Politics on the Couch

14/05/2025

Listen to Appetite for Chaos: Why some voters just want to watch the world burn from Politics on the Couch. Host Rafael Behr is joined by political scientist Prof. Michael Bang Petersen, whose research challenges the common belief that those who share misinformation are simply uninformed or gullible...

29/04/2025

https://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/five-years-our-brains-hurt-a-lot

Rafael Behr looks back at five years of Politics on the Couch

29/04/2025

https://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/the-ideological-brain-are-some-people-hard-wired-for-radical

Rafael Behr talks to award-winning political psychologist and neuroscientist Dr Leor Zmigrod

23/07/2024

Episode 43: "Is this what hope feels like?"

Our previous 42 Politics on the Couch editions were all recorded under Conservative governments, so it felt fitting to mark the dawn of a new era and the changing mood around British politics since Labour's election victory.

We discuss the restoration of seriousness after years of triviality, why some people can't adapt, why others want to believe that Keir Starmer can deliver the change he has promised, and whether they are right.

Rafael Behr's reflections on Labour's 2024 victory

17/12/2023

Latest Politics on the Couch now out!

'Moving the needle' - Rafael Behr talks to Tom Gray (of Mercury Prize winning band Gomez) on his bid to become a Brighton MP, and his campaign to help musicians get a better deal on copyright.

Caroline Lucas, the UK's only Green MP, is standing down at the next general election and Tom wants to represent Labour for this seat.

Tom's had a hugely successful career in music with Gomez rocketing to fame in 1998, beating Pulp and Massive Attack, among others, to the Mercury Prize.

More recently he launched the Broken Record campaign, calling for a fairer deal for musicians from streaming services, among other industry reforms.

And now, having banged on the doors to demand political change from the outside, Tom wants to get on the inside.

Raf finds out what makes someone want to swap what looks like the perfect job, recording and performing music for eager fans, for the grim, and potentially thankless life of a politician where audiences are often less than adoring.

Also, what can being in a band teach you about politics, performance and messaging?

STOP PRESS

When we recorded the episode Tom hadn't yet made it onto the shortlist but today (Sunday 17 December) he was voted Labour's candidate for the Brighton and Pavilion constituency at the next general election, beating off competition from Eddie Izzard.

This is the second time Eddie hasn't been successful in a bid to become a Labour candidate, with a previous attempt in Sheffield.

This Brighton, Green v moderate Labour contest (in a seat with quite low Tory support) will be fascinating, and maybe only replicated in a few places in the country, Bristol or Cambridge, Oxford? Interesting times ahead!

The psychology behind political thought and behaviour.

22/07/2023

"Never stop arguing. Never stop trying to persuade, never stop trying to build the picture."

Wise words from journalist, and broadcaster David Aaronovitch, in the wake of the Uxbridge result.

Though it's actually an excerpt from a conversation a week before with Rafael Behr about the challenges facing Labour and Keir Starmer should he become PM.

Can Labour tell the electorate an inspiring and honest story about transforming Britain into a lower carbon economy that is popular with voters?

The rest of the conversation is packed full of other great insights, link below.

https://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/beyond-the-red-wall-a-conversation-about-the-ideological-unr via Acast

13/07/2023

'Beyond parody' - a conversation with Rob Hutton about political journalism and its complex relationship with power.

https://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/beyond-parody via Acast

Rafael Behr talks to Rob Hutton, parliamentary sketch writer at the Critic, about the uneasy relationship between Westminster lobby journalists and MPs.

Often political journalists cultivate close relationships with politicians to find out what's really happening in the corridors of power.

But does a journalist's 'insider status' cloud their judgement when working out how to write about political stories or policy issues, or whether to cover them at all?

Does it inevitably become a trade-off between, a steady stream of 'exclusives', and a fair and objective approach to reporting?

If so, what does this mean for democracy?

Politics on the Couch has been chosen by Feedspot as both one of the Top 25 UK Psychology Podcasts and Political Science Podcasts on the web.

https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_psychology_podcasts

https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts

17/05/2023

Raf Behr talks to Professor Ben Ansell about his new book: Why Politics Fails

04/05/2023

Excited to announce that Rafael Behr's latest Politics on the Couch is out today starring , and extraordinaire - Claudia Hammond

Our topic is , and in particular how it applies the world of

We discuss what kindness is, the societal benefits, how it relates to , why it it seems so absent in politics, whether it might benefit from make-over, and what we can do as individuals to add a dose to our lives.

Claudia talks about her latest book, 'The Keys to Kindness,' which draws on the latest research from psychology and neuroscience, and her work in collaboration with University of Sussex School of Psychology and the BBC, including the largest global survey ever undertaken into attitudes to kindness.

https://lnkd.in/eCrbRh7i

https://lnkd.in/ePu7SPQ7

Claudia is the presenter of several podcasts and radio shows including All in the Mind on BBC Radio 4 which covers psychology, neuroscience & mental health and the weekly global health show Health Check on BBC World Service.

She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex.

If you want to hear her in person she's talking at the Charleston Arts Festival in on 19 May

https://lnkd.in/easCA5eq

Coincidentally, Rafael Behr's first book is released today.

**'Politics, A Survivor’s Guide,'** is all about the infuriating toxicity of politics, how it got that way and how to resist the slide into cynicism and pessimism that are so corrosive of democracy. It’s about the challenge of staying engaged without getting enraged; the need to empathise with people whose views we cannot share and how that is different to appeasement of politics we believe to be dangerous.

The themes include migration, nationalism, family, identity, culture wars, technology, ideology, Europe, Brexit and a little bit of cardiology.

Available from Waterstones:

https://lnkd.in/eJ487EWh

Or, for those who are interested in signed copies, from City Books in :

https://lnkd.in/e6ztJddw

Raf will be speaking at literary festivals, theatres, pubs all around the UK. Often he will be in conversation with fellow journalists and authors, hopefully also in conversation with you in the audience. Below is a list of places and times. Click on date for tickets. There may be more to come...

10 May Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival

17 May Bath Festival

21 May Aye Write, Glasgow Book Festival

23 May 1000 Trades, Birmingham

25 May Hay Festival

7 June The Elephant and Castle Pub, Lewes (no link yet)

12 June Guardian Live, Kings Cross, London

https://lnkd.in/eEPjgNTt

Politics on the Couch looks at the way our minds respond to politics and the way politicians mess with our minds. In each episode award-winning political columnist Rafael Behr is joined by a distinguished expert drawn from the world of politics, psychology or philosophy. The show will appeal to any....

15/04/2023

Latest Politics on the Couch features Helen Lewis from The Atlantic discussing culture wars, contrarianism, and why men like listening to other men laughing on podcasts.

‎Show Politics on the Couch, Ep Contrarianism, social media and the future of culture wars - a conversation with Atlantic writer Helen Lewis - 30 Mar 2023

08/03/2023

France and Britain have been Western Europe's closest allies and oldest rivals, often at the same time. Why do such close neighbours find it so hard to get along?

Ahead of the first bilateral summit between the two countries' leaders for five years, Rafael Behr talks to Georgina Wright, from the Institut Montaigne in Paris, about what the French really think about us Brits, and what we often get wrong about French discourse, customs and political culture. Quite a lot, as it happens.

Georgina Wright is Senior Fellow and Director of Institut Montaigne’s Europe Program. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, associate of the Institute for Government in London and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey.

22/12/2022

Listen to this episode from Politics on the Couch on Spotify. Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex alongside other eminent roles in the field of advanced research into the nature of consciousness and perception. His bestselling book ‘Being ...