Fantastic Kingdom: Dr Helene von Bismarck on her latest book, and Britain

Away from the war with Iran, Trump and many of his associates have been talking about bringing an end to the communist regime in Cuba. To discuss this further I spoke to Nicolas Forsans who is author of the excellent Substack sinfiltroya.substack.com which focuses on Latin America. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Thanks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Please follow my guest Sian Norris's work at https://sianushka.substack.com⁠ and on Bluesky. She mentioned Save Ukraine and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Thanks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Helene von Bismarck is a writer, historian and political commentator who has become a familiar face and voice for those that follow British politics. After an academic career as a historian of late British colonial history, she has now published Fantastic Kingdom: A Stranger's Notes on a Contrary Country. I spoke to her about her new book and what it tells us. You can pre-order Helen's book at this link which will help support both this podcast and independent bookshops. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I decided to talk to Thom Reilly, former head of UK govt international energy policy and also with experience from one of the world's largest energy firms about the realities of what the Iran crisis means for energy markets. No exaggeration: it's scary stuff. If you like what you hear, please order the full audiobook or you can by the a discounted copy of the physical book at this bookshop.org link. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur Thank You! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a special partnership with Somerville College Oxford, it was my huge pleasure to be able to interview three of their Sanctuary Scholars - young academics displaced by conflict now pursuing their studies in Oxford, but at the same time making change in their own countries - rewriting the future. Dr. Hadeel Abdelseid  Hadeel was still a medical student in Sudan when the civil war broke out again in 2023. She went straight from attending lectures to treating gunshot wounds in improvised PPE, using tutorials shared via smartphone. Hadeel has since gone on to become a Director of Sudro, a developmental network providing rapid, tech-enabled health programmes to relieve crises in Sudan and across Africa as they occur. The recent projects on which Hadeel has led or contributed include treating gender-based violence during the conflict and training volunteer counsellors working with children orphaned and severely traumatised by the conflict. Despite experiencing acute trauma herself, Hadeel is a beacon of warm humanity, humour and resilience, who somehow manages to organise her directorship of Sudro and managing a network of over 80,000 Sudanese volunteer emergency care-givers all while conducting a full-time MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine! Nikita Vorobiov Nikita (Mykyta) Vorobiov is an Oxford-based political writer of Ukrainian-Russian origin, reading for an MSc in Russian and East European Studies as an EAA Qatar Sanctuary Scholar. Nikita has previously studied at the Universities of Zagreb, Tartu and Bard College, Berlin, where he gained a BA in Ethics and Politics and specialised in Russian visual propaganda. Since 2021, Nikita has been working as a political writer, publishing more than fifty op-eds for leading US think tanks, contributing monthly articles to the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and serving from 2023 to 2025 as Senior Editor at JURIST, where he helped launch the Balkan Dispatch and subsequently received the 2025 Wolmuth Award for extraordinary dedication. Nikita’s research focuses on political psychology, nationalism, and military propaganda, where his Russian-Ukrainian background has enabled him to contribute in-depth analysis of highly nuanced topics and to collaborate the European Journalism Observatory (EJO), Amnesty International’s Mnemonics Project and the Tamizdat Project, among others. Sonita Alizadeh At the age of 16, Sonita Alizadeh found out that she was to be sold into marriage. Facing the threat of forced marriage for the second time in her life – the first time had been when she was 10 years-old – Sonita felt compelled to do something to publicise her experience and the experiences of other women around her. The young Afghani woman turned to rap music and gained worldwide attention with her 2014 single ‘Daughters for Sale’. Her story was documented in the Sundance award-winning film Sonita, and she was offered a student visa to come and study in the United States by the Strongheart Group. In 2023, Sonita graduated from Bard College and she won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford. Alizadeh is the co-founder of Arezo and The Dreams Book, a secret school for Afghan girls deprived of education under Taliban rule. The first professional Afghan rapper, Sonita uses her music and her convictions to fight for the rights of women and girls all over the world. Find out about Hadeel's work here: https://sudro.org Follow Sonita on Instagram: instagram.com/sonitalizadeh/ More of Nikita's work here: cepa.org/author/mykyta-vorobiov/ If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur Thank You! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Exclusive audiobook clip: this week's episode is a chapter from the Audiobook of Elemental, my book which came out last week. If you like what you hear, please order the full audiobook or you can by the a discounted copy of the physical book at this bookshop.org link. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur Thank You! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once again and back by popular demand - I have Charlie Gammell, Iran expert, former diplomat and historian and now author of the brilliant https://onceadiplomat.substack.com on the latest in Iran. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I spoke to Iran expert Charlie Gammell about the extraordinary events unfolding. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Sweeney, veteran war correspondent - the man in the orange hat - spoke to me about four years of Russia's war on Ukraine, the heroism, the tragedy and the importance of it for all of us. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the dramatic events in Yemen leading to a breakdown in relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, I took the chance to speak to Amr Al-Beidh of the STC - the Southern Yemeni separatist movement which has been at the heart of this issue but which has had very little, if any coverage in the world's press. He gave his side of the story and how it illustrates the world of great-power action that we now find ourselves in. If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/behindthelines⁠ Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices