The Popular Show

This public episode is the first part of a new collaboration with Sublation/Diet Soap Media, a new platform founded by Doug Lain, former editor of Zer0 Books. Published both on our own podcast feed and as a video version on the Sublation/Diet Soap Media YouTube channel, this will be our main weekly show, incorporating segments from the bigger interviews reserved just for Patrons. This episode takes the second defeat of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round of the French Presidential election as an opportunity to reflect on the end of the 'left populist' electoral experiments of the past decade with Survation's Carl Shoben, before turning to the US Republican Party's wave of anti-LGBT legislation with River Page - a writer with American Affairs, Twink Revolution, and Compact Magazine. The patrons-only full interview with Carl is TPS71, and the discussion with River continues as TPS73. Please consider supporting us at this exciting time by joining our Patreon community.

Become a subscriber at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod to hear the full interview and loads more exclusive episodes. Carl Shoben advised both Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn as a pollster and is now leader of strategic communications for the polling firm Survation. We take the second defeat of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round of the French Presidential election as an opportunity to reflect on the end of the 'left populist' electoral experiments of the past decade, what the international Left continues to misunderstand about its defeat, and the prospects for rediscovering our anti-systemic overlaps with the deplorables.  For music used in this episode, follow the TPS Spotify playlist

In the thick of lockdown in March 2021, we spoke to the Greatest Living Englishman, Billy Childish, down the landline phone from his living room in Chatham, Kent. Billy is a punk and blues musician, painter, poet and much else, and has been named as an influence by Kurt Cobain, Kylie Minogue, Jack White and many others. We talked about Billy's then-latest project, an album of Bob Dylan covers, the role of confession in art and culture today, and Billy played a beautiful impromptu version of Dylan's 'Simple Twist of Fate' over the phone. To mark the publication of the second volume of Billy's Dylan project this month, we present a new podcast edit of our interview. Support us at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod and help us grow. For the music we used in this episode and loads more, follow the TPS Spotify playlist.

We're talking about the work of young people entering the online 'influencer' economy and journalism today. Symeon Brown was shortlisted for an Orwell Prize in 2019 and shortlisted at the 2018 British Journalism Awards and is author of a new book on online influencers, Get Rich or Lie Trying. Moya Lothian-McLean is politic editor for Gal-Dem and a freelance journalist. The episode covers the pathologies of this deeply itinerant work, 'black-fishing', Jussie Smollett, emerging online media, and the effect all this is happening on the politics of the so-called 'Generation Left'. Support us at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod and help us grow. For the music we used in this episode and loads more, follow the TPS Spotify playlist.

Anticipating the upcoming French election, political commentators Marlon Ettinger and Olly Haynes join us to discuss Macron's record, the nature of the left populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon and far right Éric Zemmour, the Yellow Vests, and the long shadow of Charles de Gaulle. Support us at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod and help us grow. For the music we used in this episode and loads more, follow the TPS Spotify playlist. Consider supporting Marlon's reporting here. 

If you dig this unlocked Patrons-first episode, please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod. Leighton Woodhouse is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker whose works include 'Trumpland: Kill All  Normies', based on Angela Nagle's book. We got together to talk protest  movements, COVID restrictions, Joe Rogan, and the afterlife of key figures in the alt right and Intellectual Dark Web.

If you dig this unlocked Patrons-first episode, please consider supporting us at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod. Claire Fox’s journey to being Baroness Fox of  Buckley runs through the Troskyist Revolutionary Communist Party, to  Living Marxism magazine, Spiked Online, the Academy of Ideas, the Brexit Party, and now the House of Lords. In this interview, we discuss whether Baroness Fox’s perspective on her habitual topics of free speech and Brexit have been changed by COVID and her own elevation to the top of the establishment, and whether there are connections between Britain’s peculiar strain of libertarian Marxism and the political of project of Boris Johnson.

All eyes are on Ukraine as Russia invades. The run up to this crisis has seen unprecedented agreement on the dissident Left and dissident Right  in scepticism of American intelligence and ‘realist’ critique of NATO - much of it on this show. Was this - as one friend of TPS put it - 'Iraq in reverse' with the sceptics humiliated and the West's war machine vindicated? We joined anti-interventionist journalist Michael Tracey to discuss America's hand in the crisis's fruition, #RussiaGate, the Bidens in Ukraine, and why there's never been a more important time to reaffirm the anti-Imperialist analysis. Help us out and get amazing exclusive episodes at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod.

To discuss the Ukraine/Russia border crisis, anti-imperialism and anti-interventionism in Britain, the development of foreign policy under Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership, and the roots of Keir Starmer’s pro-NATO anti-Left posturing, we welcome Andrew Murray and Steve Howell. Andrew is one of Britain’s most prominent anti-imperialist voices and former chair of the Stop the War Coalition. He and Steve both served as advisors to Jeremy Corbyn during his leadership of the Labour Party. Please consider helping us grow the project by liking and subscribing, giving us a 5* review, sharing our stuff on social media, and subscribing at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod.

UNLOCKED in light of Gord's Twitter ban! Gord Magill has been driving long haul for twenty five years. He spoke to us about the 'Freedom Convoy' protest at the US/Canadian border, its political ambitions and class composition, and answers some of the main accusations that have been against the protesters. If you dig this episode, you could have heard it earlier at Patreon.com/ThePopularPod, along with loads of subscriber-only bonus episodes. If you're new to The Popular Show, make sure you scroll back to last Christmas, and check out our whole series with COVID critical voices.