Best Tim Searls Podcasts (2026)

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Three points makes all things right 1:10:34

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3d ago1:10:34

1:10:34

Forget it's Wolves, forget the capitulation at City. Three points, 12th, looking down at Spurs, 10 points from trouble. What blip? To discuss the changing emotions a win brings are Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman. Text the pod!By Tim Searls

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Knives out? 59:51

10d ago59:51

59:51

Blip? Worrying trend? Managerial crisis? All of those? Something entirely else? History only will judge, but to try to make sense of this draw with Leeds the pod reaches out to our expert from Iowa Glenn Houlihan. Along with Greville Waterman and Tim Searls the mini-crisis, or whatever this is, is unpacked. Go all-in again Man City Wednesday? Save …

1
Don't Panic 1:01:53

22d ago1:01:53

1:01:53

Seasons have highs and lows. Will Canu and Greville Waterman join to find a host of silver linings and reasons to be cheerful after a tough, tough week. We probe the psychology of home and away mindsets, we think about squad depth as the January window comes into view, and we try to not let Spurs get in our heads. There's no question this wasn't th…

1
The North London derbies, with North London Bee 59:12

29d ago59:12

59:12

Burnley swept aside (though it didn't feel that easy for about 85 minutes!), we look ahead to the small matter of a week featuring Arsenal and "Thomas Frank's Spurs". Somehow the Brentford Miracle is rolling again, and we're starting to look up rather than down at this table. Which will never get old. Text the pod!…

1
What comes after liberal democracy? | Kolja Zydatis 19:06

1M ago19:06

19:06

What comes after liberal democracy? In this bold, idea-rich lecture, Kolja Zydatis explores the global political topography of our time – a murky, volatile “interregnum” where the old order is collapsing but the new has not yet arrived. Drawing from his and Mark Feldon’s new book, Zydatis offers a panoramic, polemical tour of what he calls hyper-li…

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The End of the Liberal Order – and What Comes Next | Jacob Reynolds 20:36

2M ago20:36

20:36

Is the postwar liberal order finally coming undone? And if so – what comes next? The liberal order is dying – not liberalism as an idea, but the postwar regime of managed decline, elite control, and fake freedom. This talk exposes how that order hollowed out real autonomy, smothered politics, and bred a generation of anxious, atomised subjects. But…

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The Quarter-Pole Podcast 1:03:07

2M ago1:03:07

1:03:07

Greville and Tim have to discuss a disappointing Saturday down in South London, but then we're on to a bigger conversation about what we know about Brentford Football Club after a quarter of the season gone. Are we on the right track? Are we in a false position at 12th in the table, or is this who we rightly are this season? We try to make some sen…

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Deneen, Yarvin and the "new right": Parasites on Populism? | Dr Tim Black 36:24

2M ago36:24

36:24

This lecture explores the emergence of the American New Right – a diffuse and provocative intellectual tendency gaining visibility in the wake of the populist revolts of 2016. Focusing on figures like Patrick Deneen and Curtis Yarvin, it examines their critiques of liberalism, meritocracy, and democracy, as well as their visions of authority, order…

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What a week 1:19:55

2M ago1:19:55

1:19:55

You follow up wins against Liverpool and Grimsby Town with an amazing, fantastic, engaging guest who describes it all with insight and character. A podcaster's dream! Alison Roberts is in the studio to talk about her Brentford experience, and to add knowledge, humor and personality our summary of a wonderful October. Such a pleasure to talk to yet …

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Liverpool next! 1:07:08

2M ago1:07:08

1:07:08

Abhi Goyal from the NYC Massive down at the Red Lion visits the pod to talk with Greville and Tim about the surprisingly comfortable win against West Ham, the state of the Bees, and a look forward to Liverpool and Grimsby. Just discussing Josh DaSilva again as a member of the club is the feel-good moment of the year. Text the pod!…

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What Happens When We Forget British History | Gawain Towler 19:53

2M ago19:53

19:53

What if the most radical act today is remembering who we are? In this brilliant, rousing address, political strategist and historian-in-spirit Gawain Towler argues that British history is not a relic – it’s a shield, a compass, and the last line of defence against tyranny, technocracy, and cultural amnesia. From Kipling to Alan Macfarlane, from the…

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Post-Liberalism vs Populism: Why we need a moral revolution | John Milbank 34:26

2M ago34:26

34:26

Is populism enough? Or is the real crisis deeper – moral, spiritual, civilisational? In this sweeping and provocative lecture, theologian and political philosopher John Milbank argues that post-liberalism is not a reactionary impulse or a right-wing fad, but a serious and British-born intellectual tradition rooted in the thought of Alasdair MacInty…

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The great 'who are we' debate rages on 50:42

3M ago50:42

50:42

A week of reflection and anticipation, as the international hiatus finally gives way to a Monday of Brentford. Greville and I are equal parts eager and anxious as we look ahead to West Ham. No question, after all the players out and with a new novice manager the questions as to our ceiling and floor dominate our thoughts. Text the pod!…

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The empty lives of millennials | Helen Searls 25:17

3M ago25:17

25:17

Can a generation obsessed with authenticity even recognise what’s real anymore? This wide-ranging and incisive talk explores Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection, a haunting millennial rewrite of Georges Perec’s Things: A Story of the Sixties (1965). What begins as an exercise in literary homage becomes something far deeper: a cultural diagnosis of a ge…

1
Is citizenship just a bit of paper? Dolan Cummings 34:35

3M ago34:35

34:35

What does it mean to belong – to a country, a culture, a civilisation? In this provocative and wide-ranging talk, we explore the deep tensions between citizenship and belonging in modern Britain and the West. From the strange status of “Britishness” to the hollowing out of national identity under liberal universalism, this talk challenges the idea …

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Beating up on the Minnows 1:16:11

3M ago1:16:11

1:16:11

Michel Cowdrey is in the studios to talk Fan Fest (with a bit of Josh DaSilva gossip thrown in!), and along with the ubiquitous Greville Waterman we get to glory in this great club taking it to the hapless Manchester United. They really don't like playing us! Another super-fun conversation with a knowledgeable and entertaining guest. I hope you enj…

1
How We Lost the Space to Be Human | Tiffany Jenkins 39:57

3M ago39:57

39:57

What happens when everything becomes public – our thoughts, our feelings, even our intimacy? In this sweeping and brilliant talk, we trace the collapse of the boundary between public and private life, showing how an idea once central to Western freedom – the right to a private self – has quietly disintegrated. From 17th-century sermons warning agai…

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Why You Feel Like a Stranger in Your Own Country | Professor Frank Furedi 36:06

3M ago36:06

36:06

Alienation. Estrangement. A loss of voice. Across the West, millions feel like strangers in the very places they once called home – but are told they're not allowed to say it. Frank Furedi cuts through the noise and exposes the silent war on language, belonging, and common sense. This is not just cultural drift – it's a deliberate attempt by elites…

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Who are we? 1:12:12

3M ago1:12:12

1:12:12

Glenn Houlihan checks in from Iowa to discuss the difficult transition that Brentford Football Club is making from the 'Thomas Frank Era' to who we are now. Along with Tim Searls and Greville Waterman an attempt is made to make sense of three matches that in sum tell a story. Who are we now? And what can we become? Text the pod!…

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Why the Attack on Tradition is an Attack on Civilisation | Professor Ian Pace 26:43

3M ago26:43

26:43

The concept of high culture has come under sustained attack. Once understood as a repository of human achievement, high culture is now dismissed as elitist, exclusionary, or worse—merely the expression of dead white European males. The modern academy, far from upholding cultural excellence, now works to deconstruct it. But high culture is not merel…

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What makes Western Civilisation special? | Bruno Waterfield 36:01

4M ago36:01

36:01

Words are civilisation’s golden-thread: the durable link from Homer to Orwell that turns tribes into free peoples. Yet our own elites now treat language as toxic waste to be inspected, licensed or burned. This lecture storms through 2,000 years to show why killing words means killing the West itself. Lose the freedom to read and speak, and the West…

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Reclaiming the institutions: can civilisation be rescued? | Professor Simon Haines 19:37

4M ago19:37

19:37

Modern universities have become bureaucratic engines of conformity, hostile to the very civilisation they owe everything to. In this eye-opening lecture, Professor Simon Haines, founding director of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation (Sydney), explains how we can rescue the humanities by reintroducing students to the foundational texts – no…

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STINKER! 1:02:40

4M ago1:02:40

1:02:40

Our long club-wide nightmare is finally over. Tarky and Rowlands now have a third musketeer of shame. Rob Pittman is the most Bees-tastic guest maybe ever! Rob and Greville and Tim look back at a frustrating evening up in Sunderland, and ruminate on one dramatic transfer window. Never dull. Text the pod!…

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The Crisis of Cultural Institutions | Vicky Richardson 32:32

4M ago32:32

32:32

As Vicky Richardson argues in this talk, cultural institutions today stand at a crossroads. Once dedicated to excellence, artistic achievement, and the preservation of tradition, they are now paralysed by fear. Leadership teams are more concerned with ideological positioning than curatorial expertise, and in their attempts to reframe institutions a…

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The Keith Andrews Revolution! 1:08:01

4M ago1:08:01

1:08:01

What a week! A huge win at home versus Villa and a League Cup win at Bournemouth has the nay-sayers (and they are legion, aren't they?) suddenly claiming they never had us tipped for relegation. We know who you are! Jay Altair comes up the coast to join Greville Waterman and Tim Searls in Studio 2 for a superb discussion of a superb week. Text the …

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The Andrews Era gets off to a roaring start... 1:09:06

5M ago1:09:06

1:09:06

Well. That was something. What it was hopefully was a glitch in the matrix and all will be right with the world again after Villa. 'Cause Jeez that was pretty terrible, Keith. In therapy talking it over with me is Alex Drake, all the way from North Carolina, and Greville Waterman, all the way from Norf London. Text the pod!…

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The War on Human Potential | Dr Ashley Frawley 22:44

5M ago22:44

22:44

The Industrial Revolution was supposed to set humanity free. It promised progress—mastery over nature, freedom from suffering, and a future shaped by human reason. It gave us the means to solve problems that once seemed like fate, to subject the world to human ingenuity and build a civilisation of liberty, equality, and fraternity. But something we…

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Where will the goals come from?? The Forest preview episode! 1:08:59

5M ago1:08:59

1:08:59

All of us to varying degrees are worried how we replace all those goals from last season. Steve D'Amico from Orlando and Greville Waterman try to talk Tim Searls off the roof as we consider the options and circumstances. The season is here! The Keith Andrews Era officially begins against Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Can't wait. Text the pod!…

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Why human beings are not animals | Ann Furedi 43:14

5M ago43:14

43:14

In this talk, Ann Furedi argues that Human civilization is built on the distinctiveness of our species—the awareness that we exist in time, with a past, present, and future, and that we are unique in our capacity for rationality, morality, and creativity. But this foundational understanding is being dismantled. 🔹 Posthumanism & Post-Anthropocentris…

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Definitely going down! Just like the last 4 seasons... 59:00

5M ago59:00

59:00

It starts again. Charlie Corr is in the house from New York City and Greville Waterman is here from North London to talk the state of the Bees. We're two weeks from the start of our fifth season in the Premier League, against ALL predictions from the 'experts'. Let it be ever thus under the radar. It's going to be a fun season and I hope you'll giv…

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How the Industrial Revolution changed the world, and why its under attack | Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos 16:20

5M ago16:20

16:20

The Industrial Revolution was the single greatest leap forward in human history. As Nikos Sotirakopoulos argues in this talk, it didn’t just give us more—more wealth, more technology, more life expectancy—it gave us a different kind of life altogether. It unleashed human ingenuity, freed individuals from drudgery, and created a society where innova…

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Is there a clash of civilisations? | Dr Tim Black 42:53

5M ago42:53

42:53

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 was supposed to be a triumphant moment for the West. But, as Tim Black argues in this lecture, instead of securing a lasting victory for liberal democracy, it created an existential crisis. For decades, the Cold War had given the West a clear sense of purpose—defeating communism, leading the "Free World," and sh…

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The West's cultural crisis | Professor Bill Durodie 29:14

5M ago29:14

29:14

In this important lecture, Professor Bill Durodie argues that the real threat to Western civilisation isn’t external—it’s internal. We are not in a clash of civilisations but a crisis of culture. 🔹 Loss of Shared Culture – Tradition has been discarded, but nothing has replaced it. Fragmentation replaces continuity. 🔹 From Resilience to Fragility – …

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Western Civilisation at a crossroads | Lord Frost 22:00

6M ago22:00

22:00

Lord Frost, the former chief negotiator for the UK's Brexit negotiations, argues in this talk that Western Civilization, the most creative and dynamic force in human history, now stands at a crossroads. The defining elements of its success—intellectual dynamism, economic freedom, individual autonomy, and the ability to absorb and refine ideas—are u…

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The fight for civilisation | Frank Furedi 49:37

6M ago49:37

49:37

Western civilisation faces a two-pronged assault – but are both attackers closer than they appear? In this uncompromising lecture, Professor Frank Furedi exposes the internal collapse of civilisational confidence in the West and its convenient projection onto foreign foes. From the lecture halls of London to the tunnels of Gaza, decolonisation and …

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Close Season Chaos 1:07:04

6M ago1:07:04

1:07:04

This Summer is breaking the mold for Brentford, who usually watch other club's close-season chaos with a bit of disdain. Well, madness has struck our club, with the manager gone and star players on the way out (or not!). Tim Searls asks the questions that need to be asked to Greville Waterman in a fascinating podcast about what the club is and what…

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Shakespeare is civilisation | Andrew Doyle | Academy 2024 40:59

6M ago40:59

40:59

Shakespeare isn’t just a relic of the past—he is one of the foundational figures of Western civilisation. Yet today, activists and cultural gatekeepers seek to reduce him to just another “dead white man,” claiming his legacy is nothing more than a product of colonialism and outdated values. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In this talk, And…

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Why the holocaust MUST be remembered | Sabine Beppler-Spahl | Academy 2024 29:06

6M ago29:06

29:06

Primo Levi is the modern conscience of Europe. Yet our culture warriors downgrade his searing witness to Auschwitz into just another lesson in victimhood or, worse, try and downplay the significance of the holocaust into one of many. This lecture we restores Levi’s grim brilliance – and expose today’s relativists who would rather talk about “system…

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It's always good to talk football 1:06:33

7M ago1:06:33

1:06:33

It's what my Italian barber used to say to me when I was a kid. Still true, and never so much as when we, at almost whiplash speed, replace one quite good keeper with another who could be even better. Tom Colwell is up from Philadelphia and Greville Waterman calls in from North London to think about what it all means - in this first close-season po…

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What a Ride that was! 1:07:42

7M ago1:07:42

1:07:42

We're blessed to support this club. For going on a decade now, each season has been a wonderful adventure - each one different, each with it's ups and downs. But how many clubs have our ups/downs ratio??? To look back and to peak forward we have Iowa's own Glenn Houlihan back, along with Greville Waterman from North London. It's the final podcast o…

1
European dreams... 1:15:42

7M ago1:15:42

1:15:42

We didn't want to qualify for any stinking European tournaments anyway. Oscar Thompson, all the way from Hollywood California, and Greville Waterman, all the way from North London, are the fantastic guests this week. On a glorious day in West London on the penultimate weekend of this remarkable season, Brentford comes unstuck in three fateful minut…

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Fulham! Europe and Fulham! I mean... 59:13

8M ago59:13

59:13

Every time you think this adventure couldn't get any more surreal, you come to something even better. Eighth place at stake with two to play, the possibility of Brentford Football Club playing in Europe (and let that sink in for a minute), a squad of players that just goes from strength to strength...and Fulham at home. We look back at some memorab…

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#TeamslikeManU 1:04:22

8M ago1:04:22

1:04:22

Go back 15 years and tell me that we'd be brushing aside Manchester United like that. Tell me we'd be 9th in the Premier League and realistically thinking of a place in Europe next season. I'd think you mad, especially as we had a final home match with Hartlepool up ahead. We drew 0-0 btw. Fantasy land every week. Charlie Corr is here from NYC alon…

1
Madness at the Gtech v Brighton 52:40

9M ago52:40

52:40

Every once in a while all your worries are swept away as your football club just puts on a show for the ages. Brighton had it all: goals galore, pantomime villians getting their due (long overdue), penalty shouts and some silky football to make it all riveting. It was quite good, is what I'm saying. Greville wanders into the studio to discuss it al…

1
Play the kids? 1:05:26

9M ago1:05:26

1:05:26

Alex Drake join Greville and Tim in the studios this week to discuss a strange tilt at the Emirates. Brentford more than holds their own, and show real determination to get back into the match from down a goal. There might be a problem on Thomas Frank's plate, one he hasn't had for about two years: A genuine competition for places, as players retur…

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One point from 6...but look how far we've come 1:07:51

9M ago1:07:51

1:07:51

I hope I never get so lazy that I don't remember that this is all fantasyland. Newcastle United and Chelsea, in the Premier League, and we gave as good as we got. That still should boggle your minds. To remind me of how good the good times are, we have in the studio Paul Thomas and Greville Waterman. We think back to Chelsea at Griffin Park in the …

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The Road Trip from Heaven 1:03:27

10M ago1:03:27

1:03:27

Glenn Houlihan is back in the studio with Greville and Tim to talk about a wonderfully entertaining battle on the south coast last weekend. Winning at Bournemouth, our fifth away win in a row, was a great way to start an international break. Superb set-piece goals, a complete team effort sees us take all three points. And with Rico, Aaron, Josh, Ig…

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The Highs and Lows 1:06:17

10M ago1:06:17

1:06:17

Management finds Abhi Goyal lurking around the studios and invite him back in for another week. And Greville Waterman is back as well! This game can be cruel. One year you're top of the Championship with 97 points, the next Brentford is beating on you 4-0 and you're all but down. One year you're the first name on the teamsheet, the next you're bein…

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Masters of the Road Win 47:50

11M ago47:50

47:50

We can't win on the road...until we can't lose on the road. The narrative is changed a bit since the New Year! To discuss a 1-0 demolition of West Ham and to look forward to Leicester City is Wichita's own Ryan Jones, and New York's own Abhie Goyal. We meet a new Yank Bee, learn who the guy with the accordion in the orange jump suit is, and even ge…

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State of the Bees 1:13:41

11M ago1:13:41

1:13:41

Abhi Goyal is in the studio this week to talk about his route to following the Bees, and he's a wonderfully fascinating guest. Abhi has supported Brentford since he first flew over a small ground with KLM written on the roof of one stand, and his is a great story. With no match to preview and 2/3rds of the season just about done, we turn to Abhi an…