
Macrodose
Your weekly fix of everything economics. Hosted by James Meadway.
Latest episodes

Jun 26, 2024 • 15min
Post-Pandemic Health Crisis
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down a post-pandemic rise in diseases across the world, and how this overlaps with our ideas of health, work and care in the UK (1:10), before looking at how the political uncertainty in pre-election France has caused the European Central Bank to withdraw it's borrowing support, and what this means for future power balances in the Eurozone (08:23).
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 25, 2024 • 26min
French Elections: Far Right On The Brink Of Power w/ Olly Haynes
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Olly Haynes to talk through the upcoming French elections, the far-right’s resurgence, and how the French left is mobilising to counter it.
Olly is a freelance writer and journalist, and host of the FLEP24 podcast - a regular podcast covering the French 2024 elections in further detail: x.com/flep24pod
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/MacrodoseWe want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 21, 2024 • 17min
We Are The Economy w/ Maeve Cohen
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Maeve Cohen to discuss the We Are The Economy coalition project, and different ways to frame the relationships between austerity, work and social wellbeing.
Maeve is project lead at The Social Guarantee, and convenor at We Are The Economy - a coalition of organisations who are coming together to call for more investment in public services: https://www.wearetheeconomy.co.uk/
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 20, 2024 • 28min
Are Greens the Party of the Left? w/ Zack Polanski
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Zack Polanski to talk through the Green Party's current campaign, and their ideas for economic, ecological and social futures.
Zack has been the deputy leader of the Green Party since September 2022. He is a Londonwide member of the London Assembly, where he is chair of the Environment Committee, and the national spokesperson for the Green Party for Democracy & Citizen Engagement.
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 19, 2024 • 23min
Reform UK's Plan for Opposition
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway breaks down what Reform UK’s “contract” for voters tells us about the future battlegrounds for economic policy (1:46), a preview of the upcoming French election (13:25) and a quick recommendation - a new paper from economist Isabella Weber, proposing responses to an age of “overlapping crises” (20:35).
You can find the report here: https://t.co/zaYDO6fFvS
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 17, 2024 • 46min
New Left Formations w/ James Schneider
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by James Schneider to discuss the contradictions of a Labour government, the future of the left and organising in the UK. James Schneider is former Head Of Strategic Communications to Jeremy Corbyn, and author of Our Bloc: How We Win (2022, Verso). He is currently Communications Director for Progressive International, an international organisation of unions, peasant movements and activists. TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 13, 2024 • 46min
The Break Down: In Pursuit of Climate Justice w/ Fredi Otto
“The stakes could not be higher.” These are the recent words not of climate activists, but of a coalition representing major oil and gas companies in a letter to the US Supreme Court. The context? They’re asking the Court to block dozens of lawsuits that seek to hold these firms to account for their role in driving the climate crisis, including by awarding damages for the costs of extreme weather events.
But how would this actually work? While it’s becoming more frequent, extreme weather has always been a part of our planet’s natural variation - so how can we know which events are part of a new normal as a result of climate change - and which are just ‘normal’?
For a long time, it was hard to give a clear answer. But thanks to the work of today’s guest, Dr. Fredi Otto, that’s all beginning to change. In this episode, Adrienne and Fredi Otto break down "attribution science" - a relatively new field that seeks to examine the role of climate change in extreme weather events. Through their work, we’re gaining a much clearer picture not only of our changing planet, but also of how climate change is inescapably tied up with inequality and injustice.
Dr. Otto is Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and co-founder of World Weather Attribution.
Find the entire series of The Break Down, alongside fantastic original essays and other resources, over at www.break-down.org
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 12, 2024 • 19min
Is the European Central Bank Helping Drive the Far Right?
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway breaks down how the European Central Bank is helping drive a far right vote across the EU (1:57) the rising price of oranges after crop failures in Florida and Brazil (6:21) and a listener question - why are Reform UK proposing to reduce interest paid on Quantitative Easing reserves, and is that actually a pretty good idea (10:19)?
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 11, 2024 • 22min
Sunak vs Starmer w/ Aditya Chakrabortty
Today on Macrodose: Election Economics, James is joined by Aditya Chakrabortty to discuss Sunak, Starmer and the long shadow of Nigel Farage in UK politics.
Aditya is senior economics commentator at the Guardian, where he writes a regular column. He has also been a finalist for an Orwell Prize for journalism in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and in 2023 won the British Press Award for Best Broadsheet Columnist of the year.
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 10, 2024 • 15min
The Far-Right Sweeps Europe w/ Yanis Varoufakis
Welcome to Election Economics, a Macrodose bonus series that we’re running in the lead up to the UK general election on July 4th.
Over the coming weeks James Meadway will be joined by a selection of economists, politicians and commentators to unpack what the campaigns’ policies and pledges mean for people in Britain.
Today James Meadway is joined by Yanis Varoufakis - who will unpack and reflect on the weekend’s European Election results - which saw leftwing parties suffer defeat at the hands of the right across Europe. Yanis is an economist, politician, formerly Greece’s finance minister, and author of several books, including most recently Technofuedalism: What Killed Capitalism - which he has discussed previously here on Macrodose: https://www.patreon.com/posts/era-of-cloud-w-97039226
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk