In this week's Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen talks to author and doyen transport writerChristian Wolmar about the serial UK failed high-speed railway project. HS2 has spiralled to an estimated cost of £87-102 billion pounds due to political fickleness, mismanagement, inefficiency, and excessive environmental requirements. Christian Wolmar, author of "Fast Track: The Extraordinary Story of High-Speed Rail," explains how Treasury interference, lack of coherent government strategy, and environmental concerns (including a notorious £130 million bat tunnel) contributed to the project's catastrophic cost overruns. Nick and Christian compare Britain's failure with successful high-speed rail implementations in Spain, China, and other countries that maintained national strategic vision and better project management. Christian expressed skepticism about current Labour government reforms, noting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apparently shown little interest in the Euston station project despite being the local MP.

Christian Wolmar Christian Wolmar is an award-winning writer and broadcaster specialising in transport and is the author of a series of books on railway history. He has spent nearly all of his working life as a journalist, and his interest in transport began at The Independent when he was appointed transport correspondent in 1992, a job he did until 1997. Christian's latest book is Fast Track: The Extraordinary Story of High-Speed Rail.

Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.

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This week, Nick Cohen talks to author, travel writer and writer-mariner Horatio Clare about the hidden world of merchant marines and the critical role they play in global trade. Horatio shares insights from his experience as a writer-in-residence on container ships, describing the challenging conditions faced by seafarers stuck in the Gulf during the ongoing conflict, including extreme heat, isolation, and the constant threat of Iranian drone attacks. They discuss how modern shipping relies on a largely invisible workforce of approximately 18 people per large vessel, predominantly from countries like the Philippines, who maintain the world's supply chains while facing dangerous working conditions and minimal oversight.

Horatio explains how containerisation moved ports away from cities, making shipping less visible to the public while simultaneously making globalisation possible, with shipping costs representing just one cent for goods transported globally. They also discuss the environmental impact of shipping, with vessels contributing significantly to global pollution, and the lack of journalism or union representation in the industry, leaving seafarers vulnerable to abuse and dangerous practices like throwing stowaways overboard to avoid fines.

Robert Saunders - @redhistorian - author and academic. Author of "Yes to Europe! The 1975 Referendum & Seventies Britain". "A jaw-dislocating page turner"(Andrew Marr). Co-director the Mile End Institute @MileEndInst , Reader Queen Mary's @QMHistory

Horatio Clare, @HoratioClare is an author, with books including We Came By Sea; Your Journey; Heavy Light, Down to the Sea in Ships, Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot, Running for the Hills.

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In this week's Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen talks to author and historian Robert Saunders about Britain's transition from decades of political stability to having six prime ministers in ten years and how this reflects deep systemic pressures rather than just poor individual leadership. Robert explains that modern leaders have faced an unprecedented convergence of global crises—including Brexit, COVID-19, and soaring public debt—with very little governance experience. He views Brexit as both a symptom of long-term political decline and an amplifier that polarized the electorate into rigid identities and normalised political dishonesty.

Unlike the unstable 1920s, which maintained experienced leadership and defended democratic norms against extremism, today's crisis is unprecedented because both major parties have lost their traditional social roots, resulting in a highly volatile electorate. This instability is compounded by massive public debt, which severely constrains government action. Rather than addressing these constraints honestly, modern politicians have largely abandoned their "educative" role, choosing to hide difficult economic trade-offs from the public.

This systemic decay is further accelerated by a plutocratic assault on democracy, led by billionaire-controlled platforms and populist media that actively promote anti-establishment sentiment. Robert argues that mainstream politicians must stop legitimising this "anti-politics" rhetoric and instead actively defend democratic institutions by highlighting their tangible successes. Ultimately, he warns that universal suffrage is less than a century old, and citizens must stop acting as complacent "vandals" of a highly fragile democratic ecosystem.

Robert Saunders - @redhistorian - author and academic. Author of "Yes to Europe! The 1975 Referendum & Seventies Britain". "A jaw-dislocating page turner"(Andrew Marr). Co-director the Mile End Institute @MileEndInst , Reader Queen Mary's @QMHistory

Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.