By now it should be clear. Coronavirus is a ‘strategic’, not episodic, crisis for human development in this century. It poses sweeping social and economic change to our societies – as we try to come to terms and deal with mounting ecological crises. To get a handle on what these changes might be, hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper talk to economist James Meadway on what ‘building back better’ should look like.   For more information on the issues discussed on today’s podcast, see James’ article on Open Democracy: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/covid-19-here-stay-now-we-must-redesign-our-economies-around-it/   Producer: Luke Cooper Editor: Camilo Tirado

Britain's migrant workers are living through a huge moment of change. The country's immigration system has now fundamentally changed after the exit from the European Union and vast numbers of migrants have left Britain during the Coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of the most vulnerable EU nationals risk falling through the cracks and losing their right to remain as the settled status deadline looms. Meanwhile, despite a historic new level of immigration control, the Tory government appear desperate to find a new scapegoat with threats to clampdown on asylum seekers and activist lawyers. To take stock of these changes, and shed light on the quiet struggles underway for human dignity, hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper are joined by Zoe Gardner, from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Alena Ivanova, from the Another Europe office and Right to Stay campaign. 

As the four nations of the United Kingdom struggle to reconcile themselves to life outside the EU are we witnessing the gradual unravelling of the illusions and delusions that have dominated the traditional British political elite? Is this end of the "era of self-deception" the one positive aspect of Brexit? And, if the project itself is overwhelmingly English, what does this mean for the future of the union between the four nations? To answer these questions hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper are joined by historian David Edgerton, a professor at Kings College London and author of The Rise and Fall of the British Nation.  For more information on the ideas covered in the podcast see:  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/01/brexit-bonfire-national-illusions-labour-alternative-future  https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/David-Edgerton/The-Rise-and-Fall-of-the-British-Nation--A-Twentieth-Century-History/14131279  Producer: Luke Cooper Sound editor: Ben Higgins Milner 

The Coronavirus pandemic can be seen as a huge ecological warning: a sign that our footprint on planet Earth is becoming terribly unsustainable. And while that crisis continues to - rightly - dominate global headlines it is still rarely seen as the environmental crisis that it is. In the year that the UK will host COP26, the annual global climate conference in Glasgow, and following Joe Biden's victory in the United States, we ask whether campaigners can turn this to our advantage, and get the much more ambitious commitments we need? To answer this question and more hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper are joined by Green Party co-leader, Sian Berry, to appraise the current state of the global climate emergency and what we need to do next. 

Will he do it? If Boris Johnson leads the UK to a no deal crash out from the transition period he'll surely be remembered as the most irresponsible prime minister in British history. His flag waving jingoism risks an economic and social disaster. Is it all a bluff? Will he climb down at the 11th hour? To find some answers hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper talk to Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queens University Belfast and senior fellow with UK in a Changing Europe. In a wide ranging discussion they talk about the current state of play with the talks, how the promises of the 2016 referendum fit with the reality of 'no deal', the contradictions of the UK view of 'sovereignty' and the implications of Brexit for the politics and economics of Northern Ireland. 

After what seemed like a lifetime, the final results are in: America has said "no more" to Donald Trump. Collectively the world breathed a sigh of relief as the results came in. But many questions still remain unanswered. How much damage can Trump do between now and his exit day, the 20th January next year? Will his racism and unfounded attacks on the democratic process prompt 'white riots' in America's streets? Where will the American radical right and Trump dynasty go next? And what kind of impact can we expect Biden to have, either domestically or on world politics, especially without control of the Senate? Nick Dearden, Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper meet up to make sense of it all and ponder the future of global democracy in a century of crisis.  

We talk about authoritarianism a lot on this podcast and how it's resisted from below by grassroots movements. But we haven't yet broached what the principles are in how democratic states should operate in an increasingly dictatorial world order. In this podcast we talk to Mary Kaldor, emeritus professor of global governance at the London School of Economics, on what an ethical foreign policy should look like. Drawing on her experience advising the late Labour foreign secretary, Robin Cook, in the 1990s, she outlines the principles of a progressive foreign policy today. A critical part of this is seeing supporting pro democratic civil society movements as part of foreign policy - not simply something that is beyond what democracies should do. She also offers an explanation of the roots of American authoritarianism that goes beyond the "Trump is evil" statement and explores the problematic structures of contemporary US power. 

This definitely isn't normal is it? The world feels increasingly like a strange absurdist theatre we have all found our collective selves in. A new book tells the story of the last four years and how we got here. Hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper are joined by Will Davies, professor of political economy and co-director of the Goldsmiths Political Economy Research Centre. His new book offers a timeline and chronology from the Brexit referendum to the 2019 general election and is full of fascinating insights into the changing politics, economics and culture of these new and dangerous times.  For more on the ideas discussed in the podcast check out:  This Is Not Normal by Will Davies  Neoliberalism is over – welcome to the era of neo-illiberalism by Reijer Hendrikse The difficulty of 'neoliberalism' by Will Davies  

As American democracy faces the most troubling moment in its modern history, hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper talk to one of the world's leading experts on the far right about where it all went wrong. Cas Mudde is Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia he challenges the conventional wisdom that sees Trump as 'evil' and the Republican party as 'moderate'. Instead he explains how Trump is a symptom of the shift in American Republicanism towards the populist radical right - a move that has huge implications for American democracy in the century ahead. We also pick his brains on the challenge the authoritarian right represents to the future of democratic societies this side of the Atlantic and ask - above all - what we can do about it.  For more on the ideas discussed in today's podcast check out these links:  The Republican convention is proof that traditional Republicans have given up The Far Right Today (Book)  One thing all sides agree on: the 2020 election is about the soul of America How Orbán played Germany, Europe’s great power

It is no exaggeration to say that dark money is now a major factor in our politics - and the lack of transparency threatens the democratic process. The 2016 Brexit referendum was the pilot episode of a new global horror show: nationalistic politics fuelled by hidden global donors. In this episode hosts Luke Cooper and Zoe Williams talk to Peter Geoghegan on his path-breaking new book, Democracy for Sale. In a jaw dropping discussion he explains how we still have no idea about the ultimate source of the huge amounts of cash that the Democratic Unionist Party and Arron Banks spent in the 2016 referendum.  This podcast is part of an on-going collaboration between the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Another Europe Is Possible. For more information on the ideas discussed in this podcast check out Peter's book:  https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Peter-Geoghegan/Democracy-for-Sale--Dark-Money-and-Dirty-Politics/24294091