enjoy the show class mates.Show notes- Despised: Why The Modern Left Loathes The Working Class- Paul's Substack- The Britain we all knew is fast disappearing

Tom Jones is a writer and Councillor for Scotton and Lower Wensleydale, in North Yorkshire, England. Tom is the author of Substack 'The Potemkin Village Idiot' and he writes, for The Critic, Con Home, Cap X, Unherd, and The Guardian. Tom is concerned with winning back a conservative Britain fit for the 21st Century and engages is a commentator and critic of social policy, culture, and the political class.In this episode, we talk about his motivations for public service, the decline of conservatism in British political class, whether Gen-Z might possess a reactionary streak, what people mean when they talk about 'the blob', why developing a policy of Anglo-futurism would be a good thing, the power of vernacular architecture, why a policy of mass immigration is destructive, and why Tim Martin of Wetherspoons fame deserves a knighthood.Show notesAgainst immigrationnismeIs diversity our strength?Statism can’t save civil society

Martina Macpherson has been recognised as a one of the ‘Top 50 Women in Finance’ (World Finance Forum 2022), and as a strategic engager and influencer (Commetric ESG Influencer Index, 2020, 2021; Modern Slavery Influencer Index, 2018) and by various organisations and bodies for her sustainable investing track record and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) work across industry and academia. Martina is Head of ESG Product Management at SIX - the Swiss Exchanges Group - and a Board Member of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets. She is a visiting fellow at Henley Business School and a guest lecturer at University of Zurich. Martina has held a range of senior strategy, global research, business and product development roles for global financial services organisations and is a board member and co chair of an infuential working group that shapes policy and regulations at the leading industry body for the ESG data, ratings and index industry, and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on ESG for the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom, as well as many other roles.In this episode, Martina and I talk about what ESG is, its successes, why there is pushback against it and whether its political in nature, the complexity of the data used for ESG investing, and the need to find a balance between expertise and taking on board local perspectives in sustainability policy making, and much more.Show notes- Martina Macpherson on LinkedIn