The Two Matts

The Matts answer listener questions in their regular Sunday morning episode, including the tragic death of Jason Arday, whether Nigel Farage has lost his touch, what Andy Burnham is trying to do on social media and whether the solar eclipse was all it was cracked up to be.

Produced by Matt Withers

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The Matts remember an astonishing letter of 45 years ago which provides stark contrast with Andy Burnham’s politics of place. Also - how the Jason Arday saga has shamed not just one academic but an entire university… and much of the liberal establishment whose instinctive rush to defend Arday is indicative of a deeper problem. Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER: Subscribe to The New World for just £1 for the f...

The Matts answer listeners' questions including: when will politicians actually face up to the climate crisis? Is Andy Burnham being creepy on social media? Has Zack Polanski’s bubble burst? Where would you start when fixing social care? Is The Odyssey really all that? And should Gianni Infantino be allowed to sell the World Cup? Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER: Subscribe to The New World for just £1 for the first...

The Matts appreciate the velocity of action in Andy Burnham’s first days as PM. And the big intention to fix social care is of enormous consequence. But it also makes them wonder if Burnham is being completely open about the possibility of an early election. Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER: Subscribe to The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts/

The Matts answer listener questions including: Has Andy Burnham made a mistake appointing so many loyalists? Why aren’t the courts more honest about what time prisoners will actually serve? What do the Matts miss about the 70s? Should Gianni Infantino run the United Nations? Are generation gaps a real thing? And what can you recommend to someone who has zero interest in The Odyssey? Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER...

The Matts dig into the reaction to Andy Burnham’s first few days in government. Obviously the usual suspects - such as the Daily Mail and GB News - have already declared it a failure. But one column by Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times stands out as an utterly miserable misreading of the reality of where British politics is. Is the biggest problem Burnham faces a hostile right wing media, or is it liberals who don’t f...

The Matts answer listeners’ questions in their regular Sunday Q&A session, including: Is Will Self right about the impact of football on our national mentality? What is the long term future of the Falklands? What should Andy Burnham’s first message to the nation be? How could Rupert Lowe skew hard right politics? How do we protect MPs? And what audiobooks do the Matts recommend for a population which finds reading b...

The Matts reflect on England’s World Cup tournament (and listeners from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be delighted to know it’s not a sea of self-pitying Anglophilia) and what lessons we can learn from Argentina’s late comeback about the prevailing DNA of institutions.

Also - what should we expect from Andy Burnham as he comes into power? First as Labour leader and then, on Monday, as PM. No, he won...

The Matts answer listeners' questions including: Is the Andy Burnham effect already kicking in? Should Congress give Donald Trump the red card? Who - apart from Count Binface - should take on Nigel Farage? How do we make the BBC great again? Is Elon Musk more Homer Simpson than Homer’s Odyssey? And what books do the Matts recommend for a summer holiday? Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

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The Matts are joined by James Ball and Lucy Reade, hosts of The New World’s new podcast Touching Grass - the internet culture podcast. If you like The Two Matts, you’ll love this. We’ll let Lucy and James explain all. And the four of us also reflect on a bizarre 72 hours in the life of Nigel Farage. Has he completely lost it? Did the main parties do the right thing in letting him twist in the wind - alone apart fr...

The Matts react to the simply extraordinary speech Nigel Farage made today - quitting his Clacton seat in order to fight a by-election to “let the people decide” his political future. What is going on in his head? What precipitated this crisis? How should Andy Burnham react? Is Farage having a breakdown or is this some masterstroke of populism? And how could a World Cup win for England affect British politics in this pe...

The Matts get stuck into listener questions including: should England get a new capital city? Is Andy Burnham chippy? Why isn’t Nigel Farage paying tax on his £5 million gift? How do we promote the humanities? How do we fix universities? And what do the Matts think of FIFA’s hydration breaks and will they ever come to the Premier League? Enjoy!

*This podcast is NOT sponsored by Powerade, which - in the opinion of th...

The Matts discuss the founding principles behind Andy Burnham’s emerging strategy for a “circuit break” in how politics works in the UK. Why is he obsessed with the idea of place? Why does it make so much sense as a corrective to the way Westminster operates? And why should people prattling on about vibes kindly give their heads a wobble? Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 f...

The Matts answer listener questions including: What should be on Andy Burnham’s to-do list? How do the Brexit villains get away with it? Is Nigel Farage losing the plot? Should we criminalise climate crisis denial? Has Giorgia Meloni won us over? And why don’t we talk about video games more? Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co...

The Matts bring listeners up to speed with all the inside info coming their way on what Team Burnham may have in store for Britain. Who are the people behind the scenes preparing the ground for the new government - in what is surely make or break for Labour? And what are the policies that will define this new administration? How could Andy Burnham’s sense of a politics of place come to change a nation? Enjoy!

Produced by M...

The Matts bring you a special edition after Keir Starmer quit as UK prime minister. These monumentally historic events only occur every 18 months or so on average these days, but all the same - Starmer’s going crystallises the profound danger liberal progressive democracy faces in the UK. What awaits Andy Burnham? And what should his big bet be? The Matts have a plan. Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

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The Matts answer listener questions in their regular Sunday morning Q&A, including… what will prove to be Andy Burnham’s biggest vulnerability? Has Donald Trump just suffered the biggest US military loss since Vietnam? Do UK nukes count for nothing? How do we improve the quality of our politicians? Is the BBC in acute danger? And is there life out there, beyond the stars? Enjoy!

Produced by Matt Withers

OFFER...

The Matts are in optimistic mood today with news of Andy Burnham’s resounding win in Makerfield. Has the Labour Party got the gumption to seize the momentum and get full square behind the one man we can objectively say has the ability to smash Reform? And what does the defeat of the sexist plumber in Makerfield mean for Nigel Farage? The Matts believe his problems are mounting. So, all in all, an extra podcast for an extra sp...

The Matts celebrate the launch of A History of Brexit in 256 Disasters, a book by Jonty Bloom with a foreword by Alastair Campbell and amazing illustrations by Martin Rowson chronicling the disastrous consequences of the 2016 referendum 10 long years ago! You can get your copy at The New World's website or on Amazon (if you must!). Also, in part two - is Canada a model for British reinvention, and what does Andy Burnham mean by The...