CommonSpace Podcasts: Recent Episodes
CommonSpace
Source is a news and views services and a place to network, share ideas and discuss the issues affecting Scotland. Our weekly podcast, Beyond The Noise, looks into the stories behind the headlines.
Beyond the Noise is a Source news podcast, looking at the issues beyond the headlines
This week, David Jamieson speaks to Willie Sullivan of the Electoral Reform Society Scotland, and how to improve Scotland's democracy beyond polling day.
Beyond the Noise is a Source podcast where David Jamieson gets beyond the headlines to look at issues in more depth.
He is joined in this episode by Chris Nineham, vice chair of Stop the War Coalition, to discuss the UK Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, and the ways social movements can resist attacks on the right to protest.
They discuss:
1:00 -What new anti-protest powers would the bill introduce?
5:00 – What the combination of the crackdown on protest and the new bill tells us about the future of Conservative rule.
14:30 – How did the anti-war movement deal with attempts to restrict the right to protest?
Beyond the Noise is a Source podcast with David Jamieson where he gets beyond the headlines and likes at events in the new in more depth.
This week he speaks to Madison based political sociologist Michael Billeaux about dynamics on the right of US politics in the wake of the Washington DC riot and the inauguration of Joe Biden.
1:30 – How has the Capital Hill riot impacted the Republican party and exposed schisms on the US right?
13:50 – In the 2020 election Trumpism expanded and diversified its social base. Can it build on these gains?
20:04 – What happens to the hardcore of Trump’s supporters after the events in Washington DC?
Beyond the Noise is a Source news podcast where David Jamieson looks at issues in the news in more depth.
This week Jamieson speaks to Neil Mackay, national organiser for All Under One Banner, about Yes Alba - an attempt to bring together a unified, activist led and organised.
They discuss:
1:30 – What are the latest moves to create a broad pro-independence organisation?
8:15 – Has the Scottish independence movement suffered for not having such an organisation?
12:15 – Are these preparations being made with an eye to a coming referendum?
18:15 – Should the future independence campaign be led by grass-roots activists?
Beyond the Noise is a Source news podcast where David Jamieson goes deeper into the issues behind the headlines.
This week Jamieson speaks to Pete Cannell and Willie Black of Scot E3, a group drawing together trade unionists and climate activists for a 'Just Transition' from fossil fuel.
They discuss:
2:43 – Does the idea of a ‘Just Transition’ exist beyond mere rhetoric at the current time?
11:15 – Is there a lack of a ‘big picture’ for a major industrial strategy around green economic renewal?
22:30 – Is there a danger that a vicious cycle develops, where government inaction informs fears of de-industrialisation.
3:30 – How should trade unionists and climate activists respond to COP26 in 2021?
Beyond the Noise is a Source News podcast looking at the issues behind the headlines.
This weak David Jamieson spoke to Nathalia Urban, a Scotland based Brazilian journalist who covers events in South America, about the coup in Bolivia which was overturned in elections last week.
They discuss:
0:55 – What’s the background to the movement in Bolivia, and the significance of the this election victory?
7:17 – How the international community turned its back on democracy in Bolivia.
18:18 – What’s the future of the movement in Bolivia?
Beyond the Noise is a Source podcast that gets beyond the headlines and looks at issues in the news in more depth.
This week David Jamieson is joined by Richie Venton, a trade unionist sacked by Ikea in Glasgow for informing his members of plans to cut sick pay.
They discuss:
1:00 – What is the background to the campaign? Why was Venton sacked?
6:53 – What are Ikea trying to achieve with these moves?
11:54 – What does this mean for trade unionists and workers across the country?
Beyond the Noise is a Source News podcast where David Jamieson gets behind the headlines and looks at issues in the news in more depth.
This week he is joined by Scottish National Union of Students President Matt Crilly, to discuss a university intake like no other, in a year like no other.
The discuss:
2:25 – Why SNUS are calling for increased funding for the new student intake.
5:15 – What scale of new provision is required from the Scottish Government to cover the new intake?
8:25 – What will be the impact on already limited and expensive student housing?
15:50 – What are the prospects for a new student movement, given all these problems?
Beyond the Noise is a Source podcast with David Jamieson, looking at issues in the news in more depth.
For this edition he is joined by sociology lecturer Dr Tom Mills to discuss the place of the BBC and the wider media in the Covid-19 crisis.
They discuss:
3:30 – How should we understand the BBC? What is it? What is its social purpose?
10:00 – How do we understand BBC’s claim to neutrality?
12:45 – How has the pandemic upset the BBC’s balancing act?
21:45 – Has the pandemic and the BBC’s importance in relaying official information reduced the desire of some in elite circles to shrink the BBC’s influence?
27:30 – How does the BBC decide what its news agenda looks like? What is its relationship to the wider news environment and particularly the papers?
Beyond the Noise is a Source news podcast with David Jamieson that explores issues in the headlines in more depth.
This week Jamieson is joined by Jonathon Shafi, a Scottish activist who recently criticised the Scottish Government commissioned Economic Recovery Group (ERG) Report in an article for the Herald.
They discuss:
00: 45 – What is the context against which the ERG’s report has been published?
6:15 – Does the report keep pace with the changes in economic policy we’ve seen around the world in response to the lockdown?
15:30 – Who are the people behind the report and what does the make up of the ERG tell us about its political character.
21:40 – How does the report impact the constitutional question?
Beyond the Noise is a regular Source podcast with David Jamieson, looking in detail at stories in the headlines.
For this edition Jamieson is joined by Michael Billeaux, a sociology PHD candidate at the University of Wisconsin and a participant in the Black Lives Matter movement.
They discuss:
1:00 – What is the status of the movement now? Has it changed over time in terms of the tactics it is deploying the the constituencies it is drawing-in?
3:50 – How should we understand the latest manifestations in terms of both the longer Black Lives Matter movement, and the even longer tradition of anti-racist politics in US society?
8:57 – What victories has the movement achieved, and what demands are it making?
17:50 – What impact do international protests have on the movement in the US?
Beyond the Noise is a Source News podcast, looking at the ideas behind the news agenda.
Earlier this month Scotland lost one of its most important contemporary intellectuals, Neil Davidson.
Host David Jamieson speaks to Raymond Morell, a trade unionist and socialist who was a long-time friend and collaborator with Neil, to discuss his political activism and theoretical work.
They discuss:
2:35 – How did Neil Davidson’s background in working class Aberdeen inform his approach to politics and to Scottish History?
6:15 – He was a rare ‘organic intellectual’ developing many of his ideas outside the academic circuit. Why did this make him an important voice?
12:15 – What was the substance of his intervention into Scottish history, and what political climate did it interact with?
19: 15 – Why was Davidson and important thinker in regards to the Scottish national question and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum?
Beyond the Noise is a regular Source.scot podcast, where journalist David Jamieson gets behind the headlines to explore issues in the news in more depth.
This week Jamieson is joined by Professor of Retail Studies at Stirling University Leigh Sparks, to discuss the turmoil in the retail sector in pandemic and lockdown conditions.
They discuss:
1:15 - What has been the scale of the impact from lockdown on the retail sector so far?
5:00 – Are the big retail firms in an even stronger position than before, and are smaller and family firms in a more precarious state?
10:50 – What might the retail economy look life after lockdown, will old shopping habits return, or are we in for longer term trend changes?
19:05 – How can the retail sector change to become more sustainable and socially just?
Beyond the Noise is a regular Source.scot podcast, where journalist David Jamieson gets behind the headlines to explore issues in the news in more depth.
This week Jamieson is joined by writer and activist Jonathon Shafi, to discuss the scale of the unfolding crisis, and the forms that inevitable resistance will take.
They discuss:
1:00 - Several weeks into lockdown, what picture of the crisis do we now have? How severe is it, and what is the next major turn in governing policy?
6:41 - What might emerging forms of resistance during the economic crisis look like?
13:44 - With both the EU and the US badly impacted by the pandemic and economic crisis, is Britain's position, wedged between these two spheres, even more confused and chaotic?
23:30 - What is the shape of the social movements that will emerge in this period, given that both the Corbyn moment in Labour and the Sanders movement in the US have passed?
Beyond the Noise is a regular Source.scot podcast, where journalist David Jamieson gets behind the headlines to explore issues in the news in more depth.
This week Jamieson is joined by economist and journalist George Kerevan to explore the scope of the new economic crisis triggered by the global Covid-19 Pandemic.
They discuss:
1:00 – Is this crisis just about the Coronavirus pandemic, or is there a wider context explaining the fragility of the global economy?
8:00 – Does the present crisis bear comparison to the 1920s and 30s, when the global capitalist system was incapable of solving its problems?
16:00 – Has the present era of ‘neoliberalism’ finally ended.
26:00 – How can the capitalist class argue again for the working class to pay for the crisis, after a decade of austerity?
Beyond the Noise is a regular podcast Source reporter David Jamieson, looking in depth at stories in the news.
This week Jamieson speaks to veteran trade union activist Bill Ramsay about Coronavirus, the wider economic, social and political shocks it is promoting, and what comes next.
They discuss:
1:23 – We are witnessing historic changes to the global economy. What historical eras might we draw comparisons with to try and get our bearings?
4:37 – Is the global economic orthodoxy of ‘neoliberal globalisation’ collapsing under the impact of Coronavirus?
10:00 – What might an appropriate response to the crisis at a national level in Scotland look like?
23:00 – How the UK Governments answer to the situation could threaten small businesses. What might the knock on effect be?
30:30 – Is the state going to be used to protect the wealthy and powerful through the current crisis?
33:40 - What might some immediate demands to protect working class living conditions look like?
Image by Gerd Altmann
Beyond the Noise is a weekly CommonSpace podcast, where reporter David Jamieson seeks to dig behind the headlines to discuss the deeper issues at stake.
This week Jamieson was joined from across the Atlantic by Pete Ramand, a volunteer organiser in the Sanders campaign, to discuss Super Tuesday and Joe Biden's arrival as the leading Democratic candidate.
1:17 - What is super Tuesday and why has it been to rough for the Sanders campaign?
7:05 – Are there any developments that could yet turn-around the situation and salvage Sanders’ campaign?
19:33 – Is Trump relishing a run-off against Joe Biden? What are his key limitations as a candidate?
25:15 – Why there are real concerns over Biden’s ability to go one on one against either Sanders or Trump.
Beyond the Noise is a weekly CommonSpace podcast, where reporter David Jamieson seeks to dig behind the headlines to discuss the deeper issues at stake.
This week Jamieson spoke to Luke Devlin, a human ecologist and member of the Enough Collective - a group exploring the concept of degrowth as a response to the ecological crisis.
5:33 – Why is de-growth the correct argument for the movement against environmental destruction?
9:34 – Doesn’t the idea of degrowth ignore the reality of class society, and the danger that an austerian turn would land the heaviest burden on the working class.
21:25 – Is it fair to say that we are all morally responsible for the environmental crisis? Might that not detract from the fundamental inequalities and injustices that underpin it?
30:10 – How should those serious about confronting climate change deal with the forthcoming cop 26 climate conference in Glasgow?
Beyond the Noise is a weekly CommonSpace podcast, where reporter David Jamieson seeks to dig behind the headlines to discuss the deeper issues at stake.
This week Jamieson spoke to Franny McAdam, national organiser of Cairde na hEireann (Friends of Ireland) about Sinn Fein’s historic breaktrhough in the Irish elections
0:43 – What were the reasons behind the Sinn Fein surge?
2:37 – Can the two traditional governing parties simply lock Sinn Fein out? How tenable is that position?
7:27 – What are the major obstacles to moves towards a united Ireland?
14:01 – Has co-operation between the Irish unity and Scottish independence movements improved? Is there further scope for combined action?
Beyond the Noise is a weekly CommonSpace podcast, where reporter David Jamieson seeks to dig behind the headlines to discuss the deeper issues at stake.
This week Jamieson spoke to Emily Robinson, a labour historian based at Edinburgh University who has been an activist with Bernie Sander's campaign, and who has commented extensively on the ongoing movement.
They discuss:
1:23 – How has Bernie Sanders’ Campaign come from behind to take poll position in the Democratic race?
6:25 – Can Sanders’ campaign hold the course over such a long campaign? What are the peculiarities of US politics his campaign is up against?
11:36 – Which candidates are the most dangerous to Sanders? Is there a real possibility of stitch-up by the Democrat party machine and elite backers to keep him out?
17:29 – Is Sanders the candidate with the edge to beat Trump? What might a collision between Trumpism and Bernieism look like?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to Kirsty Hughes Director Scottish Centre on European Relations on the week Britain leaves the EU.
They discuss:
1:17 – What comes next for the UK and Scotland regarding Brexit, what’s the timeline of the coming months?
10:24 – Can ‘independence in Europe’ survive Brexit and the exit of the UK from the European single market and customs union?
16:31 – Will Brexit create further problem’s for the SNP’s position on currency in an independent Scotland?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to George Kerevan, economist, columnist at the National and former SNP MP about how the independence movement should adapt to the threat from Boris Johnson.
They discuss:
1:34 – What does Boris Johnson’s rebuttal to the independence movement mean, and how will he pursue an offensive strategy against the independence movement?
9:12 – How should the Scottish Government respond to this new strategy?
13:06 – Beyond the Scottish Government, how should the broader independence movement change to face the new threat?
17: 08 – How has the case for independence been impacted by Johnson and Brexit?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to Dr Nick McKerrel, a senior law lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University and an expert on constitutional law. They discuss:
00:59 – What does the refusal of the section 30 order tell us about the balance of forces in the constitutional wrangle between Edinburgh and London?
8:30 – Has the new impasse exposed the weaknesses of SNP’s long run strategy for independence?
12:02 – Are we now living in post-referenda era Britain?
21:47 – Is there an international legal superstructure that could pressurise the UK to accept Scotland’s right to a vote?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to James Foley and Pete Ramand, co-authors of 'Yes: The radical case for independence' about the 2019 General Election and what it tells us about the future of the Scottish independence movement.
1:45 – Why Labour lost the election.
16:21 – How ‘left paternalism’ became a problem for Labour’s campaign.
27:27 – Why the Scottish independence referendum may be able to shine some light on how popular electoral politics can be approached differently.
31:50 – How the General Election outcome in Scotland poses new opportunities and problems for the independence movement.
46:04 – What form the confrontation between Edinburgh and Westminster will take in coming years.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to freelance journalist and columnist Caitlin Logan about the fallout for the 2019 General Election.
1:24 – What is the scale of Labour’s defeat? How has it changed the electoral map?
6:48 – What explains the success of the Conservatives?
10:52 – Is this the SNP’s most significant ever victory?
17:46 – Why ‘the centre’ still failed to materialise.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to CommonSpace editor Sean Bell about the nature of the 2019 General Election, the campaigns of the various parties and what they mean for Scotland.
They discuss:
55:00 – How should we characterise the 2019 General Election? What have it’s main dynamics and arguments been?
11:58 – What has the SNP’s campaign been like, underlined as it is by their continuing strong polling position?
15:11 – Why the Tories have followed a policy of “studious disengagement” during the election?
17:44 – How the Liberal Democrats and Brexit Party were marginalised.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to activist and commentator Jonathon Shafi about the opening days of an historic general election.
They discuss:
00:42 – How well have the three major parties – Labour, Tory and SNP – faired in the first few days of the election campaign?
3:50 – Will the SNP campaign on a clear pro-independence stance?
12:20 – Can the Lib Dem vote hold up, and will the first past the post system re-consolidate the vote around Labour and the Conservatives?
17:05 – Can Corbyn pull-off a transformative election victory that puts a cap on decades of Thatcherism?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to Stephen Smellie, trade unionist and co-convener of Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan about Turkey's invasion of northern Syria and parts of the Kurdish territories following US military withdraw.
They discuss:
1:39 – Why the Kurdish people in northern Syria are facing the threat of ‘ethnic cleansing’.
2:53 – How US President Trump gave a green light for Turkey’s attack.
3:18 – Why resistance from within Nato countries like the UK matters.
19:39 – What people in Scotland can do immediately to show solidarity.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to Walden Bello, one of the most prolific and articulate voices critiquing capitalism and globalisation in recent decades, and the author of three new books exploring the crisis of globalisation, the rise of the far right and the consequences of the Chinese model for the global system.
Jamieson spoke to Bello as part of his recent visit to Scotland organised by Global Justice Now Scotland.
In a wide-ranging interview, they discuss:
1:21 – What does the rise of the authoritarian new far right look like outside of the west, where it is usually studied – as exemplified by Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines?
9:29 – Why was is the right reaping the benefit of an increasing rejection of neoliberal globalisation, when it is the left which for decades has campaigned against its damaging effects?
28:36 – How should the left in the UK respond to crisis of globalisation in the form of Brexit. In Scotland, how do supporters of independence navigate that cause around relations to the global system?
35:32 – Why the Chinese model, apparently so robust in the face of the 2008 crisis, is coming into crisis. And why it matters for the whole world.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN this week’s podcast, Jamieson speaks to Bill Ramsay, veteran SNP, CND and trade union activist, about how a long term commitment to Scottish independence was impacted by the independence movement of 2014.
They discuss:
2:01 – What drew people into the SNP decades before Scottish independence would become a mass movement?
11:45 – How much did the issue of Scottish independence actually inform the day-to-day politics of SNP members? Was the SNP a vehicle for other political ideas in past decades?
17:29 – The SNP’s painful shift from political party routinism to social movement activity.
31:21 – Do subsequent events, including Brexit, force us to rethink how independence might actually be achieved?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In this weeks podcast Jamieson speaks to Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, a lecturer in the Eastern and Central-European studies department at Glasgow Univeristy, speaks to David Jamieson about the legacy of the Kosovo War.
They discuss:
1:54 – How great power conflicts shaped the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and promoted conflict in the Balkans.
14:49 – How did the West seek to intervene into the collapse of the state?
17:45 – How the pro-war factions of the war on terror cut their teeth in the Balkans.
29:56 – How the anti-war movement also began to cohere.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines
IN this special edition Jamieson speaks to Dr Nick McKerrel, an expert in constitutional law at Glasgow Caledonian University about the Tory party's self-cannibalisation and the consequences for the UK constitution.
They discuss:
0:58 – What is the meaning of the defeat in Scottish courts for petitioners against prorogation of parliament in the context of wider events?
4:56 – Will elements of the British establishment now start calling for constitutional reform?
7:45 – Can the British constitution work without a ‘pragmatic’ Conservative party that routinely complies with the ruling elite.
12:14 – Why this situation also destabilises the Labour party.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines
This week Jamieson is joined by Pensioners Forum campaigner Elinor McKenzie to discuss a new paper circulating the Tory party by the Centre for Social Justice. It argues for the raising of the pension age to 75 by 2035, indicating a new strategy among the ruling elite in the face of demographic changes:
Jamieson and McKenzie discuss:
1:27 – What have been the effects of a decade of austerity on the social and economic position of pensioners and older people?
3:45 – What kind of policies are pursued in the Centre for Social Justice report?
11:35 – Why social class takes precedent over the politics of generation when it comes to pensions.
20:39 – What pensions tell us about the internal dynamics of modern capitalism.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In this special edition Jamieson speaks to CommonSpace editor Ben Wray about Boris Johnson's plans to suspend parliament and the spiralling constitutional crisis:
1:06 - Why the crisis indicates the dismal nature of the British constitution more than an actual coup.
6:00 - How the idea of democracy was cheapened in British politics.
11:46 - The problem with defending the British parliament.
22:56 - Hoe the crisis is impacting Scottish politics, including Ruth Davidson's resignation and Scottish Labour's latest turn.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
This week Jamieson speaks to Layla-Roxanne Hill, a director at the Ferret, Scotland's investigative journalism cooperative, about the state of the media in Scotland and the role of new media.
They discuss:
0:51 – How are The Ferret and other forms of new media contributing to the struggling media landscape in Scotland?
6:03 – How has the model of media as profitable business undermined media ecology and how can we construct a different model?
10:54 – Is the decline of the media business model connected to its failure to understand political ‘shocks’ and social dynamics?
19:00 – Can new media address the decline of local media and the geographical retraction of public information to big cities?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In the latest episode of Beyond the Noise Jamieson speaks to Dr Nick McKerrell, an expert in constitutional law and a lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University. At a time of acute crisis for the British state they discuss:
1:26 – How does Boris Johnson expose the crisis of the British constitution and state?
7:33 – How has the traditional stability of the British political system come to an end, and what are the consequences?
16:05 – What is the role of the monarchy, and why have people started to flag-up the idea of the intercession of the Queen into the political crisis?
26:05 – How have the British ruling elite historically toyed with authoritarian solutions to constitutional and political crisis, and what are they thinking now?
30:16 – How does the wider constitutional crisis impact independence strategy?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN the latest episode of Beyond the Noise Jamieson speaks to Jonathon Shafi, a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign, about the how Boris Johnson becoming PM and his pursuit of a new Brexit strategy impacts the dynamics of the independence movement.
They discuss:
0:54 - What are the options facing a Boris Johnson’s government in the coming months?
8:18 – Does the independence movement require a ‘plan b’ in the face of an intransigent British state?
11:34 – Has the People’s Vote strategy harmed the independence cause?
16:33 – What have we learned about how the British establishment will oppose independence from the Brexit mess?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN the latest episode of Beyond the Noise Jamieson speaks to Cleo Goodman, director of the Citizen's Basic Income Network Scotland.
They discuss:
0:55 – What social tasks is the idea of a universal basic income supposed to achieve?
6:31 – How would it be funded, and could it lead to the atrophy of other benefits or public services?
13:41 – Is it really the case that the workforce wouldn’t shrink if people were provided with a regular guaranteed income?
19:54 – Why wouldn’t universal free services be a better way to approach poverty and inequality?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In a special live edition of the podcast at Dounne the Rabbit Hole festival, David Jamieson, activist and writer Cat Boyd and a festival audience discuss identity, alienation and individualism in the modern west and Scotland.
They discuss:
1:45 - What does the increase of mental ill-health tell us about the state of modern alienation?
8:55 - The importance of the decline of religious belief for the rise of individualism.
33:00 - How social movements like the 2014 independence referendum provide people with a glimpse of a non-alienated society.
45:25 - What Scotland's problem with addiction tells us about the failure of the political system to address fundamental social problems.
To mark Pride season, TIE (Time for Inclusive Education) and CommonSpace held a special event, with a guest panel sharing their defining Moments and Icons from LGBT history. We discussed what can be learned from them today in the quest to advance LGBT rights.
Guest Panel:
- Bryan Simpson, Unite Hospitality Organiser
- Pam Currie, EIS-FELA President
- Ged Killen, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
- Mridul Wadhwa, Forth Valley Rape Crisis
Chaired: Rhiannon Davies, CommonSpace Journalist
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN the latest episode of Beyond the Noise Jamieson speaks to US based writer and activist Pete Ramand and Canada based journalist Jamie Maxwell about President Trump's veer towards ever more flagrant racism and the openings to and dilemmas of the US left:
They discuss:
1:17 - How should we interpret Trump’s attacks on the four congresswomen?
19:28 – How important is race and racism to the functioning of the US political order?
24:45 – What are the new divisions on the left of politics in the US, and how will they condition the response to Trump’s campaign?
31: 55 – Is Bernie Sanders still the right candidate to go up against Trump?
53: 51 – What does the Trump era represent in terms of the longer run of US history?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In the latest episode of Beyond the Noise Jamieson speaks to Bill Ramsay, chair of SNP Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SNPCND) about their new document outlining a roadmap to nuclear disarmament in Scotland.
They discuss:
1:00 - What is the roadmap to nuclear disarmament being proposed by SNPCND?
10:18 – Is there a danger that Trident could remain in Scotland as part of negotiations with Nato and/or the remaining UK state?
12:41 – Are weapons systems like Trident becoming redundant? Might this have an impact on disarmament strategies?
25:04 – What is the wider international dynamic on the question of nuclear arms. Would Scotland have international friends when it comes to disarmament?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
This week, Jamieson speaks to Asbjørn Wahl, a Norwegian trade unionist who was a leading figure in the International Transport Workers Federation over decades, and who headed up the union’s work exploring responses to global warming.
They discuss:
1:03 – After ten years of a growing debate about climate change, what is the state of play today?
5:28 – Is global warming an issue that requires a class analysis?
12:21 – Will the working class refuse to pay for the climate crisis?
16:23 – How would democratic planning of the economy allow society to avoid the worst environmental destruction?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week Jamieson is joined by Robert Somynne, a freelance journalist and expert on the geopolitics of Iran to look at the Trump's hostile posture towards the country and the threat of escalating conflict.
Among other things, they discuss:
1:10 - Are we looking at a new and more dangerous period given the new dynamics of the US’s hostile posture towards Iran?
15:42 – Why has Iran’s influence endured and grown so significantly in the wider region?
23:17 – What is motivating social movements in Iran?
27:43 – What are the divisions at the top of Iranian society and how do the intersect with hostility from the US?
This weak Jamieson is joined by Robina Qureshi, director of Postivie Action in housing, to discuss the Serco's plans to evict some 300 refugees from their homes in Scotland and the mounting campaign to stop them:
They discuss:
00:38 – What are the latest developments in Serco’s drive to evict refugees from their homes?
4:51 - How did Serco, a private outsourcing corporation, come to be making these decisions about refugee accommodation?
8:45 – What happened to the rhetoric in the days of the refugee crisis about Scottish local authorities and their readiness to act?
16:58 – What are the next steps for the campaign?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS week's podcast Jamieson is joined by Gyekye Tanoh, Head of Political Economy Unit at Third World Network-Africa, who was in Glasgow to speak to a Global Justice Now Scotland meeting on the West's economic relationship to Africa.
They discuss:
00:59 – What is the fundamental character of the economic relationship between the west and Africa?
8:47 – In the west we are constantly sold the narrative of Africa improving and ‘catching up’ with the west. What has been the real impact of neoliberalism on the continent?
18:59 – Are people in Africa resisting the growth of poverty and inequality? And what are the wider social consequences for the continent?
24:10 – How can people in the west practice solidarity with those resisting in Africa?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS week's podcast Jamieson is joined by Tejas Mukerji, speaking in a personal capacity as an activist in SNP socialists and SNP Campaign for an Independent Currency as well as a founder of Neutral Scotland.
They discuss:
00:59 – What are the component parts of the SNP left, and how do they relate to the wider make-up of the party?
5:46 – Has the SNP left been to loosely organised until now? Has that held them back from exerting more influence over the party?
16:58 – What are the debates in the party over foreign policy, and how does the left position itself in that fight?
29:28 – What is the future of the left’s fight within the SNP and the wider independence movement?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS week's podcast Jamieson is joined by CommonSpace editor Ben Wray to discuss the European elections from Scotland to Brussels, London to Rome.
They discuss:
00:40 – What can we learn from the election results for the SNP and Labour in Scotland?
12:04 – What are the problems surrounding any move in Labour’s position towards a second referendum on leaving the EU.
16:18 – What is the far right’s strategy? Does its diminishing interest in breaking from the EU establishment make it less or more dangerous?
20:23 – Are we seeing the emergence of politics split between the far right and a re-energised centre?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Gary Smith, Scottish Secretary of the GMB union - part of a coalition, 'Fife - Ready for Renewal' demanding that a new Fife windfarm be constructed in Fife. Has the rhetoric about a 'just transition' towards new green energy collapsed in the face of capitalist power?
They discuss:
00:38 - What is the background the the Bifab fight for jobs?
5:05 – What is wrong with the current rhetoric around the idea of a ‘just transition’?
12:05 – Are their countries around Europe who provide a stronger model for energy transition towards more green alternative?
18:05 – Are the ideas around a Green New Deal in the United States a more effective framing for a just transition?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS week's podcast David Jamieson speaks to author Paul Mason about his new book, ‘Clear Bright Future: A radical defence of the Human Being’, and how his belief in radical humanism relates to the politics of Britain and Scotland in the Brexit crisis.
Mason and Jamieson discuss:
00:00 - 11:56: The case for radical humanism, and what sort of emancipatory politics is dervied from that perspective
11:57 – 19:07: How radical humanism fits with the current Brexit crisis and the wider crisis of democracy
19:08 – 27:26: How the European Union fits into any radical project for democracy and freedom
27:27 – 35:33: Should Scottish independence be a project for national sovereignty?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS week's podcast Jamieson is joined by Scottish computer scientist, Marxist economist and a reader at the University of Glasgow Paul Cockshott to discuss why economic planning is both viable and necessary in the era of climate crisis.
They discuss:
00:39 – What went wrong with the model of economic planning in the USSR, and does it foreclose the idea of economic planning into the future?
10:22 – What are the inefficiencies and irrationalities facing the global capitalist system today in the face of major challenges?
19:55 – How socialist economists recognised the threat of climate change in the 1970s and began urging energy development plans on that basis.
26:29 – What makes economic planning viable as a method of overcoming societies challenges today?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In this week's podcast Jamieson is joined by Dr Catherine Happer, a sociology lecturer at Glasgow University and expert on the relationship between the media and communications and the environmental movement.
1:15 – How did we get to today – with the ideas and slogans of the environmental movement, once so marginal, in the mainstream of political discourse?
8:04 – Why a social justice orientated and class conscious environmentalism is required to turn environmental politics into a mass force.
11:09 – Why and how the right are targeting the environmental movement.
16: 15 – Why the scale of change required directly challenges the institutions and hierarchies of the existing social order.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS week's podcast Jamieson is joined by CommonSpace editor Ben Wray to discuss First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's statement on the future of Scottish independence and the SNP Conference vote on Sterlingisation:
1:38 - What does Sturgeon's statement on a second independence referendum within the current parliamentary term mean for the independence cause?
10:00 - What are the problems that would be confronted by any Citizen's Assembly model as announced by Sturgeon?
15:26 - Why the debate over the Growth Commission has been completely one sided.
26:00 - What are the consequences for opponents of the Growth Commissions ideas should they pass at SNP conference and what are the wider consequences for the independence movement.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In this week's podcast Jamieson is joined by Alistair Davidson, a tech worker who has written on digital sovereignty and the implications for capitalism of the digital revolution.
They discuss:
1:10 - What has been the impact of the internet on the polarisation of politics and the rise of 'populism' in recent years?
8:29 - How pre-existing reactionary ideologies feed into social media algorithms.
15:03 - How did the far right successfully capture such a large social media audience?
21:32 - Should we be concerned about internet censorship after parts of the far right were forced off social media platforms?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
In a special podcast, Beyond the Noise teamed up with All Hail to the Pod's Jim Slaven in Edinburgh to discuss the contemporary crisis of the British state and the significance of class politics.
Among other things they discuss:
3:32 - How The crisis in the Conservative party has exposed the true nature of Brexit as a calamity for the ruling elite.
19:00 - Why are many on the left so tied to parliament, its procedures and cultures?
32:36 - How can immigration and its weaponisation by the right be re-framed in class political terms?
47:20 - What are the implications for the crisis for Scottish independence, and where is Scottish nationalism heading as a political force?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week Jamieson speaks to Glasgow University Sociology lecturer and historian Neil Davidson, about the class politics of Brexit, the profound nature of the crisis and its history in the development of British capitalism.
They discuss:
2:03 - How a state like the British state is designed to stop the kind of meltdown we are witnessing around Brexit
8:10 - What are the ideological roots of rightwing support for leaving the EU - is it a rational stance for Conservatives?
17:40 - Why the left shouldn't be trying to stop the Brexit crisis, but rather see it as an opportunity.
27:07 - Is the working class in a position to intervene in the Brexit crisis? What resources does it have for that fight?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week Jamieson speaks to Mary Anne MacLeod of the Menu for Change project which seeks to tackle food poverty. MacLeod has uncovered new evidence about the extent of food bank use in Scotland, at a time when much of the media has lost interest in the crisis of food poverty.
They discuss:
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1:08 New data has shown that the use of food banks is more widespread than previously understood. What do we now understand?
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2:50 Why nobody should imagine that food poverty has declined, just because it is no longer discussed in much of the media.
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7:53 Why stigma around poverty may actually be suppressing food bank use.
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14:23 Is political ambition in Scotland where it needs to be to tackle the crisis?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Women for Independence activist and academic Kirstein Rummary and SSP Rutherglen activist Bill Bonnar before a Yes Rutherglen and Cambuslang meeting on 'The case for an independence referendum' (hence the background noise).
They discuss:
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2:05 How well have the SNP adapted to the current political climate? Have they been aggressive enough in asserting the demand for independence?
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7:08 Is a legally binding referendum still the only way forward for the independence movement?
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10:38 Do we have a problem with the fact that we have an independence movement but not an independence campaign?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
This week Jamieson speaks to anti-racist campaigner Jonathon Shafi about the murderous attacks on Mosques in New Zealand which have killed 49 and injured many more.
They discuss:
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1:24 Why we should be disgusted but not shocked by today's events. They are the consequence of years of mounting attacks against the Muslim community.
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3:20 Why responses from the right and left are inadequate.
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13:49 How racism is created by state and elite actors, rather than from a generalised public attitude.
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24:57 The Tory party and allied elite institutions now have an instrumental relationship with Islamophobia that must be tackled.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson speaks to Rory Scothorne and Ewan Gibbs, two Labour members who held a fringe meeting on confronting the Scottish national question at Scottish Labour conference, about the party's struggles to come to terms with national questions from Scotland to Europe and England.
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00:43 What did this conference represent for Scottish Labour? Is Richard Leonard's leadership secure?
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3:55 Can the Labour left overcome the party's traditional aversion to constitutional matters?
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13:10 How can we promote solutions to constitutional and national crises that drive them to take on deeper social and economic problems? Is 'radical federalism' really a viable solution?
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20:54 How have Labour negotiated the current constitutional crisis in Scotland? What did they get wrong during the referendum movement?
As part of CommonSpace's Gutted Out series looking at the impact of economic decline and austerity on Scotland's towns, we spoke to a former worker in Ayr's Hourstons department store
Kieran Glyn tells CommonSpace about what hurt the iconic store, and where Ayr's once bustling shopping district is headed.
Read the whole story of Ayr's troubles and the attempts to revive the town here: https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/13936/two-paychecks-away-crisis-ayr-losing-its-victorian-splendour
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Jeanette Findlay, chair of the Call It Out campaign to discuss the movement against anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholic bigotry in Scotland, and why policy makers have consistently misdiagnosed the problem.
1:10 - What issues is the Call It Out campaign seeking to a address. Does Scotland have a problem with 'sectarianism' or anti-Irish racism?
9:58 - Why do we discuss anti-Irish racism as a 'working class' problem rather than attack the consensus around 'sectarianism' in policy making circles?
17:14 - What's the difference between socialist and class based anti-racism and liberal anti-racism.
20:57 - Does Scotland need to face the role the British state has played in Ireland in order to come to grips with the real issues?
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray spoke to North Dublin Bay Community Crisis housing activist Aisling Heddermann about the housing crisis in Dublin and Ireland and how the housing movement there is trying to fight for housing rights. Dublin has the least affordable housing of any city in Europe, with rents over 50 per cent of income. Ben and Aisling discussed:
0.50: The nature of the housing and homelessness crisis in Dublin and Ireland, and why it is so severe.
7:30: Why has Irish housing policy remained focused on subsidising private developers, despite the depths of the housing crisis?
12:10: How the housing movement in Dublin got started, and how the movement fights for housing as a human right.
20:50: What form of rent controls does Ireland have, and what kind of rent controls does it need?
25:00 The role of women in the housing movement in Ireland.
26:35 What’s the future for the housing movement internationally?
Fossil Free Now follows the campaign of Fossil Free Glasgow, a group of volunteers organising for the Glasgow City Council to renounce its investments in the fossil fuel industry.
"By necessity, we often spend time saying no to things in the climate movement. Here, we change tact slightly and look at some of the things we would like to see in a fossil free society. Featuring radical land reform, life in a city and Louise and Mathieu's attempt at living like beavers!"
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Aaron Bastani, co-founder of Novara Media and author of the forthcoming 'Fully Automated Luxury Communism', about Corbynism and its relationship to the crisis of the British state, Scottish independence and Brexit.
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1:18 How does Aaron understand the phenomenon of Corbynism and why does he place faith in the project?
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8:24 Is Corbynism an advance on the Scottish independence movement in terms of ideological radicalisation?
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19:50 Is leaving the European Union an important part of the project of diminishing the UK as a power?
-32:31 Has the left been disorientated by the Brexit crisis and does this threaten the Corbyn project.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Lynn Henderson, Scottish and Irish organiser for the PCS Union and President of the STUC to discuss the state of Scottish trade unionism.
They discuss:
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44:00 Why the Scottish Government budget has frustrated Scottish workers.
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13:21 How did the PCS union approach the Scottish independence question differently from some other unions?
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19:03 Why are some unions hostile to ideas around a 'just transition' towards a more ecological economy?
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25:08 How does the trade union movement tackle its problem with male dominance in union structures?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Lesley Orr, feminist historian and activists and member of the Common Weal board, to discuss the central importance of women's activism to the Red Clydeside era of political radicalisation in Scotland a hundred years ago.
They discuss:
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1:22 What was the intellectual and social movement context to the rise of women's activism in Red Clydeside?
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9:42 How did the rent strikes emerge from the period of 'social peace' which accompanied the beginning of WW1?
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19:55 Following victory in 1915, how did the leaders and activists of the rent strike feed into the deepening ideological radicalisation on the Clyde?
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32: 00 What can we learn from the Red Clydeside women today?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Iain Macwhirter, Herald columnist and author, to discuss the history of the Scottish independence movement, the seminal role played in it by Alex Salmond and the future of that movement in the crisis of the British state.
Among other things they discuss:
1:33 - What was the state of Scottish nationalism when Alex Salmond became SNP leader in 1990?
9:37 - Did Salmond's gradualist strategy really end in 2012 - was the Scottish independence referendum intentional?
13:46 - Salmond created a highly centralised leadership structure. What are the consequnces for the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon?
19:26 - Does the SNP today have a leadership equip with the kind of populist sensibility necessary to push for a rupture with the British establishment?
Fossil Free Now follows the campaign of Fossil Free Glasgow, a group of volunteers organising for the Glasgow City Council to renounce its investments in the fossil fuel industry.
In this episode, the group discuss the institution of work in our modern societies, and how it is tied in with the climate crisis. Being disillusioned by the prospect of working within a system that is accelerating ecological collapse, we discuss how some of us have taken the leap to quit our jobs and look elsewhere for ways to meaningfully engage with the world we are being thrown into.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by CommonSpace editor Ben Wray to discuss the week when the British establishment went to war with democracy - propping a PM with no legitimacy and scorning the idea of popular sovereignty.
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1:22 Why May's defeat was so massive and how its reception by politicians and the press has been bizarre.
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13:10 What was May trying to achieve with her meetings with party leaders if she refuses to budge on anything?
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20:00 This week we found out a People's Vote is less likely than
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28:15 Why we are witnessing an attack on democracy in Britain, from Scottish to Westminster.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Scottish socialist activist Jonathon Shafi to discuss the proliferation of claims of Russian and other foreign power influence over the chaos of UK and Western politics.
They discuss:
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2:24 What argument does the idea of Russian intervention in Western affairs provide defenders of the status quo?
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5:37 What is the "anti-sociological turn" in contemporary political analysis in the West?
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14:58 Why Scottish independence supporters should reject claims of Russian influence.
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26:37 Why opposition to UK and Western foreign policy matters so much in a Scottish context.
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray speaks to technology writer and engineer Craig Berry about his new report for Common Weal on automation, Disruptive Technologies: The Impact on Workers in Scotland.
The report proposes a new investment-led model for the Scottish economy so that workers gain from the fourth industrial revolution and the risk of mass unemployment is averted.
Questions discussed in the podcast include:
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What is the fourth industrial revolution and what stage is it at?
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What’s the difference between the technological revolution we are entering and ones in the past?
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What changes do we need to make to Scotland’s economic model to be prepared for the fourth industrial revolution?
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Does the Growth Commission report on the economics of independence prepare an independent Scotland for automation?
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Is the Universal Basic Income, a Job Guarantee Scheme, or both, the best approach to social security in the age of automation?
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How does education have to change so that Scottish workers have the skills for the fourth industrial revolution?
To read the full report click here: http://www.allofusfirst.org/library/disruptive-technologies-the-impact-on-workers-in-scotland/
As part of CommonSpace's week of coverage on the modern mental health crisis, we spoke to Darren 'Loki' McGarvey about men, masculinity and mental ill-health.
This podcast should be listened to alongside the main feature article: https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/13686/how-do-we-make-next-generation-men-better-masculinity-and-mental-health
In the podcast, McGarvey discusses:
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1:24 What's wrong with some mainstream attempts to deal with the issue of men's mental health?
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6:37 What are the limitations in understanding men's mental health from the point of view of a psychological as opposed sociological standpoint?
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15:03 Is men establishing their own moral hierarchy an appropriate response to the destructive impact of some masculine behaviour on society?
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19:55 Does Scottish society host a serious conversation about male suicide.
Please support CommonSpace's ability to produce more podcasts like this by supporting us here: http://allofusfirst.org/donate/
Picture: Steven Reynolds
If you are going through mental health issues of your own and want to talk to someone, Mind offers this guide to helplines and mental health listening services - https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services#.XBj0Z2j7TIU
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by CommonSpace editor Ben Wray and CommonSpace multimedia journalist Rhiannon J Davies to review 2018 in tumultuous global politics and public affairs.
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1:12 - Why the general picture of the world in 2018 is a confirmation of those tendencies which caused panic in 2016 - the collapse of the political centre and polarisation.
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22:08 - Why the Growth Commission is going to become a big issue for the independence movement in 2019.
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35:20 Why Extinction Rebellion, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Yellow Vests are all reasons to be cheerful at the end of 2018.
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45:10 How CommonSpace has changed in 2018 and what we want to do in 2019.
Please help us produce more podcasts, videos and articles putting across the news and views the mainstream media won't by donating to CommonSpace here: http://allofusfirst.org/donate/
Fossil Free Now follows the campaign of Fossil Free Glasgow, a group of volunteers organising for the Glasgow City council to renounce to its investments in the fossil fuel industry. This podcast series will discuss the blocks in our current systems that prevent us from meaningfully addressing the threat of climate breakdown, but also what a society freed from fossil fuels would look like.
This episode, discusses how setting up ground rules and a clear framework for organising has made the group more resilient and work more effectively. The group introduces the tools they use to make their meetings more inclusive, and talk about how fostering an egalitarian culture through the conscious establishment of group rules can contribute to challenging hierarchical structures.
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray speaks to Craig Dalzell, head of policy & research at the Common Weal think-tank, about their new report with research & design collective Lateral North, 'Back to Life: Visions of Alternative Futures for Scotland's Grouse Moors'.
The report challenges the case made by the landed gentry lobby that grouse moors are economically beneficial to Scotland's economy, instead contrasting the gross value added and jobs created in grouse moors to other land uses such as forestry, renewables agriculture, housing and sustainable tourism.
Wray and Dalzell discuss:
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How much of Scotland is taken up by Grouse Moors?
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Are the economic alternatives to shooting estates really viable?
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How can land use and ownership be challenged to make it work for the common good?
To find out more about the report, click here: https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/13650/back-life-visions-alternative-futures-scotlands-grouse-moors
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Chris Silver, Scottish writer who is working with DesmogUK to produce a survey of Scottish attitudes to climate change and 'Just Transition' - the idea that the move to sustainable economy and society must not hurt ordinary people.
Among other things they discuss:
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1:14 What is a 'Just Transition' and how does it relate to Scotland's economy and society?
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8:27 Many Scots are rightly annoyed that the discovery of natural resources in Scotland wasn't used to the people's benefit - but is this the norm for energy production and use under capitalism?
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21:40 Why Grangemouth and Jim Ratcliff represent the power of the energy industry over Scotland.
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28:30 What do the 'Yellow Vests' movement in France tell us about the nature of class conflict under the pressure of climate crisis?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
THIS week, Jamieson is joined by Adam Ramsay, editor at Open Democracy and one of a small group of journalists who have investigated the 'dark money' scandal, of covert funding for rightwing politics in the UK.
Among other things they discuss:
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1:00 What is the dark money scandal, and how did Ramsay first come across it?
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8:15 Who are the different factions of the British right, and how did they develop over time?
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29:45 How should the British left orientate on the crisis in the ruling class, especially regarding Brexit?
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15:39 Is a second referendum on EU membership a threat to future left advance, and specifically Scottish independence?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
This week, Jamieson is joined by James Foley co-author of 'Yes: The radical case for independence' and the article 'In Fear of Populism: Referendums and Neoliberal Democracy' in the journal Socialist Register, to discuss referendums, populism and anti-populism as Britain and Europe are gripped by political crisis.
They discuss: - 1:28 What does the Scottish independence referendum era tell us about the nature of referendums, populism and political changes in recent years?
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12:52 How did the Elite/populist dynamic establish itself in the Scottish referendum campaign, and why has this model re-appeared in subsequent referendums and elections?
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26:41 How the Scottish independence referendum outcome taught the Tory leadership the wrong lessons and led them on to losing the EU referendum.
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37:35 The Guardian's special week of coverage on 'populism' would imply that nothing has been understood about the current political situation in the 'centre' of politics.
Fossil Free Now follows the campaign of Fossil Free Glasgow, a group of volunteers organising for the Glasgow City council to renounce to its investments in the fossil fuel industry. This podcast series will discuss the blocks in our current systems that prevent us from meaningfully addressing the threat of climate breakdown, but also what a society freed from fossil fuels would look like.
This Episode looks at the new IPCC report, breaking down the newest climate science into real discussion, feelings and actions.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
On this episode Jamieson speaks with Jonathon Shafi, a Scottish socialist activist, about the crisis exploding around Theresa May's withdrawal deal with the EU, which has seen yet more senior ministers resign.
They discuss:
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1:10 What does the latest crisis, and the deal itself, tell about the nature of Brexit?
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8:55 Should it be the end of the line for the left's involvement in the so called 'People's Vote'?
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20:32 What have the various response to the meltdown over the deal been from opposition parties? Are they an effective response.
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33:34 What are the next steps for the left in response to the crisis?
Fossil Free Now follows the campaign of Fossil Free Glasgow, a group of volunteers organising for the Glasgow City council to renounce to its investments in the fossil fuel industry. This podcast series will discuss the blocks in our current systems that prevent us from meaningfully addressing the threat of climate breakdown, but also what a society freed from fossil fuels would look like.
This episode introduces the Fossil Free Glasgow campaign, the obstacles that the group has come across during three years of pressuring the Glasgow City Council to divest £803 million from fossil fuels, and what they hope to achieve with the launch of this new podcast.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
On this episode Jamieson speaks with Henry Bell, author of the new biography 'John Maclean: Hero of Red Clydeside' about the great Scottish revolutionary and his opposition to the first world war, which ended a hundred years ago.
They discuss:
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1:10 Why did Maclean oppose the war, and why did this mark him out among the socialist movement of his day.
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5:09 How did Maclean make a name for himself as a leading socialist in Scotland?
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17:18 Why was the Glasgow of Maclean's day so important for world developments.
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25:58 Does Maclean become a Scottish nationalist after the war? What exactly is his orientation on the question of Scottish independence?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
On this episode Jamieson speaks with Jonathon Shafi, a Scottish socialist activist who spent the week in Brazil with activists resisting the rise of the far right President elect Jair Bolsonaro.
Among other things they discuss:
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33:00 Who is Brazil's President elect, what is the nature of his political movement?
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12:06 How did Brazil go from the international poster boy for 21st century capitalism to the rise of the far right?
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14:44 How did the rich help Bolsonaro into power.
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17:50 What is the relationship between US foreign policy, the neoliberal form of capitalism and the rise of this new far right?
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray speaks to Common Weal head of policy & research Dr Craig Dalzell about the think-tank's new paper on restructuring local democracy titled 'Development Councils - A Proposal For A New System Of Local Democracy In Scotland'.
Issues discussed include:
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Why should we care about local democracy?
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Could a volunteer based system of community level democracy be skewed towards older, higher income demographics?
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How would community level democracy based on an 'as and when' system of responsibilities work with local councils?
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How does this proposal compare to systems of community level democracy in Europe?
To read the full report click here: http://allofusfirst.org/tasks/render/file/?fileID=C7E9660B-B34A-EBA0-4C3A0800865E203B
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson speaks with Glasgow organiser for the Living Rent Scottish tenants union about the housing crisis, organisational strategies and class politics in Scotland today.
Among a broad range of issues they discuss:
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1:06 What is the housing crisis, how bad is it, and what is the union doing in response?
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7:07 How much of Scotland's new tenants union's work has involved enforcing existing housing law to the benefit of members, and how the state has sought to protect the law breakers.
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24:11 What is the relationship between mass street movements, of which there are many, and 'deep organising'.
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37:20 Have changes in British capitalism made housing a major focus of class politics today?
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray spoke to Scottish Greens co-convenor and Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie ahead of the party’s annual conference on 20-21 October.
Patrick and Ben discussed:
0:20 What is the Scottish Greens vision to meet the 1.5C degrees limit which the IPCC say is needed to stop catastrophic climate change?
06:47 Is there a role for regulatory changes to reduce carbon intensive consumption habits?
09:30 Is the EU single market not an impediment to a zero carbon, decentralized model for the economy?
12:08 What are the Scottish Greens red lines for local tax reform?
18:05 Patrick’s views on the strategic ambitions for the Scottish Greens in coming years.
21:07 Would the Scottish Greens prefer a People’s Vote on staying in the EU or a Scottish independence referendum?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson speaks with workers about the forthcoming strike by Glasgow City Council (GCC) women workers for equal pay.
More than 8000 women are expected to strike across GCC services on 23 and 24 October.
Among other things, the trade unionists discuss:
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1:06 What is the strike about, and why are so many women workers engaged?
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4:10 How do the strikers answer the accusation that service users will be negatively affected by the action?
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7:37 What are arms lengths companies, and how have they undermined both services and workers' rights?
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12:01 How much of this is about the demand for dignity for the labour women perform? Are we now seeing a global women's industrial movement?
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15:50 Why strike over other forms of protest or dissent? Why is the strike tool useful?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson discusses the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change report with Scottish Greens co-convener Maggie Chapman.
The report, launched earlier this week, makes dire warnings about the need for rapid change to reduce carbon emissions and stave of climate catastrophe.
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1:44 What does the IPCC report say, and why are its conclusions so worrying?
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12: 18 Why isn't climate change being addressed by corporations and powerful states - is climate catastrophe the product of human vices or of a global system?
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14:00 What would and adequate response to climate change look like?
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23:13 Are Green parties the solution to climate change?
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31:50 What are the forces kicking back against attempts to stop climate change, and what are their motivations?
This podcast brings together reaction and analysis from the SNP's annual conference, which concluded on 9 October.
The podcast includes:
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Journalist David Thomson gets all the reaction from SNP delegates after SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon's speech (0:50)
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CommonSpace editor Ben Wray speaks to former Glasgow North-East MP Anne McLaughlin and Glasgow South-West MP Chris Stephens about the First Minister's conference-closing address (3:26)
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Wray and CommonSpace reporter David Jamieson give their analysis of SNP conference and what it means going forward (20:43)
To get all of CommonSpace's podcasts follow our SoundCloud page, and to support our work visit allofusfirst.org/donate.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson discusses the forthcoming SNP conference and the challenges faced by party strategists with SNP Cllr Graham Campbell.
How thoroughly the party be able to debate the Growth Commission, has the Brexit process become an impediment to independence, and how does the SNP deal with an increasingly reticent Westminster on the issue of a future referendum?
Tune in to hear them discuss:
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00:45 Why the SNP conference still isn't treated as the UK third party conference.
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10:21 How will the party come to an agreement on what economic policy to pursue after the Growth Commission, and isn't it now out of date after Labour and Tory conferences?
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17:01 What is the relationship between Brexit and independence strategy, has it been misjudged by the SNP leadership?
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29:15 With Labour and Tory conferences both affirming they will block a future referendum on Scottish independence for the next parliament, how does the SNP secure independence?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson and Jonathon Shafi, a Scottish socialist activists who attended the Liverpool Labour conference, discuss the struggle between different party factions and Scottish Labour's mounting difficulties after its calamitous performance.
They discuss:
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4:55 Why the failure to seriously upgrade Labour party democracy could hurt Corbyn.
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8:09 What are the dynamics behind the calls for a second vote on the EU from some elements of the party?
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14:49 What was Scottish Labour trying to achieve at this conference, how did they end up at loggerheads with Corbyn, and why their reorientation is likely to further damage the party north of the Border.
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23:23 The differences between Leonard's politics and Corbynism in the UK party.
In a special podcast CommonSpace speaks with international activists about why Scotland has become the front line in the global struggle against nuclear weapons
To mark the international protest against Nuclear weapons (Sat 22 September) at Faslane in Scotland, CommonSpace speaks to leading anti-Nuclear weapons activists from around the world, who will be addressing the historic protest.
Activists from the US, Israel and Russia discuss:
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Why Scotland has become the front line in the fight against nuclear weapons.
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How the anti-nuclear weapons movement can get around the constitutional barriers to the removal of Trident from Scotland.
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How to deescalate military tensions between Russia and the West through international solidarity.
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Tactics to win the struggle against Trident in the UK
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson discusses the UK Labour conference with Scottish Labour Glasgow West candidate and Councillor Matt Kerr. Beginning with the key battles faced by the left at the Liverpool conference, they discuss the party's democracy review and the idea of a second vote on leaving the EU.
They then debate some of the problem's facing Labour in Scotland and whether the Corbyn project can improve its position north of the border.
Among other things they discuss:
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3:30 Attempts to democratise the party through reselecting MP candidate for elections.
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13:00 Whether the party conference will vote for a second vote on leaving the EU and what the consequences might be for Britain and Scotland.
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22:22 Does Corbyn's project really place many hopes in winning back Scotland, or are its sights set elsewhere.
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28:01 Does Labour understand the process by which it shed so much support in Scotland?
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35:14 Is Richard Leonard really up to the task of rebuilding Labour's fortunes in Scotland?
In this CommonSpace podcast, CS editor Ben Wray interviews James McEnaney, education journalist and college lecturer about his soon-to-be published book A Scottish Journey: Personal Impressions of Scotland. The book is a record of James' trip on his motorbike around Scotland earlier this year, shining a light on communities often ignored.
This podcast discusses:
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Why James had always wanted to write this book, after reading Poet Edwin Muir's Scottish Journey (pictured) (3:30)
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The political alienation and marginalisation much of Scotland feels, including through a lack of genuine local democracy (8:00)
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What the dividing lines of modern Scotland and how has the country changed (13:56)
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How James' Scottish Journey has informed his views on what policy changes Scotland needs and on Scottish independence (27:04)
The book will be launched on Monday 24 September in Waterstones, Byres Road, Glasgow. More details can be found on the Luath Press website.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson discusses the Swedish elections and the battle for Europe between the far right and the left in the context of the collapse of the centre.
With racist movements on the march across Europe, what can the history of the Swedish Labour movement teach us about a radical economic alternative, and what are the prospects for those alternatives in Scotland and across the UK?
Jamieson discusses:
1:41 - While the far right's advance in Sweden was more partial than many observers predicted, it shows the Nordic countries are far from immune to the general contagion. The major dynamic is a political polarisation that the left must intervene in.
9:24 - What is the Nordic model, and what are the main misunderstandings about it outside the Nordic countries?
14:17 - How the 'Nordic Model' emerged through class conflict and strong working class self organisation, rather than being intrinsic to Nordic society.
20:04 - How should we recieve John McDonnell's plans to challenge the ownership model of the UK economy, and what was the Meidner plan?
28:04 - Why economic radicalism is necessary to confront the far right on a European scale.
As part of a special week of coverage of the 2008 banking crisis, reporter David Jamieson speaks with economics editor at Open Democracy Laurie Macfarlane, who recently worked on the Scottish Government's Scottish National Investment Bank implementation plan with Marriana Mazzucato, about the SNP Growth Commission and its failure to learn lessons from the crash.
Do the economics of the Growth Commission take account of the banking crash, the Eurozone crisis or the need for a Scottish economy to become more balanced?
As part of a special week of coverage on the 2008 financial crisis, CommonSpace reporter David Jamieson speaks to Open Democracy economics editor Laurie Macfarlane about the legacy of the crisis and the economic prospectus of an independent Scotland.
Macfarlane discusses:
1:44 - How the UK economic model represented the epitomy of the unstable financialisation that finally collapsed in 2008.
6:58 - Why the Growth Commission recomends and even stricter fiscal policy than the UK.
15:23 - How the Growth Commission fails to adopt banking regulations that can stop the speculative practices that drove the crisis.
20:10 - Why economies without control over their own currencies cannot protect themselves in a crisis.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
IN THIS episode, Jamieson discusses the mounting strategic hurdles faced by Nicola Sturgeon in the week she announced her Programme for Government.
He argues that Sturgeon has to take the initiatives to avoid being engulfed by a sea of troubles.
Key issues Jamieson explores in the podcast include:
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3:03 What wasn't in the Programme for Government, and what that tells us about the problems facing the Scotish Government.
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13:30 How Scotland's weak political opposition has helped to create a policy vacuum.
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20:45 What orientation the SNP have taken on Brexit, and why a mainstream remain position represents drift from independence strategy.
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27:12 Why Sturgeon mustn't wait for chaotic Brexit developments to unfold, but take bold independent action.
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38:17 Why the allegations against Alex Salmond, and subsequent legal action won't lead to an SNP civil war, but will add to existing problems and tensions.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a new weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
In this episode, Jamieson looks at the crisis and decline of the media in Scotland and the UK on the weekend of the Sunday Herald's last edition.
He discusses what could be the an "existential" threat to major media institutions, and how they can be addressed by as part of a demand for "democratic reform" in British society.
Key issues Jamieson explores in the podcast are:
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The ways in which corporate control is running-down media institutions.
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Why technological change alone cannot explain the crisis in media forms.
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How the media fails to represent major political tendencies and social movements in society.
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Why the Scottish media is in a particularly bad state.
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The impact of the elite background of many senior media workers.
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Which reforms are necessary to create a vibrant, democratic media landscape.
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a new weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus to the heart of the big political issues, finding the substance behind the headlines.
In his second podcast, Jamieson is joined by Scottish leftwing activists and writer Jonathon Shafi, who has written and spoken widely on Brexit and its meaning for Scottish and UK politics and society.
Jamieson and Shafi discuss get behind the day to day controversies around of deadlines and deals and ask what Brexit means, and what an effective response to this juncture in British society looks like.
Key issues Jamieson and Shafi explore in the podcast are:
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How Brexit represents the weakness of the right rather than it's strength.
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Why the project of the political centre won't be revived by resisting Brexit.
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Why the EU isn't what the right or the centre left think it is.
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How the left can create an effective internationalism not based on institutions like the EU and UK.
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How the SNP leadership misunderstood Brexit and how to intervene in the British crisis.
CommonSpace journalist Caitlin Logan sits down with Scottish Women's Rights Centre solicitor Sarah Crawford, clinical psychologist and domestic abuse expert Dr Mairead Tagg, and SNP councillor Julie McKenzie who was the victim in two domestic abuse cases which saw her former partner convicted.
We ask, is the Scottish justice system working for suvivors of domestic abuse, and what can happen to ensure it does?
Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a new weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 outrage-driven social media news circus and gets to heart of issues, trying to finding the substance behind the headlines.
In this first episode, Jamieson looks at Labour's anti-Semitism crisis, which has hit its apex this week with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's intervention.
Jamieson explains why he considers the claims to be "nonsense" and "mainly just wrong", a smear campaign which has morphed and mutated to the point of absurd claims about Jeremy Corbyn "without any reference to evidence".
Key issues Jamieson explores in the podcast are:
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How 'the smear campaign' has become increasingly unhinged and blatantly anti-Palestinian, including Margaret Hodge's latest comments on Sky News.
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Netanyahu's role in this affair, including his controversial comments about the holocaust and his alliance with Hungarian ruler Viktor Orban.
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Jewish opposition to the anti-Semitism claims in Labour
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The historical development of anti-Semitism and racism in Europe on the right and the left from the early 20th century up to the present
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How the crisis has played out in Scottish politics
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The apparent inability of the Left to be able to be able to respond effectively to the crisis, and what that says about contemporary left politics
School student Doaa Shabbir published an article on CommonSpace last month questioning whether a school system based around a competitive attainment culture is really educational progress, and outlining a vision for education based on the uplifting of a whole generation. Read here: https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/12925/doaa-shabbir-if-educational-progress-not-about-uplifting-whole-generation-then-it-not
In this podcast, CommonSpace editor Ben Wray talks to Doaa, teacher Keri McGachy and college lecturer, journalist and education campaigner James McEnaney about what is school actually for, whether we value the right things and what education for the common good would look like.
Specific areas discussed include:
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Doaa's experience of the school system and her critique of it
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Examples internationally of countries that have ostensibly high levels of attainment but also high levels of stress and anxiety partly due to the competitive schooling culture.
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What does educational progress actually mean and how to achieve it
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The structural and cultural barriers in Scotland to having an education system that works for the common good.
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Attempts to close the 'attainment gap' in Scotland and whether this is the right focus with the right policies to achieve it.
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What difference could technological change such as automation make to school education.
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray spoke to Chris Bambery, co-author of newly released 'Catalonia Reborn - How Catalonia took on the corrupt Spanish State and the Legacy of Franco' with George Kerevan.
Wray and Bambery have an in-depth discussion about all things Catalan politics, including:
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Why were the leadership of the independence movement seemingly not prepared when establishing a Catalan Republic after the 1 October 2017 referendum and how does this compare with previous attempts to establish new state's, such as in Ireland?
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The relationship between the left and the independence movement in Catalonia.
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The authoritarian character of Spanish nationalism at the top of the Spanish state and its attitude towards Catalonia and the Basque Country
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The motivating factors behind Catalan and Scottish independence movements and the similarities and differences between them.
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What can be learned from the Catalan independence movement, and what could the Catalans learn from its Scottish equivalent.
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What's the future of Catalan and Spanish politics after the repression of the referendum and implementation of direct rule from Madrid
Catalonia Reborn can be purchased from Luath Press here: https://www.luath.co.uk/productsc/catalonia-reborn-gmwn9
CommonSpace reporter Sean Bell sat down with the Ferret's Layla-Roxanne Hill and OpenDemocracy UK's Adam Ramsay at the Democracy21 conference (in a cupboard) to discuss democracy, neoliberalism, representation and the future of journalism.
CommonSpace had a wideranging discussion with journalist and author of PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future Paul Mason at the Democracy21 conference in Glasgow [23 June]. Issues discussed include:
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The future of the global economy in the age of info-tech
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How the collaborative economy can challenge the tech giants
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Is the revolutionary subject the self, or the collective?
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Scottish independence, Labour and how to get progressive change across the UK
CommonSpace editor sits down with SNP MSP and Scottish Government minister Keith Brown, fresh from his election victory as the new SNP depute leader.
Economy expert Katherine Trebeck discusses her ideas for Scotland's post-growth future with the economist and former SNP MP George Kerevan and CommonSpace editor Ben Wray.
CommonSpace editor Ben Wray is joined by the journalist and former SNP MP George Kerevan, Common Weal think-tank director Robin McAlpine and economy expert Katherine Trebeck to discuss the SNP's Growth Commission report released Friday 25 May 2018
Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/user-108524024/podcast-katherine-trebeck-discusses-her-ideas-for-scotlands-post-growth-future