Commonwealth Amnesia

This fortnight Eve and Flynn discuss political events in both the UK and around the world. Starting off with the U-turn announcement that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will now attend the COP27 climate conference in Egypt as well as his toe-curling interview with a hospital patient who pushed him on nurses’ wages. Next, they discuss ex-minister Matt Hancock’s entry into ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’. Followed by the much more serious topic of health and overcrowding issues at the immigration holding centre in Manston, Kent. Finally, they discuss the elections in Isreal and Brazil and what repercussions these results have on the rest of the world. Once again, thank you so much for listening! Episode recorded on Thursday 3rd of November. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @northumbriapoliticssociety and Twitter @PolSocPod 

Welcome to the second series of Pol Soc Pod! For the new academic year, Eve is joined by second-year IR&P student Flynn. This fortnight they discuss the long-anticipated resignation of Liz Truss and what the future of our government might look like. They also highlight the protests in Iran for women's freedom and right to choose whether or not to wear the hijab and the movement of #MyStealthyFreedom. Finally, they discuss the most recent announcement of further TUC and RMT train strikes in response to the cut in overtime pay and the introduction of more unsociable working hours.  Don't forget you can also follow us on Instagram @northumbriapoliticssociety and on Twitter @PolSocPod  Thank you for listening! 

Disclaimer: This episode of PolSoc Pod discusses highly sensitive topics. If you have been impacted by any form of discrimination while involved with the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, you can report it by emailing [email protected]. TW: racism, suicide, stillbirth. In the latest episode of PolSoc Pod, Jack sits down with Taha Hashim, Staff Writer for Wisden Cricket. Taha was the first journalist to hear of Azeem Rafiq's experience with racism whilst playing for Yorkshire, and this podcast was recorded two years ago to the day since that article was released. Today, Jack and Taha discuss racism in cricket - amid the upcoming hearings for the Yorkshire racism scandal and the Cricket Scotland report released last month, to name just two examples- and how the future looks for the game. Recorded 17th August 2022. Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

Joining Jack in the second of his interviews here on PolSoc Pod is the lovely Teela Clayton! Teela is a freelance researcher, phD student and PR specialist who taught Jack at A-Level, without whom he arguably wouldn't have a blog and this very podcast wouldn't exist! They came together on the hottest day in UK history to discuss the importance of PR and image in the Conservative Party Leadership Contest - and somehow managed to survive despite the heat and mic issues on Jack's part! Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

Jack's Back! Although did he really have much of a choice? In this emergency and bumper episode, Jack is joined by Northumbria lecturer and his former dissertation supervisor Paul Simpson to chew over what has arguably been the craziest few days in British politics during their lifetimes. They discuss everything from the ministerial resignations to who could replace Boris Johnson, via a discussion about whether Labour have the ability to beat the Tories in a potential General Election. All information is correct as of 2.08 pm on 7th July 2022. Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

After some time off, PolSoc Pod is BACK!! In this episode of potentially a new sub-series of this podcast, Jack is remotely joined by his guest - Carlos Conde Solares. Carlos is chair of the Foto de Profesores think tank and lectures in Spanish History at Northumbria, currently on sabbatical in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. Bulgaria is currently in the midst of some political turmoil, and he has joined Jack to explain what is going on and how this affects the wider international permutations - in a mini PolSoc Pod scoop! All will be explained... Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

Disclaimer: Trigger warnings for violence, murder and gun usage are in place from 8.50-22.30 for this episode, along with one for sexual violence from 28.10-31.40. In the tenth episode of PolSoc Pod, Jack and Eve discuss the tragic events of the Robb Elementary School Shooting from last week, alongside the Sue Gray report being released. They also touch upon the events surrounding the UEFA Champions League Final, the monkeypox outbreak and the Australian election - where Eve's mind went blank trying to think of the word to describe the association of former territories of the British Empire! Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

Disclaimer: From about 28.35 in this episode, we discuss Jake Daniels becoming Britain's first openly-gay male professional footballer for 30 years. This is an incredibly courageous act from Jake and we wish him all the best, but we understand how hard this must've been for him. If this is something you are struggling with, we promise you're not alone. Stonewall offer great advice on coming out for adults, which you can find by searching 'come out as LGBTQ' on the internet (first result). We would also like to warn this topic discusses the tragic case of Justin Fashnau, so we advise a trigger warning of suicide. Thank you for understanding - Eve and Jack x In this slightly-delayed PolSoc Pod episode, Eve and Jack discuss the biggest news story of the week: EUROVISION! They talk about the stories behind the winners - Ukraine, as well as give their views on Sam Ryder's incredible effort for the UK which proves maybe the UK isn't as bad at Eurovision as we thought. Alongside that, they give their reaction to the local election results and what that means for the UK's political outlook, coupled with the Queen's Speech and yet another story of an MP being out of touch. They finish by discussing the aforementioned news surrounding Jake Daniels. Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

After a month of being away and getting their heads down, Eve and Jack are officially back in the studio! This week, they're 'ploughing' their way through the parliamentary scandals (nudge nudge wink wink) and are trying to fabricate how it's all real! On a more sombre note, they talk about the unprecedented leak from the US Supreme Court regarding the future of abortion in America as well as an update on the war in Ukraine. TW for this episode: sexual assault, rape, abortion. Recorded 4th May 2022. Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!

DISCLAIMER 1: This episode discusses themes of sexual violence, assault and harassment. Listener discretion is advised. In this pre-recorded episode of PolSoc Pod, Eve and Jack are joined by Georgia Beck, President of Northumbria Against Sexual Violence, as well as PolSoc Equality Officer Sarah Baldwin. NASV is a movement looking to educate and inform Northumbria students about sexual violence and its tragic consequences, which they felt needed to be discussed in the context of International Women's Day and, sadly, incidents of sexual violence against women becoming more prominent in the media. Georgia and Sarah discuss why the movement is necessary to Northumbria and the importance of breaking the stigma around this topic to make the world a safer place for everyone. Recorded 29th March 2022. DISCLAIMER 2: This episode was recorded two weeks ago, and unfortunately does not contain a news round-up. We did consider adding an extra bit of recording in, but the studio is unfortunately operating on limited opening hours during Easter. We can only apologise as a lot has happened in two weeks, but we promise to talk about it in the next episode! Don't forget to get involved with the #PolSocPod on social media! Follow us on Twitter (@PolSocPod) and Instagram (@northumbriapoliticssociety), use the hashtag above and have your say on the issues we discuss and/or suggest talking points for the next episode!