Within the next 30 years the European workforce will be down by a quarter, upsetting the systems we have had in place for decades.

In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Giles Merritt, author of 'Timebomb: When Ageing Explodes', about this impending ageing crisis.

They discuss the multiple factors that have led us here, as well as what needs to be done to defuse this bomb before it goes off and explodes the European economy.

Since his 1978 arrival in the 'Capital of Europe' as a correspondent of the Financial Times, Giles Merritt has specialised in Europe's policy challenges as a journalist and think-tanker. He's often hailed as a 'Brussels institution' by readers of his incisive and often critical commentaries on European politics and economics.

Find out more about the book at: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/timebomb

The transcript is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/05/19/podcast-the-ageing-crisis-that-no-ones-talking-about/

Timestamps:

1:20 - What is the timebomb and when is it going to go off?

6:27 - What happened to our growth and should we be concerned?

12:31 - Shouldn't Brexiters be celebrating the lower number of migrants?

25:15 - What happened to create this chasm between just two generations?

35:31 - What is the truth behind the workforce crisis?

42:11 - Has there been any change to fix the upcoming pension crisis?

46:40 - Why do billionaires get away with profit diversion? Why can't we tax them properly?

52:49 - Do parties like Trump, AFD and Reform actually intend to fix the problem?

54:01 - Where should we start to take action against this timebomb?

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

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With the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles, Britain has entered a new era — and questions about the future of the monarchy have become more pressing. Does it have a long-term role to play in modern Britain, or is it an anachronism whose days are numbered?

In this episode, George Miller talks to Laura Clancy, lecturer in media at Lancaster University and author of the new book What is the Monarchy For?, about the questions she think we should be asking about the monarchy in 21st-century Britain. Their conversation explores the monarchy’s part in perpetuating inequality, its use of soft power, the influence it exerts over media narratives, and whether the institution can keep re-inventing itself while essentially remaining the same.

‘The monarchy is doing important work ideologically,’ Laura argues, ‘upholding systems of inequality – even if it’s not authoritarian, even if it seems passive. It’s part of a structure that still shapes who has power and who doesn’t in Britain.’

Laura Clancy is a lecturer in media in the sociology department, Lancaster University. Her research focuses on issues of inequality, particularly 'the elites' and the monarchy.

Find out more about the book at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/what-is-the-monarchy-for

The transcript is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/05/02/podcast-challenging-the-monarchy-britain-after-elizabeth-ii/

Timestamps:

02:11 - What sort of attitude did your family have towards the royals?

05:49 - What approach did you take to the question of what is the monarchy for, and why?

14:10 - Do you think other countries are better for not having a monarchy?

16:16 - Did the death of Queen Elizabeth II change the book?

23:11 - What are the main motivators for becoming a republic?

32:57 - What eye-opening discoveries came from interviewing royal correspondents?

39:47 - What do you think about the countervailing force of British exceptionalism?

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

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creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

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

There are many truisms about journalism. That it should speak truth to power. That it must be rooted in community. But what do these mean in practice, especially at a time when journalism is facing an unprecedented set of threats – financial, technological, and political?

In this episode, George Miller talks to journalist and media commentator Jon Allsop about the challenges confronting journalism today and how he went about exploring them in his new book, What is Journalism For? Their conversation covers journalism’s complex relationship with democracy and power, the impact of declining local news, the evolving role of social media, and whether there's reason for hope amid the crises.

Society needs journalism, Jon says, but ‘that is not the same as saying society needs legacy media – large newspapers, cable news networks – and that these things will somehow be preserved in aspic forever, in the current form, and that traditional journalism with its ethical codes and its norms will persist forever.’

Jon Allsop writes for the Columbia Journalism Review, editing its flagship “Media Today” newsletter.

Find out more about the book at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/what-is-journalism-for

The transcript is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/04/14/podcast-can-journalism-as-we-know-it-survive/

Timestamps:

01:43 - How do you explain what your job is?

05:02 - When you get up in the morning what is your journalistic diet? What is your routine?

08:27 - How did you decide the best way to tackle the question of what is journalism for?

13:16 - How did you actually approach that process of speaking to fellow journalists?

24:05 - Why do journalists sit so low in the league table of trusted professionals?

30:02 - How worried should we be about the disappearance of local news?

44:45 - Do you think there is reason to be hopeful even with the changing landscape of journalism?

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

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