The Prospect Podcast

What can a taxi ride tell us about the state of the UK? Driving home is an immersive documentary staged inside a real black cab where audiences hear from taxi drivers across the UK about migration, belonging, politics, and community.

Today on the podcast, Daphna Attias and Terry O’Donohue, the co-founders and artistic directors of Dante or Die, the theatre company behind the documentary, join Prospect’s Sarah Collins to discuss what the interviews can tell us about life in the UK.

They’ll also discuss why they chose the locations of Hull, Bradford, Peckham, Basildon, Essex, Brighton, and the Isle of Sheppey to record their interviews with cabbies, and how each cab gives unique insights into the mood of the area. It feels almost like being in a confessional, they say.

Sarah wrote a feature for the latest issue of Prospect, in collaboration with Dante or Die. Read it now on our website
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Billionaires, millionaires and biohackers are plying themselves with supplements and consulting AI to extend their lives indefinitely. But would you want to live forever? This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by journalist and author Katherine Stewart, who investigates the politics of the longevity movement.

Katherine shares her experiences undercover at exclusive longevity conferences, trying supplements and testing her hormone levels. She discusses key figures like Bryan Johnson, the “most measured person in history”, famous for trying to inject himself with his young son’s blood, and Palantir’s Peter Thiel.

She also explains the appeal of “transhumanism”, and argues that the original meaning of “self-care” has been usurped. As the movement marshals deep science and high anxiety, with potions and powders promising detoxes, how much can be trusted?

To read Katherine’s piece ‘The time I tried to live forever’, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/policy/health/74081/the-time-i-tried-to-live-forever
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As Andy Burnham marks his first two weeks in Downing Street, the polls are registering a bump in support for Labour. This week, Ellen and Imaan are joined by Prospect’s contributing editor Tom Clark to assess the prime minister’s first steps in office.

Tom discusses surprising policy pledges, “sugar-rush politics” and how Burnham’s thinking has changed, from devolution to drastic social care reforms. What challenges will he face in making his promises a reality?

After the Ceuta border crossing, does political rhetoric around immigration signal change or continuity? Is Burnham willing to make enemies over the drilling of oil and gas in the North Sea? And what are the chances of an early election?

Plus, Tom compares Burnham with Keir Starmer and reflects on whether his leadership signals a departure from factionalism. Has Burnham finally unified the Labour party—and, if so, can it last?

To read more of Tom’s analysis, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/author/2823/tom-clark
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This month Rural life writer Kiran Sidhu decides to embrace materialism, while Anglican priest Alice Goodman recounts the ballad of the Tithe pig. Actor and writer Sheila Hancock is taken to hospital after a fall and is very impressed by the attractive doctors treating her. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Citizenship has been described as “the right to have rights”. But, in recent years, the UK government has increasingly stripped people of their citizenship— effectively leaving many stateless.

This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by journalist and author Samira Shackle, who tracks the rapid expansion of citizenship deprivation laws in Britain.

She explains how citizenship can be stripped at the will of the home secretary, without judicial oversight or any criminal conviction required. They discuss the case of Shamima Begum, and how the “war on terror” altered the state and the public’s conceptions of what citizenship is.

Samira argues that a two-tier system has been created—in practice, making citizenship contingent for many people of mixed ethnicity. With far-right political rhetoric supporting “remigration” and even broader use of deprivation powers, what will be effect on individuals and society if this policy remains unchecked?

Is citizenship an inalienable right? And with some polls showing public support for the policy, is it ever moral to strip citizenship, or should individuals face punishment through the criminal justice system?

To read Samira’s piece, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/uk/74074/britain-stripped-citizenship-syria-islamic-state-shamima-begum

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