The Prospect Podcast

Have scientists found the secret to eternal power?

Engineers, inventors and sci-fi writers have long dreamed of harvesting the constant power of the sun. Now, plans to build solar panels in space are tantalisingly close to fruition. This week, Ellen is joined by Prospect contributing editor Isabel Hilton to explains why it could just work.

From rocket launches to robots assembling solar farms in space, Isabel explains the vision and its main obstacles. She also discusses the role of private companies and tech billionaires like Elon Musk, as well as China’s active solar-based programme.

Plus, Isabel explores how the UK can be part of the future, and how space-based solar compares to plans for nuclear fusion as an energy solution. After flash floods in Nepal, they also discuss the need for emergency power responses across the world.

To read Isabel’s article, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/technology/74474/space-solar-have-scientists-found-the-secret-to-eternal-power
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Who really runs the United Kingdom? Power is badly misallocated, argues journalist and author Phil Tinline, and Andy Burnham understands that better than most of his recent predecessors. But there is still a major gap in the prime minister’s analysis.

This week, he joins Ellen and Alona in a wide-ranging conversation that covers the shift away from centralised state power in the 1980s and the weakening of local government, through to how the Hillsborough disaster and Burnham’s early political career shaped the prime minister he wants to be. Phil reflects on the disappointments of the Starmer era, and also analyses the perspectives of leftwing politicians, from Zohran Mamdani to Zack Polanski.

Plus, how is Burnham’s thinking different to past prime ministers? Is he willing to take on unaccountable corporations, or not? And what’s at stake if he fails to deliver on the promise he has made to the public about redistributing power?

To read Phil’s cover essay for the latest issue of Prospect, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/labour-party/andy-burnham/74583/andy-burnham-great-power-struggle
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According to Nobel prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, liberal democracy made three promises: that prosperity would be shared equitably, that capable government would deliver public services and that citizens would have voice to express their opinions and participate in governance. But in recent decades, these promises have been broken across the world.

This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Acemoglu, who explains how the shift to a postindustrial, tech-driven economy—compounded by neoliberal policies, rising inequality and the internet—has eroded trust in democratic institutions.

He criticises identity politics, on the right and the left, and discusses the economic effect of developments in artificial intelligence. How great of a risk is AI to social cohesion? And is new technology actively undermining cross-cultural “social learning”?

Plus, he makes the case for “working-class liberalism” as a philosophy that can overcome this crisis.

Daron Acemoglu’s exclusive op-ed for Prospect will be published here on September 2nd.

His book What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity is published by Profile Books
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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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