It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

Mar 02 2025 139 ep. 59 mins 224
It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast artwork

Hear from the widest range of voices in the progressive movement. Every week, host Neal Lawson, speaks with progressive thinkers, writers and politicians from the UK and beyond about current affairs and how to build the Good Society. Visit compassonline.org.uk to learn more about Compass.

  Society & Culture
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


German Election Special | ep. 121

Mar 02 2025 65 mins  
It’s been said that German elections are usually dull affairs. Well, whether that’s been true in the past, it’s certainly not true this time – it’s bloody complicated. The result Sunday 23rd, brought success for the CDU/CSU conservatives, with 28.6% of the votes and 208 seats, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) who won 20.8% and 151 seats. The partner

The French New Popular Front | ep. 120

Feb 17 2025 61 mins  
In July 2024 the New Popular Front (NFP), a coalition of left-wing parties, came out on top in a snap general election in France, winning 193 seats in the National Assembly. The centrist bloc supporting President Emmanuel Macron got 166 seats, the far-right National Rally (RN) 142, and the center-right Republicans forty-seven. A progressive alliance prevented Marine Le Pen far-righ

119. A New Settlement for Water

Feb 03 2025 65 mins  
Britain’s infrastructure is struggling. We’ve seen stories of concrete falling down in schools, unreliable public transport, and an NHS at breaking point after chronic neglect and the Covid-19 pandemic. But little has captured people’s attention and activism like the damage and disrepair of our sewage system and the disastrous decisions of the companies that own our water. Cu

Electoral jenga, sandcastle majorities, and polling on thin ice w/ Rob Ford | ep. 118

Jan 20 2025 62 mins  
For our first podcast of 2025, Neal and Lena were be joined by Rob Ford to discuss electoral chaos, First Past the Post and political instability, his recent work, and our recent publication Thin Ice. Rob Ford is a Professor of Political Science, and author of “Brexitland”, “The British General Election of 2019” and “Sex, Lies and Politics”. Support the show Enjoyed the

BONUS: Practical Hope

Dec 27 2024 52 mins  
Support the show 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? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

117. The Year of Elections – 2024 Round-Up (with Anushka Asthana)

Dec 13 2024 61 mins  
Political commentator, journalist, and author Anushka Asthana joined us to break down the political year that was, and look ahead to 2025. Support the show 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? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find

In Conversation: Ellie Chowns MP | ep. 116

Dec 02 2024 44 mins  
Ellie Chowns has been involved with politics for less than a decade. Yet, in that time has represented the West Midlands in the European Parliament, led the Green Group on the Tory-controlled Herefordshire Council, and in 2024 was elected as a Green MP for North Herefordshire, the first non-Conservative Member of Parliament for the area since 1906. We were excited to welcome her on

US Election Special | ep. 115

Nov 18 2024 64 mins  
Last week, Donald Trump won a historic second term as US president. This victory in the face of the chaos, the lies and the courts should be a wake up call for progressives across the world. So what do progressives need to do to turn the dread we all feel at this result into something meaningful? To digest, dissect and discuss the results we’re joined by: Sky Gallegos, a Founding

The impact of wealth inequality | ep 114

Oct 26 2024 59 mins  
The UK is remarkably unequal. The richest 1% of Britons hold more wealth than 70 % of us combined. Wealth inequality is gendered, racialised, and extremely regional. Men have an average private pension wealth of £83,879 more than women, a gap of 90%. People in the black Caribbean, Bangladeshi and black African ethnic groups have more net debt (31%, 38% and 44% respectively) than i

In Conversation with Sam Freedman | ep. 113

Oct 14 2024 40 mins  
In his recent book, Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It, Sam Freedman lays out why people matter, but systems matter more. Having a run of incompetent, corrupt leaders is a problem. But our problems run deeper – and we will get nowhere until we fix our systems. It’s not enough to change who sits in Westminster and Whitehall – we have change the whole system. The