The Two Matts

The Matts are taking a well-deserved break, so while they recharge their batteries here’s an interview from the archive to enjoy. The Matts are joined by Bloomberg’s Parmy Olson - author of Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the race that will change the world. Parmy leads us through the development of Artificial Intelligence, the extraordinary story of the two men leading the race towards AGI (don’t worry, all will be explained), and the enormous opportunities and challenges this new technology brings. If you find yourself wondering what the fuss is all about, and why AI should terrify you … or not, then this is the podcast for you. Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on The Two Matts podcast, Matthew d'Ancona and I again respond to your queries. After this week’s exclusive interview with Gary Lineker on Gaza, the BBC and podcasting we discuss whether sport - and sports personalities - can ever be truly apolitical. Also, has political podcasting now become more influential than newspapers? Plus, we talk about whether cancel culture has peaked and what advice we’d offer 16 and 17-year-olds before voting for the first time. Finally, as Harry Frankfurt’s classic philosophical book, On Bullshit, is being republished to mark its 20th anniversary, we ask whether there is more bullshit around today than there was in 2005. Have a question to stump the two Matts? Email us now at the2matts@thenewworld.co.uk OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts are joined by New World contributing editor Sonia Sodha to understand the bitter and consequential tribunal taking place in Fife - as nurse Sandie Peggie takes on the NHS over her treatment in the aftermath of a dispute over women’s rights in the workplace. Before that, the Matts discuss Starmer’s handling of the UK’s sort-of recognition of a Palestinian state. Has it helped or hindered the cause of starving children in Gaza? OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Lineker has given his first interview since leaving the BBC to The New World. The Two Matts reflect on the wide range of issues he touches on - not least his sacking from the BBC and accusations of antisemitism he faced. “I’m not antisemitic,” he says. “I’m anti the killing of children.” Also this week - how good were Oasis at Wembley (superb) and how mad was the visit of Trump to Scotland (surreal). Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on The Two Matts podcast Matthew d'Ancona and Matt Kelly again respond to your queries. They discuss whether the government and BBC are getting bolder over Israeli actions in Gaza, why Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to establish an enquiry to look into the mistakes he made over October 7 and if the 50-year privatisation experiment has failed. Plus they talk the hidden student loan crisis, the intense public shaming and job losses faced by the Astronomer CEO and head of HR and whether they called Brexit wrong OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Events in Epping are spreading. The Matts take a long hard look at the influence of a new strain of far right activist and how they are emboldened by the words and posts of Nigel Farage. After that - what does the new political party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana mean for the Labour Party and the UK’s first past the post political system? The consequences are deeper than meet the eye. Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nigel Farage laid out his plans to halve crime in Britain; a combination of blithe populist (undeliverable) promises and dog-whistling lifted straight out of the MAGA playbook. The Matts pick apart the performance. But their disgust for him is shared equally with Yvette Cooper, the actual Home Secretary, whose recent contribution to fighting crime in Britain has centred exclusively on making a bunch of pro-Palestine protesters guilty of supporting a terrorist organisation. Who exactly does Palestine Action terrorise, the Matts wonder? And how does arresting an 83-year-old retired priest for waving a placard in public make the world a safer place? Is Britain facing an autocratic future? And is Labour opening the door to Farage in his bid to realise that future? These are the questions the Matts face this week. Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on The Two Matts podcast Matthew d'Ancona and Matt Kelly again respond to your queries. They discuss why it is the BBC gives Reform such disproportionate airtime, what on earth “useful” information means in connection to Grant Shapps and whether Ozempic isn’t just a wholly good medical solution to something that ruins millions of lives. They also talk about superinjunctions, whether we get the media we deserve and if they’re going to take a holiday at some point. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts explore the various extraordinary facets of the super injunction following the accidental leak of thousands of Afghans who helped Britain and now face retribution from the Taliban. In its scope, it could be the biggest single scandal of them all - the threat to transparent government, the betrayal of foreigners who supported the UK, the treatment of those foreigners when they arrive here, the Labour decision to shut down safe passage for them, the Tory decision to cover it all up. It’s a shabby, shameful mess. What does it tell us about Britain and its place in the world today? Also this week - what place does a love of Shakespeare have in this world of hot-takes and TikTok? The Matts luxuriate in a beautiful and insightful essay by the brilliant Simon Barnes in this week’s New World magazine. Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s all about the UK’s public broadcaster today - The BBC. It’s had a shocker of a week, mitigated only by Gary O’Donoghue’s spellbinding interview with Donald Trump, which the Matts discuss in the first part of today’s pod. But then things turn south. Two damning reports - one into Gregg Wallace and one into the Gaza documentary broadcast then pulled as it emerged the narrator was the son of an Hamas official - have left Director General Tim Davie’s job hanging by a thread. As Lisa Nandy calls for heads to roll, the Matts argue about where the BBC is going wrong and what the consequences are for us all. It’s a feisty one. Enjoy. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on The Two Matts podcast Matthew d'Ancona and Matt Kelly again respond to your queries. They discuss whether it is time to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, the launch of Best Start and what the appeal of Oasis is. Plus there’s talk about whether politicians should have an enforced retirement age, the government's expansive use of terrorism legislation, Jake Berry’s defection to Reform and what to see at the cinema. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts discuss the options available to Starmer and Reeves given they seem determined not to raise income tax, VAT and national insurance. Could taxing the enormously wealthy be an election winner? How could the property rich, cash poor be protected? And how would the Daily Mail come up with some spurious objection to protect their proprietor’s billions? But first … has the Macron visit produced the seeds to an end to the ghastly channel boat trade in immigrant crossings? And is a Franco-British nuclear weapon pact a good thing? Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts are joined by New World contributing editor Tom Baldwin - author of Keir Starmer The Biography - for an honesty session. Where has Labour gone wrong in its poor first year and is Keir Starmer the right man to turn things around and keep Farage out of Downing Street. It’s a tough conversation but full of insight and ideas (something Labour could do with some might say). Enjoy! Pre-order the new edition of Keir Starmer The Biography here OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on The Two Matts podcast, Matthew d'Ancona and Matt Kelly again respond to your queries. They discuss whether Keir Starmer’s willingness to back down and listen is actually something to be admired, if the Prime Minister should take more care with his speeches and how serious Palestine Action’s protests were. Plus they talk about the extent of corruption in UK politics, just how progressive the Labour Party is, and 80-year-old Rod Stewart’s Glastonbury set. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts are joined by Jonathan Goodman, author of Invisible Rivals, a fascinating book about what really makes the world go round and its consequences for religion, politics and media. It’s a revelatory conversation that will change how you think about society. Also the tragic death of Diogo Jota and his brother, plus what the hell is going on in Number Ten? Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Buy Invisible Rivals through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Two Matts by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts reflect on the prospect of famine in Gaza while the UK media obsesses on the antics of a rapper on a Glastonbury stage. Why is the crisis facing hundreds of thousands of children relegated to an afterthought? Why does Keir Starmer say more about Bob Vylan than the humanitarian disaster on the eastern shore of the Med? Also: can Starmer survive the pirouettes of u-turns he is performing as the Parliamentary Labour Party rejects his welfare bill? As we approach his year anniversary in power, the Matts ask how long before we are discussing the end of the Kier show? OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts again respond to your queries. They discuss whether the government’s Palestine Action decision means Just Stop Oil could now be considered terrorists, if AI could actually be the populists’ worst nightmare and the genius of David Lynch. Plus they debate whether journalists should strive for detachment, Keir Starmer’s on-off welfare cuts and which is most cringeworthy: Mark Rutte calling Donald Trump Daddy, Trump comparing Israel and Iran to two schoolkids having a scrap in a playground or the president calling the media “scum”. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the international news agenda moves at a frenzied pace, back home Keir Starmer faces a crisis of his own. The Matts explore the depth of feeling from amongst his own backbenchers against his welfare bill. It’s a crisis wholly of his own making and as Reform continues to surge in the polls, it bodes badly for all of us. Also - why did Mark Rutte call Trump daddy? And what was the Matts’ greatest Glasto moment? All will be revealed! Enjoy! OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a few days of head-spinning consequence and the Matts explore the thinking of the man at its heart - Donald Trump. They kick off with an extraordinary moment; Trump losing his cool as Israel and Iran both appear to defy his ceasefire - but then the conversation moves quickly to what this means for the Middle East, for the UK, the United Nations, for NATO, and for the future of Europe. There’s a lot of ground covered this week … buckle up. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Matts again respond to your queries. They discuss whether we are witnessing the early stages of a global war without anyone admitting it, if we have collectively deleted our memory of 2016 and when we started confusing billionaires with philosophers. Plus there’s talk of whether Keir Starmer should have stooped at the feet of Donald Trump, if having children is ethical and what actually defines genius. OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.