Never Mind The Bar Charts

Inside the mind of Boris Johnson, with Caroline Pidgeon

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly and someone who saw Boris Johnson up close during his eight years as Mayor, joined me for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts.
We discussed how Boris Johnson behaves as a politician, his strong desire to be liked, his long track record of wasting public money and more. I hope you enjoy the show.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Garden Bridge.
The SS Richard Montgomery.
The wasteful water cannons.
The Deputy Mayors problem.
City Hall moving.
CrossRail2.
That Susan Kramer song.
Luisa Porritt.
Me and graffiti.
Caroline Pidgeon on Twitter.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.
 

The dilemma for progressives: lessons from the US 2020 elections

I was joined again on Never Mind The Bar Charts by Rob Blackie to talk about the early lessons from the 2020 US Presidential elections for the Liberal Democrats. With Rob as a guest, no surprise that we talked a lot about messaging and political positioning. In particular, how do you win over people who have a different world view? Listen to find out...
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
What the Liberal Democrats can learn from Donald Trump - the earlier episode with Rob Blackie.
2020 US Presidential election results.
The (non-) use of Latinx.
Winning the struggle for same-sex marriage: how framing the argument using the world view of its opponents helped persuade many of them to change their mind.
Graham Norton.
Photo by Andrew Neel from Pexels.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

A fresh way of talking about liberal values, with Tom King

Tom King, author of excellent pamphlet The Generous Society, was my guest for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. We talked about his new pamphlet, the importance of generosity to liberals and what Liberal Democrats can pick up from Joe Biden's electoral victory. 
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Read The Generous Society.
John Stuart Mill's On Liberty.
Jim Hacker wonders how best to do a political broadcast.
Michael J Sandel's The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? - Bookshop / Amazon.*
Tom King on Twitter.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.
 
* This list includes affiliate links which generate a commission for each sale made.

Myth busting media coverage of election campaigns and social media

I recently guested on Michael Bossetta's Social Media and Politics show, talking about... social media and politics. In particular, how the media coverage of election campaigns and their use of technology so often gets it wrong. Hope you enjoy the chat, and if you do, by all means grab the relevant chapter of my book, Bad News: what the headlines don't tell us, which is available for free here.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Bad News: what the headlines don't tell us.
Free book chapter.
Michael Bossetta.
The excellent Social Media and Politics podcast.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

The origins and course of pro-Europeanism in the Lib Dems

Why did the Liberal Party become so pro-European and how did that carry over into the Liberal Democrats? That was the topic when I welcomed back Duncan Brack to Never Mind The Bar Charts. We roamed over everything from the creation of the Anti-Corn Law League through to the future for pro-Europeanism in the Lib Dems.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Our Jo Grimond episode.
The motion on Europe passed at the party's 2020 conference.
Peace, Reform and Liberation: A History of Liberal Politics in Britain 1679-2011, compiled by Robert Ingham and Duncan Brack.
Free Trade Nation: Commerce, Consumption, and Civil Society in Modern Britain by Frank Trentmann: Waterstones / Amazon.
The Liberal Democrat History Group. It's special journal issue on Europe is available for free.
Duncan Brack on Twitter.
Music by Hugo Lee.
Image by MichaelGaida from Pixabay.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

Culture wars, Brexit and electoral reform, with Rob Ford

What caused Brexit? Was it inevitable? Why do the right love fighting culture wars even though each culture war gets fought on more liberal territory? Those were just some of the questions covered in a wonderfully wide-ranging discussion with Rob Ford. 
Not Rob Ford, the scandal-prone Mayor of Toronto, or Rob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James, or even Rob Ford, the Dundee FC footballer. But Rob Ford, Politics Professor at Manchester University and co-author of the new book, Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics by Rob Ford and Maria Sobolewska: Waterstones / Amazon.
Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn by Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire: Waterstones / Amazon.
The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of Immigration and Inequality by Justin Gest: Waterstones / Amazon. 
Why the first black British prime minister is likely to be a Conservative - Stephen Bush.
The political lessons of tuition fees discussed with Chris Butler.
Professor Rob Ford on Twitter.
Professor Maria Sobolewska on Twitter.
Music by Hugo Lee.
Photo by Anthony Beck from Pexels.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

Who is going to win the US Presidency?

I headed across the Atlantic in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts to talk about the US elections. For that I was joined by US politics podcaster Karin Robinson of the Democratically: 2020 show. We talked about Biden's chances, nerded out over the US postal service, discussed how the TV debates may go and more.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
5 Myths About the Postal Crisis - Politico.
Vote from Abroad.
Kevin Rudd's winning 2007 election strategy.
Five Thirty Eight - a website and a podcast.
Talking Points Memo.
The New York Times's Nate Cohn.
Marc Elias / Democracy Docket.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Democratically: 2020 podcast.
Karin Robinson on Twitter.
My appearance on Karin's podcast to discuss Bad News.
Music by Hugo Lee.
Photo of Joe Biden courtesy of janeb13 / Pixabay.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

Lib Dem European policy, how the leadership election went and more

The Lib Dem Podcast joined up again with Never Mind The Bar Charts for a special show looking at the latest issues facing the Liberal Democrats. John Potter and Tom Morrison joined me to review the leadership contest as well as to discuss the debate about when the Lib Dems should be campaigning to rejoin the EU.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Lib Dem Podcast.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

The future for liberalism, with David Howarth

China's changing foreign policy, tackling populism, the role for the Liberal Democrats: my guest David Howarth and I ranged widely over the political landscape in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The core vote strategy pamphlet David Howarth and I wrote in 2015.
My take on the role for liberalism in a post-coronavirus world.
The positive pay-offs from Angela Merkel's decision to welcome many more immigrants to Germany.
How Paddy Ashdown's strategy worked in the 1990s.
The risks of hung Parliaments.
New research into the Liberal Democrats and tuition fees: podcast episode with Chris Butler.
Listening to party members: how you can tell me your views.
Licence to be Bad: How Economics Corrupted Us by Jonathan Aldred: Amazon / Waterstones.
Island Stories: Britain and Its History in the Age of Brexit by David Reynolds: Amazon / Waterstones.
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple: Amazon / Waterstones.
The Will of the People: A Modern Myth by Albert Weale: Amazon / Waterstones.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

That tuition fees promise: what new research shows about the lessons to learn

There was a weird role reversal at the heart of the Liberal Democrat decisions over tuition fees in 2010, as Chris Butler's academic research reveals. So I invited him on Never Mind The Bar Charts to discuss what he has found, the lessons for the Liberal Democrats and the implications more generally about what makes for successful political parties.
Show notes
Chris Butler's research: When are governing parties more likely to respond to public opinion? The strange case of the Liberal Democrats and tuition fees.
David Laws's book on the coalition negotiations.
The front page of the 2010 general election manifesto.
Ryan Coetzee's controversial take on the 2015 general election, and my take on his take along with my second take on his take.
How to get right thinking about who might vote for you: a core vote strategy.
Nick Clegg's tuition fees apology - including the musical remix.
Chris Butler on Twitter.
Music by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Enjoy the show? Spread the word
Follow the show on Twitter.
Like the show on Facebook.
Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.