Podcast
Quiet Riot
Hosted by Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith, Kenny Campbell · EN
Quiet Riot, the politics podcast with more passion, less shouting and lots of laughter
73episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Sunday School: The mayor the merrier
3w ago00:55:28Tap to summarizeWith ex-mayor Andy Burnham now officially Labour's main man, and London mayor Sadiq Khan heading to the Lords and then who knows where, are we seeing the rise of a new mayoral political class that uses devolution to bypass the Westminster greasy pole? Naomi and Kenny look at the pros and cons of a mayoral stop on the political line, and have a gander at Burnham's big speech too. And, with people and animals all struggling in the heat, what of our food crops? New figures show how climate change could hurt crop yield in many parts of the country ... and benefit farmers elsewhere. Plus, what simple gadget that solves an infuriating problem do you wish had been invented? We'll be collecting the patents for the best ideas... ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • LIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London round table on authoritarianism, with the Lincoln Project and Byline Time, HERE! • That crop yield map with rather a lot of alarming red bits • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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B-SIDE: The Palantir Files
3w ago00:54:02Tap to summarizeLIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our 30th July London appearance HERE! The tech giant Palantir, and its billionaire Trump-loving co-founder Peter Thiel, has a £330million deal with the NHS, which has set alarm bells ringing so loudly that multiple Select Committees have called for the contract to be ended at the first opportunity. MPs have warned that once the deal ends, the NHS could be left with no IP, no software and no lasting capability. Palantir has many other government deals, including with the MoD and police, and is deeply enmeshed within the systems that keep key parts of our society functioning. Naomi, Alex and Kenny are joined by regular Quiet Rioter Peter Geoghegan who, along with Lucas Amin, has just published a brilliant long read on the topic in the London Review of Books. It's an eye-opener, highlighting concerns not just about Palantir's effective lobbying operation but about its underlying software systems that have attracted widespread criticism and, in the case of the NHS, often appear to be woefully under-used. Plus, to lighten the mood, a Grin And Share It about one dog's wayward attempt to become Britain's highest hound. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • Read Peter Geoghegan's illuminating Palantir exposé in the LRB • Sign up to Peter's Substack • That dog-based Grin And Share It! • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Summer of 2026
3w ago01:01:33Tap to summarizeLIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! With both British teams now out of the World Cup, can we find anything to be optimistic about in the shenanigans around Iran, Burnham and Clacton? Naomi, Alex and Kenny do their level best to dig out reasons to be hopeful ... and then there's a harsh dose of reality to contend with. Sort of like the footie really. Plus a bit of Wokey Dokery to brighten your day and ... can you guess which one of the team missed the football to go watch an opera about love and executions? Possibly not the worst choice they've ever made. Don't forget B-SIDE tomorrow, with a deep dive on Peter Theil’s Palantir, and how it has enmeshed itself into so many aspects of our lives. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Cover art based on an icon by Magnific-Flaticon Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sunday School: A Bin-Bin Situation
4w ago01:01:53Tap to summarizeLIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! Does the quirky British tradition of comedy candidates add to our democracy or detract from it? Is political satire a weapon or a self-soothing mechanism. Alex and Naomi talk through the week's news, including the Clacton by-election, the report on PIP, the outcomes of the NATO summit - and The Bayeux Tapestry visiting England for the first time in a millennium. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • LIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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B-SIDE: Under the Burnham bonnet
Jul 1000:53:23Tap to summarize• LIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! Burnhamism: what is it, what isn't it, and what should or could it be? Alex, Naomi and Kenny are joined by Labour MP Jeevun Sandher for a closer look at what drives the politics of our PM-in-waiting. What telltale signs of a developing Burnhamism should we be looking out for in the weeks ahead? Which appointments will be most telling? All that plus another Grin And Share It to set you up for the weekend with a smile. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • LIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! • That donkey Grin And Share It! • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Bindependence Day
Jul 900:59:32Tap to summarize• LIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! The trash needs taking out... Yes, we have to talk Farage and his by-election stunt. But we don't have to pander. Alex, Naomi and Kenny are joined by Loughborough MP Jeevun Sandher to laugh briefly at Farage and in more depth about what his stunt says about the state of our political system. And there's a new Old News to luxuriate in too! Don't forget to tune in to our B-Side episode tomorrow (Friday) when Jeevun and the team will be talking Burnhamism. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • LIVE SHOW KLAXON!!! Get your tickets to our London appearance HERE! • Learn more about Transparency International here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sunday School: Resets, we've had a few...
Jul 501:01:25Tap to summarize***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Morgan McSweeney gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes and confirms what we already knew: that Labour was not entirely ready for government. Alex and Naomi discuss politics in an age that rejects politics. Also, England is through to the next stage of the World Cup, the pubs will stay open late, so why is everyone miserable? PLUS - a Bumper special Grin And Share It, with: • DCMS is *finally* off X - read more here • Nobel laureate scores a three-pointer - read more here • Beavers go underground - read more here • Liverpool's Woolton Picture House - read more here • Spain takes a stand on Palantir - read more here • Kate Forbes wishes everyon a HAPPY PRIDE - read more here • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK - make like Nandy and join us there! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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B-SIDE: The Scotland Lab
Jul 301:00:59Tap to summarizeWith PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham leaning heavily into devolution, we take a look at what lessons he can learn from the Scottish experience – and what his (still somewhat vague) plans might mean for Scotland too. Kenny Campbell is joined by someone who knows the Scottish political scene extremely well: Stephen Boyd, director of the progressive think tank IPPR Scotland. They also catch up with the implications of a manic few weeks for Scottish politics, ranging from the jailing of former SNP big cheese Peter Murrell to those two very different by-election results. Plus, why growth for growth's sake is a flawed approach to the economy. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. Please do! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com • Cover image based on image from the National Library of Medicine on Unsplash Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Handover season
Jul 201:04:53Tap to summarizeWestminster is neck-deep in handover shenanigans, with team Starmer playing its final games while team Burnham is still, officially, to qualify for the big one. Naomi and Alex are joined by MP Ellie Chowns, Commons leader of the Green Party, to talk regime change, asylum, defence, and the looming Manchester mayoral battle. Plus, a blast of our newish feature, God! Less America! ... complete with exclamation marks. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. Please do! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sunday School: Coronation Treat
Jun 2800:59:51Tap to summarizeCoronations bring both brickbats and bouquets, as both King Charles and King Andy have found this week. Alex and Kenny take a detailed look at what Charles's tax disclosures reveal – and keep hidden. And there's the latest leadership challenges facing Andy Burnham as his (not quite guaranteed) coronation as Labour leader progresses. Plus a catch-up with the latest madness of the orange man who would be king, Donald Trump. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** • We have put together a BLUESKY STARTER PACK, if you would like to join us there. Please do! • Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com • Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com • Cover collage images all courtesy of Wikimedia Brought to you by Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell. Quiet Riot is a Cooler Heads production. ***SPONSOR US AT KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD*** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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