It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

Tommy Sheppard MP joins It’s Bloody Complicated to discuss the future of the Scottish independence movement, the prospects of the SNP supporting a Labour government and his remarkable political life.

Tommy Sheppard is the Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh and the SNP’s Spokesperson for Constitutional Affairs.

It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcast

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You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

This episode was recorded immediately following the initial devastating flooding across western Germany. Our thoughts and solidarity are with all those affected.
Compass has teamed up with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung to bring you a German election special.

Germany is poised to pick its next leader. After 16 years at the helm, Angela Merkel is stepping aside – and what comes next is anyone’s guess.

Will Germans elect Armin Laschet, her successor in the CDU, after he pledged to continue what Merkel started? Or could they choose change in the form of the Greens’ first ever candidate – young and dynamic Annalena Baerbock? How might the Social Democratic Party respond to these changes?

And what does this decision mean for the country at the heart of Europe – for action on climate change, the future of the EU and prospects for progressives across the continent?

Ulrike Herrmann is a journalist based in Berlin and a staff member of the left-alternative daily “die tageszeitung” (taz). She focuses on economic issues and is a non-active member of the Green party.

Christos Katsioulis currently heads the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s (FES) London office.

Ed Turner is Reader in Politics at Aston University and Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe. and publishes widely on German politics.

It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcast

Support the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)

Support the show

Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?
Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!
You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

We’re delighted to welcome academic, author, social commentator, and human cartographer Danny Dorling to the podcast this week.
The conversation roamed over many topics, from Biden and Covid, to Finland and Extinction Rebellion. We discussed in particular Danny's three latest books: Rule Britannia (written with Sally Tomlinson) , Slowdown, and Finntopia (written with Annika Koljonen).

Some key points from the discussion:

• Reflections on Biden's victory in the US election from the point of view of British and European progressives. (It's more relief than happiness).
• Just as the aftermath of wars tend to see reductions in inequality, there's a chance that the Covid-19 pandemic could force some non progressive players into backing progressive policies.
• Why is geography such a brilliant subject, and why has it produced so many interesting progressive thinkers?
• We're in the middle of a global slowdown in terms of economic growth, population growth, and innovation. Why is this a good thing?
• Finland is ranked as the happiest country in the world, and comes in the top three for many other global indicators. Why is that? (Clue: it has something to do with a progressive alliance)
• The automation revolution is already well underway in our workplaces. What role will as Basic Income play in our future societies?
• Why has Covid stimulated the debate around inequality in a way that austerity could not?
• Why Labour must cooperate with other parties if they want to regain power in the next decade.

And much more.

"It's Bloody Complicated" is recorded every other Tuesday at 6pm BST. Become a Compass Member to join our live recordings and bring your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcast

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Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?
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You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

It’s ten years since the Greens had their first MP elected, and since then so much has changed. The climate crisis is no longer considered a niche issue; Extinction Rebellion has become a global movement; and the major political parties are busy competing over who can produce the “greenest” manifesto.

And yet, the Greens still only have one MP and seem unlikely to achieve a significant electoral breakthrough in the near future.

What are the lessons of the last 10 years? Should success in Westminster really matter for a party with such strong representation in local government? Is a progressive alliance the answer, or the source of the problem?
We discuss all this and more in this week's episode featuring Green party members Adam Ramsay (Open Democracy), Vix Lowthion (2019 Green candidate for the Isle of Wight), and Nannette Youssef (Green Councillor for Norwich) and more.

"It's Bloody Complicated" is recorded every Tuesday at 6pm BST. Become a Compass Member to join our live recordings and bring your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcast

Support the show

Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?
Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!
You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

On this very special edition of It’s Bloody Complicated, we're joined by Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South; academic and advocate for human rights Francesca Klug; and political theorist Stuart White to celebrate the launch of Belonging, Place and the Nation, Compass’s new report into nationalism and patriotism.

Should we try to confront the Right with our own, more progressive, patriotism and nationalism? Or should we abandon these terms and instead try to build something else?

In Belonging, Place and the Nation, Clive and Francesca explore what it means to belong, in a wide-ranging conversation with Frances Foley on race, identity and the telling of British history, while Stuart considers the possibility of a democratic English patriotism in the republican political tradition. They touch on all this and more in a wide-ranging conversation that doesn't shy away from the difficult questions.
Discussed in the show:
Belonging, Place and the Nation
Radical Republicanism by Bruno Leipold, Karma Nabulsi and Stuart White (eds.)

It's Bloody Complicated has moved to fortnightly calls, and is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6pm GMT. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcast

Support the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)

Support the show

Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?
Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!
You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.