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Starmer's failure may drag us into the abyss

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Manage episode 520916049 series 3476773
Content provided by Andrew Hosken and Nick Cohen. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Andrew Hosken and Nick Cohen or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Center-Left's Struggle Against Radical Right

Nick Cohen talks to The Guardian's chief political correspondent Rafael Behr discuss the failure of the Western centre-left to effectively counter the rise of the radical right, using examples from the United States and Britain. They highlighted the Democrats' inability to stop Trump's return to power and Labour's struggles under Keir Starmer despite a significant majority. The discussion touched on the fragmentation of the centre-left vote into Greens and socialists, which has weakened their ability to present a unified front against their opponents.


Rafael's chilling warning of the UK's political direction

Rafael is very pessimistic about the future as a result of Labour's ability to fight the Radical Right: "it is increasingly my view that the evidence that we need - historically - to track the trajectory of where a lot of the salient politics that we're in at the moment leads is into the abyss, right? Although we don't know exactly what is in that abyss, we know that, you know, nationalism that is on this sort of self-reinforcing, spinning outward ever into, increasingly extreme versions of itself leads to really, really dark places..."


Rafael adds, "the best arguments we have against extreme nationalism are, for fuck's sake, read some history! Look at who these people are! Just, you know, pay attention to who, what these people are, what they're saying, who their friends are. What a bunch of nasty, angry, racist, thieving, kleptocratic, psycho self-serving, venal bastards they actually are! Look at that. Just look at them in the face! Look in the face of the Gorgon! Be petrified and don't vote for it. Right. And that argument, which I feel is, should be incredibly compelling, isn't working."


Read all about it!

Rafael's recent book Politics: A Survivor's Guide: How to stay engaged without getting enraged is published by W.F.Howes Ltd and available at Amazon and in all good bookshops.

Support the show You can also read his wonderful columns in the Guardian. His X handle is @rafaelbehr


Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  continue reading

103 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 520916049 series 3476773
Content provided by Andrew Hosken and Nick Cohen. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Andrew Hosken and Nick Cohen or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Center-Left's Struggle Against Radical Right

Nick Cohen talks to The Guardian's chief political correspondent Rafael Behr discuss the failure of the Western centre-left to effectively counter the rise of the radical right, using examples from the United States and Britain. They highlighted the Democrats' inability to stop Trump's return to power and Labour's struggles under Keir Starmer despite a significant majority. The discussion touched on the fragmentation of the centre-left vote into Greens and socialists, which has weakened their ability to present a unified front against their opponents.


Rafael's chilling warning of the UK's political direction

Rafael is very pessimistic about the future as a result of Labour's ability to fight the Radical Right: "it is increasingly my view that the evidence that we need - historically - to track the trajectory of where a lot of the salient politics that we're in at the moment leads is into the abyss, right? Although we don't know exactly what is in that abyss, we know that, you know, nationalism that is on this sort of self-reinforcing, spinning outward ever into, increasingly extreme versions of itself leads to really, really dark places..."


Rafael adds, "the best arguments we have against extreme nationalism are, for fuck's sake, read some history! Look at who these people are! Just, you know, pay attention to who, what these people are, what they're saying, who their friends are. What a bunch of nasty, angry, racist, thieving, kleptocratic, psycho self-serving, venal bastards they actually are! Look at that. Just look at them in the face! Look in the face of the Gorgon! Be petrified and don't vote for it. Right. And that argument, which I feel is, should be incredibly compelling, isn't working."


Read all about it!

Rafael's recent book Politics: A Survivor's Guide: How to stay engaged without getting enraged is published by W.F.Howes Ltd and available at Amazon and in all good bookshops.

Support the show You can also read his wonderful columns in the Guardian. His X handle is @rafaelbehr


Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  continue reading

103 episodes

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