Explore every episode of the podcast Soft Landing
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Portes One with Professor Jonathan Portes | 14 oct. 2026 | 00:41:34 | |
A discussion with widely respected Professor Jonathan Portes, on the big areas of welfare, pensions and immigration and what the data tells us is really going on. Is welfare spending running out of control? Does immigration benefit the economy? Do the Right have a point with some of their complaints? Also: Why affordability is the wrong way of starting to look at fixing a system of distorted welfare incentives; Putting the state pension into perspective; Putting ‘small boat’ immigration into perspective; And how some legal regular migrants accidentally become irregular migrants. https://rolandmcs.substack.com/ | |||
| Liberals and Liberalism with Ian Dunt | 04 oct. 2026 | 00:58:05 | |
A session with journalist, author, blogger, podcaster and top liberal thinker Ian Dunt. Ian’s output is huge across multiple channels/media, including the i newspaper, the Origin Story podcast, Substack and other social media, and he also sometimes pops up on TV screens, especially Sky News. In a wide-ranging discussion, we delve into both liberalism as it exists today and also its sworn opponent - anti-liberal populism. Topics include: Andy Burnham; patterns of liberal and populist thinking; the need for belonging and group identities; Trump's America; and even modern men who cry at rom-coms and DIY SOS. https://rolandmcs.substack.com/ | |||
| Exception and Exceptionalism with Dr Helene von Bismarck | 02 juil. 2026 | 00:59:15 | |
Roland Smith meets German historian Dr Helene von Bismarck, author of 'Fantastic Kingdom - A Stranger’s Notes on a Contrary Country'. We discuss Helene's observations (captured in the book) of Britain from an outsider's perspective. Topics include Britain's 'Island Story', Northern Ireland, The Second World War, conventions, constitution, contradictions, and monarchy, among others. https://rolandmcs.substack.com/ | |||
| Borders and Borderism with Lewis Baston | 10 juin 2026 | 00:56:57 | |
Roland Smith meets Lewis Baston, author of 'Borderlines - A History of Europe in 29 Borders'. The discussion is all about borders and their effects on societies, identities and psychologies, covering: the Germanic/Romance linguistic divide and its related national and sub-national borders (up to about 20 mins in); Eastern Europe - the Germanic/Slavic divide and also the Russian border (up to about 40 mins in); and then the UK and its own special take on borders.... and perhaps what border psychology is doing to us... https://rolandmcs.substack.com/ | |||
| Brexit and Brexitism with Professor Chris Grey | 30 mai 2026 | 01:03:02 | |
Roland Smith meets Professor Chris Grey, author of the much acclaimed book 'Brexit Unfolded' and the equally acclaimed & respected 'Brexit & Brexitism' blog. A wide-ranging discussion on where we are with Brexit, ten years after the 2016 vote. Also: Brexitism defined; the prospects for Rejoin; future referendums; the immigration ‘debate’ and its effects; and more | |||
| Introduction | 30 avr. 2026 | 00:01:52 | |
An Introduction by Roland Smith | |||