The Prospect Podcast

One of the most influential statesmen of the 20th century has since been forgotten by history. Why is that? Andrew Adonis joins the Prospect Interview to discuss the life and work of Ernest Bevin, 20th century trade union leader and former Minister of Labour and Foreign Secretary. Bevin, who Adonis calls “Labour’s Churchill” has much to teach the Labour Party about where it goes today. You can read Prospect’s review of Ernest Bevin: Labour’s Churchill here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/ernest-bevin-working-class-hero-andrew-adonis-book-review Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frances Cha had been a journalist based in Seoul for several years, reporting on the culture and trends in South Korea’s megacity for CNN. Then, she decided to explore all she learned in fiction, writing her novel If I Had Your Face. Her debut explores the lives of four women living in Seoul, and takes a forensic look at the many challenges faced by millennials living in the ever-changing city today. She joins the Prospect Interview to talk about making the leap from reporting to fiction, uncovering a hidden side of South Korea, and why she hopes readers might take from her novel.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s that time of year again. Today, Prospect releases its annual list of top 50 thinkers for our times. The editorial team talks through what it was like making the list, and how they went about finding the intellectuals, artists, scientists and writers who have come to define our time. You can read the list of top 50 thinkers, and vote for your own favourite (plus tell us who we missed) here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/the-worlds-top-50-thinkers-2020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s behind the disproportionate number of Covid-19 ethnic minority deaths? Science writer Angela Saini—most recently author of Superior: The Return of Race Science—joins the Prospect Interview to talk about the intersection between medicine and race, and why she’s surprised that even the respectable scientific community has fallen so easily into pseudo-science.You can read Angela’s essay on the racial politics of Covid-19 here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/the-covid-race-riddle-defies-skin-deep-simplicities-angela-saini-racism-virus-spread Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feminism may be becoming increasingly mainstream, but it’s undeniable that women continue to do the lion’s share of housework and child-rearing at home. Historian Emma Lundin joins the Prospect Interview to talk about modern motherhood today, and reflects on the obstacles preventing gender equality, now enshrined in law in theory, from becoming the norm in reality.You can read Emma’s essay on working motherhood here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/mind-the-gender-gap-why-its-time-for-an-equality-revolution-in-parenting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American political commentator and Atlantic senior editor David Frum joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the presidency of Donald Trump, whose potential legacy he writes about in his new book, Trumpocalypse: Restoring American democracy. Frum talks to editor Tom Clark about his journey from George W. Bush speechwriter to one of the most high-profile conservative critics of the latest president, whether he thinks Joe Biden has a chance beating Trump this November, and how he would make a start patching together the deep inequalities and anger that plague the US.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CBD oils, meditation apps, and memory foam mattresses—our obsession with getting the perfect night’s sleep is stronger than ever. But is the drive to get more shut-eye actually making us more exhausted? Journalist Barbara Speed wrote an essay for Prospect going behind the global sleep industry, and unpacks the false science and misguided assumptions that are stopping us from getting the proper rest we need. She joins outgoing deputy editor Steve Bloomfield to talk about why she was drawn to going behind the sleep industry, why she’s no longer bothered about getting in her nightly eight hours, and the tech industry’s insidious war on our waking brains. You can read Barbara’s essay on sleep here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/cant-sleep-lockdown-quarantine-problems-why-coronavirus-nightmares-help Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Biographer and academic Ray Monk joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the life and work of GE Moore, a once-great Cambridge philosopher who has since disappeared from history. Why was it that Moore was so revered at his time, drawing admiration from the likes of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell? And why is it that since then, he’s been largely forgotten?You can read Ray Monk’s essay on GE Moore here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/ge-moore-philosophy-books-analytic-ray-monk-biography Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Academic and author of This is Shakespeare Emma Smith joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss the bard’s much gossiped about life under the plague. While many of us may have come across reminders that Shakespeare spun out King Lear while under lockdown centuries ago, Emma says that there’s another plague-era play of his that shows another side of historic London life—the comic, and unapologetically raunchy, Venus and Adonis.Emma’s article on Venus and Adonis is available here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/shakespeares-answer-to-the-plague-more-sex-and-comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dutch historian and commentator Rutger Bregman joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss his new book, Humankind: A Hopeful History. It’s a book with an optimistic thesis at its heart: that people are—despite all the doom-mongering, disasters, and political conflicts that rage on in our headlines—at their core, decent and well-intentioned. Arts and Books editor Sameer Rahim talks to Rutger about making a case for hope in the time of Covid, what makes people embrace hate, division and prejudice—and how he went about writing his viral story of the real-life Lord of the Flies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.