Episodes

  • Reshaping the state needs a real plan

    Reshaping the state needs a real plan
    Mar 23 2026
    Political analyst, writer and former government adviser Sam Freedman steps into the cow shed this week to look at how Labour in the UK needs to continue to realise that competence and good intentions will be enough to change the state. He lays out how some criticisms from the political right about state inefficiency are valid and need engaging with and how the government must move on from naivety towards a real plan on reshaping the state, if it wants to deliver. Sam talks about decentralisation away from Westminster as a potential remedy the government should pick up - as well as boosting the Prime Minister’s office and creating stronger ministerial offices. We also hear from Sam, and reader Katy, about our last episode on progressive education, which got the comments section livened up.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • Let's not go backwards on education

    Let's not go backwards on education
    Mar 8 2026
    ‘Progressive Education’ - the idea that education must be authentic, child-led, and discovery-oriented - actually leads to regressive outcomes for children and society. To secure progressive outcomes for kids and the future of our country’s, Kristopher Boulton and Daisy Christodoulou join the herd and lay out how the left is going to have to let go of some of its fallacies about the classroom and, most importantly, not allow ideas of the past take us backwards going into the future. Join us now for this special listener-submitted episode of No Sacred Cows - looking at the politics of and future of education, alongside a collection of tales from the classroom and lessons we can all learn about making schools work for kids and our society.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
  • Dump Trump

    Dump Trump
    Feb 7 2026
    It’s time Keir Starmer dumps Trump - for the interests of the UK as well as his own and the Labour Party’s political skin.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • Oh baby

    Oh baby
    Jan 23 2026
    The populist right is railing loudly against the decline in birthrates in the US and the UK - not always out of sincerity, and often with overtly racist reasoning. As a result the left has buried its head in the sand and refused to go near the issue. But there is no reason, Anna McShane from the New Britain Project argues, to do so.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • Why Europe

    Why Europe
    Jan 9 2026
    Keir Starmer biographer Tom Baldwin lays out why it's time for the centre-left to get over its timidity Brexit

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • It is time to choose

    It is time to choose
    Dec 19 2025
    A year into the Labour Party in power in the UK and the loss of the Democrats to Donald Trump in the US, we round out 2025 with the crew giving a damning verdict on where the center left is at the end of this year, and give a tour de force of what what must be ahead if we are to win back trust, credibility and deliver change in 2026.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    47 mins
  • Stop pretending you're talking to young people

    Stop pretending you're talking to young people
    Dec 5 2025

    Co-author of the recent report ‘Inside the mind of a 16 year old’ for UK think-tank Demos together with Peter Hyman, Shaub details the journey of speaking with 700 young people across the country about their thoughts on politics - and why centre-left politicians need to get their house in order when it comes to talking to young people themselves.


    Now is not the time for timid grids of the past - it’s well past the moment for something new and different; politicians happy to go where voters are; unafraid of being authentic. It’s not just what young people demand - but what our politics, and democracy, needs.


    It’s time to slay the sacred cow that the centre-left is talking to young people - it’s not.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
  • The Enemy is The State

    The Enemy is The State
    Nov 20 2025

    Centre-left governments are often few and far between. So when they lose their way - the renewal has to be done swiftly, and at times bloodily.


    Trapped in process and unable to communicate, McTernan says the left loses its way when it believes the state has became our friend, just because we are running it. Bureaucratic, talking about ‘delivery’, and using management speak, we forget who the enemy is and what the purpose of a centre-left government is all about. What is required, instead, is to junk the sacred cow that the state is the answer and offer a clear moral purpose as a progressive government - aligning ourselves with the people.


    Join as we dive head-first into a long overdue debate about the future of mainstream politics on both sides of the Atlantic - no holding back, no pulling punches.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    39 mins