PODCAST · society
Planet Normal
by The Telegraph
The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Planet Normal: Live Special at The Battle of Ideas 2026
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: Recorded live in front of a packed room at the Battle of Ideas Festival in Westminster, your co-pilots are joined by two special guests to help them tackle the week’s biggest cultural and economical flashpoints. Liam opens by examining widespread...
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Nigel Farage: Ignoring threats to my safety is ‘outright prejudice’
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qiNe1Vw1fBY With the October Budget looming larger on the horizon, your co-pilots are cutting through all the noise to deliver the big talking points this week and are joined on the Rocket of right thinking by a very special guest....
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Labour’s energy insecurity intensifies
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4ZZZoH77k14 Another week, another conference and the October Budget looms but mere weeks away… however your co-pilots wade through the slurry to bring you the tasty news morsels. Liam shares his direct observations from the Troy...
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Burnham’s economics of empty promises
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZeBZTYZaSTE Your Planet Normal co-pilots return to a tsunami of news, promises from Labour conference and Andy Burnham to ease the nations finances and is the Home Secretary watering down her own migration policies? Allison takes aim...
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The green blob is choking the life out of the UK
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3pSGqJiJryw This week on Planet Normal, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson, shed some light on the risk of a blackout Britain this winter… Liam targets Labour’s attacks on industrialists like Sir Jim Ratcliffe, arguing that dismissing...
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Piddington protest and the donation dispute
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RAjUcNkPlok This week on Planet Normal, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson, strap into the rocket of right thinking to tackle growing unrest over border policies and fragile public finances. Allison breaks down local outrage in…
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Boat-load of trouble: Channel fury, Israel sanctions & broke Britain
You can watch this episode in full on Youtube: https://youtu.be/iZkeL-6UtSQ This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Halligan and Pearson, strap into the rocket of right thinking to tackle a tumultuous news agenda. Allison argues following migrant protests in Portsmouth and Dover…
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Planet Normal: ‘Fair-weather’ Burnham faces a growing economic storm
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Djl86k1PyYw Co-pilots Halligan and Pearson strap back into the rocket of right thinking after their summer break to tackle Prime Minister Andy Burnham's PMQs debut. Allison slams Burnham’s ‘vibes-based’ leadership, warning that...
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Planet Normal: Best Voyages from the Rocket 2026 P4
You can watch this episode on YouTube Summer is coming to an end on Planet Normal! So, for the final instalment of our “best of the rocket” series, our co-pilots head back into the archives for two more memorable voyages aboard the rocket of right thinking. In April, stowing away on the rocket…
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Planet Normal: Best Voyages from the Rocket 2026 P3
You can watch this episode on YouTube The summer voyage continues on Planet Normal! This week, our co-pilots fire up the engines and head back into the archives for two more memorable journeys aboard the rocket of right thinking. In February, Allison spoke to Siobhan Whyte, whose daughter…
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Planet Normal: Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 P2
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hxtGEUicygE Summer continues on Planet Normal! In this, the second part of our best of the rocket series, our co-pilots take a look back at some of their favourite voyages on the rocket of right thinking from the year so far. Back in…
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The wit, wisdom and words of Rod Liddle
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K-svfqmj8Rg It's the summer break on Planet Normal and ordinarily your co-pilots take a look back at some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from the year so far, however with the very sad news of the death of...
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The case of Essex police vs Allison Pearson and the co-pilots victory
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hjoyImW6a8s This week’s journey in the rocket of right thinking opens with an exclusive announcement from co-pilot Pearson in her case against the Essex police and Fire and Crime Commissioner, Roger Hirst. Back in November 2024…
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Andy and the Backstabbers make their debut to the Country
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LYzZRwK5C0g This week’s journey in the rocket of right thinking opens with co-pilots Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson reflecting on Andy Burnham becoming Prime Minister. Liam warns that uncosted bungs and 10-year gilt yields staying...
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Starmer out, Burnham in and we pay tribute to trailblazer Ann Widdecombe
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wQxi0BVywEs This week’s journey in the rocket of right thinking opens with a tribute to former MP and Reform member, Ann Widdecombe as your co-pilots reminisce their time with Anne over the years. Liam raises serious concerns about…
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Farage furor and the media blindspot to the OBR warnings
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YItlh0gx6cA A never ending tsunami of news sees Reform UK leader Nigel Farage stand down, triggering a “People vs the Establishment" election… but was this a political mis-step? Liam thinks it was a mistake by the Reform leader, but…
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Labour’s new migration policies will create a 'Burnham bump’
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bW3b5qKQP6I Co-pilot Pearson returns from her break in Sicily to find political chaos in full swing following Keir Starmer's resignation announcement last week. Liam and Allison dissect Andy Burnham's bid for the top job, with Liam...
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Burnham is the wrong answer to the UK’s economic problem
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/D90j1xiHV_c A news heatwave has caused chaos across the land, Co-pilot Halligan pressed the emergency button and is joined by under-study Baroness Claire Fox while Co-pilot Pearson recovers from the shock of it all. Liam…
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Social Media Ban: Starmer finally gets something right
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lq-8ZhnYjjk The rocket of right thinking speeds around planet normal gathering the news tsunami of this week… Allison surprises Liam by AGREEING with Sir Keir Starmer’s social media ban for under 16 year olds, as she states in her column…
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Civil unrest will only get worse if people’s concerns remain ignored
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qNYLdKrCI_o On your rocket of right thinking this week co-pilots Pearson and Halligan discuss the recent riots in Belfast and the two-tier policing worries continuing from the murder of Henry Nowak. Liam thinks Kemi Badenoch’s call to ‘treat...
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10 years on from the Referendum, have we even had Brexit yet?
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/82lXs84p8_M This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, confront the tragic murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak and the national outrage surrounding the police's handling of the case. Marking the…
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Blair is talking sense on this Lefty Labour Party, and Starmer should listen to save them
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uXkk5GHpPE4 This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, dive into a political landscape dominated by explosive leadership interventions and growing institutional scandal. Following a dramatic…
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Labour drags us further to the '70s and Burnham stokes the psychodrama
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wQSgb9En2k0 This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Alison Pearson, take us back to the 1970s as they look at the retro economic policies dragging the country in reverse. With financial markets reacting to the...
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Is Starmer’s Labour drama as fleeting as Streeting’s bid for PM?
You can watch this episode on YoutTube: https://youtu.be/5Zb71ekLVBE This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, sift through the debris of a historic set of local elections that have left Sir Keir Starmer clinging to power. The duo analyse the…
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Inflation threats to consumer prices and Happy 100th birthday to Sir David Attenborough!
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/81-0uu_POWE On the rocket of sweet reason this week we are avoiding talking about the May elections, so hold tight for a bumper episode next week! Meanwhile, Allison reflects on one hundred years of Sir David Attenborough as he celebrates…
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Starmer survives a vote this week, but what will the May elections reveal for Labour
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/v0ptnvQnGUQ This week on Planet Normal your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, navigate the wreckage of the UK’s two-party system as seismic local and devolved elections loom on May 7th. With the UK inflation rate...
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The Mandelson mess, stagflation returns, and the battle for Wales
This week on the rocket, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson dive into the political firestorm engulfing Westminster as Sir Keir Starmer faces intense scrutiny over the botched appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the US. Following explosive evidence from former civil servant Sir Olly...
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Osborne and Cameron cut UK defence spending - and now Starmer is making it worse
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-e1x0gsvjfY This week on the rocket, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson eye a horizon of storm clouds gathering over Britain’s economy and national security. Liam breaks down the "serious downgrade" from the IMF, which predicts the UK will…
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Trump strikes ceasefire with Iran as Starmer grandstands in the Gulf
You can watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/B0VweeU7QlA This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots navigate their way from the high-stakes geopolitics of the Strait of Hormuz to the local battlegrounds of the South London Waitrose middle aisle, they examine whether common sense has…
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The Liberal consensus gave us mass migration and broken boarders
In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine a growing sense of national insecurity as Britain faces a big economic hit from the US-Iran war and the systemic economic vandalism of a new tax year. The duo discuss the ongoing scandal of NHS...
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Anti-semitism is clearly out of control in the UK
You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z53vu3azxZs In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, your co-pilots of sanity Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, address the rise of antisemitic attacks in Britain, including the chilling firebombing of Jewish...
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UK Meningitis outbreak and Starmer’s abortion policy shame
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QVXFsa07Rpo In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine a growing sense of national insecurity as Britain faces a perfect storm of energy, military, and financial fragility, and the...
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The Iran war lays bare the betrayal of Britain’s energy security
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uRceQCyRYIU It’s markets this, oil prices that, and what will happen next, so your co-pilots are blasting in to make sense of the tsunami of news flooding across the globe from the Middle East and the war with Iran. Allison points to the…
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Iran, Trump and running scared Starmer
You can watch this episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/KQ1dUe4FxZ0 As conflict with Iran hots up across the Middle East, your co-pilot blast in to make sense of the madness. Strapping into the rocket is Dr Alan Mendoza, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Henry Jackson Society to give his...
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Planet Normal: Live, with Lionel Shriver and Suella Braverman
You can watch this recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lFRwaTYK-mM Your co-pilots have braved the atmosphere of planet Earth as the rocket touches down at the Emmanuel Centre in London for a live recording of Planet Normal! To mark the occasion, your co-pilots are joined by two of the most...
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Reform launch their top team, as Starmer U-turns - again!
Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive | You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_jt6Hy7NYvU On this week’s flight through the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine the rapid…
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Tick tock, Sir Keir’s against the clock
Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive | You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LFlJivPsT9A Following a scorching column by their colleague Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan discuss...
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The Mandelson quagmire and murky dealing of Chagos
Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive | You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wh42OqWtzDA As the Prime Minister vows to release the ‘Mandelson Files’ pressure on who knew what, and when is mounting on...
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Starmer’s Shameful Soldier Witch Hunt
You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4f7eZbkA91Q It's been a week of defections, rejections and tantrums in the world of politics, and your co pilots are here to wade through the madness. After the Telegraph published an article outlining the role Starmer took…
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Robert Jenrick's Reform defection and the Greenland rift
You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mwWiWA21r1U The rocket of right thinking is back with a blast and a very special defector is aboard. Robert Jenrick is strapped in to tell our intrepid co-pilots why he has joined Reform UK and why he thinks the…
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Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 3
The winter break continues on Planet Normal! In this, the third and final part of the three part best of the rocket series, our co-pilots take a look back at some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from 2025, before our intrepid co-pilots return next week! Back in...
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Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 2
In our second episode of the Best of the Rocket 2025, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan dive deep into the past year’s archives and bring you some of their most intriguing and provocative voyages on the rocket of right thinking, from this past year. This week the Rocket has made a stop at…
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Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 1
In this, the first of the Best of the Rocket 2025, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan dig into the data files for some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from this year. There’s been no shortage of madness on the rocket over the past few months, the peak of which was...
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Rocket around the Christmas Tree!
It’s a Merry Christmas from the Rocket of right thinking at Planet Normal to everyone stuck on Planet Earth Your intrepid co-pilots reflect on a year of political thrills and economic spills, honouring the "citizens of Planet Normal" while handing out awards to the figures in public life who...
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Festive flu and the West’s cowardly silence after the Bondi massacre
Your Co-pilots reflect on a sombre week as the festive season is overshadowed by the beach massacre in Sydney earlier this week. Co-pilot Pearson delivers a blistering critique of Western leaders whom she accuses of failing to confront the root of Islamist extremism. Liam connects the tragedy to...
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Reform and Farage smears only make the Party stronger
Co-Pilots Pearson and Halligan tackle a week of political and economic madness. Starmer is dismissed as a "caretaker Prime Minister" with a weak mandate, having been supported by only 20% of the electorate. Your hosts dissect Chancellor Rachel Reeves' job tax hike and her "benefits street Budget"...
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Liar, liar, Reeves’ pants are on fire
With reaction to the autumn Budget still on the lips of news outlets everywhere, your co-pilots are here to make sense of the chaos. Allison doesn’t hold back and thinks Reeves has ‘lied’ to the electorate and inflated her own words in order to try and sneak her Budget past everyone. Meanwhile…
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Reeves Budget snowstorm of discontent
The rocket of right thinking is back for a crucial Budget Special as Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her second major fiscal statement. Her new £30 billion tax rise means a staggering £70 billion increase in just two years, the most "punitive tax raising budget in more than three decades".…
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Reeves reverse ferret and Mahmood's immigration gamble
This week the Rocket welcomes former Prime Minister Liz Truss to discuss next week’s Budget as well as the co-pilots diving into the latest political issues. From the dramatic U-turn on immigration by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to the creeping tax rises hidden in Rachel Reeves's…
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March of the BBC’s ‘tinfoil hat’ brigade
After a Telegraph bombshell, both the BBC Director-General and Head of BBC News are OUT as the corporation is exposed for its "FAR LEFT ideological capture". Our co-pilots take a look at the shocking truth behind the billion-dollar lawsuit threat from President Donald Trump after a Panorama team...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
The Telegraph
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Planet Normal have?
Planet Normal currently has 328 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Planet Normal about?
The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How often does Planet Normal release new episodes?
Planet Normal publishes regularly with 328 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to Planet Normal on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Planet Normal?
Planet Normal is created and hosted by The Telegraph.
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