It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

This podcast makes reference to slides presented by Ken Spours. To view these, watch the podcast video on our CompassTV youtube channel The right is shape shifting again - from Johnson to now Liz Truss.  What a Truss premiership means is unclear - will she stick to desiccated Thatcherism or pivot to a new hybrid Toryism?We are joined live with Professor Ken Spours who through his work on the Osbourne Supremacy and shapeshifters had helped us place a Gramscian lens over the adaptation and contortions of modern Toryism.  Also joining us is Gaby Hinsliff, the flabulous Guardian political columnist who writes astutely about centre-left politics. Enjoyed 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? Become a member! Support our work and be a part of the Compass communitySupport 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. 

Original recording of this special episode was on video, references to slides are mentioned throughout the recording.This episode is part 1 of 2 of a education series special. Part 2 of the education series is available on our Compasstv YouTube channel Covid-19 has exposed the vast inequalities baked into the way we educate children in the UK. But there’s a whole lot more that needs changing – and most politicians don’t like talking about it.Are we genuinely providing children and young people with the education they need to deal with the huge challenges ahead? Are we finding the spark in every child? Have schools become exam factories? What do we want for our children, here and now – and in the future?In short, what’s the point of education in the 21st century?Joining us to discuss are this and much more are four education thinkers and doers:Peter Moss, Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood Provision at UCL Institute of Education, University College LondonChristine Merrick, former Ofsted inspector and ex-headteacher with nearly fifty years’ experience in early years and primary education in the UK and abroadRobin Duckett, founder of the Sightlines Initiative for creative practice in UK early educationMadeleine Holt, education campaigner and filmmaker in innovative primary and secondary schools through Schools on Screen.At the event we’ll explore:The spread of GERM – the Global Education Reform Movement – throughout our systemIts symptoms – standardisation, market-led competition, a narrowed curriculum and test-based accountabilityThe human cost: a burgeoning workload and unhappy staff and students.It’s time to question what’s driving education: is it the needs of children and young people, or something else entirely?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. 

Stella Creasy is one of the most dynamic back-benchers in Parliament. She campaigns nationally on issues such as abortion rights, making Westminster a child friendly workplace, and how to deepen democracy. Locally, Stella put her constituency, Walthamstow, on the map with clever campaigns and even smarter social media.We were delighted to welcome her to It’s Bloody Complicated. We talked all things Labour Party and Tory Party, and what’s next for the future of democracy, E17, and indie rock.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. 

Another world is possible. A professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London, Geoff Mulgan is a prolific writer, thinker and doer. He was a strategy adviser to former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as well as governments around the world, with his expertise also running think tanks like Nesta and Demos.His latest book Another Word is Possible, released in June 2022, examines how we reignite social and political Imagination. From the sciences to philosophy, learning from the past and not giving in to the doom of recent calamities, we discussed with Geoff how we can create new methods of creative imagination for a better politics and society.He will shares his experiences working with the previous Labour government, the practice of theory of change and what can be applied for the future, for the better. 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. 

Basic income is a regular payment everyone receives. Forever.Now, the Welsh and Irish governments have followed the examples of the United States and elsewhere, and are piloting basic income programmes for real.In this special episode Jonathan Williams, co-founder of UBI Lab Wales, gives us the inside track on the Welsh pilot.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. 

What would your life look like with less time spent at work?Across the UK, thousands at workers at 70 companies are taking part in the biggest-ever trial of a four-day working week.Joining It’s Bloody Complicated to discuss the trial and a potential future of reduced working hours are representatives from digital marketing firm Literal Humans and brewery Pressure Drop, both of which are participating in the pilot.And we’ll also hear from Will Stronge, co-author of Overtime: Why We Need a Shorter Working Week and Head of Research at future-of-work think tank Autonomy, which is helping coordinate the pilots, and Kate Bell, Head of Rights, International, Social and Economics at the TUC.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. 

From fines for the prime minister to shocking allegations of harassment, bullying and sexism in the workplace, Parliament has been bedevilled by scandal once again.We’re joined by Dr Hannah White, Jennifer Nadel and Darren Hughes to explore What about the structure and culture of our politics results in such awful behaviour – and how we build a new politics.Hannah White is Deputy Director of the Institute for Government and author of Held in Contempt: What’s Wrong with the House of Commons? (https://www.waterstones.com/book/held-in-contempt/hannah-white//978152615669 3)Jennifer Nadel is Co-Director of Compassion in Politics and an award-winning journalist.Darren Hughes is Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society and a former government minister in New Zealand.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. 

It’s Bloody Complicated brings you a special episode on a fascinating set of elections across the UK. Joining us is elections guru Professor Rob Ford.What were the progressive triumphs and tragedies – where did progressive alliances win out, and where could they have helped score wins?Rob Ford is Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester. He is the author, with Maria Sobolewska, of the award-winning Brexitland and, with Tim Bale, Will Jennings and Paul Surridge, of The British General Election of 2019.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 Fellows Jamie See and Noah Robinson meet poet Tishani Doshi to explore protest, poetry and performance.Tishani Doshi is an award-winning poet, novelist, dancer and journalist.The episode begins with Jamie and Noah reading their poems.Read 'A Love Symphony to the World' by Jamie See (https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-youth-prize/2018-youth-prize/runners-orwell-youth-prize-2020/jamiesee/)Read 'Here There Are No People' by Noah Robinson (https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-youth-prize/2018-youth-prize/runners-orwell-youth-prize-2020/noahrobinson/)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. 

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.