The Prospect Podcast

Brown sauce, like many things in the UK, came from the spoils of empire. Also, like many things in the UK, it’s become a lightning rod for endless debates about class, snobbery, and English identity. Where did brown sauce come from, and why does it occupy such a fraught space in Britain’s public imagination?

Writer and novelist Caroline O’Donoghue has just joined Prospect as a life columnist, where she will be reflecting on the big stories behind our supposedly “small” everyday objects. She joins this week’s podcast to talk about the idea behind her column, and why she kicked it off with a reflection on the humble hero enlivening many an English plate: HP sauce. The tangy condiment has more to do with the Labour Party than you might think.

You can read Caroline’s first column for Prospect, on brown sauce, here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/caroline-odonoghue-brown-sauce-column

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Veganuary; fake cheese; lab-grown meat. "Plant-based" diets have become trendier and more mainstream over the past few years. It's often said that in the era of environmental disaster, we should all eating less meat. But can going vegan really help fend off climate change? Journalist Hephzibah Anderson joins the Prospect interview to talk about the curious history of veganism, the academic debates around its environmental promises, and the easy traps of politics based around consumer choices.

You can read Hephzibah's feature on the "Green New Meal" here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/veganism-climate-change-environment-pros-cons

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Brexit, Trump, international protests, the era of the “strongman”: Is liberalism really in crisis, or will it come out of this historical era changed, but essentially unscathed? Political theorist Katrina Forrester joins the Prospect podcast to talk about liberalism past and present, and the thought of icon of 20th century liberalism, John Rawls.

Katrina’s book, In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy is published by Princeton University Press.

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