What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie

Should Young Women be Angry? - Tilly Middlehurst, Emily Lawford

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content *********** Emily Lawford's viral New Statesman cover story 'Meet the Angry Young Women' created huge waves of online discourse, undulating from the radical TikTok Left to the extreme Right on Elon Musks's brainwashing algorithm. Polling from Merlin Strategies found that Gen-Z women were feeling extremely pessimistic,about their future, young men and our politics. Why? We thought there was no one better to ask than our own resident (self-annointed) angry young woman and friend of the show, Tilly Middlehurst (a.k.a. BlondePraxis). Is the anger justified or misplaced? Is the pessimism motivating or paralysing? Do these two young women agree on the causes... and the solutions? Apologies for issues with the sound/video quality, one of our cameras overheated :( Appreciate your patience with us as we improve over time x Chapters 00:00 Emily's Viral 'Angry Young Women' Article 04:59 Tilly’s Response 10:02 Is the ‘Femosphere’ as Dangerous as the ‘Manosphere’? 16:36 Is Gen-Z Feminist Pessimism Justified? 20:27 Do Young Women Misperceive Injustice? 27:04 Which Gender is More Negative About the Other? 36:42 Biological Essentialism and Reactionary Feminism 44:30 Politicising the Fertility Crisis 51:40 Anti-Feminist Global Conspiracy? 55:26 Gym Influencers vs. Manosphere 1:03:43 Has Social Media Catalysed Polarisation? 1:13:47 Identity, Community and Free Speech 1:21:57 Tommy Robinson’s Unite The Kingdom Rally 1:26:30 Migrant Violence Against Women and Girls 1:36:10 Reaction to Emily’s New Statesman Article

S2 · E17

18 giu 2026

1:42:39

Will the Left Forgive Itself? – Alastair Campbell

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Can the Left forgive the Centre? Can the Centre forgive the Left? This week we are joined by the UK's second biggest politics podcaster on where the Left is going wrong and how it must unite to win. Keeping out Reform will not be enough to fix the country. A consensus must be built around a political economy that works for the majority, rather than a privileged few. So how do we get there? What can be done? Who can tell the right story? Centrist Dads will be delighted to know that we haven't figured it out just yet, and can keep on equivocating in the meantime... Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:29 Is The Rest Is Politics Too Orthodox? 08:59 Short-Form Politics and Short-Termism 16:03 Who Cares About Truth? 21:37 Failure of Globalisation 26:50 Madman Theory and WW3 35:43 What New Labour Got Wrong 43:01 Class Warfare 52:21 Are Greens the Future of the Left? 1:01:30 Has Farage Hit His Ceiling? 1:06:07 Crypto Billionaires Financing Reform 1:11:47 Will The Labour Party Survive the Century? 1:17:45 Is the Left Intellectually Bankrupt? 1:23:55 Is Gen-Z Cooked? 1:28:05 Teamwork Makes the Dream Work 1:31:40 Abuse in Public Life

S2 · E16

9 giu 2026

1:35:29

Why Won't Labour Talk To Gary Stevenson?

In our latest video essay (optimised for YouTube), Freddie breaks down why the Labour Party refuses to engage meaningfully with Gary Stevenson - and why that all might be about to change... ********************* JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content *********************

S2 · E15

27 mag 2026

31:46

Labour's Leadership Conspiracy - Phil Tinline

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** The Labour leadership crisis has gone nuclear with Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigning this afternoon, after a week of intense speculation of a coup following Labour's local elections drubbing. We sat down with Phil Tinline, author of Ghosts of Iron Mountain and The Death of Consensus: 100 Years of British Political Nightmares, to dive deep into the chaos. Phil is an expert in both Labour history and conspiracy theories - coalescing here for a rich discussion on the polycrisis that has rendered the British state obsolete. How can Labour make the case that they aren’t the Tories, with infighting and psychodrama returning from 2022-3? Do bond market jitters await? Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:48 Britain's Permacrisis 12:09 Starmer's Leadership Challenge 20:53 Burnham's Manchesterism 30:57 Politics Love of Conspiracy Theories 39:04 Breakdown In Political Communication 48:45 Who is Labour for after the AI revolution? 56:35 British Cultural Identity 1:05:40 Conspiracy Theory vs. Reality 1:16:35 The Iron Mountain Conspiracy 1:23:30 Who Believes Conspiracies? 1:31:20 Reinvigorating the Social Contract 1:34:30 Reform, Donations and Accountability

S2 · E14

14 mag 2026

1:41:34

Gymskin, UK Groypers + Local Elections - Tom Nestor

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Skit Comedian Tom Nestor and host of podcast All Right Idiots joins us for a chat on livestreamers, chronically online extremists and the upcoming local elections. After calling out Freddie for his cold approach game with viral streamer Gymskin, the boys invited Tom on the podcast to discuss the best way to get non-political audiences caring about the issues of our time... Chapters 00:00 Gymskin + Freddie 09:25 Livestreaming Gone Mad 17:47 Right-Wing Comedians 22:04 Talking To Reform Voters 33:00 Corbyn, Polanski + Tom's Politics 38:00 Cancellations and Conspiracies 45:27 UK Groypers 53:39 Feeling Sorry For Isolated Young Men? 59:55 Jovan's RW Cancellation 1:05:40 Anti-White Prejudice 1:14:30 What Makes English Identity? 1:21:15 Immigration Debate 1:25:10 Greens + Local Elections 1:33:06 In Defence of Labour

S2 · E13

6 mag 2026

1:46:47

What Comes After Neoliberalism? - Louisa Munch

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content Has political imagination died? Having made a name for herself as a leftist short-form content creator, Louisa Munch has quickly become Instagram’s favourite Critical Theorist. Expert in applying canonical political texts to the chaos we see unfolding today, Louisa joins us for a meandering discussion on higher education, leftist utopia and the how to challenge the insurgent populist right. In this conversation, we explore the concept of ‘nostalgia’ and the mythological way it is deployed by the radical right, to call for a return to a harmonious and tranquil past. This idealised vision of what has come before is a seductive construction for many Brits, who have felt the grandeur and richness of the UK fade over the course of their lifetimes. Who is to blame? Many are deeply dissatisfied with our current Labour government, who have not upended the neoliberal economic consensus, opting for foreign investment given constraints in the omnipotent bond market. But without engaging our economic imagination, it seems that Britain is fatalistically condemned to managed decline, energising populist demands on either flank. Over and over again, elections are being won and lost on which candidate most represents the change that people want to feel to our socio-economic order. Sticking with the devil you know doesn’t seem very attractive if you think you’re on the road to Hell. If neoliberalism is indeed in its final days, then the question is what will replace it? Louisa argues that the Left needs to be thinking in the future, striving to achieve an ideal of worker empowerment that is free from neoliberal constraint. But can critical theory, the analysis of power relations and how to challenge them, tell us what that ‘utopia’ should look like and how to get there in practice? 00:00 Intro 03:45 Alienation and Economic Migration 08:17 Can the Left Use Nostalgia? 16:22 Universalism and the Boomer Class 21:45 Is Critical Theory Just Left-Wing Meta-Ideology? 28:05 Is Questioning Power Emotive or Rational? 31:55 Cross-Cultural Nostalgia 36:45 Is University Delivering What Society Needs? 44:30 Immigration and Integration 49:04 Patriarchy, Misogyny and Grooming Gangs 56:04 Pink Ladies Movement 1:00:29 White Working Class Anxiety 1:07:35 Economic Growth and Zero-Sum Thinking 1:13:05 Solving the Poverty of Ambition 1:17:20 Beware Utopian Idealists? 1:25:04 Gramsci + Cultural Change 1:30:05 Is America Still Democratic?

S2 · E12

27 apr 2026

1:34:52

Should Marxists Want To Win Elections? Grace Blakeley

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Back again with the biggest quandaries afflicting the modern progressive movement as political canon events unfold at breakneck speed! I don’t think I’ve ever felt more jaded by the perpetual shock and awe chain reaction of geopolitics. We’ve decided to create a little bit of distance from the dizzying mainstream media cycle to consider the wider tensions that are at play, especially for a Left-wing political project. Who better to get in this discussion than Marxist economist Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture Capitalism. Grace is one of the most salient commentators in the British Left movement, after being a key spokesperson during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader. Having left Labour in 2024, Grace has gone on to endorse her friend Zack Polanski and join the Green Party. But her leftism stands in contrast to some of the Greens most important economic positions, such as its cornerstone project to rejoin the European Union. In this episode, we dive into the great challenges that face modern socialists, including the fear that accelarationism could facilitate a lurch to the hard right, rather than any hope of progressive revolution. We also cast our minds back to the historical conditions that have formed the present: namely capital’s triumph over collective bargaining power (RIP Unions), which was prefigured by Marxist economist Kalecki, a critic of the much revered social democrat economist John Maynard Keynes. We also touch upon one of our favourite topics on this podcast, the deeply polarised working classes in post-imperial nations. Grace laments the lack of a ‘class for itself’, a working class who understands their “real” collective interests. The question, of course, is what are those objective interests - are any of them cultural, what makes them ‘true’, and how do we ascertain them? As always, please don’t forget to drop us a follow on @wtf_is.left and please consider supporting the show on Substack! Chapters 00:00 Intro 03:17 The End of Corbynism 07:47 Should the Greens Want To Rejoin The EU? 14:17 Can You Trust The State? 20:20 Democratic Capitalism vs Democratic Socialism 25:50 How Keynes Led to Thatcher 32:30 Imperialism and Labour Aristocracy 39:40 Progressives and Protectionism 45:10 Can Greens Succeed Where Corbyn Failed? 56:04 How Liberalism Defeated Communities 1:02:10 Manosphere and Neoliberalism 1:06:30 Need for Cultural Revolution 1:10:20 Influence of David Graeber 1:14:23 Is Socialism in its Infancy? 1:18:30 Moving From Labour To The Greens

S2 · E11

13 apr 2026

1:25:27

How To Make Racists Laugh (With You) - Asim Chaudhry

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** When Asim agreed to do this podcast, I messaged all my bros from school days immediately. Asim's character Chabuddy G, of 'People Just Do Nothing' fame, was one of the biggest cultural influences on those hazy days. In the playground, we used to spit Chabuddyisms over a bit of 2 touch, while deep cuts of UK Garage (Peven Everett pls stand up) blared off an iphone speaker. If Reform was talking about a nostalgia to this past, maybe I'd get on board. Asim has gone onto a stellar career in acting and screenwriting since his debut on the BBC. But it's his expertise in crossing the weather veins of cultural commentary with British character humour, that made him the perfect guest for our podcast. Never shy to wind up pearl-clutchers on the left or right with his exciting inversions of stereotypes, Asim encapsulates the type of comedy that we believe can heal the UK. His jokes are rich in cheek and healthily inclined to the absurd. So isn't it ironic, that as we sat lamenting the script-written transformations of once-idealised creators into right-wing grifters, all I felt was a glowing appreciation to be sat with one of my heroes - and him be exactly what I cracked him up to be. If reality has indeed become satire, grab your popcorn and find some of your favourite people to laugh with. We must, at the very least, enjoy the show. Chapters 00:00 Intro 03:30 Ending The Wasteman Life 11:42 Desperate For Male Validation 17:15 Making The Racists Laugh 22:04 Baiting Out Grifters 30:01 Finding Common Ground 40:22 Escaping Echo Chambers 47:17 What Figure Could Unite the Left? 54:15 How Powerlessness Fuels F@scism 1:03:30 Class, Agency and Finding Success 1:12:15 Staying Grounded 1:18:20 Ethics Of Chabuddy G 1:22:03 Privatisation of Water + Dirty Business 1:29:30 Comedy Is The Great Equalizer

S2 · E10

1 apr 2026

1:38:25

Can Class Consciousness Overcome the Culture Wars? - Ash Sarkar

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Ooooo yesss it's another WL x Novara crossover, as Ash Sarkar joins us in the studio! You know there's nothing we love more than a chaotic chat about political theory with a few gags mixed in – you are certainly entitled to question whether any of it is useful beyond a collective intellectual ego massage. We hope it is lol. Ash joins us following the paperback launch of her latest book 'Minority Rule' which explores how the left is losing the culture wars, and needs to get serious about political organising if it is to resist the surge of the radical right. In this convo, we drill into the deep fissures in class consciousness and whether there needs to be more than the condition of downward economic mobility to unite a political program that challenges the status quo. It's bleak reading on the current electoral map, where the left looks splintered and is tearing lumps out of itself, and any number of unpredictable outcomes could result from our first past the posts electoral system. So don't expect any prophesies from us... But what we defend is the important work of getting out into your community, meeting real people and searching for common ground. Getting organised is the only way real change becomes possible - and if the upshot of this conversation is that you open communications with people who think differently, then that is a good thing for our democracy whatever your political stripes. As always, the one thing we're striving for here is more intellectual curiosity, a willingness to learn and the courage to change your beliefs if challenged with good evidence. None of us claim perfection and we're all on this maddening journey together. Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:26 Rating the Political Class 07:07 Selecting Better Candidates on the Left 14:34 Local vs. Global Business 19:57 Ash’s Thesis in ‘Minority Rule’ 27:10 Immigration and Identity 31:10 Constitution vs. Capitalism 36:12 Marx and the Middle Class 42:30 Identity Politics and Class Consciousness 49:40 Turning Critique Into Political Organisation 54:40 Cultural Loss in Britain 1:02:20 Reform, Restore and the Politics of Home 1:10:10 Your Party’s Capitulation 1:15:20 Do We Need To Get Offline? 1:19:40 Optimism of the Will

S2 · E9

23 mar 2026

1:24:26

Has YouTube Broken Gen-Z? - Josh Pieters

Esplicito

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** YouTube OG, Josh Pieters, joins us for a deep cut into the ethics and cultural impact of YouTube and what has sustained his success through different eras of online culture. All of those questions stored up from spending hours and hours of our early teen years parasocially connecting with these slightly older teenagers, finally saw the light of day. We discuss why Josh has given up on his pranking days, moving into a journalistic role with his documentaries, and the perverse incentives of gaming attention on YouTube and other social platforms. Is it possible to come up in today's saturated media landscape just by being optimistic and positive, with a slightly inflated personality? Or do you have to be a joke or have an enemy? The one thing money can't buy is clout. But clout can definitely buy money. And you best believe that most kids understand this instinctively. No wonder they all want to be YouTubers. Big thanks to Josh for his honesty in such a wide ranging conversation and to guest host Sophie Peachey for coming through!! Chapters 01:21 Intro 04:22 Truth About Lily Phillips Documentary 14:27 Talking to the Blokes in Lily Phillips’ 100 Men Challenge 20:03 Who Is Taking Advantage Of Young Men? 32:44 Why did Josh Switch from Pranks to Documentaries? 38:53 YouTube + Internet Has Changed Radically 49:11 Will Josh change the 'Goon Squad' Name? 52:00 The Fame of the Brit Crew 1:03:07 Does Josh Regret the Just Stop Oil Prank? 1:13:08 Are Billionaires the Problem? 1:17:10 How f*cked is the UK? 1:20:49 In Defence of Josh's Pranks 1:26:09 Archie Manners Joining Reform UK 1:33:05 Josh’s One Piece of Advice for Lefties Online

S2 · E8

9 mar 2026

2:15:02