The Owen Jones Podcast

After Labour narrowly kept its seat in the Batley & Spen by election, Keir Starmer’s leadership has been spared any challenges. Can he now defy his critics and return to his promises of offering the political vision that is currently lacking, uniting the party and reversing the slide to electoral calamity? We're joined by John McDonnell to discuss the future of the Labour party, Ali Milani and Hamza Ali Shah to discuss Muslim disillusionment with Labour, and Young Labour Chair Jess Barnard to discuss whether young people are permanently going to be turned away.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://www.patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Geoff Norcott is that rare thing - a Tory comedian - who has written a book called WHERE DID I GO RIGHT: HOW THE LEFT LOST ME. We have a ding dong about right wing ideas, does 'individual responsibility' explain social problems, minority rights, 'woke', his problems with the left - and the most left-wing opinion he has.Support the channel here! https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Labour got clobbered in May's elections, Andy Burnham defined the trend by winning a landslide in Greater Manchester's mayoral elections. He tells me what Labour can learn from his success, about whether he has ambitions to replace Keir Starmer, about how devolution is Labour's routemap back, and why the people of Batley and Spen should vote for Labour's Kim Leadbeater.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kim Leadbeater is standing to be Labour's next MP for Batley & Spen. The sister of Jo Cox - who was murdered by a far right terrorist four years ago - she is an energetic campaigner who is fiercely proud of her local roots. We discuss the far right, why she is standing, Labour's vision, why Muslim voters are disillusioned, Palestine and Kashmir, and Keir Starmer's leadership.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Labour MP George Galloway is one of Britain's most controversial individuals, and is standing in Batley & Spen with the slogan 'STARMER OUT'. We talk about his pitch for the seat, including Palestine - but why he's focusing his fire on the opposition, rather than the Tory government which presided over 150,000 deaths; why he campaigned alongside Nigel Farage after denouncing him; why he campaigned for Brexit after declaring that he'd campaign for Remain like "anyone with any brain cells will be doing"; why he voted Tory after declaring he'd rather remove his eyeballs; and much else.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Launched to throw petrol on the raging fires of Britain's culture war and take on the BBC and Sky News, GB News has been an embarrassing flop. Technical failures have been followed by ratings in freefall, and Andrew Neil - founder and the flagship presenter - has taken himself off the air indefinitely after just two weeks. Why was it such a failure, what does it tell us about the media landscape - and is it too soon to write it off completely? We're joined by Director of CLASS think tank Ellie Mae O'Hagan and media expert Leo Watkins.Also, we talk about Matt Hancock's resignation and, with days to go until the Batley & Spen by election, things are getting tense on the ground. We talk to Oli Dugmore, head of politics at JOE, who was there this week, about the latest developments.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Weeks after losing Hartlepool to the Tories, Labour has another major test in the Batley and Spen by-election. This is the constituency once represented by Jo Cox - murdered by a far right terrorist in 2016 - and it's a diverse community. But many voters feel disillusioned with the current main opposition, not least British Muslims, 86% of whom voted Labour nationally in 2019 but who feel that loyalty is not reciprocated. With the controversial George Galloway standing, some are determined to vote for him to give Labour a bloody nose. How much further does Labour's electoral coalition have to fragment as its naturally most loyal voters feel taken for granted?I visit the constituency to speak to everyone from George Galloway to Andy Burnham - presumed to be a likely successor as Labour leader - to Kim Leadbeater, Labour's candidate, to local voters to work out what's happening to the opposition - and where that leaves our crisis-stricken country.Videographer: Jack Barraclough.Help make these documentaries happen here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Young became a music sensation after winning Pop Idol in 2002 - and became one of the earlier pop stars to come out. We discuss his brilliant book To Be a Gay Man, about what it was like growing up gay in a profoundly homophobic society, about what he was up against when he came out, the lived experience of gay people that straight people might not know, and the uncanny parallels with the onslaught against trans people. We have loads of fun so there's no excuse not to watch it.Help support the channel here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the Lib Dems smashed the Tories in Chesham and Amersham, the idea of a "progressive alliance" - of anti-Tory parties working together to get the government out - has revived. But are the Lib Dems "progressive" - and is this an idea emerging out of desperation because Labour is so weak?I'm joined by Labour MSP Paul Sweeney - who is for - and Tribune's David Broder - who is against, plus, the mother of Osime Brown - a 22-year-old autistic man who won his case against deportation to Jamaica, a country he left as a small child - joins us to talk about their horrendous ordeal.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Lewis is the acclaimed author of books such as The Big Short, Moneyball and The Fifth Risk. In his brilliant new book The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, he exposes how factors such as US privatised health helped turn COVID-19 into a national catastrophe which claimed the lives of well over 600,000 Americans.Help us take on the right wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.