The Violet Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jerome Singh, Paul Moroz
Welcome to The Violet, a current affairs podcast for anyone interested in Politics, Economics, History and the Social Sciences. As teachers, we've always been passionate about helping our students understand fundamental theories in the social sciences that explain what's going on in our world. We wanted to open up our classrooms to anyone and everyone who wants to know more about the theory behind the news, presented in a clear, balanced, and insightful manner. New episodes are uploaded fortnightly on Saturdays.
In the latest episode, we discuss what economic institutions are, their importance in determining incomes, and the impact of migration on institutions in developing countries.
The latest episode covers some recent Afghan history to explain how we arrived at the current humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan.
In this episode, we address a flurry of listeners' questions relating to the current Cuban protests, and ask why Cuba continues to be a topic for conspiratorial thinking about international affairs.
In this episode, we continue our discussion of the "Culture Wars", looking at how immigration, and an increasing prevalence of Islam, are changing British culture.
The Violet explains what "The Culture Wars" are, in the first of a series of episodes on the topic. This week, we discuss statues of controversial historical figures, museum exhibits of foreign artefacts, and the England men's football team's pre-match kneeling ritual.
This week, we discuss the rather abstract political concept of tolerance, why it is so important to all societies, and how it should be upheld.
In this week's episode, we discuss the arguments for and against a policy that many listeners in the UK will think of as anachronistic, but is still a relevant issue around the world and which may become a big ideological divide in the future.
This week we discuss one of the major political issues of the modern day: the economic and cultural impacts of immigration, in the specific context of the UK.
In Part Two of our first two-part episode, we discuss the lessons we can draw from Part One's history, as well as the many unhelpful ways that the conflict is commonly framed.
For the first time, we've split one of our discussion topics across two episodes. In Part One, we lay out the history of 'the Holy Land'.
In this week's episode, we discuss some of the wackiest and most dangerous falsehoods and conspiracy theories that we've come across, and the difficulties of policing lies on the internet.
In this week's episode, we discuss the dangers of nationalist government in the context of India's ruling party.
In this week's episode, we discuss the tension between freedom of religion and freedom of sexuality.
In this week's episode, we discuss how popular conceptions of military intervention are often unhelpful, and how we can improve the discourse.
In this week's episode, we discuss why democracy is so important, whoever and wherever you are.
In this week's episode, we use the events at Batley Grammar School in the North of England to discuss blasphemy, and limits on free speech.
In this week's episode, we evaluate whether there are any benefits to Britain's continuing status as a constitutional monarchy.
In this week's episode, we discuss the basic theory of government debt, and why it's not as much of a problem as many people believe.
In this week's episode, we address the broader issue of gender-based and sexual violence in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard.
In this week's episode, we dig our teeth into the unhappy case of Shamima Begum, and the alarming precedent her case sets for the meaning of British citizenship.
In this week's episode, we scratch the surface of a big topic, and discuss some common misconceptions about climate change.
In this week's episode, we discuss the history of vaccinations, why they are so powerful, and why they remain controversial.
In this week's episode, we discuss the military coup in Myanmar, and the lessons we can learn from the career of the ousted State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi.
In the first episode of The Violet, we discuss the diplomatic stand-off between Britain and China over Hong Kong, as well as a potted history of the territory, and a brief exploration of the nation-building process.