Robin Aitken: How the BBC became the voice of the progressive elite

Robin Aitken – former BBC journalist and author of The Noble Liar – is the latest guest on The Brendan O’Neill Show. Robin and Brendan discuss the BBC’s abandonment of objectivity, the activist capture of the newsroom and why this still matters in the internet era. New episodes every Thursday. Get a signed copy of Vibe Shift, Brendan O’Neill’s new book: https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/12/09/introducing-vibe-shift-by-brendan-oneill/  Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Syed – columnist for The Times and The Sunday Times – is the latest guest on The Brendan O’Neill Show. Matthew and Brendan discuss the UK’s economic decline, how the West lost its confidence and the indignity of the welfare state. Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters:https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Helen Joyce – director of advocacy at Sex Matters – returns to The Brendan O’Neill Show to discuss the irreversible damage of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, the myth of being ‘born in the wrong body’, and the trans-activist capture of the British establishment. Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rabbi Daniel Rowe – senior educator of Aish UK – on the Islamist threat to Jews, the rise of MAGA anti-Semitism, and why Israel remains resilient. Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heather Mac Donald – Thomas W Smith fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of When Race Trumps Merit – returns to The Brendan O’Neill Show to discuss why Zohran Mamdani’s victory will fuel crime, poverty and anti-Semitism in New York City. Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters:https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robin Aitken – former BBC journalist and author of The Noble Liar – is the latest guest on The Brendan O’Neill Show. Robin and Brendan discuss the BBC’s abandonment of objectivity, the activist capture of the newsroom and why this still matters in the internet era. New episodes every Thursday. Get a signed copy of Vibe Shift, Brendan O’Neill’s new book: https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/12/09/introducing-vibe-shift-by-brendan-oneill/  Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Coleman – executive director of ADF International and author of Censored – returns to The Brendan O’Neill Show. Paul and Brendan discuss Britain’s slide into censorship, how quoting the Bible became a crime in Finland, and how Islamic blasphemy laws conquered Europe. Watch Think Before You Post, a spiked documentary on the rise of the British speech police, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0smxO4WiOA  Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eli Lake – columnist at the Free Press and host of the Breaking History podcast – on hipster socialism, Islamo-leftism and the crumbling of the Democratic elites. Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel McCarthy – editor of Modern Age – on the impotence of the No Kings protests, the perils of Zohran Mamdani and why the working class backs Trump on trade and borders. Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters: https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Natasha Hausdorff – barrister and legal director at the UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust – on the return of the hostages, the evils of Hamas and the corruption of the UN.  See the spiked podcast and Last Orders live at the Battle of Ideas festival on 18 and 19 October. Get 20 per cent off with the promo code SPIKED: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/battle-of-ideas-festival-2025-tickets-1055046124359?discount=SPIKED  Order Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom now from: 🇬🇧 📕 Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  🇺🇸 📕 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/After-Pogrom-October-Israel-Civilisation/dp/1068719303/  Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Sign up to spiked’s newsletters:https://www.spiked-online.com/newsletters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices