CakeWatch

Steve is back, but as a guest, and joined by Ian Dunt to reflect on what makes a liberal, how to win the culture war, and whether we remember anything from our undergraduate days. Swearing. Buy Ian Dunt's new book, How To Be A Liberal, from Canbury Press. [https://www.canburypress.com/products/how-to-be-a-liberal-by-ian-dunt-hardback-isbn9781912454419] Audio clips from Patrick Tull's reading of Treason's Harbour by Patrick O'Brian Special Guests: Ian Dunt and Steve Bullock.

Chris and Garvan Walshe catch up on how they handled lockdown, what to expect next, and what has changed since they last recorded the podcast together, in November 2018. Just as it did two years ago, the Northern Ireland backstop features heavily in Lie of the Week. Also, will the Conservative Party have the good sense to ditch its current leader? Special Guest: Garvan Walshe.

Alviina Alametsä [https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/204335/ALVIINA_ALAMETSA/home#detailedcardmep] is a Green Party MEP from Finland. She took up her seat only in February 2020, after it was vacated by a departing UK MEP. Cakewatch likes to think that she took one previously occupied by a Faragist. Alviina's particular policy interests are public mental health and conflict resolution, so who better to talk about tackling the Brexit aftermath? Alviina draws on her own experience as a survivor of a school shooting to inform her campaigning work to improve access to mental healthcare for young people in particular. In a world facing climate emergency and coronavirus, not to mention Brexit and populism, we look at how policy generally fails to factor in the mental health impact, and what can be done at EU level to address this. Mind, the mental health charity [https://www.mind.org.uk], offering help and advice to you if you are suffering from depression or if you are looking for advice on how to help someone who you think might be depressed. Special Guest: Alviina Alametsä.

Trade expert David Henig joins the podcast again for our first survey of the post B-day wreckage. With the EU and the UK apparently offering different visions of their future relationship, which one is the more realistic? Hahaha no seriously, which? Special Guest: David Henig.

For our final podcast before Brexit, we're joined again by Tanja Bueltmann to talk about coping strategies, Steve's album of ambient prozac, and the ongoing work to support EU citizens in the UK as they face mounting hostility and an unforgiving bureaucracy. You can get Steve's album here, and become an EU Citizens' Champion [https://eucitizenschampion.allwelcome.org/en/donations/supporter/27/one-thousand-days/]. We're dedicating this episode to the memory of our friend and colleague Andy Barnard.