

Quiet Riot
Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith, Kenny Campbell
Quiet Riot, the politics podcast with more passion, less shouting and lots of laughter
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 25, 2026 • 1h 1min
Sunday School: We Didn't Burnham!
Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the rumours swirling around Andy Burnham putting himself forward to contest a parliamentary seat, after eight years as Manchester mayor, and game the various outcomes.
And they discuss the latest Trump insult to Europe, the new defence strategy - and the first USA/Ukraine/Russia trilateral negotiations that just concluded in Abu Dhabi.
PLUS are the Beckhams the modern version of the Borgias? Or just a perfectly ordinary family, who occasionally fall out?
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
We have put together a brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there.
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 22, 2026 • 1h 3min
Swiss Troll
He came, he saw, he conked out. Trump blew chaotically into Davos, demanded Greenland then carried out a spectacular U-turn. Well, for now at least.
Whatever the outcome of this latest round of Trumpian Wheel of Fortune, one thing was very clear: Trump is a man struggling to make sense, even when he's been prepped for the biggest of stages.
Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell talk Trump, Carney, Macron and Newsom.
And there's even time to talk Starmer, Badenoch and the Chagos fallout too, because domestic politics doesn't stop for Trump, even if it does get blown off course by him rather a lot.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD – and get an invite to our next Editorial Meeting on February 17th***
• Grin And Share It: More on that Covid vaccination study
• Check out Carole Cadwalladr's substack here.
• Don't forget to check out our fabulous sister podcast, Arthur Snell's Behind the Lines
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 18, 2026 • 48min
Sunday School: Looney Tunes politics
The Robert Jenrick fiasco capped what was a mad week in the crazy world of Westminster.
Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell dive in to the cartoonish series of events that culminated in yet another Tory lashing their political career to the Farage mast.
And, in a not-entirely-unrelated segment, they also ask whether politics is in fact run on the same principles as cartoon favourite Road Runner. Meep-meep!
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Don't forget to check out our fabulous sister podcast, Arthur Snell's Behind the Lines
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 15, 2026 • 1h 6min
In With The Old: Is Zahawi a Tory too far for Farage?
Nadhim Zahawi?? Is this the moment Reform jumped the shark?
Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell ask whether Farage's little project has, in fact, been hopping over Jaws for a while now.
And they are joined by Times columnist and former host of the influential Chinese Whispers podcast Cindy Yu to discuss all things Chinese, from trade figures and Taiwan to Trump and that little planning difficulty around a London embassy...
Plus a surprise engagement and some James Herriot-esque ducks. What a show.
SHOW NOTES
Cindy's latest insights
Sinocism – Bill Bishop's indispensable insights into China, as recommended by Cindy
Also recommended by Cindy is Sixth Tone, a holistic take on all things Chinese
Best for Britain's new Tory defector tracker
Ducks; 'nuff said
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 13, 2026 • 42min
BONUS EPISODE: The Affordability Crisis, with Jeevun Sandher MP
The journey from policy geek to politician is one that a higher-than-usual number of the new intake of Labour MPs have made. Throw in a Punjabi Sikh heritage, growing up in Luton, a doctorate in economics, and a spell in Somaliland, and the result is a picture of a particular kind of "Britishness" that is the kryptonite of right wing parties.
Naomi gets to hang out with Jeevun and get his ideas on how to improve the economy, in practical terms - both with quick wins and longterm
Jeevun is part of our brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, and I would encourage you to use it.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 11, 2026 • 1h 1min
Sunday School: ICE Age
To her friends and colleagues, she was Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, prize-winning poet and guitarist. To the Trump administration, she was a 'domestic terrorist'.
Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the aftermath of the killing and ask what we are to make of the age of ICE. There is a lot to digest.
And they discuss the latest X outrage, with Grok creating abusive images of women and children and Musk reacting by making the feature a premium service. What will it take for gov't to get off the platform?
To wit, we have put together a brand new BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 8, 2026 • 1h 8min
The Madness of King Donald
NOW what's he done, and why? Trump, the self-appointed King of Chaos, is ramping up that chaos, kidnapping foreign leaders, hijacking oil tankers, reiterating his threats to move in on Greenland and more besides.
Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou are joined by the redoubtable Arthur Snell – Quiet Riot regular, former diplomat, author and, of course, host of the excellent Behind The Lines podcast – to try to make some sense of what is unfolding on the world stage.
You'll not be surprised to learn they have a LOT to discuss.
Away from the Madness of King Donald, they also look at Keir Starmer's latest moves to bring the UK a tad closer to our European cousins. Should there be grounds for optimism? Listen in to find out.
SHOW NOTES
Visit the International Crisis Group
Read more from Chatham House
Back Best For Britain
Find out more about UK In A Changing Europe
Read Naomi's excellent Guardian opinion article
More geopolitical podcast goodness from Arthur Snell's Behind The Lines
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Read good stuff! Visit our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 4, 2026 • 1h 7min
Optimism in activism: Our 2026 predictions... and how to avoid them
Buckle up as we break out our crystal ball to make a few tentative predictions for the year ahead.
Joining Naomi and Alex is Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation (also former boss of Oxfam GB, the youngest boss of the Royal Commonwealth Society and author of civic action bible Power to the People ... phew!).
As it's Quiet Riot, expect a healthy dose of optimism amid the nervous twitches around what the next 12 months might hold...
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Buy Danny's book from our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 1, 2026 • 44min
A Cup o' Kindness: Wokey Dokey & Grin And Share It special!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! And we kick off 2026 with an uplifting 40minutes that is short on politics and big ... very big ... on Wokey Dokey and Grin And Share It.
These are the most popular features on Quiet Riot so we thought we'd pull together a bumper episode featuring only Wokeys and GASIs.
Marvel at the very Welsh response to last year's flag-flying epidemic; cheer for the beavers that couldn't be released because they kept escaping; and cower in the corner as we regale you with some of the most unbelievable things to have been labelled WOKE!!! in the year just past.
And, of course, however and wherever you spent Hogmanay, we wish you a happy, successful (and suitably woke) 2026.
Naomi, Alex & Kenny xxx
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
More info on the Grin And Share Its...
Mystery donor to Scotland rewilding
Teaching boys Home Economics
Gift made from sweet tubs he saved from landfill
Beavers who kept escaping before being released
Classic Welsh response to flags appears on bridge and people are loving it
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
• Buy fab reads from our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 28, 2025 • 55min
2025 reviewed Pt2: This was fine... with James O'Brien
What's this? More holiday helpings of our James O'Brien special?
You'd better believe it. And, as well as looking over our shoulders as 2025 disappears beneath the horizon, we're also asking what one thing we'd each change that would have made the world a (hopefeully) better place.
Plus the usual Quiet Riot mixture of chat and chortles to help you through the twilight of the holiday season.
Also ... HAPPY NEW YEAR Quiet Rioters! We hope your wonderful company helps us through 2026, just as it helped us through 2025. And we also hope that we returned the favoour, in our small, rioty way.
Love you all xxx
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD***
• Buy fab reads from our bookshop here.
• Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com.
• Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production.
***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


