The Fourcast

Is fashion the latest thing to be swallowed into politics, culture war and the backlash on woke?Stick-thin models with protruding bones were the marketing choice of Zara for a new campaign - the ad has just been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority as irresponsible.And the fallout from Sydney Sweeney's ad campaign for American Eagle jeans keeps growing - a few years ago accusations of white supremacy and promoting the right wing might have caused a share price to plummet.But after Donald Trump described the ad as the hottest ad out there American Eagle stock rocketed. Are we back in the 90's or even the 30's?Ad agencies have always looked for ways to get noticed - but is the war on woke also sweeping away years of progress on body positivity and diversity?On this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by Katie Glass, who writes for the Times and Megan Jayne Crabbe - a writer, presenter and activist for body positivity and feminism.

The world's eyes are on Gaza as the enclave faces mass starvation, but the war there is also emboldening Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.Odeh Hadalin is a Palestinian teacher and activist who campaigned against illegal Israeli settlements and settler violence. He also helped make this year's Oscar-winning film No Other Land which documents Israeli attacks on the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta.It was there that he was shot dead, reportedly after a confrontation between villagers and settlers who were using a bulldozer to destroy property.An extremist settler, previously sanctioned by the US, has been arrested.Around a thousand Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the West Bank in the last two years amid an increasing wave of settler and Israeli military violence.Joining Matt Frei on this week's episode of The Fourcast is the Palestinian film-maker Basel Adra. He co-wrote and co-directed No Other Land and was a friend of Odeh.

A year ago, towns across Britain were in flames as far-right anti-immigration protests turned into riots, while this week the Police Federation called recent protests in Epping a 'signal flare’ for further unrest.So with the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats actually up and social media - not to mention certain MPs - pumping out inflammatory comments, is another summer flare-up inevitable? And how do the police , the politicians and the protesters themselves distinguish between the genuine concerns of dispossessed communities, and the gratuitous violence of far-right racists?On this episode of The Fourcast, Jackie Long is joined by Sunder Katwala, director of the think-tank British Future which focuses on diversity and social inclusion, the  academic Lisa McKenzie, who writes primarily about working-class communities and class inequality, and Adam Kelwick, imam of the UK's oldest mosque in Liverpool who came to prominence during last year's riots with his attempts at dialogue with protesters.

Donald Trump is under pressure, again, this time over his alleged ties to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. As the scandal grows, the Speaker of the House has shut down Congress, seemingly to avoid any further questions being raised on the floor.Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s and Epstein’s longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, has testified that Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times. Trump has denied ever being on the plane and there is no evidence he was involved in wrongdoing.But now, even Trump’s usual allies in the alt-right world of podcasts and influencers are turning on him. So what happens when the support base that’s shielded Trump for years starts to crumble?On today's episode of the Fourcast, David Pakman, host of The David Pakman Show and author of The Echo Machine, joins us to break it all down.

In America the Democrats are in crisis — leaderless, divided, and drifting after Donald Trump’s return to power, and on the left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Bernie Sanders and the Democrat's New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani are seizing the moment, but is their radicalism the way to beat Trump's Maga bandwagon?Or will they end up alienating the majority of working class America? Tim Ryan, a senior advisor for the Progressive Policy Institute, is the former Ohio Congressman who stood for the senate but lost to JD Vance. He also threw his hat in the ring for the Democrats Presidential nomination when Joe Biden won it. He wants to haul his party back to focus on what he sees as the central concerns of working class voters - their cost of living and the fairness of the system, as well as working with business not against it - what he sometimes calls more of a Bill Clinton style. But is that really the answer to a Democrat resurrection?

Donald Trump says he's 'disappointed' that Vladimir Putin keeps knocking down buildings in Kyiv despite all the great conversations they are having about ending the war in Ukraine, as the First Lady Melania Trump keeps pointing out to him.So the president is ramping up the threats, offering 'top-of-the-line' weaponry to Ukraine and promising severe tariffs on Russia if there's no ceasefire within 50 days.Is that enough to get Putin to the negotiating table? Or just escalating an intractable conflict? And is Trump even serious about bumping his bestie in Moscow?On the latest episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Channel 4 News’ International Editor Lindsey Hilsum and historian and author Anne Applebaum.

Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have announced a "one in, one out" migration deal which would see France send one asylum seeker with a British family connection to the UK for every migrant sent back.Under the terms of the deal, up to 50 people a week could be sent back to France.But what impact will the new deal really have?In today's episode of the Fourcast, Senior Political Correspondent Paul McNamara speaks to Charlotte Khan from Care4Calais and Peter Walsh, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory, about whether we can really expect to see a change to the number of people crossing the English Channel by small boat.

What comes first - a peace deal or a peace prize? The war rages on in Gaza - another 40 Palestinians were killed overnight in Israeli airstrikes, but Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been unable to thrash out a ceasefire deal despite two days of talks in Washington, though he did nominate Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize. Meanwhile in Gaza families continue to struggle for food and water amid the constant bombardments and with an aid system that is failing to deliver. Israeli officials say they are working with the UN and other bodies to “ensure necessary aid crosses the border”. So who is to blame for this catastrophe? And what needs to be done to alleviate it? In this episode of The Fourcast, Cathy Newman speaks to James Elder, global spokesperson for UNICEF, the United Nations agency providing humanitarian aid to children worldwide. He is just back from Gaza - his fifth visit to the territory since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023.

Sir Keir Starmer pulled Labour’s flagship welfare reform plans at the last minute - a humiliating U-turn after days of rebellion, confusion and rising anger across his own party.The government narrowly avoided defeat in the vote last night, but the cost may be far greater than any lost vote. Dozens of MPs defied the whip, disability campaigners condemned the reforms, and what was once a central policy platform now lies in ruins. Critics say Starmer has looked weak, indecisive - even irrelevant - in the face of pressure from within.In this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei speaks to our social affairs editor Jackie Long and Channel 4 News’ Senior Political Correspondent Paul McNamara about the significance of what has just happened and what comes next. Has this bruising vote done lasting damage to Starmer’s premiership? and what will Rachel Reeves do now as another last minute U-turn has blown an even bigger black hole into the government’s finances?

Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance has dominated headlines and sparked a huge debate. The punk duo chanted “death to the IDF” to a live crowd of thousands, and millions more watched at home, as their set aired live on the BBC. The backlash was swift - some called it a bold act of protest, while others condemned it as deeply offensive and antisemitic. On-screen warnings issued by the BBC about discriminatory language were deemed “not good enough”, and both the festival and the BBC have since condemned the performance, issuing public apologies.In this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by journalist and founder of the Free Speech Union Lord Toby Young, and political activist Ash Sarkar - who was at the performance - to unpack the controversy. They discuss the reaction to Bob Vylan’s set, the BBC’s decision to broadcast it, and what this means for free speech and creative freedom in today’s media landscape.This episode of The Fourcast contains language that some may find offensive.