Share Sounds. from The Bigger Picture

With Cop26 underway, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University discusses the way that the culture wars are moving into the realm of science. He also contrasts how the UK public's behaviour has changed in a generation with the polarised politics of the USA. He examines why the NHS has failed to use private hospitals to clear its backlog despite a £10 billion deal. And he pays tribute to Lord Frank Field, looking at his ideas – way ahead of their time – on the provision of unemployment benefit.

In December 2015, the then US President Barack Obama gave his reaction to the climate change deal brokered in Paris. Among the headline-making initiatives was the promise to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius, yet for some green activists that deal was hardly a resounding success. Countries were legally bound to have their emission reduction levels checked but there was flexibility on how they went about hitting their targets - and they haven't. In this episode recorded in February 2016, Juliette Foster is joined by the author Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation and by Share Radio's then regular economics commentator, Professor John Weeks. They also discussed the 2016 perspective on the economics of climate change, and ask whether Paris made the link between excess human consumption and the impact on economies dependent on fossil fuels. As the Glasgow COP 26 conference gets underway, it's helpful to re-visit these plans made 5 years ago, and consider how far we still have to travel.

In the wake of the killing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University, who had worked with him, asks how the threat to MPs can be better managed. He looks at the Prime Minister's big gamble on a green future with huge political and technological problems to overcome. And with the EU and Poland at loggerheads where we are witnessing the dialogue of the deaf, he wonders who will prevail.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the reported plans to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol and considers whether they could solve the problem. He reviews Boris Johnson's party conference speech ("brief and insubstantial") and wonders where the strategic direction of the government is. He looks forward to the Chancellor's autumn Budget ahead of what might be a winter of discontent. And in the light of the waiting list of people in England waiting for hospital treatment growing to 5.7m, he ponders where the plan is to ameliorate the situtation.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University asks whether Britain is to become a high-wage, high-skill globally-competing nation or become unsustainably mired in debt and stagflation. He discussed the plans for a "Galactic Britain" and wonders what it might mean for the economy. And he looks at a study which shows that only 2% of blue plaques in London commemorate black people.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks at 100 years of the Culture War, as expounded in a new book by Frank Ferudi. He wonders if the Aukus pact is a sign of a new global order and discusses why the French are so very angry about it. And with NHS waiting lists approaching 6 million, he considers the ramifications for socialised healthcare of a growing number of people without health insurance deciding to pay for operations.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the UK Cabinet reshuffle which sees ministers like Gavin Williamson sacked and potential future leaders of the Conservative Party such as Liz Truss promoted, taking over as Foreign Secretary. He looks at what might happen with the uplift in Universal Credit and asks whether we should give credence to the talk that there could be a General Election before the scheduled date of May 2024.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University discusses UK social care, the NHS and taxation: will the money be used effectively or wil Gammon's Law apply? Considering the country's immigration challenges and a utopian seasteading idea, he explains why we need to think more about the world's seas and oceans. And he explains science's Replication Crisis, why it is concerning and why it might present an opportunity for the future.

Imagine a world in which everyone has a stake in the great tech firms that serve them each day, and where dividends are gradually replacing wages to provide regular income for everyone, as work becomes scarcer as a result of automation? Imagine a world where every young person not only has a small inheritance with which to start their adult life, but also the opportunity to build its value by learning life skills? Simon Rose is taking a well-earned break this week, so we’re taking the opportunity to bring you a talk given Gavin Oldham in August to the leading City of London think-tank Z/Yen.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University gives his reflections on the West's withdrawal from Afghanistan, contrasting it to the previous Soviet withdrawal and pointing out how the Taliban has changed over two decades. He looks at the "ground truth" behind food shortages and gaps on the shelves, asking what can be done to ameliorate the situation. And he highlights an article that might set the cat among the pigeons, claiming that the pandemic-induced slump is in fact part of a 20-year financial crisis.