It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

On Monday 11th April we saw the consequences when progressives divide and centrists ignore the ground to their left. A rightward-shifting Emmanuel Macron finds himself in a second-round matchup with the far-right Marine Le Pen in France. Left-of-centre parties split the vote in the first round, allowing Le Pen to narrowly make the run-off.  Current polling suggests that left-wing voters will only break to Macron fairly narrowly – with huge numbers set to abstain. What does it all mean? And what are the lessons for the UK?French politics experts Philippe Marliėre and Rim-Sarah Alouane will join us to assess the aftermath of the election.Take a deep dive into the French election on this edition of It’s Bloody Complicated, the Compass podcast.Support the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

This week on the Compass podcast we are joined by Helen Thompson, author of the book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, published by Oxford University Press. A chronicle of three recent political histories - in our geopolitics, world economy and todays western democracies, Helen shows us the ways  that energy, global finance and democracy interact - forcing us to think hard about why and how we get a fit for purpose democracy to meet the challenges we face.Helen Thompson is a professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University and panelist at Talking Politics podcast. Her previous works also include the 2017 book 'Oil and the Western Economic Crisis.'It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

After a year-plus on the job, having inherited a deeply divided country, Joe Biden and the Democrats are still facing multiple interlocking crises – from the war in Ukraine, to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, to climate catastrophe. But amidst all this, can we count some wins – on infrastructure, Covid and a once-in-a-generation Supreme Court nomination?Top Democratic organisers Sky Gallegos and Joe Sudbay join It's Bloody Complicated to help make sense of it all.It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Orwell Youth Fellow Jessica Tunks joins Professor Donna Hall to discuss family, community, reimagining public services and her scorching essay 'Knifepoint'.Donna Hall is Chair of New Local and of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.The episode begins with Jessica reading her essay 'Knifepoint'.Read 'Knifepoint' by Jessica Tunks (https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-youth-prize/2018-youth-prize/winners-orwell-youth-prize-2020/jessica-tunks/).The Future We Want is a new podcast series from the Orwell Youth Prize and Compass. We've matched the Orwell Youth Fellows from 2020 with figures from politics, media and political writing.The Orwell Youth Prize is an annual programme for students aged 12–18 culminating in a writing prize. The prize and programme introduce young people to the power of political language, and provoke them to think critically about the world around them.Compass' regular podcast, It's Bloody Complicated, is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Orwell Youth Fellow Rosaleen Tite Ahern joins Guardian journalist John Harris to discuss place; the successes, failures and hopes of social housing; and her brilliantly evocative essay 'Streets in the Sky' on Manchester's Hulme Crescents.John Harris is a columnist at the Guardian and host of the podcast Politics Weekly UK. (https://www.theguardian.com/profile/johnharris).The episode begins with Rosaleen reading her essay 'Streets in the Sky'.Read 'Streets in the Sky' by Rosaleen Tite Ahern (https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-youth-prize/2018-youth-prize/winners-orwell-youth-prize-2020/rosaleen-tite-ahern/).The Future We Want is a new podcast series from the Orwell Youth Prize and Compass. We've matched the Orwell Youth Fellows from 2020 with figures from politics, media and political writing.The Orwell Youth Prize is an annual programme for students aged 12–18 culminating in a writing prize. The prize and programme introduce young people to the power of political language, and provoke them to think critically about the world around them.Compass' regular podcast, It's Bloody Complicated, is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Jon Alexander, author of the new book Citizens, joins the podcast to tell us how can we start to think and act like Citizens, not Consumers. Joining Jon is conversation is author and political scientist Sue Goss.But first we hear from Luke Cooper of Another Europe is Possible for an update on the terrible events in Ukraine. Luke helps us think through what we can be doing about this awful war.Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us (https://www.jonalexander.net/) It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Chief Executive of Demos Polly Mackenzie joins It’s Bloody Complicated to look at what's gone wrong with our democracy and how we can fix it.Polly builds on the insights from her series of papers for Demos – Making Democracy Work.Polly Makenzie was Director of Policy to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg from 2010–15, helping to write the 2010 Coalition Agreement. After leaving Government, Polly established the operations of the Women’s Equality Party and founded the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.Read the Making Democracy Work papers (https://demos.co.uk/making-democracy-work/).It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Tommy Sheppard MP joins It’s Bloody Complicated to discuss the future of the Scottish independence movement, the prospects of the SNP supporting a Labour government and his remarkable political life.Tommy Sheppard is the Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh and the SNP’s Spokesperson for Constitutional Affairs.It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Frances Foley goes behind the scenes of Labour–Liberal Democrat cooperation in the 1997 General Election with former Lib Dem Policy Director Duncan Brack, political commentator Peter Kellner, and Compass Director and 1997 Labour electoral negotiator Neal Lawson .In ’97 an informal arrangement between Labour and the Lib Dems helped drive tactical voting – and a landslide election victory for Labour, ending 18 years of Conservative rule.What are the lessons from 1997 today? What has changed in the intervening years? And after four election defeats in a row, how might progressive parties work better, and smarter, together?Duncan Brack is Editor of the Journal of Liberal History, and was Liberal Democrat Policy Director from 1988–94 and special adviser during the coalition government in 2010–12.Peter Kellner is a political commentator, election analyst and former President of YouGov.This episode is presented in partnership with the Social Liberal Forum.There are seats where Labour can't win, but the Tories can lose. Find out more about the Compass campaign Only Stand to Win(https://www.compassonline.org.uk/campaigns/only-stand-to-win/).It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

We take a look at coalition governments – what they are, how they are formed, lessons from the new 'traffic light' coalition in Germany and why the UK’s progressive parties need to be thinking about them right now.Joining the podcast are Henning Meyer, Publisher of Social Europe, Fellow at the German Ministry of Finance and member of the SPD's Basic Values Commission, and George Peretz QC, legal expert, member of the Society of Labour Lawyers and author of the recent article Wargaming a Minority Labour Government in Prospect (https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/wargaming-a-minority-labour-government-next-election-starmer).It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.