Sunday School: X-Communicated

Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell talk through the week's political stories, covering the nuclear fallout from the war of words between the world's most powerful narcissist and the world's richest sociopath. Also, does Zia Yusuf's flounce out - and flounce back in - point to dysfunction inside Reform UK? Plus, we have the closest this podcast has even come to a row, over the result of the Scottish by-election in Hamilton. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** “Trump is now a Tesla owner who hates Musk. Surely this will make him more popular than ever.” "If there is substance behind Musk's accusations, Team Trump are going to go into full panic lockdown. And if not, Musk's just gifted him the 'look at the unhinged billionaire trying to smear me' defense." "We're seeing this from an Anglocentric perspective. There is nothing to stop Musk from taking his technology and his business in a direction that brings him closer to the Middle East, let's say. There are plenty of other places. Who knows what China's view on this is, for example." "A lot of the MAGA crowd, the big influencers, the YouTubers, the podcasters, the blue ticks, are monetizing X. So a lot of them depend on it for reach and actual income. Musk is in quite a powerful position when it comes to them." "The Authoritarian Right is populated by people who think the harshest possible rules should apply - to everyone else." "The problem for Labour is that they are losing seven times more votes to the left than they are to the right. With such very small margins, in other parts of the country that could really tip them down into danger territory." "Labour dodged a bullet. And in that part of Scotland in particular, once upon a time, not too long ago, if Farage and Tice walked into a pub and started spouting, you'd have to say that they'd exit through the window." “Can you stop saying 'Boris Johnson' please? It might be like Candyman. Like, if you say his name on a podcast three times, he appears as a guest." "This fragmentation in a first-past-the-post system is difficult for Labour. And it is for that reason that I think they should definitely back PR - and they're not going to. But they will be extremely concerned about pursuing an 'if you don't like Farage, you have to vote for us' strategy. That's clearly not where voters are." Our bookshop including many of the books we have featured can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.bookshop.org/shop/quietriot⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Or visit our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.quietriotpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ***SPONSOR US AT ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KO-FI.COM/QUIETRIOTPOD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*** With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices