Palantir has acquired key UK government contracts, promising to make government more effective. But Peter Thiel’s controversial company has also worked with the US government and ICE on deportations and with Israel’s military during its war on Gaza. This week, investigative journalist Mark Wilding joins Ellen to explain how the tech giant has become embedded in the British state—and what it might mean for us in future.

In the latest issue of Prospect, Mark traces how Palantir seized a moment of opportunity in the Covid-19 pandemic to get its “foot in the door” and multimillion-pound government contracts, culminating in its takeover of the Federated Data Platform—the new data backbone of the NHS. But what happens when a private tech corporation becomes essential national infrastructure?

Mark also explains why even Palantir didn’t want to be associated with Labour’s plans for digital ID.

Plus, Ellen and Alona discuss “Christmas creep”: banger or dud?

To read Mark’s investigation ‘How Palantir infiltrated the state’, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/democracy/government/71511/how-palantir-infiltrated-the-state

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

In a world of unpredictable strongman leaders, do nuclear weapons keep us safe or make us more vulnerable? This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Serhii Plokhy, historian and author of The Nuclear Age, to discuss the threat of nuclear conflict.

From Putin’s war in Ukraine to China’s expanding arsenal and new nuclear “threshold” states, Serhii discusses whether governments still hold to the idea of mutually assured destruction. He explains the role of fear in the origins of the nuclear bomb—and the importance of anti-nuclear civic action.

Plus, Ellen and Alona discuss “scream clubs”: banger or dud?

‘The Nuclear Age: An Epic Race for Arms, Power, and Survival’ is available now. To read Prospect’s review, click here.

You can listen to Serhii’s previous appearance on the Prospect Podcast here.

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

How should the left resist fascism?

This week, Prospect’s Ben Clark speaks to Yanis Varoufakis, economist and Greece’s former finance minister, whose most recent book is Raise Your Soul: A Personal History of Resistance.

Yanis reflects on writing a feminist history as a man, what his family’s encounters with Nazism taught him, and whether today’s left can still speak to young men drifting toward the far right.He also weighs in on Ukraine, as well as Zohran Mamdani’s performance in the New York mayoral race, despite the decline of the Democrats.

Plus, Yanis reflects on optimism, resistance and the women who taught him both.

Stay tuned for Ben’s profile of Yanis, which will be published at prospectmagazine.co.uk

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