Quiet Riot: Sunday School - IS THIS HOPE, IS THIS HOPE, IS THIS HOPE, IS THIS HOPE THAT I'M FEELING? with Zoe Williams

Alex goes through the week's political events, both here and across the Atlantic, with special guest Zoe Williams. “The Spectator is in a really difficult position. They’re not like the Daily Mail. They cannot turn round and hold the exact opposite point of view to the one they held yesterday, without intellectual consequences. If they wash their hands of Douglas Murray now, they will have to admit they’ve been promulgating race hate for as long as they’ve been publishing him.” “Musk is testing his own strength and he’s testing the strength of twitter and he’s testing his own convening power - how many people can he get in his online army. But the reason it doesn’t ring true or make any real sense and Starmer seems nonplussed by it, is that the attacks don’t relate to the politician or the man. It’s a sort of symbolic act.” On which of the Tory leadership candidates has impressed Zoe most: “To be honest, I’m really, really revelling - like it’s a warm bath - in the experience of not giving a shit about the Conservative Party.” On the US Election: “It’s not groundswell support that matters. It’s Stans. It’s superfans. If you can see someone developing superfans, there’s something going on that you need to pay attention to.” On the Harris/Walz campaign: “For the first time in years I am just loving watching a political process. I’ve got almost no anxiety. Everyone is saying ‘watch the polls, watch the polls’, but I’m thinking ‘this is just not happening for Trump.” Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) Click here for your Quiet Riot Bluesky Starter Pack. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell - in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices