Breaking Britain: A Podcast about the Politics of a Disunited Kingdom
Breaking Britain is a podcast produced by the Europe's Borderlands Research Group at the European and International Studies Department in King's College London. Hosted by Russell Foster and Alex Clarkson, it will explore the pressures unravelling the unity of Britain and reopening the future of the island of Ireland in a European context. In each episode we will discuss the challenges reshaping a disunited kingdom as well as a wary republic with scholars and commentators who can provide expert insight into political faultlines within the nations of Britain and the island of Ireland.
Episodes
28 episodes
The Battle for Britain: The Impact of the 2024 Election on Scotland, Wales and the British State - With David Leask
With the 4 July parliamentary election now coming closer, there are growing indications of a political shock that could reshape the United Kingdom. Over the past few weeks Scotland has emerged as a key electoral battleground, where a Scottish N...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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48:33
The Battle for Britain: The Impact of the 2024 Election on UK Foreign and Defence Policy - With Ben Jones
With elections looming on 4 July, the UK faces a turning point in its relationships with Europe and the wider world. Though there are three weeks of campaigning to go, all signs point to a substantial victory for the opposition Labour Party and...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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59:00
Power Verticals and Protests: Russia and Turkey during the Crisis of the 2010s - With Dimitar Bechev
During the 2010s the Russian state under Vladimir Putin and a Turkish government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan deepened a geopolitical relationship involving cooperation as well as armed conflict. Both leaders faced domestic political challenges ...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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51:30
Did the Crisis of the 2010s Make Brexit Inevitable? - With Annette Dittert
In the final years of the 2000s the UK and EU were rocked by seemingly endless turmoil on global financial markets. A sense of crisis over the future of the banking system and the Euro converged with a surge of support for eurosceptic populism ...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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44:40
Russia's Turn to Confrontation and the Crisis of the 2010s - With Ruth Deyermond
As the Crisis of the 2010s unfolded after the near collapse of the global financial system in 2008, relations between Russia and the West shifted from cautious cooperation to profound hostility. Yet even in the wake of the Russian military assa...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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55:52
The Sahel Wars and the Crisis of the 2010s - With Andrew Lebovich
In the wake of the near collapse of the global financial system in 2008 the post-Cold War order was upended by a convergence of crises in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Beginning our series exploring this Crisis of the 2010s, we have been ...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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55:08
Sinking Services?: Britain's Crisis of State Capacity - With Glen O'Hara
In this week's episode, we have been joined by Glen O'Hara to explore the escalating crisis facing the UK's public services. Over the past 18 months among public services from universities to healthcare the British state has been shaken by wave...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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54:50
Lavender Politics?: The Impact of LGBT Voters on British Political Debate - With Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte
This week we've been joined by Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte to explore the impact the changing social position of LGBT voters has had on British politics. As discrimination from state institutions has eased and wider social acceptance has grown, peo...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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51:39
Brexit Economics: The Old Roots of Britain's New Economic Challenges - With John Mills
This week on the Breaking Britain podcast, we examine the economic dilemmas the UK faces in an increasingly competitive global landscape. Joining us is John Mills, who as a senior figure in the world of business and author exploring the global ...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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41:31
The Politics of School Meals: Food, Community and the British Welfare State - With Heather Ellis
As inflation, the legacies of the Covid-19 pandemic and state austerity cause lasting disruption to families across the UK, the importance of school meals in providing children with regular access to healthy food has become a matter of national...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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42:46
Aftermaths: Foreign Policy and the Battle for the Soul of the British Left - With Oz Katerji
With opinion poll leads indicating that Labour under the leadership of Keir Starmer is on a path to winning the next UK elections, the period in which the party and its leadership was at war with itself seems a distant memory. Yet the deep divi...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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53:29
Strong and Stable?: The Bank of England in the Age of Brexit - With Tony Yates
This week on the Breaking Britain podcast, we examine how the UK's central bank, the Bank of England, has responded to the crises that have threatened to overwhelm Britain's institutions and economy over the past decade. Joining us is Tony Yate...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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45:19
Echoes of Empire: Geopolitics and Populism in Central and Eastern Europe - With Marcus How
This week on the Breaking Britain podcast, we take a look at some of the parallels between political populism in the UK and states in Central and Eastern Europe. Joining us is
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1:00:56
New Turkey, Old Problems: Managing Crisis in Turkey and Europe - With Selim Koru
This third series of the Breaking Britain Podcast will take a closer look at how the strategic challenges facing the UK interact with crisis and change around the European Union and its neighborhood. This week, we've invited Selim Koru to...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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46:46
Russian Riddles: The Future of Russia's Relationship with the US, EU and UK with Anton Barbashin
In November 2021, defence analysts began to notice a worrying build-up of Russian troops around Ukraine's borders. In the months that followed, this surge of troops has fuelled concerns that a Russian military invasion of Ukraine could be immin...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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39:39
So Close, Yet So Far Away: The Netherlands, Brexit and Europe's Future - With Caroline de Gruyter
In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum that led to the UK's departure from the EU, many observers assumed that the Netherlands would be the next state most likely to seek a political rupture with its European allies and partners. L...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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50:09
The Law and the Rules: Poland and the UK in the Age of Populism
The past decade has witnessed growing controversy surrounding the erosion of the rule of law in and outside the European Union. In Hungary, Serbia, Turkey and other European states the concentration of power in the hands of the executive at the...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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59:00
A Baffled Friend: EU-UK Relations from the Czech Perspective - with Monika Brusenbauch Meislová
A year after the UK withdrew from the structures of the European Single Market, the effects of Brexit are beginning to be felt. While the COVID19 pandemic and debates about the future of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to overshad...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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46:50
How Global is Britain?: The British State's Quest to Reset Relations with the Wider World - with Toni Haastrup
In the wake of its departure from the EU and its growing internal tensions, the UK's relationship with the wider world is undergoing a process of
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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48:59
The Endless Campaign: Scotland after the May 6 Elections - With David Leask
After months of campaigning, voters in Scotland, Wales and parts of England went to the polls on 6 May 2021. While local elections and a byelection signalled that the Conservative Party is still dominant in England, strong results for the Scott...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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47:18
The Quest for Global Britain: Military Identity and National Unity in a Competitive Age - with Matthew Ford
For the past half decade, British political parties and state institutions have struggled to formulate a new geopolitical role for the United Kingdom. Faced with the twin challenges of departure from the European Union and internal pressu...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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1:04:45
Global Strategy Amidst Uncertain Unity: The Crisis of the British State in Geopolitical Context - With Bleddyn Bowen
In March 2021, the UK government released an integrated review of foreign and ...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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56:59
Towards A More Relaxed Union?: Britishness in a Changing World with Alex Massie
This week the Breaking Britain Podcast looks at how Unionism as a political identity and Britishness as a cultural identity have been affected by the growing pressures on the unity of the United Kingdom. Though independence movements have grown...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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53:19
The Wary Republic: Ireland and the Crisis of the UK Union with Naomi O'Leary
This week, the Breaking Britain Podcast will explore the often fraught relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Over the past century interactions between both states have suffered from tensions over issues of territ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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49:30
The Citizen State: Identity and Power in Welsh Politics - With Roger Awan-Scully
In this episode, recorded on 8 February 2021, we explore how tensions over the unity of the British state have affected debates over power and identity in Welsh society. With its own legislature, language and party landscape, Wales has evolved ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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41:10