On this week’s episode, Angus Hanton, author of Vassal State: How America Runs Britain, explains why his book emerged from one simple question: “How much of the UK is controlled by the Americans?”

In seeking the answer, he uncovers shocking numbers that reveal the extent to which American capital, corporations, and influence permeate the UK economy and society. Remarkably, Hanton’s analysis anticipated the risks of a Trump presidency—making his warnings more urgent and relevant than ever considering recent events.

We ask why does the British government seem unconcerned about who owns British industry? How was the British “national jumble sale” allowed to happen? While Americans may act like lions, Hanton insists the real question is how Britain, as the zookeeper, has allowed this situation to develop. His recommendations? There are three key actions needed to take back control.

And what about the media? Is the BBC playing its proper role, or does it appear to lean too heavily toward an Atlanticist perspective?

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

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Katherine Stewart is the investigative journalist who’s spent twenty years following the money, myths, and masterminds behind America’s new right — from Bible Belt Sunday schools to Silicon Valley boardrooms and shadowy donor networks that span continents. Her new book, Money, Lies and God, exposes the billionaires, strategists, and true believers who, she argues, are reshaping not just America, but democracy itself.

We talk about the rise of Christian nationalism — how “Caesar” Trump, “an imperfect ruler that God chose to enact his will,” ended up crowned by what Katherine calls “the angriest group of winners I’ve ever seen.” How did they pull it off?

What did “billions of dollars” capture? What was the master plan? What three things did Trump promise “over 1,000 pastors in New York City”? Why the push to target “children aged 4 to 14” - and what’s behind the “persecution narrative”?

We also peer into the mindset of the wealthy funders — those who, feeling they don’t quite deserve their fortunes still justify “squelching the voices of their critics.”

Is this all just an American phenomenon? What is a $1.6 billion trust funding here in the UK?

And, finally — we talk fashion. Fancy a T-shirt with guns saying I’m going RINO hunting? But we’re not talking about the horned variety.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

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Sir Martin Sorrell is the man who turned a plastics shell company, WPP, into the world’s biggest ad and marketing empire, snapping up the old Mad Men giants of Madison Avenue. By the time he left WPP in 2018, it was the world sector leader.

Transformed by the internet, is this now the “golden age” of a “trillion-dollar” advertising industry? Are the “nation state”-sized big tech companies to be regulated — and should we be more relaxed about them? After all are they just our modern-day equivalents of the Beaverbrooks and Murdochs?

And what of politics — which executive order was Martin “flummoxed by”? Are there signs of a successful midterm for Trump — and with democracy sliding, is a Trump dynasty emerging?

As AI and technology reshape everything, transforming labour markets and creating significant social disruption, Martin dissects how the world is fragmenting into a slow-growth environment — and which country he thinks is in “deep doo-doo”. What can be done? Is there scope for a Sorrell Foundation?

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gina Miller, the financial whiz and legal warrior who took on Brexit's biggest beasts. From challenging May and Johnson in court to facing death threats as a woman of colour, Miller unpacks the messy world of populist politics, tech bros, and the rise of snake oil salesmen.

"What I'm going to say may sound very odd..." — and indeed it does. Gina calls for the return of one of those very 'snake oil salesmen'. She shares her frustrations of the Brexit campaign — "they just kept telling me I was overreacting" — the shocking personal abuse she endured from her cancer ward bed, as recently as a few months ago, and her journey from City activist to Cambridge Chancellor candidate.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Peter York’s Culture Wars House Party. This episode, I’m joined by Matthew d’Ancona—former Spectator editor, Guardian columnist, and early prophet of the post-truth age. He left The Spectator, as he puts it, “when the world was falling apart,” and when “politics suddenly became downstream from culture.”

We trace his career—and his defence of identity politics, along with the “big fat message” he believes liberalism needs to hear.

Then there’s the “dark, dark stuff”: mass deportation as blunt-force politics, culture wars by design, and the question hanging over the media—has it already crossed the line from reticence to irresponsibility? Should words like fascist be in the BBC’s vocabulary?

What happens to political parties when the pendulum no longer swings back? Matthew has thoughts – and a few warnings.

And finally—we learn what he’d rather have been than a journalist.

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last Friday, I was joined by Carole Cadwalladr—former Guardian journalist and, depending on who you ask, either a democratic heroine or the original “mad cat lady.” From exposing Cambridge Analytica and the Mercers to taking on Brexit, big tech, and Aaron Banks personally, Carole’s journalism has shaped how we think about power, influence, and the quiet dismantling of democracy through data.

We discuss the Observer’s recent change in ownership—who now owns it, and has it drifted to the right? Is the line between editorial and commercial content now too blurred?

Carole calls the government’s proposed changes to UK press ownership laws “shocking” and “baffling.” She questions whether the BBC and the political class are now in thrall to Silicon Valley’s influence, whose interests seem increasingly aligned with the authoritarian Trump agenda.

And finally: what do you wear to a TED Talk when, after your last appearance, you were branded a conspiracy theorist, sued for libel, and trolled by Andrew Neil?

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Peter York’s Culture Wars House Party. This episode, I’m joined by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown—journalist, author, and broadcaster. Her journey from Uganda to Oxford, and into journalism in her 30s, has shaped one of the most distinctive and provocative voices in British media.

We explore why Yasmin says she’s moved further to the left over time, and how she sees the media playing a “double game”—deplatforming some voices while elevating others. She lifts the lid on what she calls “hive mind” journalism and explains why debate is narrowing, not widening.

Yes, Yasmin once wrote weekly for Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail—really. Now she’s calling out the BBC for weaponising “so-called impartiality,” questioning its coverage of Gaza, and defending her tweet: “Israel is a terrorist state.”

We dive into identity politics, and how the trans debate has become a moral litmus test: “If you’re on their side, you’re good and acceptable. If not, you’re dangerously woke—and apparently a threat to the nation.”

She also takes aim at the modern Conservative Party—now run, she says, by “ideologues” and “thugs”—and their sudden embrace of Ugandan Asians: “You didn’t love us—now you do, because so many of us are rich, and they fund you.”

And finally, does Yasmin’s wardrobe bring down the tone?

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Peter York's Culture Wars House Party. In this episode, I’m joined by Dylan Jones—a defining figure in British media. He spent over two decades editing GQ and later ran the London Evening Standard, helping shape the national conversation around style, politics, and culture.

From ‘literally no experience, and couldn’t actually write very well’, we trace Dylan’s journey from art school maverick to media powerhouse. Expect career advice—why “we’re not looking for people with great ideas”—and sharp anecdotes: why he hired Alastair Campbell and Piers Morgan, threw Russell Brand out of his own awards ceremony, and photographed Melania Trump “like an evil Bond girl, scantily clad with lots of hardware.”

In a world of partisan noise, how does Dylan stay “slightly removed” from culture wars? And how is culture evolving now that “a lot of the big players in those worlds removed themselves”? What’s filled the vacuum? And is New York too parochial?

Plus: is the suede loafer from Jermyn Street under threat from a chisel-toe slip-on creeping in from another part of the capital?

“I went up to him afterwards, before I led him to the door, and said: ‘This is a pact. We're doing something for you. You do something for us. In what part of our agreement is it a good idea to slag off our sponsor?’”

Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.

@peteryork.bsky.social

LinkedIn: Peter York's Culture Wars House Party podcast

Good Egg Productions

https://goodeggproductions.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.