The Prospect Podcast

Robert Macfarlane: Is a River Alive?

This week, poet and nature writer Robert Macfarlane joins Prospect’s Ellen Halliday and Imaan Irfan to explore the ideas in his new book Is a River Alive? They each share what ‘their rivers are’ and the waterbodies they feel most connecte…

Trump’s 100 days, with Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Has the United States become an autocracy? As Donald Trump marks his 100th day in office, Ellen and Alona are joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar of authoritarianism and author of Strongmen: from Mussolini to the present (2020). S…

Does Reform have a plan for power?

Could a populist right-wing party take power in the UK? And if one did, what would it do?This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Prospect’s contributing editor Philip Collins who analyses Reform UK’s strategy for the local elections ta…

Slavoj Žižek: ‘Elon Musk lives like a communist’

This week on the Prospect Podcast, philosopher and public intellectual Slavoj Žižek joins Ellen and Alona.Slavoj discusses fatherhood and Netflix’s Adolescence, as awareness grows around young male radic…

Prospect Lives: Why I pray for Putin

This month on Prospect Lives: Vitali Vitaliev hits 60 and gets slammed with funeral ads, while Sarah Collins finds unexpected wisdom at the nail salon. Alice Garnett wonders how to plan for the future on a burning planet, while Alice Go…

Philippe Sands on Trump and the age of impunity

This week, writer and human rights lawyer Philippe Sands joins Ellen and Alona to discuss the ‘age of impunity'. Are international systems crumbling, or will they stand the test of time?Philippe reflects on the process of writing his most r…

David Olusoga: History is under attack from Trump

Historian and broadcaster David Olusoga joins Ellen and Alona to discuss political attacks on American history, the challenges facing academia in the UK—and how future generations will view England’s colonial history.Our newsfeeds are d…

Killer dust: asbestos and corporate coverups

Asbestos might seem like a problem of the past, but it is still killing thousands every year. In the March issue of Prospect, Charlotte wrote about how her father’s death from mesothelioma—a cancer caused by asbestos—led her into yea…

Big oil and the real story of Kyoto

This week, the Prospect podcast meets Kyoto, the new West End play dramatising the high-stakes negotiations behind the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Written by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, the play brings to life the power struggles, disrupt…

Prospect Lives: My best sex work clients are married men

This month’s episode features journalist Kiran Sidhu on the power of communal dance, and actor and writer Sheila Hancock on the need for more women in global politics. Gen Z-er Alice Garnett imagines a world without TikTok, and journalist and host Sa…