New Economics Podcast

Jeremy Corbyn and Donald Trump; Erdogan in Turkey and the Five Star Movement in Italy; Podemos in Spain and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. All of them have been described as populists. But what does ‘populism’ actually mean? How can it include people with wildly different ideologies under the same umbrella? Is it possible to be a progressive populist – and even if it is, should progressives use that label? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by academic and writer Eliane Glaser, and Michael Walker from Novara Media. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

There are troubling signs that the new data-driven economy is inheriting all the same problems as the old one: power imbalances, monopolies and a lack of accountability. How gloomy should we be? Will technology inevitably lead us to a digital dystopia? Or could there be a whole range of potential futures, some of them shiny and welcoming, others dark and scary? Hanna Wheatley is joined by New Economics Foundation researcher Duncan McCann, and Carl Miller, research director for the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

In between the resignations and the reshuffles, what have we learned about about where Brexit will go next? Much of the focus has been on the response to the deal the prime minister reached with her cabinet at Chequers, but what was in the deal itself? How practical is the government’s position on Brexit? And what are the alternatives? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Marley Morris, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, and Andrew Pendleton, NEF's director of policy and advocacy. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music by Anamorphic Orchestra and Podington Bear used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Is British shopping in crisis? Major names are struggling or closing down, nearly 22,000 jobs are at risk, and the UK now has an estimated 1,800 fewer high street shops than it had a year ago. Are we all just moving online and shopping from our sofas, or is this a sign that our economy might be in deeper trouble? Does Brexit have anything to do with it? Will Greggs be okay? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Krissie Nicolson, founding organiser of the East End Trades Guild, and Will Brett, NEF's director of communications. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music by Yung Kartz, Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

One of the most fashionable economic ideas of the past decade has been ‘nudge’ theory – the idea that a little prod from government can encourage us to change our behaviour and be better citizens, maybe without even realising it. Meanwhile, good old-fashioned regulation seems to have been decidedly out of favour with recent governments – and leaving the market to just do its thing isn’t all that popular with campaigners. When it comes to the environment, do all of these approaches have their place? What works best? And are there better or worse ways to make sure our economy doesn’t wreck the planet? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dave Powell, head of environment at the New Economics Foundation, and Alice Bell, director at climate charity 10:10. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music by Podington Bear and Messer Chups used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Happy birthday, NHS! That was the message from the prime minister last week, as she announced an extra £20bn of funding for the NHS in England by 2023. But is that enough? And where will the money come from? There’s been talk of a ‘Brexit dividend’ – does that mean the infamous battle bus promise has come true? Or will some of us have to pay more tax to keep our NHS on life support? And whatever happened to fixing our broken social care system? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Sarah Bedford, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation, and Andy Cowper, comment editor of the Health Service Journal. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music: The Blank Tapes, Jahzzar and Podington Bear. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

The fire at Grenfell Tower a year ago last week was, above all, a tragedy for its residents, their friends, and their families. It’s also come to symbolise a deeper crisis in British society – at least in the eyes of many people. On this week's podcast, we’re giving you an update on what we’ve learned since that night; what the inquiry has heard; and the shifting national conversation about Grenfell. Ayeisha Thomas-Smith speaks to Luke Barratt, business reporter at Inside Housing, and Katya Nasim, a campaigner with the Radical Housing Network. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Papers destroyed by the Home Office. Forced out of work. Denied cancer treatment. Held in detention. Deported. Those are just a few of the terrible stories we’ve heard about the treatment of the Windrush generation over the past few months. We’ve had a change of Home Secretary, but will there be a change in policy? The government set up a ‘Windrush taskforce’ in April – but will it right these wrongs? And what does the ‘hostile environment’ policy say about the UK’s difficult relationship with its own history? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Omar Khan, director of the race equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust, and writer and researcher Maya Goodfellow, who is writing a book about the immigration debate in Britain. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music: Eklektik Ensemble and Podington Bear. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Exploring the debate between Universal Basic Income and Universal Basic Services, discussing benefits, criticisms, and societal implications. Debating the feasibility of providing public services versus direct cash transfers, emphasizing the importance of robust public services and sustainable infrastructure for a more equitable future.

A nerve agent attack on an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury has led to a retaliation by the UK government – expelling diplomats and ramping up a war of words. With Putin winning another huge election victory last week, some people are worried that we’re entering a new Cold War. Meanwhile, UK gas supplies have run low thanks to the recent winter freeze. What if Russia were to switch off our gas? Has it done it to other countries? And how would we get by? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dave Powell, who leads on the environment for NEF, and Dustin Benton, Policy Director for the environmental think tank Green Alliance. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music: Bengale, Eklektik Ensemble, Rockabye Baby, and Prokofiev. Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's people-powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org