Cheerful Book Club

Welcome to Cheerful Book Club! In our first episode we chat to Financial Times columnist, and scourge of Silicon Valley, Rana Foroohar about her latest book ‘Don’t Be Evil: The Case Against Big Tech’. Rana talks about the power of the tech industry, how it came to dominate our society and why she believes governments are starting to fight back.

Welcome to Cheerful Book Club, the new podcast from Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd. Join Ed, Geoff and friends for a chat about the biggest ideas in non-fiction books.

Coming soon...

Here’s something we recorded with two fab guests before the current public health crisis began. Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris Agreement, and Tom Rivett-Carnac, her political strategist at the UN, are here to talk about their book, ‘The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis’. It’s an honest but incredibly inspiring conversation about where we’re at, the choice we face on the climate emergency, and the actions we can all take to avoid the worst for the planet.

Special guest co-host Sarah O’Connor joins us for this conversation with economist Emily Oster. Emily chats about Cribsheet’ - her data-driven guide to parenting, covering everything from breastfeeding to screen time. We talk through the big myths, how gender drives research, and the best parenting advice she ever got.

We’re talking to veteran climate activist and founding father of the fossil fuel divestment movement Bill McKibben about his book, ’Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?’. Bill chats about the climate crisis, Ayn Rand’s lasting influence, and why solar panels and direct action could still save the world.

This week we’re chatting to American broadcasting royalty Rachel Maddow about her new book, ‘Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth’. Rachel talks about the power of the fossil fuel industry, the state of politics on both sides of the pond, and why ice fishing helps her to unwind.