14 YEARS 

5 PRIME MINISTERS

THE PARTY IS OVER  

 After decades in the hands of malevolent players and two years of disastrous leadership, the Conservative party stands at the edge of the abyss.

From the humiliation of Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership to the shameful, self-serving drift of Rishi Sunak’s time in office, Downfall is the story of a political party on the verge of extinction.

Picking up on the events that followed The Plot, Nadine Dorries draws on interviews with those in the room to expose what really went on behind the scenes. From group sex sessions organised via WhatsApp, to the King being stood up at the Privy Council and the real reason why Rishi Sunak left the D-Day celebrations early, the accounts are raw, unvarnished and brutal. Everything is worse than it seems.

The next leader will hold the future of the party in his or her hands, and with outside forces resisting change, the challenge will be as enormous as it will be difficult. But the painful truth is that the party deserves to be where it is – and nothing can stay the same.

With unparalleled access to the people who were actually in the room and who will speak to Nadine with a frankness with which they would never speak to a journalist, Downfall promises to be THE political book of 2024.

Downfall: The Self-Destruction of the Conservative Party, By Nadine Dorries, Read by Lucy Price-Lewis

https://thecommunists.org/2024/11/19/news/message-kenyan-communists-our-struggle-is-one/

Message to Kenyan Communists our struggle is one!

Beatrice and Tracy discuss how the situation in Los Angeles has evolved since last week, and speak with organizers in Los Angeles who have stepped up during the fires to support people the state has left behind. In Part Two, we speak with organizers from the LA Tenants Union's South Central Local, KtownForAll, and Union de Vecinos, the Eastside Local of the LA Tenants Union.

Links to organizations mentioned in the episode:

Find LA Tenant Union (LATU) here: https://latenantsunion.org/

Donate to KtownForAll here: https://www.ktownforall.org/donate 

Donate to National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lafires2025 

Support All Power Books here: https://ko-fi.com/allpower
All Power Books volunteer form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5hxQwEP6nWePPU8IeX8BLDrxfiQzC7AnbrN4Iec64D4UJ8A/viewform 
All Power Books PPE and air filter request form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2B_6upY0E1gMFvzjLc4VMprFUnJHsz7Ttu-uvV1gP68HYGw/viewform 

Mask Bloc LA’s Mask Requests and Volunteer Interest Form here: www.bit.ly/MBLAfire

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Find Tracy's book, Abolish Rent, here: www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2443-abolish-rent

Find Jules' new book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod


LA Burns but We Keep Us Safe (Part Two) (01/23/25)

https://thecommunists.org/2024/12/19/news/france-without-government-barnier-falls/

France left without a government as Barnier falls

It’s time for another “Tat Hunt” episode, we think. It’s been too long, that’s for sure. This week, Paul and Eli take to the mean streets of Watford to scour the charity shops for 6 items to bring into next week’s charity shop item face-off! In CheapShow’s history, most of the items discovered in charity shops fall into six categories and it’s up to the Cheap Chaps to rustle them up in a few hours beating the streets. They need to find a Book, a Game, a Toy, some Kitchenware, a Trinket and a Party Album, but time it tight and the weather is awful. Will Paul and Eli discover some amazing bargains or fumble their assignment pathetically? Whatever happens, expect the usual carnage that only CheapShow can deliver!

Part Two Next Week! “The Evaluation”

See pics/videos for this episode on our website:
https://www.thecheapshow.co.uk/ep-421-tat-hunt-watford-high-street

And if you like us, why not support us:
www.patreon.com/cheapshow

If you want to get involved, email us at thecheapshow@gmail.com
And if you want to, follow us on Twitter/X @thecheapshowpod or @paulgannonshow & @elisnoid

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CheapShow

Ep 421: Tat Hunt: Watford High Street

Last week, Paul and Eli gave themselves the challenge of finding six typical pieces of CheapShow tat in just a few hours, in the charity shops of Watford High Street. This week… they are going to share and review their findings. It’s a little more random than usual as the items range from the mundane to the bizarre. Along the way, they’ll bounce from toy cars to kitsch porcelain statues, via 1980s light entertainers and cheesy dance party albums. After an exhausting day of CheapShowing, the cheap chaps are finding it hard to find the right words, so they decide to invent a load of new ones instead! Who got the best tat, who failed the task? You decide! (But you don’t really decide. Just listen in.) It’s time for Tat Hunt: Watford High Street Part Two.

See pics/videos for this episode on our website:
https://www.thecheapshow.co.uk/ep-422-tat-hunt-scrumptious-tat

And if you like us, why not support us:
www.patreon.com/cheapshow

If you want to get involved, email us at thecheapshow@gmail.com
And if you want to, follow us on Twitter/X @thecheapshowpod or @paulgannonshow & @elisnoid

www.thecheapshow.co.uk
Now on Threads: @cheapshowpod
Like, Review, Share, Comment... LOVE US!

MERCH

Official CheapShow Magazine Shop:
www.cheapmag.shop

Thanks also to @vorratony for the wonderful, exclusive art & merch:
www.tinyurl.com/rbcheapshow

Send Us Stuff:
CheapShow
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HA1 9QJ

Ep 422: Tat Hunt: Scrumptious Tat

https://thecommunists.org/2025/02/04/news/life-and-crimes-john-two-jags-prescott-labour-imperialism/

The life and crimes of John 'Two Jags' Prescott

If you ever find yourself asking “What’s left?” you’re in good company. Today’s left is often indistinguishable from neoliberal centrism. 

Steve’s guests are Simon Winlow and Steve Hall, authors of the book, The Death of the Left: Why We Must Begin from the Beginning Again. They talk about the historical shifts that have led to ideological collapse, disconnection from the working class and the embrace of individualism over collective action.  

The conversation emphasizes the urgent need for a revival of working-class politics that transcend identity divisions and focus on collective struggles against economic neoliberalism and austerity. 

Simon Winlow is Professor of Social Sciences at Northumbria University, UK. A fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, his work is particularly well known in the fields of criminology, sociology and contemporary political analysis. He is the author or co-author of the following books: Badfellas (Berg, 2001); Bouncers (Oxford University Press, 2003); Violent Night (Berg, 2006); Criminal Identities and Consumer Culture (Willan, 2008); Rethinking Social Exclusion (Sage, 2012); Riots and Political Protest (Routledge, 2015); Revitalizing Criminological Theory (Routledge, 2015); Rise of the Right (Policy, 2017); Death of the Left (Policy, 2022), and The Politics of Nostalgia (Emerald, 2025). 

@winlow_s 

Steve Hall is Emeritus Professor of Criminology at the University of Teesside. He is a polymath who has published in the fields of criminology, sociology, anthropology, history, economic history, political theory and philosophy. He is also co-author of Violent Night (Berg 2006, with Simon Winlow), Rethinking Social Exclusion (Sage 2013, with Simon Winlow), Riots and Political Protest (Routledge 2015, with Simon Winlow, James Treadwell and Daniel Briggs), Revitalizing Criminological Theory (Routledge 2015, with Simon Winlow), The Rise of the Right (with Simon Winlow and James Treadwell) and The Death of the Left (with Simon Winlow). He is co-editor of New Directions in Criminological Theory (Routledge 2012, with Simon Winlow). In 2017 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the international Extreme Anthropology Research Network at the University of Vienna. 

@ProfHall1955 

The Death of the Left? with Simon Winlow & Steve Hall

https://thecommunists.org/2025/02/05/news/lafires/

LA fires fuelled by imperialism, corruption, exploitation and injustice

Bea, Artie, and Phil discuss the pervasive, perennial myth that the Medicare and Social Security trust funds are on the brink of imminent collapse, a myth that feeds austerity in policymaking and false panic that the programs "won't be around" when younger generations grow old--and that Trump and Musk's DOGE are currently taking advantage of to press for cuts.

This episode was originally released for patrons on April 17, 2023, as Artie explains in a brief note at the top of the show. To support the show and help make episodes like this one possible, become a patron at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Find Jules' new book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Death Panel

Death Panel 425 Trust Falls

Become a patron

Trust Falls

CheapShow is a comedy podcast all about getting the very best out of the worst! Be it Poundlands, Charity Shops, Car Boot Sales or Bargain Bins, hosts Paul Gannon & Eli Silverman poke around in the corners of the high streets and internet to find treasure in the trash.

One week it could be a studio based show, the next, a live comedy event. It could even be a location report or a scripted adventure! A few things it is, however, is rude, crude, silly and drizzled in pop culture, nostalgia and plenty of verbal violence!

It has guests, videos, songs, reviews, games and dares.  We apologise in advance!
www.thecheapshow.co.uk

Marxist analysis of current events and scientific socialist theoretical insights from the CPGB-ML. Get educated and get organised!

Publishers of award-winning fiction and non-fiction audiobooks for adults and children. Listen to exclusive clips from our books and free audioook extracts here on Soundcloud.

Politics, culture, and public policy from the left. Stay alive another week.

w/ Beatrice Adler-Bolton, Artie Vierkant, Phil Rocco and Jules Gill-Peterson. 

https://www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Macroeconomics has never been so ... delish!  Macro and Cheese explores the progressive movement through the lens of Modern Monetary Theory, with hot and irreverent political takes, spotlights in activism, and the razor sharp musings of Real Progressives Founder and host Steve Grumbine.  The cheese will flow as experts come in for a full, four course deep dive into the hot queso. 

Comfort Food for Thought!

New tracks tagged #Austerity